Windows To the Soul

The blaring sound of an alarm awoke Mila as she rolled onto her back. She attempted to sit up, but immediately felt an intense pain in her head. Focusing her eyes, she saw nothing but a small light in the distance. She stood up slowly, confused and disoriented, from what felt like a squishy floor. She looked around trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness, and began to walk toward the light. She paused as a realization hit her hard in the chest. She had no recollection as to where she was or why she might be there. In fact, she could not remember anything at all, aside from her own name. “Mila Whittings”, she whispered, trying to see if the name stirred up any memories. When nothing came to her, she took a deep breath, shook her head, and continued to approach the source of the light.

When she reached it, she just stood there, dazed, watching the scene play out before her. She saw a hand reaching down to grab a pair of pants and below her another hand helped put them on. She continued watching, not understanding, as whatever she was standing in approached a mirror. When she saw what stood before her, she had to rub her eyes to make sure she was seeing clearly. She was staring directly into the eyes of a teenage boy. There she was, a speck, practically the size of nothing, inside of his pupil. He was of average height with grey eyes and brown hair down to his shoulders. His lanky arms rested awkwardly at his sides for a few moments before he sighed and exited the room. She watched his feet drag down a long, thin hallway. Mila looked around the house, perplexedly searching for answers. He passed by a living room with furnished wooden floors, where she briefly noticed two leather couches surrounding a glass table and a grand piano. She followed his gaze as he entered a kitchen, where a woman was leaning over a stove, making what smelled deliciously of eggs and bacon. She looked up and smiled as she noticed the boy and said, “ ’Morning, Seth! How did you sleep?”

Seth grumbled a “Fine, you?” and sat down at the table, where he put his head in his arms. At that point, Mila could no longer see a thing. She sat down and tried to process everything she had just seen. I have absolutely no idea who he is, she thought to herself, sighing. All she wanted was to remember who she was and find out why she was there. She didn’t know much about herself or this boy, but this whole situation made her anxious. She wanted to go home…wherever that was.

As Seth once again opened his eyes, Mila turned around and used the new light to get a better look at her surroundings. She stared in awe at what lay before her. Hundreds of different compartments of what she assumed to be his brain were facing her, and it was a magnificent sight.

She walked up to one part that particularly intrigued her. Different images were continually flashing, as though it was stored with different movies trying to play all at once. Her curiosity took over and she leaned forwards to try to get a better look. She stuck out her hand cautiously to touch it, but the second her hand reached the images she immediately regretted her decision. She began to feel an intense burning in her fingers. She yanked her hand away, but knew by then it was already too late. She felt her body jolt from where she was standing and closed her eyes tightly as she let out a scream. Her feet slammed into the ground, but she found herself in a standing position and no longer felt an ounce of pain. She looked around and saw that she hadn’t moved an inch; she was in the exact same spot, right by the compartment of images. She shrugged and walked back to see the outside world.

A school was coming into view as he stepped quickly along the sidewalk. From his quick breaths, she could tell that he had been outside for a while. She hadn’t realized how long she was looking at his brain for. It was such a strange concept, she noted, being inside someone else’s head. She felt like an intruder in there.

However, her thoughts were quickly distracted by the reflection she had just seen in the window of a car Seth was passing. It was still the same boy she had seen earlier, but shorter, with a much younger appearance. She thought her eyes were playing tricks, but she was sure of what she saw when he passed the next few cars.

He walked up the steps to the school and mumbled a “hello” to another student passing by, who nodded in response. This is definitely a younger version of him, Mila thought, noticing that his voice was an octave higher than she previously heard that morning. This day so far had been too strange for her, and she didn’t think she could deal with it anymore. Then, for the first time that day, she realized that something finally made sense. By touching one of the images, she must have entered a memory.

He reached a locker and struggled a few times to get the combination right. When he finally got in, he searched for a moment before he found the book he was looking for. Students all around him were talking to one another, but Seth took no notice of them; she could somehow tell that he was wrapped up in his own thoughts. When the bell rang, he slammed his locker shut, and shuffled toward his first period class, until his head perked up as he passed by a group of kids gossiping loudly. He slowed down his speed and gazed directly at one girl. She had long, dark hair surrounding a heart-shaped face. Her amber eyes shone as she began to excitedly share some news with the rest of the group.

“So next weekend Devon’s parents are going out of town and he’s planning on having this wild party. We totally have to go! Sorry Summer, we’re going to have to postpone our chick flick night.” She said enthusiastically.

Mila noticed a gorgeous yet simple purple dress that the girl was effortlessly pulling off. She had a nagging feeling about it. There was something about the sweetheart neckline and flowing skirt that pulled at her memory. She tried to think hard, pushing herself to recall where she had seen that dress before.

“How do you always know these things, Mila? Devon is a senior. I bet he doesn’t even know who half of us are.” Another girl added in, laughing, while the others nodded their heads in agreement.

Mila froze. This girl was her. She remembered now: that dress was her favorite.

The second bell rang and Seth rushed away, bashing into people as he hurried to his next class, his mind clearly in a different world. As he hurried to find a seat in the front row of the class, the scene before her faded. He was still in a classroom, but now surrounded by a much older crowd as he sat in the back. He was staring at a group of kids on the other side of the room, some she recognized from the group she watched in the memory, others she didn’t. She strained her ears to hear what they were saying and thought she heard mention of her name. She watched one stocky boy who was talking with a panicked look on his pale face.

“Dude, I haven’t slept in days. I can’t stop thinking about her. I’m really beginning to think that something’s happened to her this time. Maybe this isn’t just another stunt being pulled by Mila. She would have been back by now.”

“No matter where she is, I’m sure she’s fine. In fact, I bet she’s better than fine. She’s probably relaxing on the beach right now with a cool drink in her hand, laughing at the suckers who were dumb enough to think that she might have disappeared for good.”

As Seth continued watch the group, a kid who must have been his friend approached him and said, “Can you believe all the drama she’s caused this time? Look at him squirm,” He said, nodding at that same stocky boy, laughing, “He’s freaking out again just like every other time. When’s it gonna click in that thick skull of his that his own girlfriend doesn’t care enough about him to let him know when she’s going to disappear on vacation for the nineteenth time?!”

Seth muttered a word of acknowledgement but continued to stare. “Okay everybody, settle down!” The teacher screamed out, snapping Seth out of his trance.

In a monotone voice, the teacher began the lesson.

Bored, Mila turned back to the strange box of memories and observed it for some time. It was mesmerizing, so much so that she almost couldn’t help but stare. Bracing herself, she touched it for the second time that day. 

“Please please please take me with you!” Seth pleaded. His voice was once again an octave higher. He was talking to an older girl with blonde hair and the same grey eyes he had. They were sitting at the kitchen table.

“Why would I ever bring my younger brother with me to a party? No way.” She said, beginning to stand up.

“I’ll do your chores for the two weeks,” Seth said. The desperation in his voice was clear.

“Why do you want to go so badly anyways? I never knew you were so interested in parties” His sister asked curiously.

“I just want to…try new things. Please, Laur,” he said in a quiet voice, and Mila couldn’t see much because he lowered his eyes.

She sighed and getting up she said, “Fine, but you have to promise to stay away from me. This is a one-time thing, so don’t ever even think of asking me again.

“And I want you to do my chores for the next three weeks,” she added, as she exited the room.

Mila blinked, and next thing she knew, Seth was standing in house with loud music playing. As he walked through, he was handed a cup of beer.

“Thanks, man” He said to the guy who handed it to him, but left the cup untouched.

He walked around, desperately searching for something, though what it was Mila did not know. He went from room to room until he came to a halt. It was not a something he was looking for, it was someone. Mila saw herself in the center of a crowd, laughing and swaying to the music. She could hear Seth’s breath quicken. It made her squirm a little bit. She wasn’t sure how this crush made her feel. His breathing continued to hasten as he tentatively approached her.

“You can do this.” She heard him whisper to himself under his breath.

“Hey, I’m Seth. I’m in your English class,” Seth said.

“Oh, hey,” Mila said, eyes glazing over.

“So…are you enjoying yourself?” He asked awkwardly.

“Yup,” she said, and turned back to her conversation.

He walked away, shoulders slumped. As the memory faded, carpets became grass and people became trees. It was nighttime, and Seth was walking down a path through a forest. He walked confidently, and Mila could tell that this was not the first time he had taken this route. After some time, she was convinced that that he was merely enjoying a nighttime stroll in the woods. Since nothing interesting was going on in the real world, she went right back to the memories. It was almost addictive: she craved to know more and solve this mystery.

The second she felt the burning in her fingertips, she immediately regretted her decision; she felt that something was off. Running back to see through his pupils, she saw thousands of screens before her, all of different memories. Each one was of him, just a small distance away from her, always staring. Some displayed clips of him following her home from school, others at the mall, some of him just standing by a house, watching her exit. It was all too overwhelming. Her heart was thumping and she felt tears stroll down her cheeks. Her head began to pound and she decided that she couldn’t watch any longer. A feeling of dizziness overcame her and she fell to the ground, allowing the darkness take over.

When she woke up, she kept her eyes shut tight. She took a deep breath, praying that when she opened them, she would find herself in bed and that this would all just have been a horrible dream. Everything that had happened was just too much for her to handle. Mila sat up and reluctantly opened her eyes. She let out a cry of despair when she saw that she woke up on that same horribly squishy floor. She was stuck inside the head of a lunatic. She hesitated as she stood up. Composing herself, she built up the courage to look outside. He was still out in the woods, but she was wrong before; there was a destination to his stroll. He stopped right outside of a small shed and pulled out a key and a lantern from his bag.

As he entered the shed, he threw the keys onto a table and clicked the lantern on. What lay before her made her feel sick. She stared at pictures upon pictures of herself on the wall directly across from her. Mila began to hyperventilate, as this was beyond obsession: it was absolutely psychotic. He turned back to his bag and pulled something out. It was an article. He grabbed a stapler and went to another wall. This one had a corkboard on it, filled with newspaper clippings about her disappearance.

* * *

The blaring sound of sirens awoke Seth as he rolled onto his back. He attempted to sit up, but immediately felt an intense pain in his head. Focusing his eyes, he saw nothing but a small light in the distance. He stood up slowly, confused and disoriented, from what felt like a squishy floor. He looked around trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness, and began to walk toward the light. He had no recollection as to where he was or why he might be there.

When he peered outside, he saw a shed occupied by a few police officers holding a boy who seemed to be unconscious. He had a bruise on his cheek, and Seth assumed that the boy had attempted to fight off the police. He was of average height with grey eyes and brown hair down to his shoulders. His lanky arms were limp at his sides. He saw that the group of officers were talking and stood silently to hear what they were saying.

“We better bring him to the car quickly before he wakes up, he was a real fighter,” one of the officers said.

 “No kidding! I didn’t see the knife, you can imagine my surprise,” another added, holding up his hand, clinging to a blood-filled cloth.

The third one, a girl, looking in Seth’s direction, said “You never see these kinds of thing coming; innocent kid with no record…At least we solved the case for that missing girl.

“What’s his name? Seth? I wonder what it was about her that really got him.”

That’s when it clicked. Seth turned around and stared at hundreds of dark compartments of Mila Whittings’ brain that looked as if they had once been buzzing with life, but had shut off.

He heard a zipping noise and looked back outside. A police officer was looking down, directly above him.

“Poor girl,” she whispered, as she shut the body bag closed.