As a reminder - this, with another project was to see how much and how well I could do by writing a chapter every day. Currently, there are twenty chapters already written. After that, its back to writing.
Enjoy.
Cindy told herself she was going to be normal today, so she put herself in the park after school.
Sitting on the bench, seemingly reading a book, she watched other people in the park -
Those passing by her,
The kids in the playground,
Others ambling around.
Cindy didn't get it.
How was it that people who had problems were able to walk around as though none of it all weighed down on them?
What was it that made them so strong to carry that burden?
She saw a mother with her child, a notable scar on her wrist as she was holding her son's hand,
A young couple - the man had a bandage on his face, yet tried to smile through the pain to smile with his partner,
An old man, looking at the people like her. Then he looked at the ring he held in his palm before looking up at the autumn sky, being borne back by memories irreplaceable, clouds that could never hide the sun.
All people had their own issues, burdens that only they could carry, experiences that were tied to them.
But none of them had the experiences Cindy had -
Everyone around her was genuine,
While she was forced to put on a mask to wear the facade of something genuine,
And even then, she wasn't even sure she was selling the bit.
As she held the book, her fingers fidgeted - sometimes, she could still feel that sensation in her hand, the sensation of her fist smashing against something for the first time. The first time that her knuckles slammed against skin and bone.
How it was not choice that drove them, but instinct and fear.
Cindy furrowed her brows and rubbed her temple -
Lately, her senses haven't been shooting off sporadically like it usually did. Instead, she would get a headache, and the pained varied - from dull to a near migraine. The migraines were rare but the pain still caused a difference in her temperament, not matter how minor it was.
Sometimes, it would even crawl, moving from one part of her head to another.
Cindy had bought pain medication, but it didn't work or was only a temporary remedy.
She was only glad that sometimes the aches were brief,
Like now.
She dipped her head down and sighed, "...I can't do this anymore..."
She closed her book and set it back into her bag. She slung her back on her shoulders, put on her ear buds, turned on her go-to playlist, and began to walk home.
She was walking towards the entrance of the park when she sensed a particular set of eyes on her. She didn't look around in case this was an instance of her senses acting in a return-to-form. Instead, she continued walking through the park, and she felt that person following her - With another associated with them noticing her while staying inconspicuous once she reached the fountain.
Cindy looked at her phone, making it seem she were checking a text and frowned - whoever these people were, they seemed to be after her, and before she could do anything someone bumped into her.
Controlling herself, she spun around in feigned begin startled only to see a little girl.
"Oh! Sorry, miss!" The girl said.
The girl had fair skin and dark hair in an out-grown bob, and evidently her family's financial stability wasn't afloat for the clothes she had on were the definition of hand-me-down, their make and style ten or so years out of date.
The look of distress on her face didn't go unnoticed as she glanced around.
Cindy pursed her lip -
She had people following her in the park,
She couldn't deal with the troubles of a little girl,
It was her fault for seemingly getting lost in the first place by how much she was glancing around, as though searching for someone.
She even looked like a little troublemaker.
And thus -
"What's, the matter, little girl?" Cindy tried putting on a smile. The girl leaned away with a small turn of her body.
"Does it look that bad?" Cindy said, trying to make herself sociable.
The girl paused, staring at Cindy for a moment, "...You don't look like a bad person."
Cindy looked herself up and down, "I... don't?"
Still tense, the girl nodded, "People always smile when they want to bully me or talk mean about my dad."
Cindy frowned, remembering how own experiences with people like that, "...It just means they're pathetic."
The girl's eyes snapped to her.
"Oh! Uh, I mean - Where's, uh, where's you're parents?"
"I lost my Dad somewhere. He said he was meeting someone from work but then he was suddenly gone." The girl
scowled, "And that lady, she's a whore -"
"Pffft!" Cindy covered her mouth, not wanting to be rude.
"-she left me and my dad in a bad place. She doesn't get to be called 'Mom.'"
Those two were still watching her, she can feel them, but she couldn't discern anything of them at the moment. Or even if there were more of them in the park.
But, perhaps, with the benefit of the doubt, by helping this girl they would think they had the wrong person. Perhaps this was a case of herself merely her looking like the person they were looking for. That was what she hoped, at least, not being in the mood to deal with this. She felt tempted to just ditch the little girl and scurry away to lose the people eying her, but -
"Well, uh, if you lost your Dad, why don't we go look for him?" Cindy found herself softly smiling.
The girl was looking at her before there came a softening in her facial features as she relaxed, "Okay."
Cindy was hesitant, but she held out a hand, "So you don't get lost again."
The girl eyed Cindy's hand before slowly putting her hand in Cindy's.
As they began to walk, the Girl looked over, "You don't need to be so low to hold my hand."
"I..." Cindy trailed off, "Yeah. Right. Sorry." And she stood straight.
"I'm Cindy," Cindy said, "What's your name?"
A third associate, passing by on a bike. They were wearing a helmet with sun-glasses, making their appearance ambiguous enough on how young they were - Cindy's age, perhaps even a few years older?
"Marie."
"Oh, that's a nice name. So what does your dad do? Where does he work?"
"He works late, and he... lost his job recently. That's why he came here to talk to someone from work. Because he worked late, we barely have time to be together."
Hearing this, Cindy began to reflect on her relationship with her own father. Ever since she changed, her father gave her room, let her breathe unlike how her mother did. But, looking back, she saw that he was also somewhat afraid of her, given with what she could do - that she could never take back.
But he never abandoned her, even when he worked as a scientist he would always call to make sure she was okay. But she wasn't sure if the rift that was made was from how she was or it was because of his work, even now she still wasn't sure. Some embers never die in the minds of people, and sometimes all it needed was a little air to breathe back into a flame.
It was only a few years ago, when he stopped working as a scientist that he started making time for her. But by then, it was already too late, boundaries had been made, some of their foundations harder to uproot than most. It became clear to him and her, that by being home schooled and everything else, being sociable had become tough for her.
While she had built a wonderful mind of intelligence through her home schooling and her hobbies and interests, the thing necessary for her life as an independent person was stunted.
But, they still tried.
Neither of them pushing the other,
Both of them worried it would set off a bomb or press a certain set of buttons that would cause a scene or fight of some sort.
And,
Somehow, that alone was painful.
Things shouldn't be this way -
She shouldn't be this way -
Everything, all of it,
It shouldn't have been this way.
"Cindy?" Marie's voice had reached Cindy through a fog, "Are you crying?"
"Huh?" Cindy blinked, she felt hot tears trace down her cheek, she wiped them, "Its only the rain."
Marie glanced up at the sky, "Rain rarely happens during partially cloudy weather. I just did a science project on weather. And the other kids at school made me learn how to spot liars."
Cindy frowned, embarrassed she was crying in front of a child, "...Smart. Good thing to have."
There.
At the corner of her eye, was that person looking straight at them or was she imagining things? Her senses didn't go off, perhaps they were playing it safer now that she was helping a little girl? Those two were still following her, the third on the bike stilling riding around.
Where was the fourth?
The fifth,
The sixth,
Or even the possible seventh?
"Ah!" Cindy's fingers touched her head, an aching resurfaced.
"Something wrong?" Marie said.
"Minor headache, don't worry about it. Uh, where did you lose your dad, he might still be there."
"In the big playground. Dad said he'd watch me while he waited for his associate. But when I looked back at where he was sitting, he was gone. We were going to talk a walk along the main path later, so I thought I would find him there."
"And you ran into me?" Marie nodded her head, "Mm-hmm."
"Uh, do you mind if I carry you -"
"Yeah."
"O-kay... never mind."
"Why?"
"Well, people might get the wrong idea, won't stop them from getting the wrong idea."
"People need to learn to mind their business."
Hearing how sharp Marie's tone was, Cindy looked over, "...Its that bad?"
Marie paused, "...I don't wanna talk about it."
"...Okay."
They continued walking around the park and Cindy felt a fourth watching her, somewhere around here, she couldn't find any indication of who they could be in the people walking about.
Cindy pursed her lip -
This had to happen on a weekend, didn't it?
"You have big glasses." Marie said, "Your eye sight is that bad?"
Cindy merely took off her glasses, and Marie blinked on how large Cindy's eyes were. Cindy handed her glasses to Marie who curiously looked through them and recoiled on how blurry it was to look through. Not because of the lens prescription, but because it was made of plastic.
"My eye sight is too sharp." Cindy said, "I can look fine without 'em but my eyes'll start to hurt."
Marie blinked again in surprised amusement, "Cool." Cindy's eyes darted to Marie and held back her tongue as she handed them back to Cindy.
Cindy put them back on, "...Sure."
Another moment of walking around the park aimless -
Five, Six,
Seven,
Eight people.
They were all closing in, she needed to get this done fast.
"Ow!" Marie said.
"Sorry! I, uh, I'm running a little short on time... Uh, what does your Dad look like?"
"Dark hair, kinda skinny, looks kinda tough but he's really a nice person."
"Uh-huh..." Cindy said, skimming through the faces of everyone else in the park to try to match the description.
"Marie!"
Cindy and Marie turned around and saw a man in his late twenties with a red shirt and black leather jacket jogging towards them, stuffing something in the pocket of his jacket.
"Dad!" Marie's face brightened as she removed herself from Cindy, running towards him and letting herself be scooped up in her father's arms.
"Where did you go, I was only gone for a minute!" Her father said.
"Dad, you were gone longer than that."
Seeing Marie and her Father like that, Cindy felt something within her, crawling up her from within and threatening to pull her strings. She forced herself to look away.
"More like fifteen minutes," Marie continued, "And I found Cindy to help me."
"Cindy." Hearing Marie's father say her name made her look back at them, "Sorry about this. Uh, Harris Porter. Lemme just..." He fished into his pocket, and pulled out a twenty, presenting it to her, "Here, for the trouble."
Cindy wanted to deny it, but she could still feel the eight around her, and uncertain when they would press in she was prompted to take the money.
Not knowing what else to say, after waving bye to Marie, she bowed her head in respect before jogging off, feeling the eight on the move, closing in on her.
"Hmph... At least they're patient..." Cindy mumbled.
Marie waved until Cindy disappeared from sight. "She didn't do anything to hurt you, did she?" Harris said.
Marie shook her head, "I wanna see her again."
"Why? Did you two become friends while I was gone?"
Marie paused, "...When she smiled, she looked really sad."
Past people,
Past the green of trees and grass of the park,
Past the streets, the cars,
Into the dark of an alley -
Back into the shadows, that place that always hugged her with arms so warm, so comforting - they were a blanket,
She let go.
Although it was day,
Although it was not hungry -
She let it out,
And let it touch her.
The alley was of considerable length, not too long, not too short, enough to hide the inevitable confrontation.
She took a deep breath.
Eight there were,
But only seven came to her.
She turned around, and saw them - young thugs in black and purple, the bravado of their masks hiding their faces. With the extension of their hands, there came a purple light and metal manifested from their outstretched hands to form into weapons of their choosing.
She recognized the thug walking in front of the whole group, dragging behind a machete-like blade of large size -
The mask that hid the lower half of her face didn't hide anything to her nor the hood she wore to hide her hair,
Dark tan skin,
Black hair,
Jaded eyes sharpened to a point of malice.
And even if she couldn't see her face, through her intent to fight her, she could sense who she was.
"Where are they?" Lola said, pointing her blade.
"...Who?" In this state, speaking felt alien to her.
Her eyes - her's,
Her mouth - her's,
Her ears - her's,
But the mind - webs in maze tangles.
Many threads,
Starts and ends,
Ways cutting into the dark -
Paths with no light, an abysmal dark with only the thread being the guide.
"People that look like us, Bug Eyes." Lola said, "Cough it up. Say your innocence. Now."
Pling!
She jumped, tentatively putting a hand to her head.
Panic began to well up inside her,
Her breathing paced,
She put her hands to her face as a way to cope, as though she could grab those webs within her -
Her panting went faster and faster into hyperventilation -
"No no no... Nonononono...!" Fear gave air to her small, breathless voice, she began stepping back, "Its too soon, its too soon...!"
Lola and her group pressed forward.
"Stop!" She cried, shoving her hand forward in desperation, the group jumped, anticipating something that never came.
"Where are they?!" Lola 's brisked footsteps seemed booming as she stepped forward.
Pling!
Pling!
Plong!
Her body twitched and jerked with every web strum, the last causing her to seize up and shudder. The shadows of the alley became darker.
She clutched herself, stepping back again, "...I don't wanna hurt you, please!"
The one step Lola made sounded like an explosion.
"Lola, please!" She screeched, finally making Lola stop.
There was a pause,
Then Lola reached up and pulled away her mask, "You're smart, Moon. Maybe too smart." Step,
BOOM!
Her body lurched and seized up, clutching her arms so much they hurt.
"...Please..." She can feel her grip slipping, it was almost here, "...I don't want to hurt you... Please..."
Lola finally stopped moving, staring at her with shifting eyes, contemplating.
And a woman in a white outfit made of webs cut through the tension with her graceful, and silent landing in front of her on her haunches, her arms back high to help break her inertia. Her long black hair almost like wings as it hung in the air for a moment.
This woman threw something at Lola, who could only react in time to catch it, before snatching Cindy up and disappearing as suddenly as she appeared by leaping up in the sky.
There was a moment of unnerving silence, all of them processing of what just happened. Then Lola looked at the thing the woman in white threw at her -
A folded slip of paper.
Inside was an address.
Her phone rang -
Lola looked, paused, then answered:
"Yeah, B?"
There was a sigh on the other end.
"Lo, please." There was a pause, "...Did you do it? Did you hurt her?"
"We only stepped close, but before we could do anything something went wrong. Something's wrong with her."
"How? What do you mean?"
"Other than being like those web heads? She started seizing up, begging us not to go near her, saying it was 'too soon.' You said she was weird, Lo. Never said she was schizo."
"...Did you see anything about her eyes?"
"...Her pupils were dilating, back and forth, big and small and big again. Then that other one showed up - you know, the one with the red eyes?"
"...You said they looked the same, didn't you?"
Lola paused, "...You said her mom died."
There was a pause.
"I'm scared, Lo."
"Why?"
"I... feel like we're about to step into something we shouldn't."
"...Maybe. That woman gave me a piece of paper with an address. I'll tell you more once we go there."
This was where she liked to hide herself.
She had watched her enter this place multiple times,
It was reminiscent of her old home,
The place she had to live in for most of her life,
That thing...
That which affected both of them.
Someone had to make that sacrifice,
She was glad to have taken it, for if Cindy...
Well, she didn't entertain the thoughts of what Cindy would be now if she didn't intervene the way she did. But it was becoming clear the repercussions of what she did was manifesting now. This didn't just affect Cindy,
It affected her as well.
Webs were all over this place,
She remembered the time she made a canopy in the corner of that old place, despite everything she had made a joke about finally being in high places. She would have laughed then if Cindy wasn't forcing herself to smile.
And if time was not against her.
There was no canopy or any sort of living accommodation up high in this water tower.
Perhaps it was a sign that her cure had done its job,
Or, maybe it was another result of the repercussions.
Besides the webs, there was nothing else in here.
Just like that place,
That empty place.
Just thinking about it, the word, the circumstance - it hurt.
It should not have been that way,
It shouldn't have happened,
She should have listened to Cindy and made time for her.
Instead, all she had done was lost all of it -
Albert,
Cindy,
And...
The dam was cracking, emotions that had been evaporated was gathered in condensation and returned to water.
She removed the mask covering her mouth,
And the first rain in almost ten years began to fall.
Cindy was asleep in her arms -
So big,
So grown in appearance,
But still that little girl that wanted to see that super hero movie.
'But you said you would!'
She bit her lip and leaned her head back against the web padded metal wall, fighting back her emotions. She hit her head - once, twice.
Cindy's face twitched in her sleep, a whimper then a weary moan slipped from her mouth.
Crimson eyes as watering roses looked down softly at her.
Gently, she stroked her hair, then softly kissed her forehead.
She set her forehead against Cindy's and felt something connecting within her.
She made a vow -
So long as they were connected, she would drive away all the monsters.
All that time,
All of those birthdays missed,
All of those moments that were now only dreams -
This, was the only thing she could give.