Crazed
I walked through the doorway of my house and threw my backpack on the floor. Today’s school day was normal, except for that weird guy who I swear was staring at me during lunch. But I don’t read into it too much. I started my evening rituals; pack my lunch for tomorrow, fix dinner and wait for my mom to get home.










She finally gets home at around 5:30. She works for a law firm, and she has to stay later because she is in charge of finding cases and making people pay their lawyers..
“Hey momma.” I said.
“Hi Nicole, how was your day?” she replied.
“Oh, you know, average. Yours?” I ask.
“Well, I finally got a hold of Mr. Montoya and explained to him that if he doesn’t pay, his layer will sew him.. He was very understanding, and I’m glad that it didn’t turn into an all-out brawl.” She sighed and set her plate down on the table. We ate in silence, and then I told her that I would go get started on my homework. When she doesn’t talk it means that she is thinking about dad. He died when I was little so I don’t really remember him. But I don’t ask her what he was like because then she becomes upset and says she doesn’t want to talk about it.






I opened up my chemistry book and prepare to read chapter 16. Then a movement had caught my eye. I look up and see a face in the window and I jump, too stunned to scream. I turn my face away just to be relieved of the creepiness of the face, but then when I worked up enough nerve the face was gone. The person looked a lot like the guy who was staring at me earlier this afternoon. Am I going crazy? I wondered. I choose to skip the rest of my homework and maybe take a mental health day tomorrow. I had been really spacey for the past week or so; forgetting homework and conversations. Sometimes hours went by without me noticing. Just as I was settling in for bed, I heard a knock on the door.
“Nicole? May I come in?” my mother’s voice asked.
“Yeah, sure momma.” I replied.
She opened the door cautiously, and instantly I knew that something was wrong. She never knocked, and she never acted so timid.
“Honey, can I talk to you? I promise that it won’t take long.” She asked.
“What’s wrong mom?” I ask, terrified of the answer.
“Sweetie, I don’t want you to panic, but a man has escaped from a psych ward and the police are out on the look for him. They say that he likes girls around your age. Now, I know that you’re 17 and can take care of yourself, but I want you to be extra careful when you go to school for the next few days.” She smiled and brushed some stray hair out of my face. She was trying to comfort me.
“Thanks for telling me mom, I’ll make sure that I am on lookout.” I reply trying to sound calm.
She begins to leave when I blurted out “Hey, would you mind if I stayed home tomorrow? I haven’t been feeling so good lately.”
“Sure, honey, do you know what kind of work you have tomorrow” she replied.
“Um, I think that I can read the next chapter in math, and I can text Sabrina for the questions. I can just finish the book that we are reading in English. But past that I don’t know.”
“Well, I guess you’ll just have to get it the next day. You know what? Don’t even worry about that tomorrow. If you don’t feel good, the only thing you need to do is rest.” She says with a smile.
“Thanks momma,” I say with a smile, then I say with a smile “love you, sleep well. Wake me when you’re leaving.”
“Sure thing, love you, and you sleep well too.” And then she’s gone.

Morning comes too soon after a sleepless night. All I can think about was the face in the window and whether it was related to the psycho escapee. My nightmares contained a variation of things; sometimes I was being kidnapped, sometimes I was being held I a basement, and then sometimes I my best friend Toby was being tortured. At that last one I woke up crying because they were so vivid and real. When my mom came to tell me that she was leaving, I pretended that I was sleeping peacefully.
“Hey Nicole,” she whispers “I’m going to leave for work now, I’ll see in three days, ok?”
As she was leaving I said in a hoarse voice “You be careful too momma.”
“I will. Love you and have a good day, hope you get feeling better.” Then she closed to door.

I slowly fade into sleep. This time around my dreams are pleasant. I dream of being in the mountains and hiking like my mom, and then a rain storm came. So I laid down in the grass and let it fall on me.













A loud car horn wakes me up from my sleep. I looked over at my clock which read 11:36. So I sat up, feeling the effects of last night. My head hurt slightly, but my back felt as if I’d slept on a rock all night.













I finally get the courage and the energy to stand up and move to my bathroom. When I look in the mirror, I see the full effects of last nights’ nightmares. My brown hair is matted in places, and my green eyes have a glassy look to them plus dark circles. Definitely going to take a nap later today. I sigh and pick up my comb to make an attempt to brush out my hair. After about 10 minutes of harsh brushing I headed downstairs to find some food. I end up eating last night’s leftovers.


I turned on the television and flipped it to SpongeBob. I don’t know why, but I still love this show. Somewhere between Squidward yelling at Patrick, and Gary going missing, I fell asleep.


When I woke up, the face was staring at me. But this time it was hovering about a foot away from my face. I screamed and turned my face away. I wait for the worst, but nothing happens. I slowly turned my face back only to find the TV still on and the face gone. I checked the clock and it read 4:30. I jump up and begin to search frantically for my phone. When I found it, I text Toby and told him to come over.
A few minutes later I heard a knock at the door and I go running to open it. When I open it Toby is standing with his bag casually slung over his shoulder.
“Hey Nicole, how are you?” he asks.
“Well, not too well actually. I keep having these dreams about a—“I cut off because the man that was watching me yesterday has magically appeared over Toby’s shoulder. I can feel my skin flush.
The face started to come closer, so I pulled Toby through the doorway. Before I can even explain my actions, I collapse to the floor, and the last thing I remember is Toby hovering over me.
I’m walking down a dimly lit street, and I can tell that I’m not alone. The air is not only cold, but it has an unwelcoming strain. I begin to walk faster and faster. I can see my house; it’s only a few meters away. But just as I reach the front steps, I feel a pair of hands that are so cold I can feel them through my windbreaker. They turn me around, and I begin to prepare for the worst. But the face that I see is a kind old man.












“Listen Nicole Marie, he’s chosen you. You must be careful- he could strike at any minute! Stay close to someone at all times. Never go alone anywhere. Ever. The first chance he has, he’ll get you. Remember that this is real, this is not a dream. You must listen to me.” His voice has a tinge of fear in it. I hear my name being called in the distanceu. The voice is as familiar as my own and I recognize it immediately.
“Nicole! Nicole, wake up! Talk to me!” Toby’s voice cuts through my dream, and I come up gasping.
“Did I just pass out?” I ask.
“Yes, you scared me! Your eyes got really big all of the sudden, and you pulled me inside. Then you just…collapsed.” He replies.
“Sorry, I need to tell someone what’s been going on.” I say in a whisper.
I watch as his eyes grow wide, and I take a deep breath.
“Ok, so, at lunch yesterday there was this weird guy watching me. I didn’t think much of it until I saw him standing across the street just now. The only reason I’m freaking out is because my mom told me that a guy escaped from the psych ward and has a thing for girls our age.” The end comes out in a rush. Then Toby begins to respond but I stop him. “Wait, there’s more. I keep seeing this face, and it’s really creeping me out. Last night I saw it in my window, but when I blinked it went away. I thought maybe I had somehow dreamt it up. But this afternoon I fell asleep on the couch, and when I woke up, it was right in front of me.” I refrain from telling him about the dream that I had while I was passed out.
“Wow, I can’t even process this. Do you think that the face in the window and the guy that’s stalking you is the same guy?” he responds.
I nod my head, “Yes, it is. But I just don’t know what to do. I don’t really want to call the cops because it could all just turn out to be some weird coincidence.” Then I add a little shyly “Is there any way you could stay over tonight? I don’t want to be here alone, my mom’s on a business trip for the next three days or so.”
“Yeah sure, no problem. I can just wear my gym clothes tomorrow.” He pauses for a moment, and then asks “Do you need me to stay until your mom comes back?”
I bight my lip then say“Maybe, I would really prefer that I’m not alone.” I say, the words “Never go alone anywhere. Ever.” ringing in my head.
“Mkay, so after school tomorrow, we’ll drop by my place so I can pick up some extra cloths.”
At this I feel relieved; at least I won’t be alone.
After a dinner of macaroni and cheese, Toby and I settle down to watch Princess Bride. I wake up to fine myself laying in Toby’s lap. I squint at the clock to see what time it is. It’s 1:22 a.m., since it’s so late, and I don’t want to be alone I lay back down. But just as I’m about to go to sleep, I notice movement out of the corner of my eye.











My head snaps up, and I see the face, but this time it has a body to go with it. It’s coming towards us. I scream, which wakes up Toby. He sees the face and grabs my arm and drags me out of the living room to the front door. But as he opens the door, the face appears. It grabs us both somehow and the next thing I know we’re in the trunk of a car that is moving fast.
“Toby,” I whisper.
“Yeah, I’m here.” he replies. His voice is shaky and I can tell he’s scared beyond belief.
“Are you ok?” I ask.
“Well other than some random creep capturing my best friend and me, I’m doing pretty well.” he says with a shaky laugh.
“Toby, I’m serious! Are you cut anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine…well physically.” A few moments pass by and then he asks “Nicole is this real?”
“I think so,” I reply, “I wish that it weren’t though. I should have called the cops when I had the chance. I’m so sorry Toby, I didn’t mean to get you into this.”
“Hey, hey, shhhhh. It’s ok,” he says in a soothing tone, and shuffles closer to me, “You didn’t know. I’m not mad.”
All of the sudden the car comes to a screeching halt, and I hear a car door slam. When the trunk opens, the face is standing there. From that point he took us out of the trunk into the shack that he had pulled up in front of.












When we were inside, he puts Toby on a chair and ties him to it. Then he takes me and ties me to a pole. Suddenly I find my courage and screamed at him “What do you want? Who do you think you are?”
He replies in a voice that chilled me to the bone “I want you. And you don’t need to know who I am just yet. That will be the big finale.”
“W-what’s the f-finale?” I stuttered.
In that same voice he said “You’ll find out when we get there.” Then he adds “You know, I was only planning on taking you, but then you had your friend here. Yes, he will be a fine specimen.” He started to move towards Toby.
“Don’t you dare touch him!!” I scream.
He stops, then he puts his bony, claw like hand above Toby’s head and says “Oh really? What will you do to me if I do?”
I have to think for a second, and then the realization hits me. I have to do it, no matter how much I don’t want to. “I’ll make you a deal; you can do whatever you want to me, but you don’t hurt him.”
He seems to ponder this for a while then says “Alright, but he doesn’t get let go until I’m finished with you. I’ll be back in a while- I have to go get some supplies.” With that he leaves.
“Toby-,”
“Nicole, what the hell were you thinking? You basically just gave him permission to kill you. Do you even realize this?”
“I’m sorry! I couldn’t let him hurt you. I-“
“Like I can watch him torture you? It’s no different for me.”
I can tell that he’s getting angry. I begin to explain the reason as to why I said what I said. “You know that you shouldn’t have been drug into this, this is my problem and I will deal with it. Look, you’re my best friend, and I can’t lose you.” The last part comes out as a whisper.
He whispers “But if I lose you, it will destroy me. I have something that I need to tell you. I l-“then he hesitates. Then he looks at me and grins “Get ready to escape, Nicole. I-“his sentence was cut short as the face walks silently back in with some food. He sees that toby has escaped his bonds, then he looks at me and smiles an unsettling smile. I can already tell that I’m in trouble.
“Well, well, well. Look at what we have here. Me thinks you two were planning on escaping. I’ll just have to fix that.”
I begin to scream at him again and remind him of our deal
“Oh, I won’t hurt the lad. I’m just going to make sure that he doesn’t get away.” As he was telling me this he tied Toby’s hands behind his back with handcuffs. I can barely hear when he whispers in Toby’s ear “….next time I won’t be so forgiving. I’ll kill her.” The muscles in Toby’s jaw flexed and his eyes were shining. Then with a low and deadly voice he replied “You do that and I’ll kill you.”

The face smirks, turns around and slaps me. Hard. I feel the warm tears slide down my face, and where he hit me it stings.
“Do you want to try your tone again? I suggest that you do…otherwise your friend won’t live very long
He comes up to me and tells me what he’s going to do.
“Since you have opted to be the brave one, I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do to you. You won’t receive any food and maybe some water…depends on my mood. Then if you keep holding out I’ll start to do other things. “
“What will you do if I give in” I say, just to see some hope enter his eyes.
“I will let you go…but the boy stays with me…forever. You don’t tell anyone. You pretend like you don’t know.”
“Never,” I spat in his face and he slaps me again. I hear Toby yelling in the background as my eyes grow heavy.
“You’ll learn to give in child; your survival depends on it.” Is the last thing I hear.
~
The next few days pass by in a blur, but I don’t give in. He did the cruelest things to me; he would eat food in front of me, and when he would give me water, he would throw it at me face.
“Ready to give in yet? If you aren’t then I can begin to start other things” as he says this his eyes travel my body.
“Don’t! Please, I’m begging you. Don’t hurt her,” Toby say almost in a whisper.






~







Finally on what seems like the third day, the face tells me “Ok, it’s time for the big finale.” With that he takes Toby and I and puts us in the trunk again. When the trunk is opened, we’re in the middle of the woods. He walks us for a while, and my legs hurt because they haven’t moved in a while. He leads us to a cliff, shoves me to the edge and whispers in my ear “Give in, or I’ll push you over.”
“Never.”
Just as he’s about to push me, I hear a scream. When I turn around, I see the kind old man emerging out of the forest. He’s fighting the face. As he’s fighting him, Toby grabs me and pulls me away from the cliff. When we are a safe distance away from it, I collapse from exhaustion and Toby wraps his arms around me protectively.
Step by step, the man is pushing the face towards the cliff. Finally, with one last punch, the face stumbles and falls over the cliff. I can hear a thunk of his body hitting the bottom. The man turns around and smiles at me and says “Hello Nicole, we haven’t formally met but I’m your father.”
My jaw dropped. “No, my father died when I was young-“
“The man was me, you see, I had a mental illness. I would become violent, and in one of my rages I hit your mother. From that point on, I promised myself that I wouldn’t go back until I was clean. Now I’m under control. So I decided to come back, but then I noticed that he was stalking you. I knew him; he was in the ward with me. He would tell me about how he much he liked to test people, to see how far they will go. I told him my story as well, and it seems that’s why he chose to come after you.”
“Is it really you? You’re not lying to me are you?” I ask.
“It’s really me. Come, let’s get you home.”
~
After that nightmare I now have a dad. He’s back living in the house and doing well. My mom has been happier than ever.
~
One day I’m walking with Toby home from school. We became even closer after what happened. We don’t talk about it, but there’s no need to.
Toby looks at me and asks “Do you remember when the face left to get supplies?”
“…yeah,” I answer cautiously. I have no idea where he’s going with this.
“Do you remember what I was saying when he came back in?”
“I remember you starting a sentence but I don’t remember what it was.”
“Well I do.”
Then he turns to me and says “I love you.”
The end