Morgan

Opening my eyes, I find myself in a place that I can only describe as...a white void. There is no sky and there is no horizon. It's just white all around. I stare at the vast stretches of this empty place and take a few steps forward.

"Hello?" I yell. My voice echoes throughout the space yet I hear no response.

"Anyone here!?" I shout as I keep walking. I don't even know which direction I'm going. Maybe I should try going backwards?

But as soon as I turn around, I'm astonished to see this huge old house behind me. Was it....was it here the whole time? I look around. It's the only thing here. I guess I'm supposed to go inside it.

It is an old gothic style Victorian house with broken windows and grey paint peeling off the walls. The wood seems to be rotting as if the house will crumble down at any second. It gives an eerie and ghastly feeling. The more I step closer to it, the more drawn I feel to it and more compelled to enter it.

Like a moth to a flame.

Going up the stairs into the veranda, I walk towards the black wooden door. Gulping, I push the door lightly and it slowly opens with a loud creak that echoes throughout the void and the house.

The door reveals a long dimly lit hallway with faded red wallpaper that has tiny black hearts all across it. The ceiling is curved with dome-shaped lights on it. As I walk forward in the hallway, the door closes behind my back which makes me jump a little in shock. Despite that, I know I need to keep going. I then realize something strange about the tiny hearts on the wall. There's a thin crack in the middle of them. It's not too noticeable though.

The hallway leads to this room that looks like a living room. A shattered crystal chandelier hangs on the ceiling. There's a giant painting of angel wings in front of me on the maroon coloured wall. The temperature here is kind of different, as in, it's a bit cold. On the other side of the room, there is a fireplace. Black burned up wood lays there waiting to be lit up again. On the mantle above the fireplace, there is a white coffee mug with skulls and roses printed on it. Next to it is a broken picture frame without a photo in it. On the wall above it hangs a medium-sized photo frame. In it is a quote by Leonard Peltier.

'We each begin in innocence. We all become guilty'

The dusty and torn sofas underneath the giant angel wing painting surround a round wooden table with a single bowl on top.

I step closer to it to see what's inside.

Oddly enough, it's filled with brightly coloured candies. This seems so out of place. I pick one up to inspect it.

Suddenly, there's a loud knocking noise which almost makes my heart stop and I drop the candy on the floor.

The sound comes again. I can tell it's not coming from the front door where I just came from. It's somewhere inside the house.

"Is anyone here?" I call out.

The knocking stops and I feel myself getting a bit nervous.

I flinch as I hear someone start to bang on the door now. Just... what's going on?

Bracing myself, I try to follow the direction of the noise. It seems to be coming from the hallway to my right. It looks identical to the previous hallway As I walk in that direction, my heart beats faster with every bang.

It's the black door at the end of the hallway. Someone is banging from the inside. Do they want me to let them out?

With my right arm stretched forward, I walk towards the door. The closer I get, the louder the noise gets. I should let that person out, right?

Just as my hand is about to touch the handle, I hear another sound behind me from the living room.

"Don't open that door!"

I turn around and see a small dark figure standing at the end of the hallway.

"What?" I ask as I walk towards her. The closer I get to her, the clearer she gets.

It's a little girl in a red and black gothic lolita dress with dark shoulder-length hair. She seems to be wearing a mask with a sad face on it.

"You should never open that door," she says to me with her arms behind her back. The person in that room keeps banging on the door. Desperately begging to be let out.

"Why? And who are you?" I ask her with a confused expression.

"If that door opens, everything will fall apart. I worked hard to keep it inside. It should never be let out" she says in a serious tone as she simply stands and stares ahead.

"Who is it?" I look towards the door too. The handle turns up and down as 'it' tries to get out.

"A demon. I think sooner or later someone will open that door. When that happens...you won't be what you are right now and I will cease to exist."

"Wait...what are you talking about? And who are are you anyways?" I ask her persistently.

"Morgan. You need to keep in mind the difference between wrong and right. Or else it'll be too late." She says dodging the question once again.

"I asked who are you!" I ask her with frustration as I grab her arm and jerk her a little.

She finally turns her head towards me, facing me with that sad face mask.

"I am your lie. And that there is your truth"

She says in the same serious tone.

I lift my hand towards her mask, determined to see the face hidden underneath.

But as soon as I touch it, a big bright light from the mask makes me shut my eyes and through the thin flesh of my eyelids, I can see the white light grow and surround me.

My eyes flutter open to the warmth of the sunlight shining through my window. I try to recall the dream I just had but I feel it slowly slipping away from my memory. In the end, I just give up on trying to remember it. I feel so tired I don't wanna get up. I glance at the clock and close my eyes once again. Then I suddenly wake back up.

" I'M LATE! " I quickly get up and notice a big wet stain near the pillow. Oh no, the ice pack melted. Well, I don't have time for that now. I get changed, look for any bruises on my body and hide them with makeup. Grabbing my bag, I stuff an apple and a bottle of juice from the fridge inside it. Looks like a mom already left. Good. Then I proceed to run to school as fast as I could.

I'm out of breath as I slam open the glass door. The teacher along with everyone stares at me.

"Umm...sorry I'm late," I say.

" I've told you before too. Try to be on time. Now go take your seat! " the teacher says scornfully and continues to write on the board.

As I make my way towards my seat, I could already hear the whispering and the snickering of the other students. Aah...now I see why. Those jerks have managed to find new words to smear on my desk. I glare at the person behind me, highly responsible for this.

Jessica smirks "Hey loser, sit down. I can't see the board with your ugly head in the way "

Some of the students start giggling. I quietly sit down. Seriously, can the teacher really not notice what's going on or she just chooses to ignore it?

Suddenly someone grabs my hair and pulls my head back. As my eyes get fixated on the ceiling, Jessica whispers in my ear.

"Glare at me again and I'll gouge your eyes out "

And then pushes my head forward. As I stare down at my empty notebook on top of a desk filled with stupid words, I could feel the blood boiling inside me. If only...if only I was strong enough to kill this monster...I fill my mind with all the horrible ways I could ruin her life and make her beg for forgiveness.

My train of thought is broken when I hear someone calling my name. It's Lydia, whispering few seats away from me. She looks at me with a worried expression and mouths the words ' ARE-YOU-OK? '. I simply smile and give her a thumbs up. She smiles too and looks back at her notebook. What was I thinking.....I need to get rid of these horrible thoughts. Focus on the work! I pick up my pen and start writing.

At lunchtime, most of the students from my class prefer to eat outside the classroom. I and Lydia eat together in some hidden place too. Away from the evil that lurks around. As I put some books back into my bag and take out my lunch box, someone starts pouring something over my head. Its milk.

" Oops! Soooory~ " it's one of Jessica's friends, Luna. All of them are here too including Jessica.

" But hey! Since milk is good for you I'm actually doing you a favour! " she laughs. How annoying.

I spot Lydia about to enter the classroom but stops upon seeing what's going on. I signal her with my hand to go away. She seems hesitant at first but then leaves. The other students in the classroom also get uncomfortable and slowly start to leave the class.

Jessica sighs and gets up "Guys, aren't you bored ? " she says as she snatches away my bag from my hands and walks over to the window.

"Doing the same usual stuff over and over again " opens the window and throws my bag out into the air. I clench my lunch box and grit my teeth.

"Let's do something new today " she turns around and grins. All her friends nod and say yes in agreement.

" Got something in mind? " Helen asks.

Why.....am I so pathetic...whatever they're doing to me, why can't I fight back!!! I'm innocent, I did nothing wrong but still, I'm being treated this way. I never even did anything to bother them. If I don't do something about it I'm going to be stuck at the bottom forever! My dream of living a peaceful life will never be achieved! ugh...why is this world so filled with disgusting people!!!

Jessica smiles and thinks for a moment " Weeelll~ not exact-"

" ...trash..." I mutter.

She stops and looks at me blankly " What was that? "

It's then that I suddenly find myself jumping off that cliff and into the air with a cold and cruel ocean, roaring underneath like an angry lion.

I get up from my seat, juice bottle in hand and whip my arm up throwing the juice all over Jessica.

" I SAID YOU'RE ALL TRASH! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT SCUMBAGS! LOWER THAN DIRT! YOU ACT THIS WAY JUST TO HIDE HOW PATHETIC YOU ALL ARE! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT! " I breath heavily as if I'd run a marathon. The room is filled with silence as they all stare shockingly at me....all except Jessica...she stays expressionless. My heart beats so fast. It's exploding with fear and pride. I had blindly charged ahead, numbing myself from the fact that they are more powerful than me. That they are above me.

I turn around and just as I'm about to leave the class Jessica snaps her fingers and her friends grab hold of me. I struggle to get away but they hold on tight.

Jessica wipes her face with a tissue and comes closer to me.

" I'm not a fan of pineapple, you know. "

She rolls it into a ball and grabs my face forcing the used tissue into my mouth. I feel utterly disgusted.

" You really need to take care of that mouth of yours. So anyway! Guys! I actually do have something in mind for today. For that, we need to go to that old shed behind the school. Let's go " She says and leads the way. The others pull me with them but I keep struggling.

" I won't go! I'm not going to listen to you! I'm going to fight back! " I yell at Jessica.

She sighs and turns around "You do realise your all talk and no bite, right? If your smart, you'll follow me "

"What do you mean!? "

"Your mom. Her name's Alice Stanley, right? Divorced about a year ago ? " she says.

My face goes pale "H-How do you.....why do you know that...? " I never told anyone about my home situation except for Lydia.

" She works at my dad's company. I saw her once. And man! She looked so worn out! I'm pretty sure if she got fired she won't get a job so easily " Her words pierce through my heart. A ball of despair starts forming in my heart. All that pride and sudden confidence fading away. So that's her game...she had the upper hand all along.

"Let's go," she says. And I follow them like a numb mindless doll. As we walk down the hallway, people avoid eye contact and look away.

" Jessica's family has a great contribution to the funding of our school. Just saying in case you ever think of snitching " Ashley says with a smirk.

I've never wanted to die more than right now...

The shed door opens with a creak and a gush of dust fills the air. They throw me down on the wooden floor and get inside the shed.

" Girls, teach her a good lesson on how you should never talk back to those above you " She comes closer to me and kicks my face. Pain spreads on my cheeks like electricity.

" And how to be an obedient dog," she says and walks away. Sits on a chair and takes out an electric cigarette.

After that, I get beat up pretty badly by the others. Whenever I try to shout they'll kick my face hard. They'll pull my hair, punch me, spit on me, kick me in the stomach, stomp on my arms and legs. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't force back the tears. When they all seemed to be out of breath they step back. I guess it means It's over. Luckily none of my arms and legs is broken but the excruciating pain all around my body is intense.

"Get up " Jessica orders

I try to move but moving itself just hurts.

" I said get up! " she says a little louder this time.

Enduring the sharp pain, I manage to get up at last. I also grab a bit of sand from the floor. I see Jessica take something out of her pocket. When I see what it is all the pain gets replaced by terror and I feel myself struggling to breathe.

Its a pocket knife

"Ok, now strip "

What...did she just say? Did I mishear her?

" Come on, take off your clothes," she says again.

No...this...this is going too far...

"You sure about this jess? Seems risky " Ashley says. Yes! Please stop her!

" Shut up " she snaps back at her.

As if on instinct I throw the sand I was hiding in my hand at them. Blinding them for few seconds. Taking the opportunity, I make a run for it. As fast as I possibly could after the state, I'm in. Tears well up in my eyes again due to the pain.

I run out the school gates into the streets. Luckily, the security guard wasn't there at that time. I glance back and could see them following me. Fortunately, they are still far. I make a turn towards an alleyway and hide behind some trash cans. The girls just stand out on the street, short of breath.

"Let's...just go...back! " Hellen says

" Yeah....breaks almost over...forget about her, " Luna says

Then I hear their footsteps fading away. As soon as they're away I breathe heavily realising I was holding my breath.

Shit.

I called them trash and now here I am hanging out with literal trash! I need to go home quick. I'll message Lydia to get my bag from there later...oh..wait....my phone was in my bag. Ugh! Screw it...I'm too tired.

I walk out of the alleyway and start walking in the direction of my home.

I notice a black car coming my way and suddenly it stops in front of me. The door suddenly opens and before I have a chance to run away, A man wearing a ski mask grabs me, forcing a piece of cloth onto my mouth and nose. He then pulls me into the car and closes the door. The driver starts to drive the car away. I struggle but to no avail against a big man. Slowly I feel my consciousness slipping away.

Why....why is this happening....am I cursed or something...?