Saturday, February 15, 2014

Chapter One: Eli

I managed to find a small town. There's a bookstore with those old computers where you insert fifty cents and get 30 minutes or whatever of internet. The owner lives upstairs. A lot of the buildings are rundown, but she has a cheap heater on her old balcony. I think I might try to sleep there. If not, I'll put up with the cold.

It all started that summer. I lived in a small Georgia town where everyone knew everyone, girls wore dresses, and southern hospitality was always present. I was the complete opposite of a social butterfly...as far as I was concerned, no one could satisfy me more than the characters in a book. So, I read. Eventually, reading led to writing. I could be bold and adventurous in stories. As soon as you threw me in a crowd, though, my "porcelain cheeks would go red as a cherry, and my sunny gold hair would cover every inch of my face", as my mother always said.

Then Eli came along. He was perfect, knotted black hair, glasses, always drawing such beautiful pictures in that sketchbook. We used to glance over at each other when we didn't think the other was looking. Eventually, we started talking, and he soon became the one person I could ever talk to. One day, I glanced over his shoulder while he was drawing. I'd never seen his actual art before, and was surprised to find that almost every page was covered with perfect drawings of me. 

We dated until ninth grade. That was the year things started going downhill. Eli was absent more than he was present, and he was distant when he was with me. Sometimes, I'd look at him, and he'd have this manic look in his eyes, like a madman. He started drawing more frequently, but the pictures weren't his perfect portrayals of the world. They were of some tall figure, and had weird words written in scratchy handwriting, like "CAN'T HIDE" or "HE SEES". 

But it didn't end until...the night in the forest. Eli was talking crazy when he rang my doorbell. He was going on and on about seeing some kind of path and serving a rightful leader. He walked off into the woods, and I followed him into the dark. I yelled after him, quickly losing myself in the night. Then I heard him scream. I ran towards the sound, yelling his name. I finally found his bloody body, strung to a tree. Underneath it, was the thing from the drawings.

I can't describe it very we'll. it was white, wearing black, and very tall. I couldn't make out any facial features.

I have trouble remembering things after that. All I remember is a growl, and waking up at the hospital with a bad head injury. Apparently, I'd fainted and hit my head on a few sharp rocks.

Soon after, Eli was pronounced dead. I couldn't go to the funeral. I was too heartbroken. 

I'm going to stop here and pick up later. The computer's almost out of time.

~Writtor

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