THE THINGS I NEEDED TO SEE

It was 9:15 in the morning. My alarm woke me up from the one decent dream I had in the past few months. My hair was a mess so I walked slowly to my bathroom and hopped in the shower. The water was cold and it woke me up even more. The shampoo and conditioner soften my hair, making it easier for my hands to detangle it somewhat. Once I got out of the shower, I wiped the mirror and looked at myself. I hated how long my hair was when it was wet. The length made it so frustrating to handle, but my mom doesn't want me to cut it. That's the only thing I can complain about in my life. My whole life has been easy and it's pretty much planned out by my parents. They want me to work for them soon, since I have finally graduated. It's not something I look forward to. While wrapping the towel around me, I left the bathroom. I knew my parents were awake and had made breakfast before they headed to work. The smell of pancakes and syrup encouraged me to put on my hoodie and shorts, then rush downstairs. I saw them standing by the kitchen counter. They were whispering to each other at first until they saw me. “You should've been up earlier." My mom said. I could feel she was disappointed that I couldn't have breakfast with her. It's something we usually do. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sleep in." I replied while yawing. She nodded and began to wash her hands. My dad walked to me then patted me on the head. A simple affectionate gesture that showed he still loved me. Even though I never heard my parents say the words" I love you," I'm sure they assume I know or it's tough love. It would be nice to hear at least once. “We'll see you after work. Try to stay at the house today." My dad said. They left in a hurry, picking up their matching briefcases and walking in unison. It's not unusual for my parents to ask me to stay home. It's dangerous outside, no one can tell me why. The gates to our community open for emergencies. Only authorized people are allowed to leave and it's not even safe for them. Not one person knows what they do outside of the walls that tower over our buildings, especially since citizens are supposed to stay 20 feet away. The guards give a warning if you step close and if you don’t comply they arrest you. Only 14 people have been arrested in the last couple of years. I'm not sure what happened to them and the families seem not to care. It's probably a life-long sentence. No one has seen them since they'd gotten arrested. Curiosity can hurt people here. There is no reason to leave. We have everything we need here. I eventually sat down to eat the food that slowly became cold. Boredom started to creep behind me. I could not stay in this house all day. The sun was bright, and it was calling for me to go outside. First I needed money. I know it's bad to steal from your parents, but they never notice the five dollar bills that are gone. You can't get much with them anyway, and I can't do anything if they don't allow me to get a job unless I work for them, but who knows when that'll be. I quickly decided to put my leftovers up in the fridge and head back upstairs to my parent's room. The door was heavy and creaked loudly when I began to open it. I could not help, but wince. Their room was dark and the air stale. Of course, the money was always in the top drawer of an antique dresser. I started to slide the drawer open and I found exactly what I was looking for. Yet I froze, a key was sitting comfortably under the cash I had picked up. My heart was pounding with excitement from running over to the closet I had never been in, with my hand clenching the key. I could only hope it would be the right key and thankfully it was. I've always dreamed of all the shoes and dresses my mom collected over the years. Her style has always intrigued me and for a moment I wanted to look like her. While taking a deep breath, I slowly pushed the door. As soon as I saw what was in the closet, all I could think to do was to cover my mouth from screaming. Several silhouettes of my parents were in front of me, empty and lifeless. None of the bodies looked the same. It was like they were Halloween decorations hidden away in an attic. They all had a different age of decay. The smell was rotten and death was lingering at the tip of my nose. How could I not notice the strong scent? I could feel all my hair standing on my body and my mind started to panic. I slammed the door shut then made sure to lock it. Carefully, I placed the cash and the key back in the original spot it was in. As calm as possible, I left the room feeling like I was in a paralyzed state of mind. Nothing I saw made sense. Why would that be in their closet? I wouldn't be able to ask my parents about what I had seen. Maybe this is a life lesson about invading people's personal space or punishment for taking money that isn't mine. All I know is I do not feel safe anymore. It was my own fault, but who expects to find the dead bodies of their parents in a closet? I have to forget about this or eventually talk about it. I'd much rather forget and right now would be a good time to get out of the house. I dashed to my room to put on a pair of jeans and a gray tank top. Soon after I changed, I grabbed my jacket, then headed downstairs with my boots swinging in my hands. My footsteps echoed throughout the house as I went down each step of the stairs. The front door was a few feet away from me. "Where are you going?" my mom asked. Never in my life have I turned around so fast. I probably gave myself whiplash. She was standing by the backdoor, waiting for my response. " I got bored in the house, and it's nice outside, so I figured it would be okay". I said it all a little too fast. I noticed her eyes were sunken in, and her breathing was slow, the dress she was wearing seemed outplace. It was the one she wore for my uncle's funeral. She did not look like herself, the skin on her seemed to be disfigured. "What did you see?" she demanded. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest. "I didn't see anything. What are you talking about, mom?" I said with caution. The expressionless face my mom had soon turned into a sinister one, the kind of face you would see in a horror movie or from a psychopath. "You don't need to lie, I saw you with their eyes," she whispered. She started walking fast towards me. In the process, the side of her arm hit the corner of the kitchen counter. Blood starting dripping, and her skin dangled from her forearm. My body wanted to freeze, but I forced my legs to move. I ran for the front door and sprinted into the middle of the street. The houses were close to the town, so I headed that way. My lungs were hurting, and my head felt cold. I kept going and people were giving me strange looks. I didn't want to look behind me. Eventually, I made it to the center of town and started making my way through the alleyways. All I could hear was my own footsteps, so I slowed down and peaked behind my shoulder. Nobody was there. As a kid I had a hiding spot with my friends when our town went on lockdown. It was in an old sewage system that wasn't used. My gut was telling me to hide there again. It wasn't far, I could easily get there from the alley I was in. I was running in my socks, so I slid on my shoes and started tying them. Soon as I got done with putting on my shoes, I moved right away. Walking felt foreign at that moment, but my mom was nowhere to be seen. The buildings kept me hidden from the public eye as I moved secretly between them. The end of the alleyway was inching closer to me, I could see the sewer drain entrance in the center of the road. Not many people come over here. It has abandoned shops and trash that gets dumped on the sidewalk. I looked left and right, only a couple of people were walking nearby. I rushed to the middle of the street, reaching for the entrance of the sewer drain. The metal against my hands hurt as I struggled to pull it. It was easier as a kid with my friends. Pulling harder, I got to move it slightly. I realized the couple of people I saw from before turned into a few in the distance. They were shouting for guards. I started pulling more, and somehow the metal floated with ease. Someone is helping me. We made eye contact. He had shaggy brown hair and gentle blue eyes. His eyelashes were long, they were the kind any girl wished to have. “We need to hurry,” he insisted. He gestured me to go first. I climbed down the rusty ladder. Once I placed my feet on the ground, he started closing the entrance. He was wearing combat boots with camo pants and a black shirt. He hopped off the ladder somewhat gracefully, then looked at me. “I want you to know I was waiting to leave, you kinda screwed it up.” He complained. All I could do was stare. I was confused. I can understand why I wanted to leave, but I don’t know the reason he would want to. “Well, we need to move now.” He said while he grabbed my arm and started to jog. I tripped over my feet at first. Once I was at his pace, he let go. The water under our feet splashed and hit the concrete walls that surrounded us. The humidity filled my lungs. I felt unsafe like earlier. I was with a random stranger running in a sewage system. He looked like he was around my age, which is 18. Maybe we used to school together. “Why are you leaving?” I asked. He abruptly stopped. “I could ask you the same thing” he said confidently. “I needed to hide. I wasn’t leaving” I mumbled. “That’s stupid” he laughed. He started running again, so I did too. I could hear thunder outside as we kept going. I have never been this far into the sewer system. Luckily, we had daylight from the drainage grates to see where we were going. He started running faster towards a big circular entrance with bars. As we came up to it, he turned around to look behind us. I could see there were a couple of bars missing. “ I thought the gates were the only way to leave” I said. He ignored my comment and started going through the bars. Once he got through, he looked at me as I stood there and reached for my hand. I held onto his as I went through. My guess is he didn’t want to leave by himself. What I saw today wasn't my mom, it was a creature hiding in her flesh. I didn't want to be myself either.