The smell of sweat and cheap alcohol fills my nostrils, the loud thumping music is going to break my eardrums at any second now. I groan and clutch my head, as I silently kill Jared in my head. That obnoxious twin brother of mine always makes it his mission to drags me to any party he went to because that's the one condition Lindsey's parents will ever let him take their daughter to a party.

So my annoying twin brother will always make sure that I go with him, so he can have quality time with his girlfriend who happens to be my best friend. Well, here I am, in this crazy place, all alone after my brother and best friend has practically ditched me as soon as we got here, so they can do God knows what somewhere around this house.

The party is in full swing and everyone gets crazier with each passing hour, I look at the drunk-looking teenagers in front of me with a bored expression. This is surely not my idea of having fun I just want to get out of here as fast as possible.

As I make my way out of this God-awful mess, I notice Lindsey is making out with Jared at one corner. I roll my eyes at that, not surprising there. Continuing my way out passing the grinding teenagers, some of them are practically *****. Ugh... they can't even get a damn room.

“Leaving so soon, Beautiful?” someone says from behind me, taking my hand in his, making me stumble a little. “I never saw you before,” he says again, smiling.

I roll my eyes at that. Of course, he doesn't recognize me, I'm not exactly popular in school, unlike my brother. 

Ignoring him, I snatch my hand back and process to the door. As I'm about to twist the door handle, he takes my hand again and pulls me to him.

“Come on, the party just begins, let's have some fun,” he says seductively, circling his other hand to my back.

I can feel his hot breath fanning my face with how close we are, I almost gag at the strong smell of alcohol. He clearly is drunk, so I push him off me easily, he stumble back and fall on his bum in shock.

“Sorry, Buddy, not interesting.”

I make it out of the house within seconds, welcoming the fresh air that greets me. I take a deep breath and regret it instantly, it smells like someone just threw up out here.

Waving my hand over my face to chase away the smell I make my way to my—well ... Jared's car— thanking God that I took the keys from him to take my phone which I left in his car earlier. Jared and Lindsey can find their ride, take it as payback for abandoning me in this horrible place. I turn the car on and start my long way home, preparing myself for the long lecture that awaits me. Thirty minutes later, I park my car in my usual parking spot. The lights still on, a clear sign that mom is still up and waiting for us.

The house is oddly quiet, weird, mom isn't waiting for me like she usually does. Relieved, I make my way to my room but as I walk past my mom's bedroom, I notice the door is slightly ajar, curiously, I peek inside and I think that my heart stops.

There is my mom, lying sprawled on the floor, not far from her bed. Her empty eyes wide open, looking lifelessly in my directions, they're full of terror and pain. Her face is paperwhite and I realize blood pooling on the floor from her lifeless body.

I'm frozen on my spot not knowing what to do, then everything comes crashing back to me, my mother is dead. I scream and then everything went black.

My eyes flutter open and I look around frantically, only to realize that I'm in my bedroom. My gaze finds the alarm clock on my bedside table that shows it is 07.13 a.m. I lift my body into a sitting position and try to calm myself and control my breathing. Is this all just a dream? But it feels so real, so vivid. I can still remember the party, the music, the sound, the image of my lifeless mother. I squeeze my eyes close at the memory.

“Shit,” I curse under my breath. Rubbing my face with my shaking hand, I can feel the wetness on my cheeks, I didn't even realize I was crying.

“What the hell is wrong with me,” I whisper shakily.

Taking a long deep breath, I let it out slowly before processing to drag my trembling body to my bathroom. I splash cold water on my face and wince when I see my reflection. My normally sparkling blue eyes look so dull and empty, they look red and puffy as if I've been crying for hours, even my face looks paler than usual. I close my eyes and even out my breath to calm myself down.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Leah?”

It's not the first time I have a nightmare. Ever since we moved into this house a few months ago, I've been haunted by weird dreams, but I usually forget about it as soon as I wake up, but this time is different.

Finishing my morning routine, I make my way down and to the kitchen. A smile forms on my lips as I hear mom's soft voice humming a random tune, it relaxes me to hear her voice after such a horrific dream.

As I got closer to the kitchen I was greeted by the sweet smell of pancake, making my stomach rumble in demand for food.

As if she can sense me coming, mom turns around just as I walk into the kitchen, her angelic face brighten ups as she sees me, her full pink lips stretch into a soft warm smile.

“Pancake?” she asks, gesturing to the stove.

“Sure,” I say, as I take a seat on the barstool.

Mom starts to serve our plates before she takes a seat beside me, and we eat in silence.

"Where's everyone else?" I ask.

"Oh... You know your brother and father and their obsession to the river." Mom rolls her eyes as she mention the river. I giggle, I know dad and Jared love fishing and will go to the river every chance they got.

“I'll do the dish,” I offer as we finish our meal. I take our plates and start to wash them.

“Do you have any plan for the day?” She asks with her usual excitement.

“Yeah, lazing around all day,” I say nonchalantly while walking out of the kitchen, I can hear her sighs disappointed.

Mom has been nagging me to get out more, it's not like I'm antisocial or something. I have friends but it doesn't mean I have to get out all the time, I just want some alone time sometimes.

Finishing the dishes, I dry my hands and make my way out to the backyard. I really hate it here, everything is so dull, everything in this house makes me feel uncomfortable.

This is my mother's childhood home, we used to live here when I was a kid. Grandma was still living with us at the time, Grandma... I shake the memories away and carry on my way out only to stop when my eyes catch something or rather someone.

A girl is standing beside the swing, her dark brown hair flowing over her back. Her eyes are a pool of black ink, contrast with her pale face, she wears a pale green dress that goes over her knees.

She looks at me with that dark expression, with eyes that look so dead. But that's not what scares me the most, it's her face. A face that looks exactly like mine. Her lips pull into a smile that chills down my spine, I take a step back in fear.

“Do you want to go with me? I need to go grocery shopping.” I jump at my mom's voice from behind me and turn around to look at her.

I look back to the girl beside the swing just to find her already gone. When I look back at my mom, she is still looking at me and I remember that I haven't answered her.

“No, I'll stay,” I say slowly.

“Are you okay, Honey? You look a bit pale.” She looks at me with concern, I smile at her.

“Yeah, Mom, I'm fine,” I reassure her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Mom, I'm fine."

“Alright, call me if you need anything,” she says smiling, she still has that concerned look in her eyes but decides to leave it alone. I look at my mom as she goes, my mind wanders to the girl in the backyard.

Who is she?

“Leah, are you done?” I hear my mom calls as I get ready. I grab my sling bag and hurry downstairs.

“Okay ... I'm ready,” I say when I reach her.

“Well, let's go.” She walks out with me on her heels.

Taking out my iPod, I plug it into the speaker and start scrolling the playlist. I let it play at a low volume, I never like to listen to loud music while in the car, well scratch that, I don't like loud music, period.

“Do you think we can see her this time?” I ask mom as she drives us to the hospital. She looks at me and smiles before focusing back on the road.

“Yes, they called me yesterday, said that she has been showing progress and was very calms, so she can get visitors now,” she says enthusiastically, I nod and looking out the window.

“I hope so,” I say under my breath, just for me to hear.

Ever since I can remember, my grandma is always so out of it, it's like she's constantly lost somewhere. Sometimes she will just sit there and mumble to herself. Another time, she will look scared and act as if something, or rather someone, is after her.

She can be pretty aggressive sometimes, especially when I'm around. She tried to attack me once, I was nine at the time. If my dad wasn't there, I don't know what would have happened to me. they sent her to an insane asylum since then. She never gets better, and I start to think that she never will.

According to mom, grandma doesn't always like that, that she was once a very noblewoman. She was a beautiful, intelligent, and respected woman in her time. But then everything started to change and when grandpa dies she totally lost it and keep getting worse from there.

“Leah, we're here.” I can feel my mom shaking my shoulder, I look at her confused, “you fell asleep.” She smiles.

“Oh ... I didn't realize, sorry,” I say, rubbing my eyes.

“That's fine, do you want to come with me? Or are you rather wait in the car?” she asks.

I'll stay in the car, I want to say, but I know she needs me there.

“I'll go with you,” I say before unbuckling my seatbelt and follow after her.

“We're here to visit Mrs. Donovan, I've talked to Dr. Riley, and she said that she can have visitors,” mom says, the lady behind the desk smiles at us.

“Oh sure, Mrs. Donovan is doing so much better these past few weeks, let me ring her nurse to assist you.” She takes the phone and starts talking with someone on the other line. Mom looks at me and smiles, I can see the happiness radiated around her that makes me happy. It's been months since the last time she meets grandma and to finally able to see her mother must be great.

A moment letter a nurse comes to us and introduces herself as Stacy, she looks like in her early twenty. She has auburn hair and brown eyes. She leads us to the physical ward while chatting animatedly.

I rub my arms in seeking comfort as we walk in this long white hallway, my heart is pounding and I have this unseating feeling walking in such a quiet place. I never like it here, this place always gives me this weird feeling. We stop at the door with number 136, Stacy pulls out the lock and opens the door, we walk in behind her.

“Hello, Victoria, how are you on this fine day?” she talks excitedly.

I look at the figure sitting on the chair beside the window, rocking, and mumbling. Her hair is tied in a messy bun, her eyes do not focus on anything. She sometimes taps her arms and keeps murmuring Incoherently. I stay where I am, looking at the woman that I call grandma. It's sad to say that I never get a chance to know her, that she's no one but a stranger to me.

“Look who's coming to visit you?” Stacy smiles hoping to get some sort of reaction, but as always, she got nothing. It's like she doesn't even see or hear us. as if she's lost in her own world.

“Mom?” Mom comes closer to the rocking figure, she gets to her knees and takes her hand, “it's me, Amanda, do you remember?” Her voice is shaking, “I missed you.”

 I know she's crying by now. Mom is always getting emotional anytime we visit grandma, and I can't really blame her. I can't even begin to imagine being in her position.

Walking closer, I put my arm on her shoulder to give some support. She looks up at me and smiles, putting her arm on top of mine and squeeze it, she turns back to grandma, “look, Leah is here to see you too,” she tells her, faking excitement.

“Grandma,” I call out softly.

Her eyes snap up at me, the usually dull and empty eyes now looking at me with venom, it scares me how much hatred she reflects on her gray eyes.

She stands up slowly, making my mom stands as well and step back. Grandma doesn't even care about her, it is as if she doesn't even realize mom was there as she's only focussing her attention on me, she starts mumbling again. I don't know what she says as she walks towards me. Her mumbling gets louder as she got closer to me, pointing her shaking finger at me she starts to scream.

“She's devil... she's devil... she's devil!” She tries to attack me while screaming the same thing over and over.

Three men rushing inside holding her back before she gets to me. She tries to fight them and keeps glaring and screams at me. I got scared and run out, passing a few doctors that running in, probably to try to calm my grandma.

I got to the car only to remember I don't have the key. I start crying, ignoring the passerby looking at me like I'm crazy. I don't know how long I cry in this parking lot before my mom comes to me. I sit silently in the car on the way back, not wanting to talk about what just happened. My grandma hates me and I don't even know why.