Chapter One: Cold .

"Sammy! No!" I wake up screaming in to the dark, cold sweat dripping from my brown hair. I struggle to untangle myself from my blue sheets, but they capture my feet in an iron grip. 

My bedroom door crashes open, the doorknob denting the wall. A shadow person rushes to the side of the bed, grabbing my feet and pulling them from the sheets. I kick out, connecting with something soft. "leave me alone!" I wail. "Go away!"

"Cameron! Stop," Shadow Man says, releasing my feet. "it's just me. You're safe." 

My cloudy mind clears at the sound of his voice. "Jake?" I whimper. "yeah," he helps me out of my deathtrap of a bed.

I stumble to the living room-the only other room besides the bathroom and tiny kitchen- and sit on the tattered couch. blankets and pillows are scattered on and around the couch. Jake always insists that I take the small twin sized mattress, saying he can handle the couch. we agreed to switch off now and then, but he never did or wanted to. "You're a monster in the morning if you haven't slept proper," he would laugh.

The soft light from the two am news is the only light. For all you insomniacs out there, I smile inwardly. Or the girls who wake up screaming every other night.

The ugly anchorman is saying something about a trespasser who climbed the roof of a middle school not too far from the dingy, rundown apartment with some species of mold unknown to man me and Jake are renting for ten bucks  a month. The owner probably wouldn't even notice if we stopped paying, because he's almost always drunk. But Jake is too honorable for "taking advantage of an innocent man". I always respond with how i saw him dealing drugs to a fifth grader, which is only half true. The kid was actually maybe an eight grader, and it was prescription painkillers.

Jake has disappeared. I look around, panicked for a moment, then see him walking out of the kitchen holding a dead rat and a glass of water. "I hope you don't expect me to eat that", I smile, gesturing to the rodent. He laughs, shaking his head. "You should drink this, though," he says, handing me the water. Then he goes to the window and chucks the rat out it. There's a squeal and a scream from three stories below.

"I'm guessing it wasn't dead," I shiver as a sudden wave of nausea hits me, and i empty my four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from six hours ago onto Jake's red fleece blanket. Aww... and we just ran out of bread to make more. Damn.

Jake stares down at the gross mess on his blanket for a moment, then in one swift movement he rolls it up and tosses it out the window after the not-so-dead rat.

"Go shower," he pushes me towards the bathroom. I quickly nod. I feel disgusting. my sweat is making my sweatpants and tank top stick to me uncomfortably, and my hair hangs limp and smelly.

I turn on the water as hot as i can stand it and let it wash away my sweat and the tears I've been wanting to let out since I woke up screaming my throat raw. Silent sobs rack my body, and I sit in the corner of the tub, burying my head in my hands. Oh, Sammy... I miss you so much. You, and Mom, and our house... 

I lose track of time, just sitting there. But when I finally lift my head, I realize i forgot to remove my sleepwear before entering the shower. I peel the soaked sweats and shirt off of my body, tossing them over the shower curtain, where they land with a loud squelch. I scrub my skin with the soap until it's red, then work my fingers vigorously through my hair with Head&Shoulders 2in1 shampoo and conditioner. Technically it's Jake's, but I like how soft it makes my hair.

When i finally get out, feeling fresh and clean, i look in the mirror. my eyes are still puffy from the tears that flowed from them, and my skin is a furious shade of red from the scalding water and scrubbing.

I wrap up in a towel and peek outside. Jake has crashed on his couch, so silently I sneak by to my room. I fall onto my bed and check the time. six twenty-two. I'm so tired. I close my eyes, drifting into the lovely black nothingness that is sleep. This time I don't dream.

Author's Note

reviews please?

Reviews

[T. Logan]

This part "The soft light from the two am news is the only light. For all you insomniacs out there, I smile inwardly. Or the girls who wake up screaming every other night." could be written better, but it does make sense, so it isn't a big deal. I like this a lot, and i will be waiting for more. :P
Review mine if you have time, i always like having other people's opinions!