INTRUDER

NOW

"I need to talk to you, Claire" Ben finally says. He has been silent all day and he finally speaks.

"What's wrong?" I ask, confused at his behavior.

"I need to talk about Daniel."

"Wh-what about him?" I ask.

He breathes heavily, "You kissed him, right?" He asks.

"Yeah?" I say.

Ben brings his phone up to my face and plays a video.

The video begins with the camera facing down to the floor. I recognize the floor to be the one at our school. The camera slightly tilts upward at me walking. I seem to be talking to someone.

The camera looks away and I see the people looking at me. Again, the camera points towards me and I see myself talking...talking to myself. Then... I lean in and plant my lips on air. Air. Not Daniel. Air. No one is there. Daniel doesn't exist.

"How do you know this is not edited?"

"Because I video tapped it. I wouldn't lie to you about something like this. Something this serious."

"How can I make sure this is real?" I ask.

"Claire, we have been friends for thirteen long years... tell me one time that I lied to you. Can you?"

And in reality, I couldn't. Ben had never ever lied to me before. It was the truth. He had always been a faithful friend and he always told me the truth. That was one of the reasons why I loved him so very much.

"But.. How.. No. How could I have been hallucinating all of this?"

"Have you been taking your pills?"

"I threw them away."

"Well that won't help."

"They were making me faint."

Ben stood up and grabbed my shoulder. He looked at my eyes and I could clearly tell that he was very worried for me. For my health.

"I am fine Ben."

"No you're not," he responded with a weak smile. He was on the verge of crying his eyes out.

I still don't understand how all these days and all this time, that my friend was never really my friend. It was just another hallucination that was happening to me. What if everything else was a hallucination. What if this was all a dream? What if my parents were never killed?

I looked at Ben and walked away, tears flowing down my cheek like a hand through a silk dress.

It's impossible to believe that your friend was just a dream and after you find that out.. it's hard to believe that anything is real.

"Daniel!" I start to scream.

"Daniel!" I fall to the ground with my head in my hands.

"What Claire?" I look up and there he is. But he's not there. I hear it in my head.

"You're not real! You're not freaking real!" I scream. I grab him and start shaking him. The hallucination is gone, there was no such thing as Daniel. It was all just a trick of my mind to make me feel like I loved someone. That someone loved me. That was all I needed... love, and he gave that to me even though he wasn't even a living thing.

That's why everyone looked at me when I was talking because I was talking to myself and the air. I was never talking to Daniel. That's why the girl got mad when I said that Daniel was sitting there. It was her seat not his because he never existed!

I start to cry and hit my head with my hands. I start to rip my hair out and smash the floor. I hit my head. Why? Why me, God? Why all of this pain in my life?

Ever since that night, its been pain on top of pain. I can't hide it, it's spread all across me.

God, take the pain away.

I stand up and walk to my car. I get in and drive towards a street I have never known before.

I stop at the beginning of the street and look ahead to see that there is a dead end wall. The wall is made out of a gray brick and it says "Welcome to Bluesville" it's the name of the neighborhood. I look at it. I stare at it.

Ben

I put the car on drive.

Ellie

The car starts to drive.

Susanne

The car picks up a speed. I have lost control.

Johnny

The wall is getting nearer and closer all while the car is gaining velocity.

Garred

The car smashes hard into the wall and a fire erupts out of the engine. I bang my head against the steering wheel and I feel the skin split. My arm is twisted into a misshapen shape. I can hear the crack of my ribs.

Everything goes black.

Maggie