Light Read online

  He was right, my mom. Why would he care?

  I hated crying and tried really hard not to, but the tears won the battle as my mother hugged me again.

  “She is safe now, Tim. I’m sure whatever Chas went through, she’ll tell us after she’s taken a bath.”

  “Vinique! That’s it? That’s all you are going to do?” Tim yelled some more with his hands in the air. He was beyond pissed off.

  “Don’t push me today, Tim!” my mother yelled. “I had a really shitty day.” She’d never spoken to Tim like that before, or glared at him like that. It wasn’t like her.

  Tim grunted and the lamp on the table was smacked down from its spot and smashed onto the ground.

  “Mr. Swanson,” one of the cops said. “You need to step out of the house for a second.”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “Is everything okay, here?” The lady cop asked.

  “We’re fine,” Mom said with the sweetest smile she could master. “My daughter is safe, that’s all that matters. Thank you so much for coming out. You are free to leave.”

  Mom still had her arms around me. She’d never been this upset before and I really felt crappy.

  The cops just watched us for a couple of seconds and then the lady cop smiled. “Okay, if you need our assistance, just call us again.”

  “Thank you again, all three of you and don’t worry. We are perfectly safe.” Mom tried to alleviate their worries and the cops left.

  Tim stared at both of us. I hid my face in my mom’s shoulder, but I could feel his eyes on me, glaring into my soul. With huge strides he left and went to the basement, to his man cave.

  I jumped as the door of the basement slammed hard behind him.

  Mom kissed me again and led me up the stairs and into the bathroom. She didn’t say a word, didn’t ask a question, just opened the taps.

  “What happened, Chas? Where were you? Why didn’t you phone? Do you have any idea what you put me through today?” She was close to tears.

  “I’m sorry, Mom. It was Clare and the gang again,” I said and start telling Mom everything. I even showed her that my phone had cracked when Clare pushed me. She wasn’t happy about that either. I told her as much as I could, except the part where soft, golden brown dust-like grit had emerged in my hands out of nowhere and made my opponents fall asleep…..it sounded so crazy.

  Mom caught sight of the bruises on my arms as I was still busy telling her what happened, sort of and I thought she was going to explode. “What is this? This is going too far, Chastity. It’s me and that school tomorrow.”

  “Please Mom, don’t. You’re only going to make it worse, I’m begging you.”

  “Chastity.”

  “Please, I’ll be fine. I found my way home, please.”

  Mom just gave me that look. The one that said she knew that I was in terrible danger and couldn’t do anything for me as it was my battle to fight, not hers.

  “Fine, but one more incident Chastity Blake, just one more, and I’m marching down to your principal, you hear?” she said and hugged me again.

  “I’m going to make us something to eat.” Mom finally gave me a soft smile, with a worried look, and left the bathroom.

  I wasn’t even hungry, just so tired, but the bath was working its miracle.

  My mind skipped through the events that happened this afternoon and lingered on Shades taking me home. It was her road, but it’d done the trick. I was home and all thanks to a cat.

  Nothing made sense. It was impossible, and yet it still happened. Fear of tomorrow, not knowing what Clare and her gang was going to tell everyone knotted my stomach. I never hated school like this before, and for Clare to believe that scaly bastard over ten years of friendship, hurt a lot. I wasn’t even into jocks. Yes, their pecs and beautiful features were nice to look at, if only they were smart. Most of the jocks I knew were idiots and did dumb idiot things like drinking and smoking and showing off their talents in front of girls like Clare. She was smarter than that and it hurt that she was so blind to Ty’s dog manners.

  I was more fascinated with the minds. The geekier they were, the better, if only you could take their minds and put it into someone like Ty, then his rumors could’ve been true, and the sad part of it was that Clare knew that about me. She knew everything about me, except what I’d done today. I hadn’t even known that myself.

  She was right, I was a freak and every time I closed my eyes I saw her crouching down next to Mark, yelling those words at me.

  After the bath, mom and I ate alone. Tim was still in his man cave, either trying to cool down or trashing the place. It was probably the former because no sound came from the basement. He had a temper but always tried to keep it at bay. Mom had this calming demeanor, she could calm anybody down.

  “Is that all that happened today?” Mom asked. I just stared at her. At times I swore she could read minds. That she knew the truth about me. It would freak her out, even if I was her daughter. No normal human being would understand. I didn’t even understand it.

  I nodded. “Can we please just not speak about this Mom? I’m really tired and just want to go to bed.”

  “Okay, baby.”

  I poured a glass of milk and heated it up slightly. I did it every night and wondered if my mom knew about Shades, if she did, she didn’t say anything. I took a can opener and hid it inside my bathrobe pocket when she wasn’t looking. A tin of tuna from the cupboard also went in there when Mom went to Tim’s man cave. Shades deserved it tonight.

  “Good night,” I said as Mom came back. “Sorry about today. I didn’t mean that.”

  Mom wrapped me in her motherly arms again. “Of course you didn’t. I’ll get you a new phone tomorrow and pick you up.”

  “Mom!” I groaned.

  “No Chastity, that is not negotiable.”

  “Okay,” I said and ran up the stairs to my room.

  I sighed as I closed the door behind me and took a breath. I was in my sanctuary. A place where my bookshelf was stacked with novels. My desk was always tidy and my computer had been off for the past four weeks. I only used to chat to Clare at night, so I didn’t need it anymore.

  I walked over to the bowl that was in my room and opened the tin of tuna, pouring some milk into another.

  I fell onto my bed and just lay there. My mind was clouded with thoughts and I kept staring at my hands, trying to find holes or something that could make today’s events possible, but there was nothing.

  I knew it hadn’t been my imagination.

  It couldn’t have been.

  I flinched as the cat jumped and my small ‘forget-me-nots’ planted in a small grey pot fell to the floor.

  She meowed, apologizing about her not so gentle entry as I jumped out of bed to save what I could, and stared at my door, hoping Mom or Tim’s super hearing hadn’t heard it.

  Then I put the plant into the empty milk glass and stroked Shades on her fluffy head. She was really such a beautiful cat.

  She must belong to someone, she wasn’t skinny, and she had a beautiful coat.

  I crawled back into bed and when Shades was done with her milk and tuna, she came to join me.

  She kneaded the spot for a few seconds before she lay down gently with her little paws stuck underneath her. A loud purr escaped her belly and I smiled.

  This was home, and I was safe tonight.

  I fell asleep faster than I thought I would. Guess it was the fatigue that had finally caught up to me. At first it was normal. I dreamt about absolutely nothing. The sound of a trashcan’s lid falling woke me up. My eyes flew open and I closed them again, opening them slightly.

  My heart beat a thousand beats per minute as I realized I wasn’t inside my bed anymore. I wasn’t even inside my room, or my house.

  I was lying on the hard, cold floor of an old sewerage that clearly wasn’t in use for sewerage purposes anymore. It smelled like pee and rotten dustbins. It was gross and made me wanted to gag.

  A brown piece of car
dboard that smelled worse than feet covered my body and I shoved it off. I was still wearing the clothes I’d had on today. The tutu was all ruffled up and torn. The one side bent into the shape of my body as I slept on it.

  No, this can’t be.

  I sat up straight and thought hard. The cat had gotten me home. I’d seen my mom, I’d taken a bath. What the hell was I doing here then, sleeping inside the tunnel like a homeless person?

  I jumped as I found a couple of other bodies lying on the other side of the tunnel.

  I didn’t remember who they were or recall meeting them, but since I was here, I clearly had.

  I looked at my arm. The mark was still there and I hovered to pinch myself.

  If I felt this, I’d know I was awake, and that this was real. If I didn’t feel this, I was just going to crawl back under that stinking cardboard and wait for my alarm clock to buzz.

  Still I didn’t want to pinch myself. I didn’t want to find out. I closed my eyes and did it.

  The pinch was real. My eyes shot open and I was still inside the tunnel.

  Rats rushed by me and I shrieked. I thought the bodies would wake up, but they didn’t. They just stayed there, motionless.

  I saw another rat and pushed my knees to my chest.

  I frowned and as I looked again, I opened my eyes wider to make sure I really saw it and that it wasn’t my mind playing tricks.

  There was clearly something off with the rat. From the front, he was fine, but the back. You couldn’t see the tail or feet. It was surrounded by dark smoke.

  He scurried away, deeper into the tunnel and another couple followed.

  I looked again.

  All of them had this dark cloud of mass following them.

  My heart beat again. Something wasn’t right with this place.

  I looked around again, touched myself and squeezed softly. If this place is real then where the hell am I?

  .

  A NOISE DEEP DOWN IN THE TUNNEL CLANGED

  loudly. I got up and heard the crunching sound of glass underneath my sneakers. The stench forced me to inhale through my mouth but the taste it left was ten times worse.

  A cold breeze in front of me screamed opening and I just had to get out of here and hopefully find my way home. Still the funny looking rats made me wonder if I hadn’t already lost my mind and was stuck somewhere inside four, white padded walls.

  More rats rushed past me, all of them minding their own business, but the black mass was following them like a shadow. It was creepy and made my skin crawl.

  I found the opening and started to search the wall praying that there was something lodged inside that would support my weight. My hands found a beam. It was really far from the floor, but I just had to get my foot on there. I needed to get out of this abandoned sewerage tunnel.

  After half an hour struggling, I finally managed to push myself up and found another beam close by. It was some sort of a ladder, and I found one beam after another. In less than a couple of minutes, I found myself out of the tunnel.

  It smelled worse than inside. A strong breeze made it hard to breath, and I took off my knitted ballet shirt that covered my leotard and wrapped it around my head.

  My scent lingered heavily on it and it smelled ten times better than the air.

  I tried to see through the wind and nothing made sense. I had no idea where I was, nothing in front of me looked familiar. To be honest I didn’t even think I was in Chicago anymore.

  The buildings were dilapidated. Structures that were once stores, were torn to the ground. Rubble was strewn everywhere and there wasn’t a sign of another living soul.

  Loneliness crumped my chest. I was struggling to breathe as it was but this heaviness made it ten times worse.

  Dreaming popped into my head, but there were no way that dreams could be this real. To feel the wind burning your skin, drying it out in mere seconds, the cold brushing against my body. I started to shiver and knew I had to get out of the cold, but where to? I had no idea.

  A ripple of golden dust twirled around me and flew in a golden stream in front of me. My first instinct told me to follow it. It flew over a street lamp that lay on the asphalt. I climbed over it and ran to keep up. It flew around the corner, and I saw more destroyed buildings. The cars were rusty, with no doors or tires.

  I didn’t know what had happened here, or even where the hell I was.

  I jumped around as a cold finger traced down my back. I could feel eyes on me. Who they belonged to I had no idea but the chill, the kind that flows through your core and makes you shiver from within, told me that they didn’t belong to anybody good.

  Through the corner of my eye the golden trail flew into another old building. There was a faint light coming from inside and I ran as fast as I could toward it. There were people there. I didn’t know whether they were good or bad, but the thought of not being alone was better than the feelings I’d had a couple of seconds ago.

  I could tell the structure used to be beautiful. It had two golden lions molded inside the wall. Part of the one lion’s head was broken off and the other one had plenty of soot over it.

  I found the outline of a reception inside. Around it were crates and lots of steel tables stacked against one another.

  Further down past the reception I found a fire that burned behind something that used to be a couch. It was what made the faint light, but there was nobody in sight.

  The trail of golden dust drew a direction line in mid-air and a knowing feeling told me that it was where I should go.

  The trail flew forward and down another opening that led into the ruiend wooden walls.

  Although I didn’t understand the golden dust and I really didn’t like this situation, I had a feeling I could trust it to get me to safetly inside this nightmare.

  I crawled down the opening. It was pitch black and my heart beat a notch faster.

  There was no sign of the golden trail. A horrible laugh broke the silence and my first reaction was to get the hell out of the wall, but then my eyes caught the golden trail again. It lit up the wall in the distance and it was the only light. I rushed to it again and followed it.

  The laughter came again. It sounded mechanical and I was scared out of my mind when a clown figure came into sight.

  It wasn’t real, it was plastic and I reached out to touch it just to make sure. He let out another laugh and I jumped back a couple of paces. I caught the golden trail in the distance again and ran to keep up.

  With the eerie clown behind me, I could face whatever lay ahead.

  This was one of the reasons I hated stupid clowns.

  More rats squeaked below my feet and I danced like a show pony as I could feel them inches from my shoes.

  I hated how my heart jumped a million beats per minute—or so it seemed—and the inky black darkness blinded my sight. I didn’t like watching over my shoulder every five seconds either. Someone or something was not far behind me. I could still feel its eyes on me and I just wished that I could get out of this place, wherever this place was. Still I followed the golden trail and it led me straight to the end of the alley.

  It stopped and started to swirl around in an oval shape until it became a solid golden circle. I found myself staring at it, I was mesmerized and couldn’t stop looking.

  Then it stopped and landed on what looked like an altar. Faint light started to glow and the altar became alive.

  It looked like an old mirror that was formed in the shape of an eye. The mirror was the inside of the eye.

  It became brighter and brighter until my reflection was caught in the mirror.

  I tried to turn around and run away but when I glanced one more time, my reflection just stood there, as if it was someone else. She kept staring at me, she wasn’t afraid and told me to wait.

  It was so freak’n creepy.

  My feet were nailed to the floor and I couldn’t move.

  My reflection started to narrow, as if something invisible was closing in on the side
s. It changed the shape until it resembled the pupil of a snake’s eye.

  The outline of a woman appeared inside the pupil. I could see her hair flowing in a path of wind. The strands were long and liquid. I knew it wasn’t me as my hair was cut in layers that only reached my shoulders. I stared at it as I couldn’t do anything else.

  The same golden dust-like grit from this afternoon emerged inside my hands again and ran down to the ground. I stared at it. This was anything but normal. The color of the sand had started to change slowly into a darker brown. It kept changing until all the light gold was gone, gradually turning darker and darker, until it was solid black. I didn’t understand any of this, and I didn’t know what it meant.

  A shrill noise came from the eye, and I covered my ears with my hands. More grit accumulated in my palms and I could feel it flow into my ears. It hurt like hell and in a panic I screamed.

  The grit flowed through me and it felt like it was embedded under my skin, I scratched at myself trying hard to get it out.

  Then a horrible ache jolted through my head. The sand flowed all the way to the pit of my mind. I let out another scream as everything just burned.

  A hand grabbed my shoulder, and I turned around. When I tried to get away from it, it only clutched my shoulders stronger, speaking softly to relax my beating heart. I struggled to focus on who it belonged to. My eyes watered from the pain the sand had caused and it made the figure blurry. It was taller than me and the deep sound of its voice told me it was male. The force of his grip around my wrist somehow broke the spell that held me to the spot in front of the eye.

  I could move again and the further I got from the eye, the less my head hurt. I had no choice but to trust whoever he was, and get away from this insanity.

  He pulled me up the opening through the wall, the way I had come a couple of minutes before, and found the area with the small fire again.

  I started to cough uncontrollably, like I couldn’t breathe and more sand came running out of my throat. It started to become less and less, until there were just specks of black sand clinging to my skin and clothes.

  I tried to shake it off, wary that it might be dangerous, but it stayed there, like a part of my leotard. I’d never felt this dirty before.