Its nails pierce my body.
It scratches my skin of my bones.
It's taking my bloody heart out of my chest.
Blood flows everywhere.
It's laughing while looking how I'm slowly dying.
My alarm goes off. It's already 10 am. I've got trouble with turning it off. I'm so tired. I yawn and get out of bed. I walk to the bathroom and wash my face. I look really tired. The new neighbors are moving next door today. I hope they are nice people. I dress myself up and brush my teeth. I go downstairs and I see Chiko waiting for me. I go to the kitchen and make some breakfast. A delicious waffle with a baked egg. I sit down at the table and begin to eat. Chiko starts to eat of her food too.
I look on my watch. They should be coming by now. I stand up and put my jacket on. I walk outside and a van arrives at the house. Behind the van parks a car. Three people get out of a car. A man, a woman and a girl. I walk towards the people. 'Hello miss.' The woman says. 'Are you our new neighbor?' She asks. I nod. 'Yes ma'am, my name is Marah Monale.' I shake her hand. 'My name is Sophie Allison and this is my husband Simon and my daughter Sarah. It's nice to meet you.' I greet them and shake their hands too. 'Should I help you with the boxes?' I ask politely. 'That would be nice. Thank you.' Simon says. I smile and follow Simon to the van. 'Here grab this.' He gives me a box and I walk into the house. 'Where should I put this?' I ask at Sophie who's standing in behind me with another box. 'You can put it in the kitchen.' She says as she points at the table in the kitchen. I put down the box on the table and walk outside to the van again.
'Should I help you to put everything its place?' I ask when all the boxes are inside. Sarah shakes her head. 'No, that's not needed.' She says. She looks quite scary and so I nod. 'Why don't you stay to drink a cup of coffee as a thanks?' Sophie says. I smile. 'Thank you.' I say.
I take a seat and Sophie puts a cup of coffee in front of me. 'Why did you move to California?' I ask. Sophie sits down in her chair. 'We used to live in Egypt but our house was becoming old and it was no longer safe so we couldn't live in it anymore.' I take a sip of my coffee. 'But why did you move so far away? There were other houses much closer, right?' Simon smiles. 'We always wanted to go to California so why not move here?' I nod. 'I see.' I feel Simon's eyes burning through my body. He has been staring at me for the whole time I've been here. I feel uncomfortable.
'Well, I should be going now.' I say and stand up. 'Thanks for your help.' Simon says as he smiles. 'No problem.' I say and I walk out of the door.
I see a bike standing against my house. It must be Jason. I knew him since I was little. It all began after something terrible happened. A day before Christmas my father was murdered by an unknown creature. My mother became depressed after that and one day I came home and I saw her. Hanging at a rope.
She was dead.
That's all I remember. Somehow I lost my memories of my past. I was lying on the streets half-awake when a boy helped me. Since then I became met Jason. He became a policeman and he's been with me till now. He cared for me and always consoled me on the day before Christmas. But he doesn't know my parents are dead. He stayed with me because I lost my memories. I fell in love with him. He still doesn't know it and I want to wait until the right time.
I walk into my house. When I put my jacket up I hear Jason talking. I walk into the living room and I see Jason playing with Chiko. 'Hey, Jason. What are you doing here?' I ask when I take a seat next to him. 'I just came to visit you but you weren't home. So I played with Chiko. Where were you by the way?' He asks. 'I was visiting my new neighbors. They are really nice people.' I smile and stroke Chiko's head. 'They weren't scare right? No boys,
right?' Jason asks while looking down. 'Why do you ask?' I look at Jason. 'Well, just... you'll never know. Boys can be dangerous.' I begin to laugh. 'No that's not the reason. You would be jealous.' I'm teasing him. 'No, of course not!' Jason starts to blush and looks at the other side to hide his face. He is acting angry and I'm still laughing.
'Why don't we go out and walk the dog?' I ask and stand up. 'Yeah, good idea.' Jason says still blushing. I put on my jacket again and put the belt on Chiko's collar. 'Let's go Chiko.' I say and open the door. Chiko immediately runs out of the door. We walk towards a park. Chiko is enjoying the walk. I smile. 'Why are you smiling?' Jason asks while looking at me curiously. 'I just like to walk in the park like this.' I say while looking at the sky.
Suddenly Chiko starts to bark and I look down. 'Chiko!' Another dog walks by. Chiko starts pulling. 'Chiko stop it!' I say with an angry voice. Chiko starts to pull even harder and in the end I fall on the ground. Chiko runs to the other dog. I groan of the pain. 'Are you okay.' Jason kneels down and looks at me worried. I look at my knee. 'Your knee is bleeding! Let's go back to take care of it.' Jason stands up and runs to Chiko and the other dog. When he comes back he helps me up. I'm leaning on his shoulder when we walk back home.
I take a seat on a chair and Jason gets the aid kid. He kneels down and cleans the wound. I groan of pain. 'Does it hurt?' Jason asks. I nod. 'A little bit.' Jason puts a plaster on the wound and stands up. 'It's done.' He says. 'Thank you.' I say and I pull down my trouser leg. I sigh. 'You should be more careful next time.' Jason says as he takes a seat. I look down.
'Jason?' He looks at me. 'What is it?' 'Do you just ever feel weird when you are with someone? Like you don't know what to say when you are with them?' Jason looks at me all confused. 'Why are you asking that?' He asks. 'Just want to know.' I say. Then Jason answers. 'Yes, there is and she is a very special person to me.' I smile. Is he talking about me? 'Her black hair and her smell. She has always cared for me.' Surprised I look down. Black hair? So he likes someone else. I tear escapes my eye. 'Marah?' Jason stares at me surprised. 'Ah I'm sorry.' I say and I wipe my eyes. Why am I crying about a thing like that? It was just a one-sided feeling. I could've known he doesn't like me. We are friends not lovers. 'Marah, what's wrong?' I shake my head. 'It's nothing, really. I don't know why I'm crying.' I stand up and take a glass of water. Jason walks to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. 'It's okay.' He begins to pat my shoulder. I like it how he cares for me. But the longer he stays with me, the more I fall in love with him. 'Do you want to leave? I want to rest.' I say quietly. 'But...' Jason looks at me and understands it. 'Okay, I will come see you tomorrow.'
I hear the front door close and I fall apart. Why does it hurt so much? I don't want to be so weak. I sit down on the ground and hide my face.
After I'm all cried out a walk upstairs. I throw water in my face to hide my teary eyes. I walk to my bed and lay down. I sigh. I can't face him tomorrow. He'll ask why I cried. I close my eyes and try to sleep.
I slept really badly at night. I thought about what Jason said all night.
I get up and I start to yawn all the time. I hear Chiko barking downstairs. She must be hungry. I go downstairs in my pajamas and Chiko jumps on my leg. 'I know you're hungry, girl.' I say and I put some dog food in her boil. She immediately begins to eat. I can't think of eating right now. I'm not feeling so great. I'm going upstairs to dress up and I walk outside. Taking a walk will do me good.
While walking down the streets I get an idea. Why shouldn't I buy a welcoming present? I walk further and stop in front of a shop. Maybe there is something nice here. I go inside and look around. I'm thinking what I should buy. A painting? No too old fashioned. A bouquet?
No not that either. How about a vase? No. I look around more and then I see something. This should be a nice present. I pick it up and walk to the cash desk. I pay for the present and ask the employee to pack it up.
When I walk out of the store I put the present in a bag. On my way back I meet a few colleagues. I talk a bit to them and walk further.
When I get home I encounter Sophie. 'Good morning, Marah.' I look up and Sophie waves at me. 'Good morning.' I say. 'Why don't you come inside?' I accept the offer and walk inside. I see Simon reading the paper. 'Here sit down.' Sophie says and I sit down. 'I've got something for you.' I say as I give the present. 'Oh you didn't have to.' Sophie opens the present and looks happy. 'How nice, a candle. Thank you.' She smiles. 'Do you want something to drink?' She asks? I nod. Sophie walks to the kitchen to make some coffee. Simon stares at me from the corner of his eye. I'm feeling uncomfortable again.
Suddenly I hear something fall in the kitchen. 'Oh no!' I walk to the kitchen and see a shattered cup lying on the floor. 'I will help you.' I say and kneel down but when I pick up a shard I cut myself. Blood starts to drip off my finger. 'Oh no, you're bleeding!' Sophie immediately gets up and gets the aid kid. When I look up Simon is standing next to me. He kneels down and looks at my finger. 'You should be more careful next time.' He says and holds my hand. Suddenly he licks the blood of my finger. Surprised I pull my hand away and stand up. 'It's time for me to leave.' I say and walk away. 'Marah?' Sophie stands in the door and looks surprised. Then she looks at Simon as I leave.
I run to my house and close the door fast. What is wrong with this man? Why did he do that? I hold my hand to my chest. I walk to the kitchen to get the aid kid. I put a plaster around my finger and clean my hand. When I'm done with my finger I go outside to take another walk. I need to clean my head.
Fifteen minutes later I walk in the park. I got a few calls of Jason but I didn't want to answer them. At the end I took my battery out of my phone. I look down and don't pay attention to where I walk. I accidentally bump into someone. I turn around and apologize. Then I walk on. 'Hey wait.' I turn around. 'Is something wrong?' I ask. 'Don't you remember me? I'm in your class.' I stare at him for a while. 'I remember you, you're David right?' I say. 'So you do remember me.' He says as he smiles. 'I'm sorry, I just have a lot on my mind.' I say. 'It's okay but you don't look so good.' David looks at me worried. 'I just slept a bit bad. It's nothing.' I say and smile. David frowns. 'Do you want to go drink something?' He asks. I nod. 'Yes, nice.' I say.
We walk into a teahouse and take a seat. The waitress asks what we want to have. 'Two smoothies, please.' David says. 'So how has your vacation been till now?' 'It was nice. I got new neighbors yesterday and I took a good rest. It's nice not to have to do anything for work.' I say with a grin on my face. I tell David all the thing I've done in the past few days. 'And what have you done these days?' I ask at the end. 'Not much. I went to visit some family members and I met some friends.' David says and takes sip of his smoothie. 'I see, but you still have many weeks to do something fun.' I say and smile at him. He starts to blush and I look surprised. 'Do you want to do something together tomorrow?' He asks and his cheeks become redder. I start to blush too. 'Together you say?' I don't know what to say. David nods. 'If you want to. You don't have to.' I shake my head. 'No, I'd like to do something tomorrow.' I say and I smile. David starts to smile too.
When we finish our drink we walk outside and surprised I look up. 'Jason, what are you doing here?' Jason turns around and looks at me. Then he glances at David, grabs my arm
and walks away dragging me after him. 'I'll see you tomorrow.' I yell at David. He waves and then walks away. I turn my head and look at Jason. Why is he so angry?
After a while Jason stops and let's go of my arm. 'Jason?' I ask carefully. 'Why didn't you answer your phone?' I stay quiet. I can't tell him why. I'll be ashamed when I tell. 'Why don't you answer me?!' He starts to yell and turns around. Surprised I take a step back. 'You were with a guy without telling me?! And you didn't answer my calls! What's wrong with you?!' I look down. 'Why are you so angry?' I ask and I get a lump in my throat. 'Why do I have to tell you everything?!' I start to yell too even though I'm scared. Suddenly Jason grabs my shoulders and pushes me against the wall. He glances at me. He looks really angry. 'You can't be with other guys, do you understand?! And you can't go to him tomorrow!' He beats his fist against the wall. I look down and tears flow over my cheeks. 'You're making me scared.' I say quietly. Jason widens his eyes. 'Why can't I be with other guys?! I'll decide for myself what I'll do!' I push him away and start to run. This isn't Jason. This is another person. I can't stop crying and I don't look were I run. I hear Jason running after me. I don't look up when I cross the street and...
I feel a huge pain going through my body. I hear Jason screaming my name. 'Marah! Marah, stay here! Marah!' I try to stay conscious but I can't. I close my eyes and everything fades away.