***NEED WORK

The alarm clock was loud, blaring at a painful pitch beside my ear. My eyes snapped open to a dimly lit room. It was sort of dark outside, and the slight low light that escaped through the curtains made its way into my room, lighting the space in a bluish hue.

Stiffly, I reached over and clicked the alarm off. Immediately the ringing cut off, leaving a pulsing ring in the air. I got out of bed and crossed the room to my window.
Strangely, I felt great, renewed for some reason. It felt awfully out of place, the sensation airy and something I was not used to. I approached the window, pushed the curtains aside and nudged my window open. It groaned loudly under my hand in protest as I pushed it open.

A cold crisp breeze hit my face and swept through my room, lifting away the thick, heated air from the space. I breathed in deeply and sighed, all traces of sleep gone from my system. It was so refreshing; the cold air brushed against my skin lightly, sending chills down my spine. I inhaled deeply, each draw of breath penetrating deep to cool my whole body. I let myself a few moments for of this quiet peace before turning back to the room.
Another day of school, I thought miserably to myself.
With one final defeated sigh, I turned to the door, heading for the bathroom.

My fingers were just inching from the doorknob when something in my mind clicked, making my heart go cold.

Last night...

Last night's dream had been unforgettably vivid, in the worst of ways. My thoughts fell into the dark memories, going through every second of the ordeal in great accuracy.
I got up to take a shower... I reached for the doorknob and everything went black...

I wheeled around, half expecting a dark stranger behind me. I jolted as I saw a figure looking right at me. I gasped, my chest feeling like it would explode.

--- it was just my reflection.

I stared at myself in my full-length mirror, my face staring back wide-eyed and spooked.
I groaned, shaking my head lightly. I closed my eyes, trying to slow my heart back to normal rhythm.
Calm down, Celeste! It's too early for this! It was just a dream... Last night, you went through another one of her "episodes" and Lia saw your bruises---

I stopped short, my thoughts cutting off abruptly.
The bruises...

Slowly, I opened my eyes, careful to keep my gaze down to my wooden floor.
What was wrong? Why did I feel this way? Suddenly, I was very uneasy, feeling as if a suppressed memory was threatening to explode into consciousness.
Come on... what are you afraid of? I taunted myself, hating my cowardly feelings.

Taking a deep breath, I dared myself to inch my gaze up back to the mirror, where my reflection was tensely waiting. I looked, and felt my tighten and my heart stricken with another sick jolt.
... How? Why?... no... no, no, no... it can't be...
I couldn't believe it... but now I couldn't deny any of it.

There was not a single bruise or cut on my face.

I was bewildered. I had taken those hits squarely; I even remembered the metallic taste of blood on my lips. Yet there was not a single cut on me. My skin was flawless; no patches of discoloring, no scabby scratches.
Gingerly, I lifted my over-sized tee shirt up to reveal my stomach. No bruises.
I pressed my fingers to my scalp, probing for any tender spots. Nothing.

"What the hell?" I breathed.

I found my mind jumbled with thoughts, trying to find the connection between this and something in my memory to find a believable explanation.
Again, my mind was flooded with taunting memories.

"What are you fighting for? Your life will soon be mine..."
... Suddenly, the laughing died away and in its place was a horrible shriek of agony. I saw light...

My fingertips traced my face where I felt the warm gentle hand brush against the bruises.

The alarm clock beeped again, dropping me back to reality.
I looked at the time--- 7:02 a.m.

"Shit!" I hissed, and hurried to get ready.

School was starting in 28 minutes and I haven't left home yet. I grabbed the nearest pair of jeans and a shirt, threw them on, grabbed a jacket and my backpack before i jumped through the door. Another day of pretending life was perfect.

Except today, with some dark miracle, there was little less to hide.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Not daring to stop running, I lifted my wristwatch to my face and glanced at the time.
5:59 p.m.

"Dammit, I'm late," I muttered to myself as I ran down the sidewalk on my street.
The after school meeting with the Honors Society took way longer than I had anticipated. I hurried down toward my house. It was already starting to get dark and I had a nasty gut feeling.
Something bad was in place for me tonight. I just know it.

Finally the house came into view. I continued to run, cutting across my front lawn. Quickly, I skipped up the steps to my porch, plugged my key into the lock and pushed the front door open.
"I'm home," I called, not too enthusiastically.
I was in for some trouble. When am I not?
Sure enough, I heard a slurred shriek come from the kitchen.
"Get in here, you worthless pile of trash!"

Coming, Mother Dearest.

I dropped my stuff down by the stairs before silently responding to her call. I made my way into the kitchen to find my mother slumped over the counter, moaning. There were loads of emptied beer cans and bottles scattered all over the floor and the counter.
Oh boy, not again...
From the looks of it, I was going to have to help her up the stairs.
Hurriedly, I rushed upstairs and went into her bedroom. I went right into her bathroom and started to dig through her medicine cabinet. After ransacking the whole sink area, I finally found a small pill bottle of aspirins. Swiftly, I popped the top open and shook out four pills.

After I cleaned the sink, I went back into her bedroom and placed a cup of water and the four pills out and ready right next to it. I was about to go return the bottle back in the cabinet but then gave it a thought. Instead, I placed the aspirin bottle next to the cup.
By the looks of the kitchen, she was going to need it later on.
Finished with the prep, I got out of her room and headed back for the kitchen.

"Cella!" I heard a small voice call.
I turned and saw Lia standing behind her bedroom door. I hissed, holding back a gasp.
"Lia!"
I threw a quick cautionary glance down the stairs towards the kitchen. Then I rushed into Liana's room. Liana stepped back, allowing the door to open just enough space to allow me entry. She closed the door after I came in, and turned to me, her eyes full of fear.
"Cella, mommy, yelling... noise..." Liana stammered, trying frantically to tell me whatever she was trying to say. Her sentence came out in broken words.
She was obviously in distress, and all I wanted to do was comfort her.
But I had no idea how.

Just as I was about to pull her into a hug, a shrieking voice rang out from down stairs.
"You bitch!! Come here, right now!! stop hiding and clean this shit up!!"

Liana whimpered and cowered in my arms. The pit in my stomach grew larger.
I had to go and calm her down.

Gently, I pulled Liana away from my chest.
"Lia, you listen to me. You shouldn't be standing when mommy's like this, okay? If she sees you, who knows?" I murmured in a low voice.

Liana nodded her little head frantically, eying me nervously. I went on, speaking fast.
"Now I don't want you coming out of this room, okay? No matter what you hear. Everything will be alright. I won't let her hurt you, I swear. I have to go and help---"

"NO CELLA, NO!!"
Liana dove right back into my arms, panicked. She grasped onto my shirt with her tiny little fists as if that was going to stop me.

Again being gentle as I could, I pried her fingers off of my shirt.
"Lia, it's okay. Remember my promise?"
Lia nodded, her lips trembling.
"Then be a good tough girl for me, got it?"
Again, she nodded, and stepped away from me. I gave her a weak smile before turning around and rushing out of the room.

I stalked into the kitchen, cringing inwardly at what I knew was coming.
"I'm here, I was just..."
I stopped, looking around the kitchen. My steps faltered.
"... setting up upstairs..." I finished explaining, to an empty kitchen.
"Mom? I'm here now..."

The silence of the house was suffocating; it seemed to tear at me. I hated it... where was she?

I bent down and picked up a beer bottle closest to me and stood up. I looked around, but I still didn't see my drunken mother anywhere. The eerie feeling was coming over me, making my skin crawl.

"Mom? Mom, I'm---" I stopped when I saw a shadow looming over me from behind.

I didn't have time to turn around.

The next second, I felt something solid crash against the side of my head, and shattered glass raining down all over the floor in glistening shards before I went down.