Just me luck that it rains the one day I have nowhere to sleep... I thought to myself as I walked down the damp streets of New York.
I pulled my stolen hoodie around myself even tighter in an attempt to shield myself from the cold biting at my skin. I had planned to sleep at my usual place, but apparently a colony of rats had the same idea.
A loud boom of thunder made me flinch and I started walking even faster.
I looked around and saw some people on the other side of the street. To most it would look like they were making out and trying to set the world record for the most hickeys on your neck. But to me, it was a vampire feasting upon the blood of some unfortunate victim.
Sighing, I continued on my way. Nobody else could see the things that I saw. Not that I expected them to. Most others were normal.
There was really nowhere for me to go. I didn't have a home or a family.
I could always go back to the orphanage- No! No, I'm not going back. Not now, not ever.
I looked around to see if there was at least an alley or something. At this point, I'll take pretty much anything as long as it's somewhat dry.
"Aha!" I thought to myself as my eyes landed on a small, rundown building. Sure, it wasn't very nice-looking or anything special, but I didn't have any other option.
I walked over to it at a slightly faster pace than before and made it over in no time.
Pushing the door open slowly, I peeked inside, "Hello?" I called.
No response.
I smiled to myself as I opened the door fully and entered. Before I actually went to sleep though, I waited and listened for any rats or anything. Thankfully, there was none. Or at least I didn't hear any. I walked in and made my way over to the staircase, jogging up.
Upstairs was just like downstairs, completely empty. I dropped my backpack onto the floor in the center of the room before sitting down myself. I checked around to make sure that there was no one else inside before lying down and drifting off to sleep.
•~•
I had been asleep for a few hours when I heard a strange noise and immediately woke up.
Stupid sensitive hearing...
There was a faint creak coming from downstairs followed by a low hiss.
I sat up sharply, looking around for the source of the noise.
Is something really in the house, or is it just another hallucination?
I guess it's about time that I told you.
I'm nuts. Mad. Crazy. Psycho. Gone. Over the bend. Bonkers. (1)
I have all of these weird hallucinations where I see creatures like vampires and werewolves and faeries. And there are these other things too. I'm not sure what they are, but they look human for the most part except for these weird marks all over their arms that look like burns.
It's possible that I got my demented mental state from my biological parents, but I don't know anything about them besides the fact that they gave me up when I was only a week old and that their names were Anastasia and Arthur. That's it. No last names or anything, just first names that could belong to anybody.
Another hiss dragged me out of my thoughts as I heard it increase in volume. Whatever was downstairs was getting closer. I heard the door creak open and froze in fear, my heartbeat accelerating.
Someone was literally coming inside. I needed to leave and now! But how? There was only really one way out and that was through the front door unless I planned on jumping through one of the holes in the wall they call windows.
There were quiet footsteps and I felt goosebumps forming on my skin when it suddenly became eerily silent.
The only thing I could hear for a few seconds was my own thundering heartbeat before an ear-piercing shriek filled my eardrums. It was almost immediately followed by the sound of something zipping through the air.
I couldn't help it, I screamed when I heard that awful hiss just like the dumb person I am.
Gosh, Elizabeth. It's no wonder your parents didn't want you. You're such an idiot.
My ears caught the sound of something slithering across the floor when suddenly the door was flung open, flying off its hinges. And standing in the doorway was the ugliest creature I've ever seen.
It's skin was a gruesome gray color and it had long bony limbs. Its entire face was distorted and looked like someone had taken a fork and mushed it all around until it resembled a pile of glop.
It opened what appeared to be its mouth and revealed multiple rows of sharp, pointy looking teeth. The creature roared before rushing towards me.
It's not real, it's not real, it's not real. It's only a figment of your damaged imagination.
Despite what I was trying to tell myself, it looked pretty damn real. I've never had such a realistic hallucination before.
I squinted my eyes shut and turned away, waiting for the awful vision to pass.
The sound of another object piercing through the air and making contact with something caused me to turn back and open my eyes.
When my vision was no longer blocked by my eyelids, I saw a tall man standing there. His skin was pale and he had black hair and blue eyes. He was dressed all in black leather and had a quiver slung over his shoulder. I noticed he had similar marks on his arms as some of the other people I've seen and realized he too was part of my hallucination. He seized another arrow from his quiver and loaded into his bow, aiming at the creature who already had one lodged into its shoulder.
The thing hissed at him as he fired again, hitting the creature square in the chest. It fell backwards, thick, inky black liquid flowing from where it had been attacked before it exploded into black dust.
Aftera few seconds had passed, the man noticed me sitting in the corner, his eyes widening when he realized I was staring right back at him.
The shocked look on his face was the last thing I saw before everything went black.
•~•
(1) Refernece to "Mad Hatter" by Melanie Martinez