The Fault in Her Scars [DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE]

[3]

Dani's POV

"Buttons, I'm scared," I whispered to my teddy bear, pulling him close as the voices started nearing.

"You should be," one sneered.

"You're alone," another whispered. "Just like when the accident happened. Alone. Forever alone."

I've been told so many times that the voices weren't real; that I was just imagining them up, but they felt real. I could feel them pressing on me. I could hear them. Most times they were my mom's voice, but, sometimes, they changed.

I sat up, pulling the covers up to my neck as I hugged Buttons. "It's okay," I whispered. "We'll be all right."

Buttons was my best friend, and I had to protect him. Protect him from the monsters that I could see clawing at my bed. They ripped my sheets open with each scratch, and tinier versions of themselves began to pour out of the holes.

Tiny, but coming by the thousands.

And, then, through the darkness, I saw the outline of a bus. Suddenly, before me, a car sprang into the room. A car that I knew every inch of, like the back of my hand. I should know, anyway. I saw it every day; even a few times a day. It came in my dreams, randomly on the street, sometimes even in buildings..

And, every time, the same people were in it. Dad, Rachel, and I. At least, I think it was. They were probably lookalikes. To freak me out.

Like every other time, my eyes were glued to the scene as it unfolded, even though I knew exactly what was coming next.

The voices kept going, screaming together and creating some kind of incomprehensible roaring wind in my ear.

I shrank down into my bed, tears beginning to run down my cheeks as, ever so often, Buttons reached past me and flicked a few mini monsters off my bed.

In the car before me, I watched the bus get nearer, as all the lookalikes began to scream. Like always, Rachel threw herself over me, and, as the bus collided with the car, I felt myself being jerked forward, the sensation still as frightening as it had been five years ago.

I started singing softly to myself. Well, it wasn't even proper singing; I was practically just mumbling lyrics to myself because I was terrible at singing, but it helped. It took my mind off everything in front of me.

But that didn't last for long.

The voices were still pounding hard around me, but as my vision grew hazier, so did the voices. They came, slowly, a few words at a time. The way the words were strung together had been confusing to me seven months ago, but, now, I understood. It wasn't their alien language anymore. It was my language.

My alien language.

But understanding the words only made them hurt harder. They were insults; all of them.

I wrenched upward with a scream as the bus and the car sprang into action at their beginning positions once again. This was it. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to go before the act started up again.

I knew what I had to do; I had to feel pain. Pain was distracting; it brought my mind off the voices even more than talking to another person.

My hands automatically reached up to wipe the tears away as they fell, and, everywhere they landed on, the monsters disappeared. It was a conclusion I had reached a long time ago; tears were a sign of pain, and the monsters only meant to hurt me anyway, so my tears meant mission accomplished, right?

I stumbled out of bed, clutching Buttons desperately as I retrieved my backpack. It had been overtaken by the monsters, but I'd get to it if it meant giving the monsters my life.