SIERRA TILLER - ALTERNATIVE

Sierra Tiller is nineteen years old author who was raised in Redmond, OR. She is a current student at Full Sail University perusing a "Creative Writing for Entertainment" bachelors degree. Tiller dreamed of being a writer before she could even spell her own name. At the age of 4, she would have her mother write down the stories she told. As she grew she fell in love with reading. On many occasions she would be late to class because she was so enthralled in a book she didn't hear the bell ring,. Tiller publishing on website like "Quotev" and "Wattpad" to share her stories with others. After high school, she began pursuing her dream of writing. Her schooling focuses on screenplay writing, but she uses what she learns to elevate her storytelling and writing skills for writing off of the big screen. To read more of her works visit https://blackxrosexangel.wixsite.com/sierratiller.

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ALTERNATIVE

       Silence. Static. Lights flickering. Thunder booms outside. Jared watched the screen blankly. His eyes burned, struggling to stay open. Lights cast shadows on the yellow floral paper, battling the blackness for control. He tried to hold tight to his body, not letting himself drift off. He held a small, thick card to his chest, a date past sketched elegantly on it. He rested his head on his out stretched arm, gripping the remote in one hand, yet he did not try to fix the snowy screen. A voice mingled itself into the static that echoed through the room, it sounded much like his own, but drawn out with metallic undertones. Jared lifted his head from the turquoise couch that he rested on and stared at the small television before him, the static moved configuring a portrait of him, black suit, a smirk etched onto his lips. Its catlike eyes sent chills through him.
            “What are you doing here? We had an agreement you would never return,” Whispered Jared, “She was very clear, you wouldn’t come back”
            “It is time to become one, again,” the creature says, snarling.
            “I won’t become you again! I beg you not to do this. Anyone else just not me.”
            His white, gloved hands gripped the edges of the television and the duplicate dragged himself from the confines of the screen, knocking it off the table in sat on, it crawled across the floor, its back arched to a snapping point, his arms bent backwards at the elbow, and its neck snapped, facing the ceiling. Jared shot up, ready to fight the monstrosity, but the/ creature stood before him and snapped his head back into place, staring into each other’s eyes each waiting for the other to move. Jared slams his full weight into the creature, pinning it to the wall. Jared looked around for the transparent orange bottle. He needed his pills, now. It laughed maniacally. Pills. Please.
            “You can’t keep me away. They can’t save you now, I’m here.” The creature said, “It’s too late now, Jared.”
“No, you are not real. I got away from you once before,” Jared said, “You have no power now.”
            “It wasn’t the pills, Jared. It was her. That’s what kept me from you.” It said
            NO. NO. I won’t. You’re not me. You will never be me. The creature grabbed Jared’s shoulders, pushing him backwards. The metallic voice sounded in his head, echoing in his mind, no escape. I am not you, Jared, I never have been you, you have forever been a part of me, regardless how much you deny it. Jared stumbled backwards, he tried to push the creature from his mind and his hands coiled in his hair, ripping chunks of hair from his scalp, the voice only grew louder.
       Stop fighting me, Jared, you and I both know it is true, you know I am not lying. The creature stepped towards him, arms out stretched offering as if offering a hug. Jared whipped his head back and forth, frantically looking for an escape, but found none.
           “Please. Please don’t do this. I don’t want to go back, I came so far on my own.” Jared said, pleadingly.
           “But you are not your own. You are me,” The creature said, “and it is time for you to come home, now.” He moved swiftly, encircling Jared in his arms.
         Jared fought against the beast that held him, he fought for his life, for everything that he had accomplished in his short time. He failed. He felt the force dragging their bodies together, like the moon to the earth. His own body began to weaken, visibly falling limp. The two flickered, and fused into one. The creature. Jared clawed the throat of the creature from the inside trying to escape, but he was home. This is where he belonged, he always had. The creature returned to television, still filled with static. He smirked as he crawled back from wince he came.
            The room lay still as if nothing had happened, but Jared was gone. He had never been here, no one would know he ever existed, he never had. The storm has passed, peaceful. Silent.