Chapter 9: Everything Is Not What It Seems

Alanis opened her eyes. There above her, was the morning sky and blooming trees.
Her head hurt, she didn't know where she was. What was the last thing she remembered? Jade had told her everything was all right, and she had fallen back asleep.
Where was she now? She wasn't anywhere close to a small cabin. Her hair was matted against her head with dry blood and dirt. Her jeans were torn and her body covered in aches and pains. Her watch had stopped and her lip had been bleeding. She managed to pull herself up from the floor of the forest. And she began to walk.
She didn't even know where the heck she was, how could Zac find her if SHE didn't know where she was?
Her face was dirty, she felt awful. She was dizzy and weak. She was wondering how she was even standing.
She climbed over a hill that was covered in tall golden grass. There stood a small shack-like home. It looked abandoned.
She ran toward it, making sure she got there before her legs collapsed beneath her.
Out of breath, she banged on the door. It opened on its own. She had to almost crawl in.
There was hardly anything in that house. The floors were dusty and dirty. She crawled down some stairs hoping to find something she could lay on or tend her wounds with.
There was a room that didn't look abandoned. It had posters, and CDs, and clothes. Alanis wondered who could live in such a room, then live in the rest of the house.
Alanis lay down on what seemed to be a bed. Her head ached. She needed to lie down. Alanis closed her eyes slowly. She didn't want to sleep; she needed to stay awake. But her body told her to sleep.

For the second time that day, Alanis woke up. The room had changed. The posters were different, they used to be 98 degrees but now they were BackStreet Boys. And every time Alanis looked at another part of the room something changed. It was like time was passing before her eyes. The posters became Hanson, then Offspring, then Blink 182, then KoRn and Limp Bizkit then the walls were painted black with words like "Hate" "Greed" "Lust" "Sloth" written in the wall with chalk. Then there was screaming, one word. It was her name. Alanis stood up quickly.

Who was screaming her name?

Then the screaming changed to another word. "WAR! WAR! WAR!" it screamed over and over again. She wanted to know who was screaming. She also wanted to know something else, who the hell was playing with her mind.
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Alanis shouted at no one.
"I HATE YOU!
YOU LEFT ME!
ABANDONED ME!
WHY DID YOU DO THAT?
I NEVER LOVED YOU MORE!
YOU LEFT US!
YOU LEFT US!
YOU LEFT US!
WAR, WAR, HATE, GREED
THESE ARE SOME OF THE SINS OF HUMAN KIND
BUT YOU LEFT A DEEPER IMPACT IN MY MIIIND!
YOU LEFT ME!
I CRUMBLED INTO DUST!
YOU LEFT US!
YOU LEFT US!
NOW MY BLOOD HAS TURNED BLACK!
YOU LEFT US,
YOU LEFT US, OOH!
SMOKE INFIRLED AROUND MY SOUL AS I PLUNGE DEEPER INTO MY HOLE…
YOU LEFT US!
YOU LEFT US!
TEARS OF BLOOD RUN DOWN MY CHEEKS
AS I FEEL MY KNEES GROW WEAK
I WAITED FOR YOU TO COME BACK
BUT YOU NEVER DIIID
YOU LEFT US
YOU LEFT US"
The voice screamed at Alanis. Alanis fell to her knees, sobbing in her own grief. All that the voice had said was true. She had abandoned Zac and his family. And she had corrupted her friend, turning him against himself.
Alanis looked up; sobbing had erupted from around the room. Then screaming, but not of hate this time, screams of pain. Alanis felt warmth against the side of her hand. She looked down then jerked her hand back. There was blood on the floor, coming in from under the door. It was seeping out. Alanis crawled over the blood and turned the doorknob. It wouldn't open. She pulled on it as hard as she could.
The door exploded open, a wave of crimson washing over Alanis. Alanis made her way to the top of the thick blood. Why was this all here?
She didn't care; she was getting out of that room and out of that house. She swam for the door. It seemed so far away.
Alanis was soon tired, but she hadn't moved even a foot. She sighed and gave up
Alanis treaded for about five minutes, then she realized that it was rising. She began pounding on the windows, hoping they would break. But she only hurt her hands so she began to kick at them.
"Hate…"
"War…"
"Greed…"
"You left us…"
Voices echoed in her mind, as the liquid was a few inches from the ceiling. Alanis put her lips above the blood and sucked in as much air as she could then the blood had enveloped the room. She sat under the thickness of it all and thought about everything. Where will she go when she died? What will happen to Zac? Will he actually be what she had seen?
Alanis closed her eyes as she felt herself run out of air. She knew she was going to die. Why today?
Why right now?
And why did she have to die so horribly, drowning in her own sorrow.
Alanis felt herself being pulled on by invisible hands. Then her world turned black.
Alanis gasped for air. She was outside the house. She stood up and examined herself. There was not a trace of blood on her body besides a few drops of her own.
Something was wrong, very wrong. Something told Alanis to run, run fast. Alanis obeyed and ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
She had only gone a hundred feet when there was a deafening explosion. Alanis feel to the ground from the impact. She quickly whirled herself over to see what had happened. Where the house had been, was now an inferno. Flames exploded from the foundation of the house. Burning chunks of wood and tin fell from the sky and onto the ground beside her. She was confused, but she didn't care. She jumped from where she lay and ran for her life.