A Sad Life

Clean white walls was what she saw most of her childhood. It was hard being labeled as mentally disturbed and living a normal life after that. Even at three and four her parents thought her disturbed. When she was finally allowed into first grade, her mother kept almost everyone away with stories of how ‘sick’ and ‘mentally unstable’ Casey was. She was more concerned with the other kids than she was with Casey, afraid the young girl would hurt them or worse.

Jordan and Jake were the only ones she had to lean on, and even then not everything lasts forever.

One day while they were driving, Casey saw something. Pointing it out caused fright in Jake who swerved and soon after crashed the car, killing himself and injuring Jordan and his girlfriend while throwing Casey out of the car. She stayed hidden for a week, but in truth she was taken. When they found her, she was malnourished and shaking and spoke of a tall man hunting her.

Not only had her mental state declined according to others around her, someone had branded her back with a strange symbol. Terrified and traumatized, Casey was put on psyche medicines, as well as a handful of other medicine. Once she was released she started vloging. Her social life declined further - and there wasn’t much that could be done to bring it up to normal.

Then Sam was born, and she could only hope to protect him from the horrors that ‘the forest’ had brought her.

“Never go into the forest,” She’d say, her mind mouth working faster than her brain as she stumbled over her words. “There’s a very mean person there. If he catches you he’ll never let you come home!”

She’d shake as she recalled their meeting, the tall man and herself. She remembered the searing pain of being branded as she clutched at her back with unshed tears in her eyes. She’d never forget. And every time she reminded him only seemed more painful than the last for her.

And then the invite came. She recalled the flames, felt their heat lick at her skin as she torched the house. Heard the screams and the running as the house crumbled into ash. And the bullying, she could remember that too. The mean things written on her desk, the death threats. When she got into a fight she snapped, the pencil was quickly drenched in red. It dug into her enemy's flesh repeatedly, the led breaking of inside their flesh as she stabbed them.

She could feel him watching her, as if belittling praise was leaking from his nonexistent lips - she tried harder and harder until the mortified teachers were able to pull her off. She screamed and screamed, pulling herself loose before she ran out of the school building. She ran until she couldn’t anymore. And when she collapsed their she shook even in her sleep because she knew.

The tall man was watching, and there was one way to escape him - or the mark that acted as his link to her.