I push away strands of long, brown hair from my eyes, still on high alert. I don’t dare let my guard down and take a few cautious steps sideways, worried all hell will break lose again, but nothing happens. It’s quiet. Only the sound of the outside wind remains.
“They are gone,” I hear a familiar, loving voice in my ear.
“Sylvia?” I whisper, flashing my eyes around the room.
“I am here,” she whispers, remaining invisible.
My breath hitches. “I, I did everything I knew to k-keep them away,” I stutter, shaking my head. “Dear God they have found me,” I wipe a fresh tear from my cheek. “I can't believe this is happ...”
Sylvia rests a hand on my shoulder. “It is all right for now,” she whispers, her soft voice comforting. “You stayed calm, but you must arm yourself. They will try to come back and they will be stronger.”
Chapter Two
I knew this day might come. Liv and Becca are the reason I stay vigilant, guarding myself, never forgetting the terror they caused when I was just a little girl. Sixteen years have passed, but the memories are so vivid, so frightening.
Liv and Becca appeared one afternoon, completely out of the blue. I was eight years old, playing with my dolls on the floor in my room. Barbie and Ken were having a picnic, when the door to my closet slowly creaked open. It was nothing out of the norm, I was used to things moving on their own. I looked up, surprised to see two little girls about my age, standing side-by-side. They were smiling, so I smiled back, not giving much thought to the goose bumps traveling down my neck. They looked like sisters, appearing innocent in their blonde, curled locks and old, tattered dresses—one a faded blue, the other a muted red.
Politely, they introduced themselves, speaking more like adults than kids but I didn’t pay much attention to that either. I liked them instantly. We became fast playmates, amusing ourselves with imaginary tea parties, dressing up my dolls, even playing hide and seek. It was pure bliss. I was in heaven.
Finally, I had friends.
At least that’s what they wanted me to believe.
A couple of months later, the mood in the house took a drastic turn. My parents began to fight day after day and night after night. Eventually they decided to separate. I didn’t know at the time that my new playmates were the cause of the intense negativity draped over the house. But even if I had, I couldn’t have done anything about it at the time.
Not long after, Dad packed his bags and walked out the front door. Mom didn’t try to stop him so I begged him to stay, even promising to never talk about ghosts or spirits again. But he just kept walking, ignoring my cries. That’s when I knew it was my fault. Liv and Becca agreed. Besides, there was no one else to blame I was their only child. My difficult birth solidified that fact. Mom never let me forget.
As the days dragged on, my home life became increasingly unhealthy and depressing. I was hardly eating, and Mom didn’t seem to care. She was too busy locking herself in her bedroom after picking me up from school.
I had no one.
So, I became more and more dependent on Liv and Becca, especially for emotional support. They hated Mom and Dad with a passion, even suggesting they no longer loved me and wished I’d never been born. I believed them.
Soon, Liv and Becca urged me to come away with them and escape my horrible life. They could take me to a place where no one would call me names, and I would be loved unconditionally. It started to make sense. It’s all I really wanted.
One day after school, I tried talking to Mom again about Liv and Becca, thinking this time it would comfort her that I had friends who wanted to help, but she refused to believe me. She just got angry and called Dad instead. I could hear them talking on the phone as they discussed what to do about my obsession with imaginary friends. I had become an embarrassment, a menace, and the nonsense had to stop once and for all.
The very next day I was admitted to Hillbrand Psychiatric Hospital. I was a scared and frightened little girl, belligerent and fighting to free myself from the straps of a twin bed. Mom was sobbing against dad’s chest, while his far away eyes ignored my screams, begging them, anyone, to let me go. But they didn’t listen, no one did. I was invisible, trapped in a room full of strangers. When Dad eventually turned away, my heart sank and I watched in shock as he guided my mother out the room.
I was totally alone, and I hated them for it.
Hours passed with a scattering of nurses and doctors coming and going, asking me questions with expressionless faces. I stopped talking. I stopped fighting.
I stopped everything.
Finally, they gave up and left me alone, leaving me to sleep until the next morning. My head rested on a flat pillow as I silently prayed over and over for Liv and Becca to find me, tears dropping down my cheeks and into my ears. I remember trying to wipe them away, forgetting that my wrists were still tied, sore and tender from my fight.
And then the shadows started to appear, the cruel darkness of night effortlessly devouring the dusk from the setting sun. I can still see them slowly taking form, their contorted faces and warped bodies creeping along the ceiling and walls. I wanted to scream, I wanted someone to help but I no longer had the strength. I was so tired, so beaten.
I kept my lids tightly shut, protecting myself from the dark images deliberately trying to frighten me, but it wasn’t working. Not seeing, not knowing what would come next was so much worse. So, I opened my eyes, looking around the room, my tiny body trembling with fear.
Out of nowhere, something bright began to illuminate the right side of the room. I sucked in a breath, staring in shock, when a tiny ball of light appeared in the corner. It was somehow comforting, glowing and hovering in place. My cheeks rose into a smile for the first time in days when the voice of a woman began to speak, but not out loud, it was in my head.
“I am Sylvia,” she whispered, her voice soft and soothing. “I am here to help.”
All at once, a tall woman with long, auburn hair appeared before me, standing at the foot of the bed, light radiating against her white gown and porcelain skin. Her deep blue eyes mirrored my own, captivating me. She meant her words, and the sincerity behind her smile was palpable. As an eight-year-old, lost, little girl, Sylvia suddenly represented the mother figure I so desperately wanted.
I stayed silent and remained calm, staring up at her in complete awe when a nurse entered the room. I knew immediately she couldn’t see Sylvia. And when she plunged a sharp needle in my arm for a sample of my blood, I didn’t care, even though I hated needles. None of it mattered. I had been rescued in that physical prison, the pain from my loss had completely vanished. I could trust Sylvia, she was pure and safe, and eventually, she revealed the truth about Liv and Becca.
They weren’t who I thought they were at all; they weren’t even children. They were the blackest of black entities of evil and had tricked me all along. They knowingly took advantage of a child, wanting me to think they were my friends, but instead, they wanted to destroy my family, even destroy my life. There was never any good in Liv and Becca. They were and always have been dark and malevolent.
Chapter Three
When the last nurse of the night finally left, and dead bolted the door to my room, I was happy and relieved that Sylvia stayed the whole time. I was also excited to know more about her, so I asked everything I could think of.