Test Subject 17

2. Ghost of the Past

Him. He seems to plague my mind after that night. The memories of him when we were younger. He was so sweet and fun Now? He's like the machine killers we hear about. And he came after me. But, maybe...

"Whew. Closing time!" I announce, shutting off our OPEN sign and locking the front door. The other lady in the store laughs at my eagerness to get home. A guy walks to the door and tries to open it. "Poor guy." I open the door and he looks kind of expectant.

"I need to get something, it will only take a moment," he says. I shake my head sadly.

"I'm sorry sir. We're closed now. Come back tomorrow." He looks at me before hanging his head and walking away. "I always hate doing that. Makes me feel like a bad person." I frown for a second before taking my apron off.

"Doesn't seem like you care much," the lady, Isabelle, laughs. I stick my tongue out at her, making her laugh harder. "Just like the teenager I picked up 3 years ago. You haven't changed a bit."

"Yes, I have!" I say, putting my hand over my chest in mock disbelief. We both break out in giggles and laughs. When we finally calmed down, I had happy tears in my eyes. "Oh goodness. Do you need any help cleaning up?"

"I think I've got it tonight love. Why don't you go home and get some rest?" I scrunch my eyebrows, curious.

"You sure? It's not too much trouble." She nods and I smile a little. "Okay then, goodnight Miss Isabelle."

"Goodnight Emma. You be safe now, especially with those people out," Isabelle says with a more serious tone. I smile at her gently as I glance around the small art shop I work at.

It has paintings everywhere along with pottery, jewelry, sketches, and many other things. I love working here honestly and the owner, Isabelle Hauns, is a very sweet and kind old lady.

She has salt and pepper hair, very few wrinkles, kind blue eyes, and a motherly smile. Her skin has a copper-like tone to it and she stands straight, demanding respect almost. Kinda reminds me of a lady I once knew a long time ago.

My smile falters for a second before I regain my composure. I can't let the memories get to me. I can't imagine him or his family. The pain is too much.

"Yes ma'am. And you too, the world needs more respectable women," I respond, opening the door to the shop. Belle smiles back, a small chuckle coming from her throat, like she knows an inside joke I don't.

"When you're my age dearie, respect is something you were taught as a child." I laugh a bit and nod, waving to her as I pause on my way out to my car.

"I guess so. Have a nice night Ms. Belle." She waves back as the door shuts. Looking around the staff lot, I scan the trees surrounding the shop and I swear I hear something in the bushes of the garden.

The garden is a place where we plant flowers and other plants to try and help clean up the air. And sometimes kids come in and ask if they can have one or the community comes to pitch in with the work. We always have fun. Best job ever if you ask me.

When I turn to scan my surroundings, there's nothing there. Just darkness and a chill going down my spine. I try to shrug it off, but I just can't, the feeling is too strong. My heart starts pounding in my chest and my stomach flips, like I know something's wrong.

I hurry to my car and quickly lock the doors, hoping that whatever's out there, stays out there. Don't need anything or anyone killing me just yet. I have unfinished business.

"You're okay. It's nothing." I close my eyes, trying to calm myself. It works. As I turn on the car, I see a black object in the trees in front of me. It moves away quickly when the headlights get turned on. My heart stops.

'Just a deer. Just a deer.' I tell myself over and over, hoping this feeling of dread goes away. For some reason though, it likes to sit at the bottom of my stomach like a ton of bricks.

On the way home, the sense of being watched covers my body, making the hairs on my neck stand on end and goosebumps cover my arms. I can't shake the feeling no matter how many times I check my mirrors or look out the windows. It's just stuck there, like someone glued it to me.

I pull into my driveway and turn the car off, finally feeling safe for once in my life. I'm tired of running from them. The people that took him and tried to take me. I was able to get away, but he wasn't. My heart still hurts from the day he was kidn*pped.

His pained cries, tears falling down his face. Blood everywhere. The people I called my second parents, were dead. The armed soldiers in black chased me. Nausea floods my stomach as the memories of sweets and human brains fill my nose. I try to rest but when I turn to look, the memories get louder in my brain.

My friend's old house is next to mine still, only a different family lives in it now. They're really sweet neighbors who have an 18-year-old son, twin boys, and their mother living with him. Part of me thinks that their son likes me, but I'm not too sure. But the home only serves as a reminder of how I let him down. I ran to save myself when I should've helped. I can still see the soldiers taking him away in the unmarked van.

I close my eyes as the memory plays in my brain, over and over like a broken record, only I can't turn it off. Not that I want to. I deserve this pain for leaving him that day.

(ヘ･_･)ヘ┳━┳

"Nataliaaa!!" someone calls out to me. I giggle quietly, hiding in the bushes. I can know who it is easily. It's my friend Alex. We play hide and scare all the time.

It was our own game we made up. One of us would hide and the other would try to find them. If they did, without making any noise, we would scare each other. "Don't you wanna play with mee?" He gets closer to my bush, causing me to giggle more and more despite my attempts to be silent as a mouse. I can hear him walk up to my bush and I grin.

"Boo!" I stand up with my arms raised as my friend jumps back in shock. We both fall to the ground in a fit of giggles. When we're done he lays next to me upside down, looking at my face with a goofy grin on his own. I grin back and look at the mess of curls atop his head.

"You've got me four times and I've got you three meaning you won fair and square. What should we do now?" he asks, propping up on his elbows. His green eyes were always so pretty to me and the way they sparkle sometimes or get darker. But slowly, I notice his smile and the dimples on his cheeks. The way his nose looks slightly crooked but cute at the same time.

I feel my face begin to heat up and I try to look away from his face, but can't. He's too attractive to me. I...I think I have a crush on my friend. I shake my head back and forth as fast as I can. I can't like him! He's my friend. Alex stares at me confused.

"Wanna go convince your mom to give us a cookie? They should be done by now," I ask him to keep my mind away. A mischievous grin spreads across his face slowly and all I do is giggle as he shakes me, everything before forgotten.

"Yes, I do. C'mon Naaaat!!" We both get up, racing from his backyard and into the house, pushing each other playfully to see who will get there first. "Mommy?" he yells happily. No response. He glances at me, the smile falling from his lips as fear and confusion set in. "Mommy!!" I peek into the kitchen and freeze, staring in horror at the sight before me.

"A-AJ.." I whimper. He comes around and just stares. I see a tear or two fall down his cheeks, but he quickly wipes them away, trying to keep me from seeing him in a moment of weakness. A pool of blood lies by the oven, the heat coming out of it, with more blood splattered on the wall and counters.

The cookies she was making sit on a pan on the stove undone, blood soaking into the dough along with brain matter. The scent reaches my nose and I try my best not to throw up. It smells like baked blood, cookies, and death.

But that's not the part that made us stop. There was a thick and heavy trail leading to the living room. His green eyes begin to glow a lighter green, turning blue and eventually going a deep sapphire blue.

"Stay behind me Nat," he whispers to me. I nod, not wanting to leave his side for even a second. He never used his powers on me before, but somehow I could tell when he did. It was a warm feeling as the fear was blanketed by confidence. Everything faded away but became sharper at the same time.

My senses became more alert and I didn't feel as scared anymore. Alex slowly crept towards the living room, his arm out to keep me back. I don't think I'd mind if he used his ability on me more often. I like the feeling it gives me, even if it is some type of a false sense of security.

We walked into the living room, freezing once again. "M-mommy? Daddy?" His voice went small and afraid. He rushes to their side and starts shaking them, but their lifeless bodies just lay there. Their eyes were rolled in the back of their heads and their mouths were agape.

The white couch his parents lay upon will now forever be stained with their blood in my memory. A gasp leaves my mouth as I cover it with my hands. Tears start to stream down my face.

How could someone do this to them? Mr. and Mrs. Michelson were some of the nicest people in this neighborhood. This was my second home.

Countless summer nights, winter days, spring mornings, and fall evenings rush into my head as if my life is flashing before my eyes. I loved it here. I always felt welcome. They treated me like I was an extension of their family.

Before I can get further into my grief, three armed men come running down the stairs and grab at us. My feet planted firmly on the floor, frozen in shock and fear.

Two go for him, and one comes for me. "RUN NAT!!" Alex yells, pushing me away. My breath and heartbeat pick up as I race out of the room, past the kitchen, and back outside. My feet feel like lead and it seems like I run in slow motion as I reach the fence between our houses and open it, sprinting into safety.

Turning around, I hear a blood-curdling scream. It's his. 'No. Not AJ.' The tears I had already been shedding brim at my eyes again and begin to fall on my cheeks. I wipe my eyes, but they still keep coming, faster and faster until I can't see anything anymore. My heart starts to hurt and I clutch my chest, trying to catch my breath and stop crying.