The Day After

Alyssa

Gray light pressed against the curtains. The air sat heavy and still, Alyssa didn’t move.

The weight in her chest felt immovable, more suffocating than the stiffness in her limbs. She stared at the ceiling, feeling blank and disconnected. Her body floated somewhere between exhaustion and dread.

The night before drifted in and out of focus.

The rain.

The footsteps.

The golden eyes burning in the dark.

No matter how she turned it over in her mind, none of it felt like a dream, which she desperatley wish it had been. 

Eventually, her legs swung off the bed the floor was cold and the room was so silent you could hear a mouse scurry across the floor.  Every step to the kitchen felt distant, like watching herself from the outside.

She opened the cupboard. Reached for the coffee pods.

Empty.

Her hand hovered, slow to register. Then lowered. The door clicked shut with quiet finality.

She had no choice. She had to go outside, which was the last place she wanted to be after the prior night.  A dull throb behind her eyes at the thought. Movement seemed impossible, but the world wouldn’t wait.

In the bathroom, steam curled thick in the air. Scalding water poured over her. Too hot. She didn’t flinch. The mirror fogged, hiding her face.

Still, the weight remained. Unshaken.

Not dirt. Not sweat.

Something deeper. Clinging to her. 

She scrubbed until her skin turned raw.

it was still there.

She’d been cautious, careful, always trying to make herself Invisible.

It didn’t matter. They found her anyway.

When the mirror cleared, she didn’t recognize the woman staring back. Wet hair plastered to pale skin. Eyes dull, ringed in shadows. Not fear looking back just... emptiness.

Alyssa quickly pulled her hair back into a messy bun and added a quick brush of makeup. Enough to cover the worst of how she felt but she would half to cake it on like a clown to hide it all. 

She chose black shorts an oversized white shirt, nothing drastic, she wanted to be as plain as she could be. 

She threw on scuffed sneakers near the door, the old comfort of them feeling grounding.

She was just background noise, just another person. She needed moe than ever to remain unseen, and invisible. It was the only way for her to stay safe. 

The keys felt heavy in her hand as she picked them up.

At the door, she paused, pressing her forehead lightly against the wood, talking herself into opening the door. 

As she stepped outside the cold wrapped itself around her, causing her skin to rise.

She set her face with determination, she could not allow anyone in again, anyone to hurt her again, anyone that could put her a situation like she was already in. 

The past had taken enough from her, her confidence, her trust, her ability to let anyone in again. 

Whatever waited outside, she would face it alone.