Alex's POV
"Hey, so you ready?" Mitchie asked me as we were getting ready for school.
"Yeah, just give me a sec" I told her looking around the room for my bag. I looked everywhere, but i couldn't find it. "Actually let's just go, I don't really need it" I told her and she nodded as we headed out the door. We went down the grand staircase and got to the front where Jaque was holding the door.
"Thank You" Mitchie told him and he pulled out a gun.
"Open it!" the familiar voice rang through my mind as he pulled the trigger. I watched as the bullet hit Mitchie and she fell to the floor. Next thing I knew i was on the ground holding her, drenched in her blood.
"Alex!"
My eyes shot open and I found myself back in class. I looked to my left to see Mitchie watching me. When she saw I was awake she gestured towards the front of the classroom telling me to pay attention. I turned back to the front of the room, my nightmare dominating my thoughts. I haven't had a dream where I talked since five years ago. What was happening to me? It's like I was back right after it had happened. Constant sleepless nights and when I could sleep, it was another nightmare. All different ways to show me how my parents had died. Last time it had gotten to the point where I couldn't distinguish my dreams from reality. I didn't want to go back to that, I never wanted to be like that again, and now its happening all over.
Get a hold of yourself! I thought holding my head that was starting to throb. I looked up and saw the Jaque standing there with his evil smirk. The teacher and the rest of the class was gone. I looked to my left and right to find Mitchie was gone too. I stood up so abruptly my chair fell back and clanged against the floor.
Suddenly the room was just like it had been a moment before only now all eyes were on mine.
"Ms. Russo, is everything okay?" The teacher asked cautiously. No! I screamed in my head. Not again, not again, not again. I just kept telling myself. I glanced at Mitchie for a split second before my eyes welled up with tears. I had to get out of here. I turned back to the front of the room and ran out into the hall way.
Mitchie's POV
I looked to my right to find Alex asleep on her desk. She was twitching and her breathing was uneven. I leaned over and shook her a little.
"Alex!" I whisper yelled so the teacher wouldn't hear. I watched as Alex's eyes opened and she looked around a little startled. She looked back to me and I gestured telling her to pay attention. The lecture was going to be covered on the test. She nodded slightly and looked towards the front tiredly. I was about to turn back myself, but then I saw her eyes go wide in terror. I looked where her gaze was, but she was staring at the empty doorway to the class room. She looked to me, but It didn't look like she was seeing me. She immediately turned to look the other way before standing up abruptly causing her chair to fall back and clang loudly against the floor.
"Ms. Russo, is everything okay?" Ms. Jefferson asked cautiously. Alex lowered her head as if in thought. Her bangs over her eyes just enough to cast a shadow that prevented me from being able to see her eyes. She glanced toward me and I saw her eyes watering before she took off running out of the classroom. I jumped out of my seat and ran after ignoring the teacher calling for us.
I caught up with her as she made it to the entrance.
"Alex! Alex stop!" I told her grabbing her arm. She tried to pull away but I kept a firm grip. She started hitting me, but I didn't let go.
"NO!" She screamed and I jumped back in surprise. Her voice had sounded strangled and though it was loud, It wasn't enough for me to actually hear her voice rather than the word she had said.
She broke down crying, falling to her knees and covering her face with her hands. I stood there for a moment unsure of what to do before I got down and put my arm around her shoulder. She immediately started clinging to me and sobbing in my shirt and I felt my heart break for the girl.
"Shh It's okay" I said trying to soothe her and she groaned oddly in response. It sounded like it was hurting her to use her vocals. I remembered reading once that when you don't speak for over a year, your vocal chords become weak and it could take months of speech therapy to be able to talk again.
"No, don't say anything, don't strain yourself" I told her when I saw her hands go to her throat. We sat there at the entrance to the school for a minute before I got Alex onto her feet and coaxed her out of the building. I brought her to my car and drove us to a random park where I took Alex onto the grass and just held her as she cried. I found myself wanting to know what had happened back there but I knew I needed to give Alex some space so I didn't say anything. Soon her sobbing reduced to soft hiccups as she calmed down.
Alex's POV
My throat felt like it was on fire. There was a searing pain from what i had done. I hadn't expected that to happen, it just did. Something is seriously wrong with me. The hallucinations are coming back and they're worse than they were before. They had never seemed so realistic, and that's what scared me. I was so thankful to have Mitchie there, if she wasn't, I probably would have done something stupid. My past is haunting me, I have no idea why now, but I will find out.
Mitchie brush my hair out of my face and wiped the remnants of my tears away. She looked into my eyes and I looked back wondering what she was thinking. Then she started to lean in and before I knew it our lips connected. I swear there was fireworks shooting all around us. My mind was completely wiped clean, I couldn't even remember my own name, the only thought to pass through my head was her name. The world melted away around us, and there was only the two of us in this blissful state where nothing else mattered.
Suddenly we heard a scream and we broke apart turning our attention to the sudden noise, but it was only a little girl playing with her friends. I looked back to Mitchie to see she was watching me with a glint in her eye. I started leaning in for another kiss and so was she when I heard a voice.
"mark my words girl, you will forever fear me and when the time comes, I'll have you as well." I screamed and threw myself back onto the grass. The voice echoed in my head and I recognized it but I couldn't quite place from where. Then I remembered.
Flashback
"Shut up" The man ordered as he moved behind them still aiming the gun. He grabbed my Dad and pulled him over to the register. I bit my tongue to refrain from making any noise.
"Open it" Dad did as he was told and the man started to take all the money out.
"What's going on?" I heard a voice whisper above me. I looked up to see Justin and I thought on my feet.
"Nothing"
"Is this another one of your schemes?"
"Shh. And yes."
"Am I involved?"
"No"
"Then I don't want to know" He said then went back inside the apartment portion of the building. I looked back down to see the man counting the money.
"There's gotta be more, where is it?"
"There isn't anymore, that's everything, I told you-"
"I said shut up!" He kicked my father in the stomach and he doubled over. My mom moved to get to him but the gun was then pointed at her. Oh no. I need to do something, but what? Then I acted on impulse alone. I didn't think, I just did. I started silently creeping down the stairwell and was able to sneak up behind the man undetected. Then I launched myself on his back, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding tightly.
"Alex!" My mom and dad screamed in unison.
"Get off me you little brat!" The man screamed at me, thrashing about wildly trying to shake me loose. I could only hold on for so long.
"RUN!" I screamed at my parents. "Get out of here!"
"Not so fast!" the man yelled and without giving anyone time to react, he pointed the gun and shot. I screamed as I watched my father fall limp to the floor.
"NO! " That had been enough distraction to loosen my grip and the man through me off his back and onto the ground in front of him. My mom rushed to my side only to be shot next.
"MOM!" I screamed even more tears cascading down my face. I ran to her unmoving body and tried to check for a pulse, but there wasn't one. I ran to my dad and did the same but got the same results.
The man laughed cruelly as I sat there crying. He then stepped up to me as I shrinked away from him. He stopped and got on one knee so that he was level with me. He reached up and pulled his mask off.
"Get a good look at my face kid. There's going to be a point in your life that your gonna see it again. See? I got a few things from your parents over the years, they're good friends of mine." He smiled and I felt like I was going to be sick from his words. "Mark my words girl, you will forever fear me and when the time comes, I'll have you as well."
End flashback
I came back to reality, but this time, I wasn't afraid. I wasn't sad or even close to tears. I was furious. I got up ignoring Mitchie as she asked me if I was okay. I immediately started marching in the direction I needed to go. I remembered now. I remember that I'm going to prove him wrong. I'm not going to be living the rest of my life running scared. I'm not going to be living in fear of him anymore. Now that I knew what it was aimed at everything seemed so much brighter to me and it all made sense. The sudden hallucinations and breakdowns. The nightmares. I felt more energized and determined than ever. Jaque's not going to know what hit him.