chapter 1
Love of my Life
Erik was a quiet strange boy all through his childhood. He would always sit in the back of the clas,s in the dark corners all by himself. He would never go any further than the shadows during recess and never paid any attention to the kids who were teasing him. He did this all the way through high school even when he met the love of his life Christine.
It was a hot august Monday, the first day of high school freshman year. Christine was going in to 8th grade but the school bumped her up a grade because she was so magnificently smart. When Erik first saw her she was being bullied by some of the older kids. She made him warm and at home when he saw her. This sight of her on the verge of tears made him angry. This would not be acceptable for him. He angrily walked over to them. "Leave her alone!" he yelled. "And what you gonna do bout it if I don't freak?" That just pushed him over the edge and he attacked the boy. He had the kid to the ground and was about to break his arm before Christine begged him to stop. He looked up to the pleading girl and slowly eased off of the boy.
He walked off without saying a word. Christine ran up to him. "That was very nice of you to help me." She said. She waited for him to say something but he didn't. "I mean…" she just decided to come out with it. "Thank you." He stopped. He looked at the ground and quietly said "Your welcome." And he went and sat down in the orner of the lunch room. She went to the table were her stuff was and moved it over next to him and sat down. "Do you mind if I sit here?" he put his food down and looked up at her in angrily but shyly. "Listen I am not the one you want to be hanging around with. You have no clue what you will be getting yourself in to." He said as he looked in to her eyes. He melted to the sight of the innocence in her beautiful brown eyes and didn't say another word through lunch. He gradually came more comfortable with her presence and became more open to her sitting by him. Everyday at lunch they would sit together and talk to each other.
He liked to play pranks on some of the kids in school. They were not normal tricks though. They were tricks that he altered to bring severe pain. He was the only one who thought they were funny. He would play pranks like thumb tacks in the teachers chair but use 4 inch nails instead.
He told Christine his life stories and all about his life except for his parents. What no one knew was that Erik's parents were very abusive. At home they would always fight and take out all of their anger on him. Sometimes he would come to school with broses and cuts and say he was outside playing or he fell. His one and only true friend was his grandfather who lived down the street.
He would visit him every day after school and only come home to go to bed. The most devastating day of his life was when his grandpa was sent to the hospital after having a heart attack and later that night pronounced dead. He was devastated to hear the news but still continued to go to his grandfather's house in remembrance. To his surprise one day he heard a voice in his head claiming to be his grandpa.
He listened to the voice talk to him and he would talk back. The voice started talking more and more frequently to him. Then it started to become evil. He felt that he had to do what ever the voice wanted him to do. "Your parents aren't very nice to you Erik." Said the voice, one night after he had gotten beat. "You should do something about it." "Like what grandpa?" he asked. There was a long pause before the voice said "Kill them." Erik's face turned white at hearing that. "Don't be afraid. If they are gone they can not hurt you." Said the voice in a comforting way. "But…" he started as the voice cut him off. "Do you want to be abused for the rest of your life!?" it said harshly "n…no but if I kill them I will not have anyone to care for me." "You think they care for you? Have you even bothered to look at the way they have treated you? They have treated you this way since you were born." He lay in his bed looking into darkness and thought about what they were thinking about. "Maybe your right." He said quietly "Of coarse I'm right!" the voice snapped. "Now go to sleep…were going to have a big day tomorrow." He drifted off to sleep thinking about Christine that night.
He was greeted at the door by Christine and she slipped her hand into his as they walked to their first class to put their stuff up. Them holding hands made him feel warm and fuzzy inside and that night he just couldn't bring himself to kill his parents.
It was the last day of school, the one day the kids had been waiting for since school started, all except for Erik. The ending of school meant more abuse from his parents. Christine walked with him out to where they met with the busses when school let out and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for such a great school year." She handed him a piece of paper. She hopped on the bus and he watched her wave as the bus started off. The kiss almost made him drop everything. He quickly snapped back into reality and opened the piece of paper.
Here is my house number call me some time and we can hang out.
Love, Christine.
He smiled and started walking home.