I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't take her. Every time she was home she'd get drunk and take her anger out on me. She goes on and on and on about how it's my fault, it's always my fault. It's my fault she got a suspension from work, it's my fault she drank all of her beer, it's my fault dad left... That wasn't even the worst part, the worst part is going to school and having to explain the bruises, to explain the scratches, the scars. I was sick of it, sick of everything. I pressed the ice pack to my right shoulder, a large purple spot had bloomed, I'd say it was about the size of a large pancake, and it covered my entire shoulder. I tried moving my arm but waves of pain shot through my arm and back, I silently prayed that I wouldn't have to go to the hospital.

I stared at the mirror in the corner of my room, and my reflection stared back. The person staring back at me didn't even look like me, he had dark freckles dotting his nose and cheeks, round hazel eyes, and a long thin nose like I do, but that's where the resemblance ended. The person staring at me through the mirror was scared, shrunken, pale, with dark bags under his eyes, a faded brown bruise on his cheek, and a half-healed busted lip. This person was not me. I threw a blanket onto the mirror to cover and headed to my closet. Inside my closet was mostly empty space, all my clothes were either on a pile next to my dresser or under my bed. I grabbed a flashlight from the floor next to my closet door and went inside. I closed the door behind me and sat down in the darkness for a few seconds.

Inhale the musky air, and exhale the negativity.

I turned on my flashlight, the bright light hurt my eyes a bit, but within a few seconds, the subtle pain subsided.

Behind an old shoe box, there was a heavy volume hidden. It was large and leather bound, on it read 'History of Witchcraft' in big cursive letters. I had bought it from a local thrift shop only a few days ago, so far I thought it was a good book. I opened my last marked page, the page mark I used was an old photo from Freshman year. I wasn't in the photo, but I did take it.

From left to right stood Dina, Jason, Damien, and Tom. They all looked so happy, it was right after their first baseball game as the Lake Agnes Pelicans, our baseball team. They were all clad in yellow and white uniforms, and leaning on each other. Dina was hunched over a bit from laughter, they were all laughing, except Jason, he was just smiling. Now that I think about it, Jason doesn't smile much, does he? Anyways, they had lost that day, but they still went to get pizza afterward. The memory brought a smile to my lips. That was one of the few times I got to talk to Jason, I congratulated him on his good pitching. Which wasn't true, Jason sucked at pitching, but he was better than the rest of the team.

I put the photo down next to my legs and began reading. I had reached the voodoo chapter of the book. Did you know that there are actually 3 types of voodoo? Cool, right? They all draw inspiration from their locations of origin, and the most popular type is west African voodoo. There's also Louisiana voodoo, which is mostly practiced in Louisiana, and then Haitian voodoo. I was scrolling through the chapter when my eyes landed on Voodoo dolls. I slowly read through the section, taking in the information. I suddenly had an idea.

I ran out of my closet and grabbed an old beige t-shirt and cut out a design. I grabbed some black thread and a needle and started sewing. Yes, I know how to sew, I had to learn to patch hole in my clothes. Why buy new clothes when you have perfectly fine clothes that just need a little patchwork?

When I was done, I had a small limp humanoid doll with a small hole on its head.. I ran downstairs to the medicine cabinet and grabbed the cotton, and I stuffed it. I sewed up the little hole and looked at the doll, It was a little bigger than my palm, and a weird faded beige color. I went back to my room and scanned for any items to decorate my small doll. I ripped up some more old clothes and made an out for the doll. It had black pants, a black t-shirt, and a red and white jacket. Other than the fact that it was wearing mostly black, the doll resembled Jason in a way. I grabbed a brown felt hat Dina gave me and cut up some of the material so that it resembled hair, and I super-glued it to the doll's head. It needed a face, but it was getting late, so I left it as it was for now.

I put the doll on my bedside table and looked around, my room was a mess. Clothes everywhere, garbage spread throughout. I grabbed my laundry basket and started attempting to clean the room.

By the time I finished with cleaning and doing my homework, it was late at night.

I held the doll for comfort, it was soothing. I curled up into a ball under the covers and tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. I glanced at the clock, bright green letters stated that it was one thirty-five A.M.

I sat up and hit the clock off my bedside table. I threw my head back down onto my pillow and willed myself to sleep. Hours passed but when I looked at my phone it said had only been ten minutes. I couldn't take the empty passing of time. Sleep wouldn't come, sleep never came. I gave up.

I got off my bed, the cold of the floor was annoying on the bottoms of my feet. I grabbed the Jason look-a-like doll, draped my comforter around my shoulders, and started heading downstairs.

I sat down on the sofa pretzel style and grabbed the remote from the coffee table to turn on the TV. Before long I finally fell asleep.