And to think people told me I was going to be okay. All those lies they fed me and I choked down every single one of them. I honestly believed that behind their blank stares, they cared about me. But I was wrong. It’s not that way at all.

CHAPTER ONE
IT was another day in the Shack. That’s what I called my house, seeing as it wasn’t fit for the title of home. I lay on my bed and gazed blankly at the white emptiness of my ceiling. Tick Tock, went the seconds in my head. I could hear a soft droning noise underneath it all, but I just couldn’t comprehend it, couldn’t grasp what it was or where it was coming from.
Tick tock, tick tock. My stomach grumbled noisily, but I paid no attention to it. The only thing that mattered was the here and the now, to ride out this feeling. I was at an all time high; feeding the sensory senses, if that made any sense. I felt my eyelashes flutter against my cheeks as I slowly closed my eyes. This feeling was so intense, I could almost taste it. Was this how it felt to be high? Considering this was my first time, I wouldn’t know.
“Adriana!!” My mother’s ever annoying hoarse cackle of pain. I must have done something wrong again. But what? I could feel my brows scrunch up as I tried to puzzle out which of my escapades would upset her. But everything was blank, blank and fuzzy, and I couldn’t wrap my mind around the haze of confusion.
I decided to give it a rest as I felt my brain go lax. I didn’t really care; she was always upset about something when it came to me.
“Adriana!!!” I tried to tell her I’d be right there and to shut up, but my lips were suddenly too huge for my face and it was impossible to get any words around them. They felt numb and rubbery and I knew for the moment that all speech was lost to me.
Instead I just lolled my head back on my dingy pillow and let my entire body go limp. Yeah. I was going to just stay here and let whatever happened to me happen.
From far away I could hear a door crack open and once again my mother’s harsh voice permeated the room. “Adriana, turn that music d-OH MY GOD!”
My head started to hurt; I wish she’d just shove it already. Damn, what did people have to do nowadays to get some sleep? I tried to turn on my side, but my body was bloated to the size of a freaking whale. Nevertheless, I struggled until I managed to get to my side. I wanted to do a victory war cry, but my stupid mouth wasn’t letting me.
“Adriana!” I felt cold claws grasping my shoulder. They were pinching me, cold stabs of pain. I tried to shake them off, but they just kept squeezing tighter, and I felt myself being shaken. My head felt like it was full of water. I could almost hear the sloshing noise in my brain.
My body was dumped back down like a sack of potatoes on the bed. I felt myself about to slide down, but I just couldn’t get up. Instead I fell to the floor, with my sheets wrapped around me. I was a mummy. I started laughing, but deep down I was scared because I heard a shrill screeching sound and I didn’t know what it was. I wanted to run, but I was laughing so hard because it was all so damn funny.
I heard footsteps and a siren blaring. More claws grabbed at me, and I was just too weak to fight back. As the monsters struggled to grab me, I saw blue and red flashing lights outside my window, and that’s the last thing I saw before I felt the blackness: those fixating flashing lights.