Glass Walls

Chapter 10

I open my eyes. I'm in an octagonal room made of mirrors. Everywhere I look I see myself in a state of confusion, except the white ceiling and floor. I blink and I see dad behind me. His hand is on my shoulder and he's holding something. It's a bat.
"Do it." he says holding out the bat. I take it and look at him in the reflection. I have a feeling of what he wants me to do.
"No." I whisper.
His grip on me tightens.
"Do. It." he demands in a menacing tone.

"NO!" I hold onto the bat so hard my knuckles are probably white.

"DO IT!"

I scream and with a swift move, I swing the bat at my father. As soon as the bat comes in contact with him he explodes into a cloud of dust. I cough and gasp for air.
I look around and suddenly he's in all the mirrors. But he's not himself. His skin has a grayish tone to it and when he smiles maliciously, rows of razor sharp teeth drip with saliva.
A hideous screeching sound makes my skin crawl. They pound their fists against the glass barrier.

I raise the bat high above my head as a warning. Breaking the mirrors like he wanted is the last thing I want to do but he's not giving me a choice. I'm in danger and he isn't himself.
"Don't! Get away! Dad, stop!"

But he doesn't. All the images of him keep banging against the mirrors. The screeching noise they make is so high pitched it makes my ears ring.
I hold the bat steady and swing as hard as I can. Glass shatters and flies at me. Evil hissing fills the air. I don't stop until every mirror is broken. When I break the last one, he doesn't disappear like the others.

He looms over me and grins. His teeth turn into fangs and his face morphs into a dog-like creature. Before I know it he has transformed into a vicious dog.
Bark! Bark!
He snarls and barks. A low hideous growl emits from his throat.
Dad is crouched back, ready to jump. My hold on the bat isn't steady but I raise it anyway.
He pounces right at me. The wind is knocked out of me and I fall to the ground. The beast stands over me snapping in my face. I kick him off and reach for the bat I dropped.
He lunges again and catches my face in between his jaws. Blood trickles down my cheek but I finally grab the baseball bat. I stand up as quick as I can. He jumps at me and I swing down hard.
CRACK!
His skull is bashed in and a profuse amount of blood spills onto the white floor. Brains ooze from the dog's crushed skull. It's sickening.
The pool of scarlet surrounds me and there's an unusual amount of blood. To my horror the sticky red liquid rises up as it leaks from the dog's head.
It rises up, up, up and now it's at my waist. The room is filling rapidly.

Is there a way out?!
The smell is absolutely awful.
I'm on my tiptoes but it is so deep the blood threatens to go over my head. I'm going to drown!
I take a deep breath and close my eyes as I'm consumed by the thick red water.
It's absolutely disgusting. I feel like puking but I don't dare open my mouth.
My lungs feel like they've been set on fire. My body forces me to gasp for air but all I get is a mouthful of blood. The retched iron taste turns my stomach and I hurl. It comes right back at me when the blood seeps into my mouth and I swallow a bit of it. I close my mouth. I'm dizzy and I can't see. Laughter fills the room and I feel myself slipping away.

I wake up gasping and coughing  for air. It takes me a moment to realize where I am.
I'm home. I'm in bed, nothing can hurt me. Cold sweat covers my skin and I'm trembling horribly.
I glance at my alarm clock. It's around three in the morning.
I notice something, more like taste something.
The lingering taste of iron. Am I bleeding?
I walk to the bathroom and my legs shake so much I almost fall over. The taste only gets stronger. I flip the light switch up and look in the mirror. After my eyes adjust to the light, I see blood seeping from my tongue.
I must've bit it in my sleep. The longer I'm bleeding the worse I feel. I remember the foul taste of blood flooding my mouth. And the dog's, my dad's, whatever's, head bleeding out.
I feel nauseous again. It's so bad I turn on the faucet and rinse my mouth out.
Before I have a mouth full of blood I grab some toilet paper and hold it on my tongue.
When I'm sure it's done bleeding I go back to bed.
My mind is racing and I can't forget that nightmare. It makes me never want to sleep again.