"Brown Eyed Girl" by Valerie C

     Thud​. I opened my eyes to reveal a bedroom lit by a pale-yellow bulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling. There’s a bed in the left corner of the room, sheets undone, with a pair of shoes lying under the frame. If there’s one thing I know for sure, those aren’t mine. I try to slowly lift myself off the ground to get a better idea of where exactly I’m at, but I’m met by resistance. Looking down, I notice my arms and legs are bound. I feel a sense of panic rush through me, how did I get here? I catch a glimpse of someone in a dirty mirror in the right corner of the room, surrounded by pictures of people I don’t recognize, posters of bands I’ve never listened to, and jewelry I’ve never worn. Why am I here? I try to scream but nothing comes out, my mouth isn’t covered but there’s an overwhelming sense of fear present that refuses to let sound escape my lips. I dart my eyes around the room to make sense of my surroundings, but nothing is familiar and I begin to feel that trouble is looming.
     From behind me, I hear a light thuds approaching the room I’m in. They are so close, but so far away, leaving an empty pit in the middle of my stomach due to the anticipation. I close my eyes and pray silently to wake up from this nightmare, but I know it’s not going to happen because I hear a door swing open behind me. If the air in the room wasn’t cold enough, it’s stone cold now. I lay dead silent, eyes squeezed shut with tears threatening to spill over. I figured that if I play dead, whoever is hovering above me may just go away, but they don’t. I can hear them walk over to the bed and take a seat, because the springs in the mattress give the faintest squeak.My heart is beating a mile a minute, and I’m sure whoever is in here with me knows it too.

     It begins to mumble words I can’t recognize in a chant-like manner. I dare to open my eyes and I’m relieved to see that I'm not met by the face of a demon, but rather by the back of girl. She sits cross legged on the bed, both hands stretched towards the ceiling, appearing to be conducting a ritual of sorts. The tears that threatened to spill over have now begun to run down my cheeks, leaving my face wet and sticky. I try to stay as quiet as possible to avoid confrontation with my tormentor but my effort fails, a low choked sob manages to escape my lips. The girl stops chanting and slowly lowers her arms in an ominous matter. Knowing that I’m sure to meet my end in this room, but still having enough hope that I can prevent my untimely fate I plead with her to not hurt me. Her body begins to contract and contort in ways that I know are not humanly possible, and I realize my cries are no use. I try to inch myself further away from the bed and make a swift exit but the door slams shut behind me. The single bulb in the middle of the room begins to flicker and the girl turns her head slowly. My eyes are fixated on the mirror in the corner of the room, staring into a pair of brown eyes that I don’t recognize to avoid seeing the demon. This is it.
     I can see her looking at me in the corner of my eye, and my face turns a sickly grey color. I’ve stopped crying and my breathing isn’t rushed, but my heart is beating in my ears. A feeling of curiosity rushes over me for the quickest second, and in that moment I’m brave enough to face her. I turn my head and look at her face, her features appear to be familiar but she’s still virtually unrecognizable to me. All the unfamiliarity makes her and the situation more terrifying. She cocks her head to one side as if to question my confusion, and then I notice her eyes.Big brown menacing eyes, the same pair I first looked into when I woke in this strange room and noticed the mirror in the right corner in the room surrounded by pictures I now know where my family and

friends, and bands who made the songs I loved to listen to the most, and jewelry I put on every morning. This is my room, those are my eyes. And when she realizes I’ve made the connection, she flashes a big wide smile with her big brown eyes and my world goes dark.