Every day, is the same, every single, accursed day. I haven’t slept, for god knows how long, yet nothing changes, that dreadful monotony, of ordinary life, simply won’t elude me. Its cruelty, its rage, are all too palpable, too vivid to stomach. I am cold. The radiators, which surround the classroom, are barely emitting heat. I am anxious. The kid sitting next to me, is giving me strange looks. I am scared. The visage of my scarred body, makes me realize, it’s going to happen, all over again.

“Miss Mia, would you like to solve this equation?”, my teacher asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“Yes ma’am” I answered.

I stood up, and approached the blackboard, the hand I held chalk in, shook as I started writing. I’ve always been good at math, which, isn’t really telling of my intelligence, at least that’s how I perceived it. It’s just a game, you have to try real hard to memorize the rules, but when you get them down, no matter how many steps it takes, your answer, will be right. Well, most of the times.

“Huh? I fumbled this one.” I thought to myself.

I could hear the teacher quietly chuckle.

“Oh, so close miss Mia, you almost got it”, she said, with a smirk on her face.

A look of utter glee, filled her expression.

I sighed, “My apologies, ma’am”.

“Good, you can sit down now, let’s have someone else try”, she said contemptuously.

 I walked towards my desk, and as I sat down, I could feel a mild south wind caress my face. The room, went dark. My eyes were peeled open, I knew something wasn’t right.

“Mia”, a terrifying voice whispered, in a tongue which was not of this world.

Frozen with fear, I struggled to turn my head towards the owner of that horrible voice. I finally snapped and looked back, only to see...

Two sharp rows, of massive teeth, and the ethereal darkness, which surrounded them. I couldn’t speak, let alone move. All I could do, was stare at the maw, of that eldritch abomination.

“What am I looking at?”, I thought. The thing came closer, floorboards cracking underneath it, I watched in horror, as its mouth formed a malicious smile.

“A great misfortune, will befall you soon”, the creature said.

“In three days, Mia, you will die”.

Upon hearing those words, I could feel my sanity slip away, I suppose that’s what happens, when you’re told the exact date of your death. The thing smiled, again, and then disappeared. The wind suddenly stopped. I could feel the cold of the classroom once more...

What was that monster? It looked like it came straight out of H.P. Lovecraft’s book-

“Ow” I yelped. My thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain, on the back of my head, and by the sound of a ballpoint pen falling to the ground.

“Lost in thought again, huh, Mia?”, a boy sitting behind me said, with a grin on his face.

I didn’t know it was humanly possible to throw a pen with that much force. I lowered my head, and stiffened up out of fear, I already had too much going on, at that point, and now this? I don’t think, I can handle, any more...

As the bell rang, I packed my things up and left the classroom, I felt like my heart would burst out of my chest. The experience I had, with that thing, and the one I was about to have, couldn’t possibly be compared. Yet, for some reason, the prospect of getting tormented again, scared me more than what that monster said would happen. Do I fear pain, more than death?

Death? What am I saying? There’s no way that thing was real. I was probably just hallucinating, that’s it. A case of trauma induced psychosis...

Although I couldn’t say with certainty, that, that was the case, I’d have to go with it for the time being, for the sake of my sanity, if not for anything else...

However, my sanity, would not be spared on that day. Not by the monster, and not by them. As I was walking down the hallway, I bumped into two students, they were of average height and build, although admittedly taller than me. Now in most cases this wouldn’t become too big of an issue, but, I knew these guys.

“Hey, Mia, it’s you!”, Kai, the one on the right said, as he struck me.

“You bitch, how many times did I tell you to watch where you’re walking?”.

My legs shook, as I backed away a little, and said: “I’m sorry, Kai”.

He put his knuckle on my forehead, and smiled. That damned smile, full of malice, and hatred, was a frequent expression of Kai’s. The bastard was as sadistic as they come, him and his friends, harassed me on the regular. It started out in my first year of high school. He would throw, half-witted and unfunny remarks at me, about the way I looked, dressed, and talked. It wasn’t long till that turned into something more, hurtful. Insults to my dead father, and my bedridden mother, a clear attempt at provoking some semblance of a response from me, something, anything to fuel his fire, yet I stayed silent. In my second year of high school, it became physical. Ever since then, it kept escalating, hell, I didn’t even know what to expect next. What was he going to do? Kill me? No, he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t break his favourite toy.

While I was thinking of a way to escape, he grabbed me by the shoulder, and brought me closer to him.

“Come with us”, he said.

“We’re gonna have so much fun”.  

I take back what I said, this day was different.

They basically forced me to keep my eyes closed, as they were leading me. I felt like a dog on a leash...

How did it get this bad?

Maybe if I stood up to him the first time he called me a bitch, I’d never be in this situation. Maybe not. In truth, it could have been a lot worse. But, alas, here we are...

Wait, where are we? I opened my eyes, only to see, a disgusting shade of grey, fill my vision. We were in, what appeared to be some sort of storage room. I was terrified. My earlier thoughts, flooded my mind, what if he did plan on killing me? It wouldn’t be that surprising, if anyone I knew would end up committing murder, it’d be him. And if anyone he knew, would end up being his victim, it’d be me. Guess what that monster said was wrong. This is the day I die. I couldn’t hold back my tears, I remembered, all the strife, I had gone through, all my pain. And the most damned part of it. My own complicity.

“Maybe, if I was a better person, none of this would be happening”, I said, unintelligibly, with tears in my eyes.

“Whoa, why are you crying?”, Kai asked.

“I haven’t done anything to you, yet”.

He pulled a white cloth out of his pocket, and doused it with some liquid.

“This, will make it a lot easier, for the both of us”, he said, as he brought the rag to my mouth. I tried to scream, but was unable to. Soon, everything went dark. The last thing I remembered, was his grin, and the pungent smell of the cloth.

When I awoke, I could feel the cold floor of the storage room. I gasped, and quickly inspected my body. Strangely, I was uninjured, no cuts or bruises, no blood anywhere. What was the idea, to simply knock me out, and leave? I don’t get it. Was beating me up not working out for them? Whatever the case, I guess I got off scot free. I stood up, and opened the door to the storage. The daylight blinded me...

Huh? The light? It was dark when school ended. Could I have been out, for a whole day?

“Shit!”

I remembered that mom, was still at home.

“She can’t take her medication herself”.

I had to get home fast. However, I was in a bit of a predicament...

I had absolutely no idea where I was.