My town was quiet. Usually it's a calm quiet but today, something felt different. Something was going to happen today, something that would change my life. I could feel it. You know that feeling? It's heavy and makes you anxious, but you don't know why. Who knows, it could be a good change. But then again you can feel if it's good or bad too. When it's good, it makes you anxious but in anticipation for what's coming. When it's bad, it makes you anxious because you're dreading what's coming. Today I had the bad anxious feeling. I walked down the street, waved to Mrs. Parker, and said hello to Mr. O'Henry. Mrs. Parker works at the grocery store and on a good day she has a plate of cookies at the register. Mr. O'Henry works at the pawn shop and walks around with a cane. He always steals the plate of cookies. I get to my apartment building and walk up to my apartment trying to figure out this feeling.
"Michael Eugene Heiler! Where have you been? I told you to come straight here after school. It's now an hour after school! Where were you?" my mom asks frantically. She's pacing around the room picking up things she'll need for her trip.
"Sorry mom. Mr. Velpoll told me to clean up after class," I answer quickly. I hope she's too busy to hear me because she doesn't need to know I fell asleep in class again. I've been falling asleep in class more and more but I'm not the only one. There are others but they're not me. I have dyed-red hair, piercings outlining both my ears, and I wear skinny jeans. Somehow this makes me a target for all of the teachers so I tend to get in trouble a lot. Add dyslexia and ADHD onto that; school is a nightmare.
"Again? What did you do this time?" my mom asks growing serious. Dang, she heard me. I go to answer her but something catches my eye from the window. My head snaps to get a better look but it's gone. I stare at the window and realize I was holding my breath. I exhale and try to put it out of my head. I think I need to add delusional to my list of disabilities because I've been seeing some pretty wacky stuff lately. I've seen what looked like an old woman flying but she had chicken legs and a lion with wings. Lately, I've seen more and more and they always seem to be watching me. When I don't answer, my mom looks at me about to scold me but her phone alarm goes off. She sighs, looks at the time, and groans.
"Mikey, we'll talk about this later. I have to go," she says then turns back to me, "Are you sure you'll be alright? Because if you don't want me to leave, I can stay." I tear my gaze from the window and say, "Mom, it's a week. I'm twelve, I'm a big boy. I'll be fine."
"Ok, ok. But if you run out of food, there's money in the jar-"
"-on top of the fridge and I'll get some groceries. Not junk food, but good food. Go! Have fun in Washington D.C. mom, I'll be fine," I reassure her. She sighs and nods her head. She wraps me in a hug and whispers, "I love you baby." I mumble an "I love you too" and push her out the door. As the door shuts, I look around the apartment. There's the living room in the middle with the kitchen and bathroom to the left and two bedrooms to the right. We have an old couch, old TV, and a towering book shelf in the living room. The window takes up most of the far wall and lets in the majority of the light. My mom's clutter is everywhere; on the couch, hanging off the TV, and lying on the floor. For a couple of minutes I clean everything up and then head outside. If you're wondering where my dad is in this picture, he's not. My mom told me that he left when I was a baby because of his work. She told me he was a great musician and that he wanted to stay but she told him not to. I've asked her what his name was but she won't tell me. All she tells me is that his voice was like heaven. I don't hate the guy but I don't particularly like the guy either. I'm fine with not knowing him or even meeting him. He hasn't been in my life so why should I try to be in his? I walk to the park and notice it's gotten darker. I look up at the sky and it's a murky grey color. We usually have pretty overcast weather here but it doesn't usually get like this until winter. I cross my arms as the wind picks up. Another thing, there's nobody in the park. Usually there's at least one family here walking through because it's on the way from the elementary school, but now it's just me. The anxious feeling starts feeling even more oppressive and I wonder if I should go back inside.
"I'd go back inside if I were you," a voice says from my left. I turn towards it and see a girl about my age sitting on the bench. She looks up at me with blank white eyes and it feels like she's looking through me. I shiver. She's wearing a pair of old jeans that look too big and a black sweatshirt. She has long, shiny black hair and she swings her legs back and forth.
"Why?" I ask, looking around. I can feel someone watching me and I know it's not this girl.
"Can't you feel it? A dark, oppressive feeling? Whenever I feel it, it usually means something bad's going to happen," she states mater of factly.
"You feel it too?" she nods. Suddenly I hear a screech and feel claws push me to the ground. I hit the ground hard and feel the breath rush out of me. I get up on my hands and knees and try to remember how to breathe.
"Hey, what's happening? Are you ok?" I hear the girl ask. I look towards her and see that she has moved under the bench. I'm about to say "yes" when I hear another screech. I look up and can't believe what I'm seeing. An ugly woman flies in the air but she has chicken legs and wings for arms. She starts flying towards me and I roll under the bench to avoid her claws. I bump into the girl and she grips my arm.
"What is it? I can't see it but I can hear something awful. What does it look like?" she stares at me with those white eyes and I see that she's scared. This has happened before. I start to explain what the ugly-chicken-woman is but her claws start raking the bench. The girl and I cover our heads as splinters from the bench fall on our heads. Suddenly the ugly-chicken-woman stops scraping the wood and flies over Mr. O'Henry's head. She flies right in front of him and screeches but he all he does is bats his hands, as if to shoo a fly away.
"Michael? What are you doing under there?" Mr. O'Henry asks when he sees me. I realize that the ugly-chicken-woman is distracted and this is the perfect time to escape. I grab the girls hand and crawl out from under the bench. As soon as we're both on our feet I start running. Not I light jog, but full out sprint. I hear the ugly-chicken-woman screech again and I pump my legs faster. I start to head back to my apartment when the girl says, "No, this way!" She pulls me into an alley and then turn down another alley. I can hear the ugly-chicken-woman getting closer and I try to suppress the terror that's rising in my throat. The girl pulls me down another street and then stops by a manhole. She lifts the manhole and jumps down. I hesitate for a minute but now I can feel he ugly-chicken-woman's wings on my neck. I jump down into the manhole and my feet squish into who-knows-what. The ugly-chicken-woman screeches in anger and then the girl is pulling me down the tunnel. She pulls me through a maze of dark tunnels and I begin to wonder if she knows where she's going but then I remember she's blind and why would she know where she's going? It's pitch black and I'm about to ask her where we're going but she stops. We catch our breath for a minute and then she says, "Don't worry. I know where we are." I look towards her voice but I can't see anything in this tunnel.
"How? I mean, aren't you blind?" I ask. I hear her chuckle and she says, "Yeah but since I've lived in the dark all my life, why shouldn't I know the dark best?" When I don't answer she says, "This is going to sound crazy but I can sense where things are. It's not seeing but I can feel my surroundings. Like, I know that you have your hands on your knees because I can sense it. I don't know how, I just do." I think about it and then answer, "That's not as crazy as what was chasing us." I explain what was screeching and flying after us, not really sure if I believed what I was saying.
"Wow, well I'm glad I'm not the only one who's affected by it. Usually it just comes and torments me and no one else can see it," she explains. She takes my hand and starts walking.
"This thing has attacked you before? How do you avoid it?" I ask.
"I usually try to find a big stick to hit it with. I can't sense things in the air so I usually just end up waving it around my head," she replies. I laugh picturing her doing that in the park.
"By the way, I'm Michael but you can call me Mikey," I introduce myself.
"Nice to meet you Mikey! I'm Elizabeth but you can call me Eli," she says. In the darkness, I swear I see her turn back and smile. She's really pretty when she smiles.
