Tortured Rebirth

The Deadly Beginning

The clouds masked the brilliant colors of the morning sun coming through the window. She would have woken up easier if it was a beautiful day. It was dreary as the rain slowly splashed against the windowpane. Arabella knew that she had to pull herself out of bed. Her alarm had been going off for twenty minutes as she kept leaning over to hit the snooze button. She yawned and rolled over, peering out from under the pillow she used to cover her face while she slept.

Her family would be waiting for her as always. The holidays always seemed to fall on days that she did not want to get up. She had a rough night. A friend of hers had a birthday get together and after they had all decided to go out for a few drinks. Arabella did not usually partake in this kind of thing, but she figured she would break out of her comfort zone.

Something did not feel right today as she lifted one leg off the side of the bed. Her body did not feel like it wanted to move or wake either. She grabbed the bedside table and pulled herself upright, noticing her reflection in the mirror on her dresser.

"What did you do last night, Ara you look frightening. I think the children would run screaming from you," she said to her reflection. It just seemed to stare back at her with this blank expression of nothingness.

She took the time to run her hands over her face and up into her blonde hair. It was tangled into balls at the top of her head. This was going to take some time in the shower. She stood up but her legs wobbled, and she almost fell to the floor. She caught herself on the nightstand but in doing so tore open the skin on the top of her hand.

"s**t!"

Her loud voice echoed through her empty room. She straightened herself out and walked to the bathroom door pushing it open and revealing the light she had left on before passing out in her bed. It made her blink and rub her eyes as the brightness hit her. She had eyes, the color of the blue sky. Arabella flinched and took a step back to block the light and ran her back into an opened drawer on her dresser. She could feel her skin scrape on that as well. She was not having a good start to her day.

"Arabella! Are you awake?"

She rolled her eyes at the sound of her sister's voice floating through her room. She felt as though her head would explode.

"I am getting ready to take a shower. I will be down shortly. Could you give me some privacy please?"

Her sister was already in her room and bouncing around like a feather in the wind. She had so much energy that Arabella felt sick to her stomach.

"You did not even knock."

Her sister was the opposite of her. She was vibrant and social. She had the ability to carry on conversations with a complete stranger. Arabella was not like that at all. She kept a very small circle of friends and only went out on a rare occasion. She was always late for events and family gatherings and she never had the ability to bounce through a room like a social butterfly.

"Mom is complaining that you are holding everything up again. I know you do this on purpose just to see which of our parents gets more upset with you."

"Honestly, Jess if that were the case, I would be late for more things. I am going to take a shower and attempt to make myself a little presentable. I am not feeling great today and I only had a couple of drinks last night. I did not think I was drunk."

"Well, I do not know what happened and why you feel like hell if you only had a few drinks. You look terrible and your hair seems to have made itself into a bird's nest."

"I said I will be in the shower." Arabella moved into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She listened as the door clicked closed and then slowly moved to the shower turning it on full hot to build the steam up in the room.

"I will tell her you will be down in fifteen minutes. Do not be longer than that. You know she is going to have a fit that you were not already up and ready. We are all waiting for you."

"Go away!"

"I am going."

Arabella heard the click of her sister's heels as she walked across the floor and out of her room. She smiled at the thought of being alone and turned the water to semi-hot. She dropped her t-shirt on the floor and kicked herself out of underwear. She really was a mess. As she stepped into the hot shower, she noticed that her toes looked like she had been running through the mud all night. She had dirt caked in between her toes and up onto her ankles.

She noticed that her legs were covered in what looked to be, scratches from something. She ran her hand down her legs and realized that they were fresh. She could feel the burn from the water as it hit them. The steam was starting to block her vision, so she turned off the water and continued to examine the rest of her body. She realized that she had more than just a few scratches. There had even been spots that started to turn black from bruising.

"What the hell did I get myself into last night?"

She knew that there would be no reply but that did not stop her from talking to herself. She found it easier than carrying on conversations with anyone else. She turned the water back on and reached for the shampoo as a knock sounded on her bathroom door.

"What? I am in the shower."

The knock came again, this time there was no reply. It was just a loud knocking noise.

"Who is it?"

Arabella finally rinsed out the shampoo and stepped out of the shower wrapping her bath towel around her as she went to the door. She turned the handle and noticed that it felt like something was turning the handle from the other side at the same time she was, it was as if someone was trying to come in the room.

She shoved the door opened and heard her sister let out a scream from the other side. She quickly ran out into the room and saw her sister lying flat on her back on the floor. She had shoved the door open so hard that it knocked the wind right out of Jess.

She came out into the room and noticed her reflection again. This time it looked like her hair had started to turn a different shade of blonde. It was a little bit darker than it had been before she went into shower.

She looked down at her sister who had since stopped screaming and was already starting to get up.

"Why were you trying to come back into the bathroom?"

"I just wanted to talk to you. I have been feeling strange lately and I wanted to know if you possibly had some of the same things going on?"

"I have not. I have a hangover today but that is all I have. I need to get ready to come down could you please go."

"I am sorry." Jess was already out the door with a look of devastation before Arabella could even respond. She knew she had hurt her feelings, but the girl was going to give her a far worse headache at this point.

She walked back to the mirror and ran her hands through her wet hair. She was still a mess. As she picked up her hairbrush, she felt a sharp pain in her lower stomach. She doubled over holding the spot. Something was happening to her. Maybe she ate some bad food at the club or her friend's house. She did not know what to do at this point because she would have to make an appearance downstairs. She pulled herself together and started to get dressed.

She figured it was not going to be anything fancy so jeans and a simple black top would work. She had the perfect one that had lace through the back and could show off her pale skin. She rolled it down her damp skin and shuffled into her jeans. She made quick work of getting dressed. She turned to the mirror and picked up her hairbrush.

"I think today would be a good day for a perfect bun." She had started to talk to herself again. She knew it was probably not the best thing in the world, but she did not care. It was by far better than talking to anyone else.

She brushed it and got the mess tamed down as she wrapped her hair around her hand and twisted it down reaching for a hair tie so that she could pin it in place.

"Arabella! We are ready for lunch could you please hurry?" Her mother had an edge to her voice today. It was not a request she was demanding Arabella to make her appearance.

"Fine! I am on my way!"

She took one last look in the mirror and shrugged her shoulders. This would have to do. She moved to the door and turned back reaching on the bedside table for her cellphone. She turned it on to see if she had any messages from last night and to her happiness, there was nothing which means that even if she had a crazy night they did not get in any trouble.

She was finally able to smile as she turned and made her way downstairs. She was not looking forward to a large family gathering but they always celebrated on Thanksgiving. Her mother wanted the family together because she called them all a blessing. Arabella did not know how true this was, but she did know that the family usually did everything her mother wanted. It was almost as though she was the leader of a pack or something crazy.

Arabella made herself chuckle with that thought and almost skipped into the kitchen.

"You are looking better," Jess was the first to say anything to her even though she had not really made eye contact.

"Thank you. I am feeling a little better too which reminds me, I am sorry about snapping at you for being in my room. I just woke up and I needed time to actually get there."

"It is fine."

"Arabella, did you have a good night out with your friends?" The question came from her younger cousin Ashton. How had he known that she was out with friends? She was sure her mother had told them all. Her mother had a way of making Arabella's life family knowledge.

"Yes, thank you. for asking."

"Arabella sit down so we can say grace, please."

Her mother looked at her with her hand pointed in the direction of her chair. The condescending look that she wore always made Arabella cringe. She knew that her mother was judging her by the book of god. Had she really known that Arabella did not believe in him her mother would have probably thrown her out of the house by now?

She was just about to take her seat when that same pain rang through her stomach and radiated up into her ears. She grabbed the back of the chair and held on as the room spun from the pain. She tried to make it look like nothing was wrong because she did not need the questions. She pulled out her chair and sat down with as much dignity as she could muster.

Something was not right. She could feel her body making noises and moving on its own as it started to flinch. What the hell was happening? It was the only thought she had for the rest of her body had taken over everything.

"Arabella, what is that bruising coming from under your shirt?"

Her mother's voice was full of concern as she tried to reach over and touch her. Arabella jerked her body away and stood up knocking over the chair as she backed against the wall. The wall was covered in family pictures and each one crashed to the floor as she hit them. Her eyes started to burn as she reached up to rub them clean.

"What is happening?" Jess's voice pierced her sensitive ears as she reached up and covered them with her hands. She did not have enough hands to cover her burning eyes and plug her ears from the sensitivity causing havoc on her head.

The entire family sat in their chairs as they watched Arabella her body shook with what looked to them like a seizure. Her father jumped out of his chair and reached for the phone. He called 911 as the operator picked up, he was frantic on the phone.

"My daughter is having some kind of seizure she said her eyes are burning and her ears hurt. She is now shaking uncontrollably against the wall. I need you to come to get her as soon as possible. She needs a doctor!" At this point, he was shouting at the operator at the other end of the line. They could not hear the responses from the operator on the phone but Arabella heard every detail from them tell her dad to remain calm and stay on the line until help arrives, to the sound of her breathing through the receiver. Something was just not right she should not be able to hear the woman's breathing on the other end of the line.

They could not hear the responses from the operator on the phone but Arabella heard every detail from them tell her dad to remain calm and stay on the line until help arrives, to the sound of her breathing through the receiver. Something was just not right she should not be able to hear the woman's breathing on the other end of the line.

They could not hear the responses from the operator on the phone but Arabella heard every detail from them tell her dad to remain calm and stay on the line until help arrives, to the sound of her breathing through the receiver. Something was just not right she should not be able to hear the woman's breathing on the other end of the line. She felt like something was coming from deep inside of her and clawing its way through her small body. She was lucky to weigh 110 pounds. She knew that whatever it was things were not going to end well for her or for her family.

She felt it before it hit her, it was like a caged beast trying to escape a life of tortured agony. She let out a gut-wrenching scream and it felt like the earth had just come to a standstill. Arabella looked around the room at her terrified family. She needed to get away from them. She reached for the door frame and tried to pull herself out of the room.

"Ara where are you going? Are you alright? What is happening to you?"

These questions came out of all of their mouths. It was a flood of emotions coming from everyone in her family. The noise too much for Arabella to bear she let out another cry this time it sounded more like a canine coming in for a kill.

She turned her body and angled it so that she was halfway out the door. She was trying with all of her body to get away from them. It was as though a force was pulling her back in.

She could not fight off the feeling she had she wanted to kill them all. It was as though something had taken over and she was lost to herself. She felt the scratches on her legs burn and each piece of hair on her head tingle as she flung herself around and glared at them all. Her lips let out a snarl and she could feel the saliva fall from her mouth.

"Jess, Run!" She managed to say as she lunged at one of her other family members sitting at the table. She did not care what fell over as she did. They had all been backed up into the corner with no way to get out. She was going to kill them and there was nothing she could do to stop herself.