My mother sat and watched my father carefully, sucking her teeth in disapproval as she talked senselessly to the voices that she heard in her head. “I, for one, don't think that he should drink that much. Don’t you think so, Adaliah?” she said while looking into a vacant space. Her body convulsed as she laughed, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.
“Adaliah doesn't exist!” My father screamed.
I sat silently on the floor and watched my mother have her deranged conversations and listened to my father murmur constantly, “I need more beer.” I got up slowly and walked to the door.
“Won’t you just give up!” I heard my father yell as I opened the door. I took a step outside, my mother’s answer fading in the wind.
I stood at the end of the driveway and looked up at the sky, reminiscing on how beautiful the world was around me. A warm fluid splattered on my stomach and I looked down in revulsion, prepared to see the normal splatter of white, but I didn't see white, I saw red. I looked down at my shirt and saw the handle of a large knife zoom in and out as the details blurred and refocused.
In shock, I grabbed the handle of the knife and yanked it out of me, feeling the knife slide through my insides, touching every nerve. Looking around frantically, I saw a man. He stood only a few feet away, smiling at me as he watched me panic. I rushed towards him, my heart racing.
“Did you do this!” I roared. The man looked at me and shrugged in innocence. “You stabbed me, didn't you?” I screamed. I rushed at him, slashing at him with the knife. The man grabbed my hand and tried to pry the knife out of my hands.
“N-.” I doubled over and regurgitated, blood spilling all over the driveway. The man grabbed my hand and pulled me up, snatching the knife from my hands. He reached to the back of my head as he held me up and I watched his calm face as the world around me went dark.
I woke up to purring of an engine, Fox News playing softly in the background, and the smell of new leather and musty cologne. Clutching my stomach, I sat up, ignoring the pain the flooded through my body. “I see you’re up,” the man said. I didn't reply. He looked at me through the rearview mirror. “You were out for a while, for about an hour or so.” I nodded slowly, remembering that the man was the one that stabbed me.
The man pulled off the interstate and pulled up to a gas station. Leaning backwards into the back seat, his long hair brushed my legs and he looked at me with those bright blue eyes, “If you leave this car, I’ll find you and kill you.”
I watched the man turn around and then slumped against the seat. That gas station was my only hope to get away from him. I took a look into the rear view mirror. My hair was disheveled, my skin was as pale as a ghost, and my shirt and hands were covered blood.
Tentatively, I pressed my face against the window and began to mouth “Help!” and pound on the walls of the window, trying to get the attention of anyone that walked by. A faint knocking sounded on the window next to mine and I turned with glee, hoping the help arrived. The man stood there, his blue eyes narrowed with anger and his knuckles white. “I’ll kill you,” he mouthed. “Keep it up and you’ll die sooner.” The man sat back in the car turned on the engine then leaned towards me, poking my fresh wounds. Blood oozed out of my wounds as I gasped in horror as the wound reopened.
The car was silent for hours, but every hour, the man would lean back and punch my wound, causing the blood to ooze once again. So, I would sit there and watch all the cars full of clueless people drive by and forget about the pain. At one point, the man turned up the radio and I listened to the broadcast, thinking that they were the last voices that I would ever hear.
“Tonight on the Radio Afternoon News, we are reporting that a serial killer is on the loose,” the announcer announced. “Few have seen him and few have heard of him, but this man is lethal, taking five lives with him. From what we have investigated, he seems to be a young man in his early twenties, tall, blond hair, and striking blue eyes. If you have any idea of where this man is, please call now.” I looked over at the man as he sat in the front seat, and I watched him smirk knowing that he was now famous.
Night fell and the man drove us into the mountains. Trees surrounded us but above all, the most beautiful sight was there. I focused on the Devil’s tower that stood confidently towards the sky and forgot about my fate. I examined the silhouettes of the trees that gathered around the base and the legion of stars that twinkled in the night sky.
The man got out of the car and yanked my powerless limp body out of the car. He dragged me behind his car and dumped me there. He walked back to his car, looking back at me frequently to see if I moved. I stared up at the sky and watched the stars twinkle in their majestic ways. He was letting me go, but I wouldn't survive anyways.
The man walked back to his car and started up the engine. I tried to walk away, but my body was too feeble. I couldn't move an inch. I clutched my stomach and heard the car rev up. My heart pounded but I convinced myself I wasn't afraid. I saw the car back up towards me slowly as though the world was under water. I felt the car hit me with such a violent impact that I flew into the air, my arms stretched out towards the sky, towards the stars.
Though I looked up at the stars, I could see nothing but darkness and then it started all over again.
I sat silently on the floor and watched my mother have her deranged conversations and listened to my father murmur constantly, “I need more beer.” I got up slowly, and walked to the door.
“Won't you just give up!” I heard my father yell say as I opened the door. I rushed outside, my mother’s answer fading in the wind.
I stood at the end of the driveway and looked up at the sky, reminiscing on how beautiful the world was around me. A warm fluid splattered on my stomach and I looked down in disgust, prepared to see the normal spot of white, but I didn't see white, I saw red.
Everyday, I relive my death.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
