Chapter One

- 8 Years Ago : Age 8 -

I sprinted out of my room, down the stairs, and padded down the hall barefooted. My chubby hand reached up to the door knob leading to my mother's room, I peeked my head in the room; my mother was lying on her bed, reading a thick hardbound book.

"Mommy?" I squeaked.

She stuck her bookmark in the book and set it aside. She looked up at me, "Hey, Aislinn. What's the matter, sweetheart?"

I stepped into the room farther, closing the door behind me. I pulled on the front of my bright green nightshirt nervously as I stared at the floor.

"Aislinn? What's wrong, baby?" she patted the edge of the bed near her.

My eyes flicked from the floor to her brilliant blue eyes. I scurried over to the bed and pulled myself up on it. I paused a moment; I heard a creak of the floorboards in the hallway outside, I jumped. Hugging my mother tightly, I eyed the bedroom door warily. "Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Do you believe in bogeymen?"

"Bogeymen aren't real, Aislinn."

"Yes, they are real, Mommy." I tore my eyes from the door and looked up at her sincerely. "There's a bogeyman under my bed, and a bogeyman in my closet sometimes, too. They watch me sleep, Mommy, it's scary."

She brushed a lock of my thin brunette hair behind my ear. "Don't worry," she cooed, "You can sleep in here tonight. I won't ever let any bad bogeymen touch you, I promise."

"Really? You promise? You pinky swear?"

"Yes. I pinky swear. I promise you, I won't ever let any bad bogeymen touch you." She said, smiling, as she held out a long, slender pinky. I entwined my short chubby finger with hers, grinning like the fool that I was.

I fell soundly asleep quickly, curled up next to my mother in her queen-sized bed.

I blinked and rubbed my eyes with my small hands, my mother's soft warmth was missing, I looked around the room. "Mommy?" I mumbled, still half asleep.

I tiptoed out of the room. I ambled through the house halls, and found my mother at the kitchen table; she was sitting down drinking a cup of coffee, still dressed in her pajamas, and her short brown hair stood up in the back. I closed the kitchen door behind me, it made a click sound as I shut it.

"Good morning, Aislinn." My mother looked up from her steaming mug of coffee at me, "Why don't you go to your room and get dressed? We'll go into town today and go to the park." She smiled.

"But Mommy..." I whispered, "What about the bogeymen?"

"Don't worry, they aren't going to get you. They aren't real, Aislinn."

My eyes dropped from her face to the floor. I mumbled a quiet "Okay" and slipped out of the kitchen into the hallway.

I padded to my bedroom door, gazing at it for a moment. I glanced around me, then opened the door a crack. I peeked into the room; seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I snuck into my room to dress.

I grabbed a pair of pants, shirt, underwear, and socks and set them on the top of my flannel bedspread. It was then, that I noticed the shadow in the corner of my room. I spun around, letting out a tiny squeak.

Behind me was a bogeyman. He looked different than the other ones somehow; I scurried behind the end of the bed and crouched down out of sight. I peeked over the bedspread.

This bogeyman was tall and muscular. His dark chocolate eyes bore into me. The side of his face was terribly scarred, two white scars also lined his wrists. He almost looked normal, well, except for the gaping bullet hole in his forehead which periodically dripped crimson blood down his face.

I quickly gathered up my clothing and glanced away from the bogeyman to the door. He moved to block it, trapping me inside my room.

I didn't remember much after that; I only remembered regaining consciousness a bit later, the ground was vibrating and jolting. I felt queasy as the ground beneath me rocked. I tried pulling my arms up, finding them strapped down to something. I blinked my eyes open. The bright lights hurt my eyes, I squinted at my surroundings, well, as much as I could see with limited head turning possibilities. I was in some kind of vehicle, the insides were red and white. Tools lined the walls; next to me, two people were frantically fussing over something.

I sucked in a shallow breath, the agonizing pain around the vicinity of my stomach shocking me out of my dazed stupor. The pain was extricating, I gave out a sharp yelp, biting my tongue in the process. I tasted blood from my tongue trickling in my mouth. I yanked my tongue away from my teeth, sweeping my gaze over the vehicle once again. A second glance told me I must be in an ambulance. Why? I wasn't sure why I was here yet, but I was almost positive it had something with the tormenting pain of my stomach. I noticed my mother sitting in a corner of the ambulance, her face was a mask of worry, distress, and panic.

One of the nurses in the ambulance glanced at my face, realizing my eyes were open, whispered something urgently to the nurse next to him. There was an unpleasant poke on my thin right arm, and everything faded to black.