MONSTER by Brittany Miller

 

MONSTER

by

Brittany Miller

      I stared out the rain-splattered window, the tall, green trees a blur as we passed. It was the only scenery where we lived – Northern California. Trees, green, rain, and gray skies. No wonder why I went crazy…

     “Dawn? You alright? You haven’t said a word since leaving Sacramento…”

I didn’t avert my gaze to acknowledge my mother, who was driving. If it was any other day, I would put my headphones on and blast my i Pod.

But, today wasn’t like any other day… So I just nodded once and sighed.

      “I’m okay…just thinking…” My mother laughed a little.

      “I understand-”

      “No, you don’t. How could you possibly understand?!” This is why my mom and I weren’t close. She always pretended to understand me. No one understood me. Only my brother did.My mom continued to talk about what changed at the house while I was gone, and -as always- I ignored her and continued to stare out the window.We had been driving for a couple hours now and I could tell we were close to home. The small lake that my brother and I always used to swim in passed by. Just a couple more minutes…Then I saw it. I caught my breath at the sight of the two-story white house. The lawn was neatly mowed, and everything looked picture-perfect like it could go on a postcard.

     “Welcome home…” my mother said as she pulled up to the house.

Our house was literally in the middle of nowhere. Forest completely surrounded it, and the narrow dirt road leading to it wasn’t even on the map. Sure, we had neighbors. A couple miles away…The front door opened and suddenly I grinned. My big brother, tall and muscular with shaggy black hair, rand outside into the pouring rain towards our car. I flung the door open – not even bothering to shut it – and he picked me up, spinning me around.

     “Hey D!!” He hugged me tight as I smiled at my nickname.

     “I missed you so much, Danny.” I muttered against his shoulder, not caring that we were getting soaked. Danny laughed and set me down.

      “Let’s get inside. I don’t want you catching a cold.” He got my backpack and we went inside. I took off my jacket as my mom shut the door behind us.

     “Your dad will be home tonight.” she said, going to the kitchen.I took my backpack and walked up the stairs to my room. I had hoped that it hadn’t changed a bit. Danny walked in behind me. He laughed a little.

     “I told them not to do anything to it…” He sat on my bed.Ugh…they really out-did themselves… the walls were pure white and all the posters were gone. It looked like a guest bedroom! And I wouldn’t be surprised if it was used for a guest bedroom.I opened the closet and my eyes widened.

      “My clothes!”Danny winced.

      “Ah…yeah, that also.”They had gotten rid of all my dark clothes.

     “Everything is so…colorful…” I said in disgust, closing the closet doors. I sat on my bed and Danny looked at me. Time for the talk.

     “How are you doing?” He asked, concerned.I laid down and stared at the ceiling.

     “Better…” Danny waited for more detail. I sighed long.

    “They gave me pills but I threw them away…”

    “Threw them away?! Are you crazy?!”I gave him a look, then we both started laughing. Of course I was crazy. I just got back from the psychiatric ward, didn’t I?I was in the horrible place for one solid year. It completely ruined my life; my own mother and father didn’t come for one visit, and Danny could only come see me once every few months.

    “Seeing anything lately?”I looked up at him and took a deep breath.

     “No…”Danny smiled.

     “Awesome.” He stood up and kissed the top of my head.

     “I’m glad you’re back.”

     “Me too…” I mumbled quietly, watching him leave. Truthfully, I had been seeing things. And my weird dreams weren’t helping.I put my hands behind my hair, staring blankly.Then men in white coats – I refused to call them doctors – had talked with me for a while.My twin sister, Cassie, had murdered my best friend, and I went crazy. They put me in the Sacramento psych ward, while Cassie went to the Los Angeles one.I got out after one year, and the white-coated men told me to say nothing about Cassie. Fine with me.

    “Dawn!! Dinner!!”  Dinner didn’t improve the mood set in the house. I sat in my old spot across from Danny, and my parents sat at either end of the table. There was complete silence as we ate.My father cleared his throat. “So..um…Dawn…” he wasn’t a very good conversation maker, so I decided to just skip the awkward silence.

     “I’m doing good, Dad.” I stuffed a forkful of salad in my mouth.

     “Honey, you really should cut your hair.”Both I and Danny looked at my mom with a blank stare.

     “What?!”
     “Yeah, what’s wrong with her hair?” My brother pitched in.

     “Do you see anything wrong with my hair, Danny?”

     “Nope. Not at all.”

     “Then what’s wrong with it?!” We looked at my mom again and she sighed long.

     “It looks…messy!”I touched my waist-length black hair and frowned.

     “Well, I think it looks fine.” Danny muttered.I stood up quick.

     “Why are you doing this, mom?!”

     “What are you-”

     “You’re trying to CHANGE me!” I stormed out of the dining room and ran upstairs into my bathroom.

     “You want my hair cut?!” I yelled, grabbing the scissors.Danny came in.

     “D, stop messing around!”I grabbed a chunk of my long hair and started cutting.Was this helping to convince my family that I wasn’t crazy anymore? Uh…no. Did I really care? Of course not.Danny tried to grab the scissors but it was too late. Now hair piled at my feet and my hair fell to my chin.I looked at Danny.

     “Like it?”Danny sighed long and looked at me, then walked off. I started to clean the hair up when I heard a laugh.

     “You haven’t changed a bit, Dawn.”I froze and stood up slowly, turning to the door. And there she stood.

     “C-Cassie…” I whispered.Cassie grinned.

     “Hey sis. Miss me?” she walked over and touched my hair.

     “Did you freak out on mom again?”I grit my teeth.

      “No…I-I wanted to cut it.”I threw the hair away and glaring at my twin.

      “What are you doing here?”Cassie crossed her arms and leaning against the sink.

      “I escaped.”

     “What?! Escaped?!”Someone came up the stairs.

      “Dawn? Who are you talking to?!”I shut the door, locking it.

      “No one, Dad!”Cassie raised an eyebrow.

      “Not allowed to talk about me?”

     “No…they don’t know you’re here?”

     “Nope.”I sat on the edge of the bathtub.

      “Answer my question… ?”Cassie looked at me.

      “I came back…for revenge. They put me in the psych ward. Now they have to pay for it.” She slowly pulled out a knife from her jacket pocket. I gasped.

      “No!! You can’t!!”

     “I can. And I will.” she smiled, putting the knife back.

      “See you later.”I watched Cassie leave, then put my head in my hands. When Danny knocked, I jumped and yelled a little.

     “Dawn?!”I opened the door and pushed past him.

      “I-I’m fine.”That night I woke up suddenly, gasping. I looked over and jumped, seeing Cassie sitting on the edge of my bed.

     “What…?”Then I noticed it. Blood covered Cassie, and she held a butcher knife which was dripping with blood.

     “I…I did it…” she whispered, a hint of a smile on her face.I shook my head, getting up fast.

      “NO! NO!!!”Cassie followed me as I ran downstairs, then into the living room where my parents and brother had been watching a movie.I gasped and stopped abruptly, eyes wide. My parents were sprawled on the couch and there was no sign of life. I ran over to Danny who laid on the floor.

     “N-no…Danny?!”I knelt down, putting my hand to his heart. There was a faint beating, but stab wounds covered his body.

     “Danny!!”Danny didn’t respond and I started crying.

      “No…” I glared at Cassie, tears streaming down my face.

      “H-how could you?! You’re own family!!” I screamed.Cassie stabbed the knife into the wall, leaving it there and grinning.

     “Don’t pretend you never thought about doing this either…”And then there was silence as I stared at her dumbstruck, and my brother’s heartbeat slowly faded beneath my hand.A week later I stood in a long, white hall, looking through a window. A brightly-lit room was on the other side; this place was too familiar. The psych ward.Cassie was lying on a bed, strapped to it, and gazing up at the lights. She had murdered my whole family..and now I was alone.I glanced over as a man in a white coat came beside me and watched. I looked back to my sister and she was staring straight at me, smiling. I gasped, jumping.Suddenly, when I blinked for a split-second, I was staring at the ceiling, bright lights shining in my face.

   “Nn…” I tried to move but my arms and legs didn’t budge. My eyes widened.     

   “No…”I was strapped to the bed in the room that I had just been staring at. I yanked at the straps, screaming.

   “NO!!” Looking to the window, I saw Cassie laughing. Then she disappeared into thin air. The man in the white coat who had been standing beside me came in.

    “Calm down, miss.” A woman assistant dressed in white came in after him.

   “What happened to her?” she asked, taking a clipboard out.

   “She was released from this same place not long ago. Then went crazy and murdered her whole family.”I froze.  What? WHAT?! After a moment of thinking…I understood…Cassie never existed. The men in the white coats had told me not to talk about her…because she wasn’t real.I cried harder, realizing everything.

I murdered my best friend.I murdered my parents.I…murdered my brother, the closest person in my life…the only person I had really loved.