Fade: Chapter II

Chapter II1

Melissa sat on her bed with her eyes welled-up with tears, her hands were shaking with anger and sadness, perhaps even fear. She shook her head, repulsed by the thoughts that she had allowed to enter her mind. She allowed the small steak knife in her hand, to drop to the bed. Her wrists seemed to grow weak, as if sighing from relief; but the rest of her arms were decorated with scars and fresh wounds. 2

It had been like this for a while now. Ever since last summer, Melissa had slowly been worn down to an exposed, depressed, and pathetic mess. Her black hair which had once shone with a healthy glow was now frizzy and unkempt. She had dark circles under her eyes from crying and staying awake at all hours. Even her clothes were worn, as she had even lost her urge to shop and her mother had apparently stopped caring about it. 3

Melissa stood up and picked up the knife. She didn’t even bother to wipe it off as she shoved it into her sock drawer. “Next time...” she whispered to herself as she slowly shut the drawer. She noticed some lights flash by her window as she walked outside of her room and closed the door.4

She walked down stairs and smelt the faint aroma of dinner. At least her mother still cooked, although she didn’t really know if her mother cooked for herself or for the two of them. Either way, she sat at the table and slowly cut into a chicken breast in a similar fashion to the way she had sliced into her own flesh just minutes earlier.5

Melissa glanced behind herself at the figure of her mother, who was sitting on the couch in silence; the news reporter seemed to be the only one who ever spoke in the house lately, and he only seemed to be on when some horrific disaster or political mishap took place. She doesn’t even care... Melissa thought to herself as she pushed several peas around with her fork.6

I can’t eat... Melissa sighed to herself as she set her fork down on the table. She glanced once more at her mother, whose silence was almost deafening by now. Suddenly, Melissa got up and pushed her chair out causing a loud screech on the hard-wood floor. Her mother turned her head slightly, but only out of start. Melissa pushed the screen door open and stormed out onto the patio.7

The night air was warm, but in a sinister way. It was that type of warm air that seemed to indicate an approaching storm, a heavy and thick warmth. Tension. Melissa stared out at the hill above her house, the road was busy with cars and trucks heading out to the city. She wished that she could just follow them away from her house, in hopes of finding a better life...but even that sounded ridiculous to her. Hopeless. Even if she did drive off into the night, would that truly end it all, she knew that only one thing could do that.8

Melissa walked out into her back yard and glanced over at the Thatcher’s house. It was an old looking house with off-white shutters and chimney. She could hear Maggie’s dog barking nearby. She slowly wandered towards the house and the large wooden fence that separated the two neighbors and their yards.9

The closer she came to the fence, the more her eyes squinted. A bright light was shining into the yards, casting a yellow glow on everything in sight. For some reason, perhaps curiosity, Melissa opened up the gate and stepped into the Thatcher’s yard. She walked up towards the dog’s box and shielded her eyes as the dog barked wildly at the blinding light. No wonder the dog’s barking...that car is really close... Melissa thought as she leaned in and looked at the lights with the animal, she slowly began to notice that the lights weren’t from a car.10

The lights seemed suspended in the air, hovering almost three feet from the ground. The light was blinding, but seemed to be generated by nothing. What was stranger still, was the nothing...not the fence, nor the dog, or even the dog box, was casting a shadow. Melissa walked closer towards the light, the dog barred his teeth as she walked in front of him, she edged in closer and blocked some of light out of the dog’s face.11

As she got closer to the strange lights she noticed that they didn’t grow larger or brighter, they didn’t seem to change at all depending on how close she came to them. They just floated there by the road like a sinister glare. Two large yellow lights creating a beam across two hold yards. I bet mom could even see this from inside... Melissa thought as she stepped close and felt her shoe step on the hard road.12

Melissa could hear a faint voice calling something, yelling or screaming, maybe even whispering, but she wasn’t sure because as she edged near the lights she suddenly collapsed on the road.13

The warm air was the last thing she felt touching her cold face.14