~~~June 2003~~~
The steady chill of the endless wind blew my hair past my face as I
squinted my eyes to look ahead at the rest of my class wandering around the
damp and dreary streets of Ireland. It was a simple field trip across the
world to be an intern for a couple elementary schools around the area that
our new neighborhood is located. The schools that all of us will be
interning at are archaic and have many historical references. Ireland
seemed the perfect place for such a task, so my teacher Mr. Harris decided
to take us all over there. The night was young, and very frigid. Many of
the students were gripping onto their boyfriends, girlfriends, and friends
in order to keep from freezing. My boyfriend Tyler gripped onto my hand
firmly, as if not to let me go. We have been going out for a little over a
year now, and I was totally ready to called it off. I wrapped my slightly
warm jacket tighter around my body as I exhaled and watched a familiar
cloud form in front of my lips. I glared at a street lamp as I watched
light dew falling in the midst of its light.
"What are you looking at?" Tyler asked me while frantically looking for another classmate or even worse, a guy.
"The dew" I said back to him as I was reverting my eyes back to the beginning of the long line our class had sprawled out to become. We were on a journey back to the warm and extremely old neighborhood.
"Hey, what do you say we take a pit stop over there" Tyler said as he pointed to an old alley way and squeezed my hand hard enough to make me say yes. He had a certain look in his eyes that meant trouble for me, pleasure for him. He then ran ahead of me and expected me to follow. I hesitated, looking around for someone to be our watch, or to make sure Tyler wasn't going to kill me in that alley way.
"Tanya, hey, Tyler wants to go check something out over there, please wait for me" I said to my best friend who was sluggishly walking and trying to stay warm with her boyfriend David.
"Oh, another one of his moments?" She asked, knowing of his abusive and manipulative behavior.
"I hope not" I said back, and then gave her a quick hug as I winked at David and ran down the alleyway to find Tyler. It was a particularly dark area, a killer couldn't have picked a better spot.
"Tyler?" I said aloud, hoping to find movement from this place. No response. "Hey, where did you go?" I finished while shuffling my feet through the puddles on the mossy brick walkway. A shadowy figure loomed up ahead and I squinted my eyes to try to see who it was. "This isn't funny Ty" I said quietly, now becoming more scared than before. The figure was in a mid step when it turned to face me. Its back was slightly arched and its legs were facing west while its body was facing south. I took a step towards it, and the figure didn't budge. The orange eyes are what struck me the most. The eyes were piercing and dangerous, almost as if it knew I was going to be there at that very moment, and it was meant to be there too. These were the kind of eyes that haunt you, and I know they would haunt me for a long time. It was wearing a semi-light brown raggedy cloak that I could somewhat see in the very dim light. I knew that Tyler wasn't wearing a cloak. "Is, is someone there?" I said shakily, and took another careful step towards the figure. I could see it breathing harder now as its back was rising up and down in the light. A nearby ally cat jumped out of a garbage can and scared me half to death. It slithered through my legs with a simple hiss and stumbled out onto the street about 20 feet behind me. The figure ahead still didn't budge at all.
"Look, if this is a joke it's definitely not funny Ty" I somehow whispered loudly through my quivering lips. I took a few quick steps toward the figure and kicked some metal object in my way. This made a loud commotion and I saw the figure jump to the side and run down the alleyway as if I were chasing it. It looked like a demonic animal as it hissed and growled all the way out. I fell to my knees in disbelief and landed in one of the dirty, scum filled puddles. I stayed there for a good few minutes until a familiar and pleasant voice filled the dark ally and took over my body in a fantastic and relieving way.
"Yo girl! What in the world is wrong with you? Just sitting all up in a dark ally way across the world like ya own the place? Uh uh, I don't think so. Look at you, just chizillin up in that puddle like it's a damn bath tub. Get yoself out of there before you get gang banged girl! Bring yoself out here!" David echoed off of the moss covered building walls that surrounded me. A smile spread across my lips like warm icing on a cake. I stood up and turned to him, walking myself out of the mysterious ally way. The eyes of the figure wouldn't leave my mind, and I wondered if I had dreamt it all up somehow.
"What the hell are you thinking Candace? I told you to come with me, not wander around like a fricken screw up! You're lucky I came back here and told everyone to find you, you would have probably stayed there all night." Tyler went on and started cursing at me as he was angrily treading in my direction. A sudden moment of fear spread itself through my body as I quickly contemplated what he would do with people watching, and then I realized he didn't care if people were there.
"I, I'm so sorry Tyler. I was looking for you, and, and." I looked up at him with fear and intense anxiety painted in my forming tears. Tyler wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me a little too tight for comfort, all the while he continued his curses and threats in my ear.
"Lets go, now" He finished as he gripped onto my upper arm and dragged me away from the ally and onto the dew filled streets. His grip was increasingly tight and I lightly whimpered as he pulled me through all of my classmates and friends to the front of the group.
"Tyler you're hurting me" I whined as he gripped tighter at my pain.
"You deserve it, you scared me to death Candace" He responded as my hand grew slightly numb and his fingers dug into my flesh.
"Tyler please" I whimpered as I tried to pull myself away from him. He was too strong for me, as I've realized from past experiences. I tried digging my feet into the ground but the old bricks just shuffled a little and then my foot grip was demolished.
"Why are you trying to fight me, you know it's only going to get you in more trouble" Tyler said into my ear threateningly and I realized I might as well appease him. I started walking at his pace, but this made him grow upset and he began to walk faster than he already was. I realized that he liked it when I tried to stop him, he liked the challenge. He seemed utterly sadistic at this point.
After what seemed like an eternity, the gates to the archaic neighborhood were standing at the end of the street, where there was a turnabout. This neighborhood was probably built in the early 1600's, if not earlier. It was a beautiful sight to see, if you were into that weird stuff. I thought of it historically, there were rumors of its being haunted. I turned my head and upper torso around to find Tanya and David. They were of course, right behind me watching Tyler's every move.
"There it is" I said to them with a smile on my face. Tanya popped in a piece of gum and I opened my mouth for her to put one in for me too. She smiled back at me after she finished and then David copied my lead. I giggled a little and then felt Tyler's grip firming around my arm. I winced slightly and looked at him hard.
"You just wait until we get to our house" He said to me through his teeth.
"I can't wait" I said back to him.
~~~~~~~~~~
"What are you looking at?" Tyler asked me while frantically looking for another classmate or even worse, a guy.
"The dew" I said back to him as I was reverting my eyes back to the beginning of the long line our class had sprawled out to become. We were on a journey back to the warm and extremely old neighborhood.
"Hey, what do you say we take a pit stop over there" Tyler said as he pointed to an old alley way and squeezed my hand hard enough to make me say yes. He had a certain look in his eyes that meant trouble for me, pleasure for him. He then ran ahead of me and expected me to follow. I hesitated, looking around for someone to be our watch, or to make sure Tyler wasn't going to kill me in that alley way.
"Tanya, hey, Tyler wants to go check something out over there, please wait for me" I said to my best friend who was sluggishly walking and trying to stay warm with her boyfriend David.
"Oh, another one of his moments?" She asked, knowing of his abusive and manipulative behavior.
"I hope not" I said back, and then gave her a quick hug as I winked at David and ran down the alleyway to find Tyler. It was a particularly dark area, a killer couldn't have picked a better spot.
"Tyler?" I said aloud, hoping to find movement from this place. No response. "Hey, where did you go?" I finished while shuffling my feet through the puddles on the mossy brick walkway. A shadowy figure loomed up ahead and I squinted my eyes to try to see who it was. "This isn't funny Ty" I said quietly, now becoming more scared than before. The figure was in a mid step when it turned to face me. Its back was slightly arched and its legs were facing west while its body was facing south. I took a step towards it, and the figure didn't budge. The orange eyes are what struck me the most. The eyes were piercing and dangerous, almost as if it knew I was going to be there at that very moment, and it was meant to be there too. These were the kind of eyes that haunt you, and I know they would haunt me for a long time. It was wearing a semi-light brown raggedy cloak that I could somewhat see in the very dim light. I knew that Tyler wasn't wearing a cloak. "Is, is someone there?" I said shakily, and took another careful step towards the figure. I could see it breathing harder now as its back was rising up and down in the light. A nearby ally cat jumped out of a garbage can and scared me half to death. It slithered through my legs with a simple hiss and stumbled out onto the street about 20 feet behind me. The figure ahead still didn't budge at all.
"Look, if this is a joke it's definitely not funny Ty" I somehow whispered loudly through my quivering lips. I took a few quick steps toward the figure and kicked some metal object in my way. This made a loud commotion and I saw the figure jump to the side and run down the alleyway as if I were chasing it. It looked like a demonic animal as it hissed and growled all the way out. I fell to my knees in disbelief and landed in one of the dirty, scum filled puddles. I stayed there for a good few minutes until a familiar and pleasant voice filled the dark ally and took over my body in a fantastic and relieving way.
"Yo girl! What in the world is wrong with you? Just sitting all up in a dark ally way across the world like ya own the place? Uh uh, I don't think so. Look at you, just chizillin up in that puddle like it's a damn bath tub. Get yoself out of there before you get gang banged girl! Bring yoself out here!" David echoed off of the moss covered building walls that surrounded me. A smile spread across my lips like warm icing on a cake. I stood up and turned to him, walking myself out of the mysterious ally way. The eyes of the figure wouldn't leave my mind, and I wondered if I had dreamt it all up somehow.
"What the hell are you thinking Candace? I told you to come with me, not wander around like a fricken screw up! You're lucky I came back here and told everyone to find you, you would have probably stayed there all night." Tyler went on and started cursing at me as he was angrily treading in my direction. A sudden moment of fear spread itself through my body as I quickly contemplated what he would do with people watching, and then I realized he didn't care if people were there.
"I, I'm so sorry Tyler. I was looking for you, and, and." I looked up at him with fear and intense anxiety painted in my forming tears. Tyler wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me a little too tight for comfort, all the while he continued his curses and threats in my ear.
"Lets go, now" He finished as he gripped onto my upper arm and dragged me away from the ally and onto the dew filled streets. His grip was increasingly tight and I lightly whimpered as he pulled me through all of my classmates and friends to the front of the group.
"Tyler you're hurting me" I whined as he gripped tighter at my pain.
"You deserve it, you scared me to death Candace" He responded as my hand grew slightly numb and his fingers dug into my flesh.
"Tyler please" I whimpered as I tried to pull myself away from him. He was too strong for me, as I've realized from past experiences. I tried digging my feet into the ground but the old bricks just shuffled a little and then my foot grip was demolished.
"Why are you trying to fight me, you know it's only going to get you in more trouble" Tyler said into my ear threateningly and I realized I might as well appease him. I started walking at his pace, but this made him grow upset and he began to walk faster than he already was. I realized that he liked it when I tried to stop him, he liked the challenge. He seemed utterly sadistic at this point.
After what seemed like an eternity, the gates to the archaic neighborhood were standing at the end of the street, where there was a turnabout. This neighborhood was probably built in the early 1600's, if not earlier. It was a beautiful sight to see, if you were into that weird stuff. I thought of it historically, there were rumors of its being haunted. I turned my head and upper torso around to find Tanya and David. They were of course, right behind me watching Tyler's every move.
"There it is" I said to them with a smile on my face. Tanya popped in a piece of gum and I opened my mouth for her to put one in for me too. She smiled back at me after she finished and then David copied my lead. I giggled a little and then felt Tyler's grip firming around my arm. I winced slightly and looked at him hard.
"You just wait until we get to our house" He said to me through his teeth.
"I can't wait" I said back to him.
~~~~~~~~~~