Ilana sat in the tub, somewhere between panic attack and suicide attempt. That numbed sort of realty that she always lapsed into after an epically bad nightmare.
The tub had started to fill, and at least 3 inches of water had collected, tinged slightly pink from the numerous cuts that covered Ilana's arms. Her hand was bleeding from where she was gripped her razer blade.
Ilana heard the door open, and braced herself.
"Ilana?" came a voice, the voice of her twin sister, Kathleen. "You alive?"
"Yeah." she said.
Kathleen pulled back the curtain and stared at Ilana. Kathleen wasn't her blood twin, Kathleen was her heart twin. Sister, really. They had only decided to say twin because of the fact that their birthdays were 3 months apart.
Not that anyone needed to know that, it was more fun confusing the heck out of people.
"Well then." Kathleen remarked, "What to do...What to do; you okay?"
"Sort of, bad nightmare."
"Ahh, well," Kathleen put her hand on Ilana's shoulder.
Ilana sat there calmed a bit, and snapped back to reality.
Then the grip on Ilana's shoulder tightened.
She looked up and Kathleen, "What are you doing?" she asked.
No response.
Kathleen's hand jerked to Ilana's throat, and her grip tightened, choking Ilana.
Kathleen, pushed Ilana's back, and put her head under the water.
Ilana scratched and clawed, trying to get free.
Her lungs were burning and her vision was red with black spots.
She couldn't breathe...
She couldn't breathe...
Ilana bolted upright, she was wet. She was in the shower. Her wet pj's were underneath her. Her hand was bleeding. Her leg had about 50 cuts on it. Her watch was beeping it's alarm. Her head was pounding, and her neck had a crick in it.
That's what she got for sleeping in a tub.
It was 6am, time to get up. Her brain pieced together what had happened to her.
Time Lapse:
Ilana stepped out of her house and walked down the street. She had a two-mile walk ahead of her.
If her life was a movie, they might be playing Paramore's "Playing God" right now, or maybe Eminems "Lose Yourself" or possibly, Barry Louis Polisar's "All I Want is You."
Who knew?
She shook her head back and forth violently, trying to clear it.
It was cold...
So cold...
Her lungs were on fire, her ankles were screaming at her (more of a hades-raising roar actually), her shoulders were about to fall off, and her vision was red with black spots.
She was here, she didn't even need to look at the sign to know it.
But she knew what the sign said anyway.
"DECATUR HIGH SCHOOL, HOME OF THE GATORS"
Yup, she was here.
She saw some of her classmates already sitting on the grass.
"Hey guys, ready for another day of learning at Washington Virtual Academy's outing program?" she said.
"Sure." they all replied.
You see, she didn't go to this high school.
Not yet anyway.
She went to the online school WAVA-OMAK.
She was in the outings program, where she met up with her classmates everyday of the week, took a bus, and went to a site and had her classes.
Sadly it was over after winter break.
She took a seat as a car pulled up.
Out of it stepped a young woman with white-blond hair.
She was wearing a white long-sleeved t-shirt, a floor length pale blue skirt, a trident necklace, and a string of seashells wrapped loosely around her waist.
"Goodbye! I love you!" she remarked to the hidden driver of the car.
Everyone was happy. Didn't they know? They shouldn't be happy! Someone had died today, one year ago.
Ilana still remembered, as if it was yesterday...
"You think she's gonna be okay?" Ilana asked as she bounced her cousin on the hip.
Her little cousin buried her face into her shoulder.
"Maybe we should take her to the doctor." said the young girls mother.
"Yeah, that's a good idea."
Ilana had been staying the night at one of her cousins house.
When she got sick. The girl Ilana was currently bouncing up and down.
A sudden high fever.
A stiff neck.
She had thrown up a couple time as well.
A headache.
Ilana knew all these symptoms were from somewhere, corresponded to something.
But she couldn't name it. It was on the tip of her tongue.
"Hey, Minny-pinney?" Ilana said, to the tuft of blonde hair currently sticking out of her shoulder.
"Hmm?" came a voice from the hair.
"You gotta go to the doctor!" Ilana said
"Hmmm, no!" she said
"Yes, yes, he'll make you feel better!"
"No, hmmmm, ufrh!"
Ilana grabbed the girls coat and mittens as her mother stepped out of the door to go start the car.
"Okay Minney, here we go!" Ilana slipped on the girl's coat and mittens.
As Ilana stepped out of the door she heard the girl whimper, "Teddy!"
Right.
Teddy Bear.
Ilana grabbed the fat, overstuffed pink teddy bear on her way out.
Time Lapse:
She smiled, Mindy had smiled when told what was going to happen to her.
"It's Bacterial," said the Doctor, "I'm afraid there is nothing I can do, I give her a few more hours at the most. If you want, I can make arraignments and you can stay with her till the end."
Ilana sat their flabbergasted.
This little girl, her 8th birthday in three days, this sweet innocent little angel...
Was going to die.