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room, I reached my arm around the corner to turn on the light, then quickly walked to the kitchen, which was on the left. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mother raise her head from her work and silently watch me avoid a darkness that only I seem to be able to see.
    Normally when I’m in trouble, my heart races, my ears burn, and I feel horribly guiltily - but not this time. My head hurt too bad to care – I was in a fog.
    The main light in the kitchen was on, but I went out of my way to turn on the one above the sink and the stove. I heard the snickering from the shadows as they subsided away from the new light. “Laugh all you want,” I whispered at them. I could see my mom out of the corner of my eye at her desk by the window. She shook her head as she saw me counter the whispers.
    The TV was muted. I had no idea why she even bothered to turn it on sometimes. I had almost devoured an entire bottle of water before she finally followed me. She walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Tylenol and handed me two pills. I took them, thinking I may have overestimated her ill mood.
    “ If I fixed you something to eat, would you eat it?” she asked.
    “ Eat, Charlie...,” the whispers taunted in an annoying, overlapping sequence.
    I shook my head no, determined not to eat simply because they wanted me to.
    “ You’re not hungry at all? You missed three meals – and you’re not hungry?” my mother said.
    Seeing that this was going to lead to a conversation about how I should eat more and gain a few pounds, I chose the lesser of the two evils and reached for my box of cereal that was on the bar. She opened the refrigerator and pulled the milk out, and I ate as slowly as I could, hoping she was getting too tired to discuss anything with me.
    “ Your gown and dress are hanging in your bathroom,” she said as she pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge.
    I nodded and continued to eat my cereal in silence.
    “ Come, Charlie, we need you,” the whispers begged.
    “ Everything else of yours is packed and in your sister’s trunk,” my mother said just before she casually took a drink of her water.
    I almost choked on my milk. Once I coughed myself through that, I looked at her like she was crazy. “Kara’s here? What?! Why are my bags in her car?” I whispered harshly.
    “ Noooo,” the whispers hissed.
    Their disapproval brought a smile to the corners of my lips. Sometimes doing the opposite of what they say makes them silent, and not having any idea where my phone was – I needed silence if I was going to stay sane.
    I loved my sister, don’t get me wrong; I just knew that Kara’s house was hours away. She lived outside of Salem in the house I was born in. It was paid for with some of my father’s royalties. Kara and her husband Robert lived there now – well, Robert was always gone; he’s a journalist covering some war somewhere – I forget where. Once we moved to the city, mom convinced them to move in there. She told them the market was all wrong to sell it. Kara and I both knew she just wasn’t ready to let it go; it reminded her of my dad, and it was the first real house she ever had. Kara didn’t mind. She was a writer and enjoyed the solitude.
    “ Where did you think you were going to spend the summer?” she asked bleakly.
    I stared blankly at her, knowing if I had the audacity to say “Cancun”, I would pay the price – so I didn’t say anything.
    She sighed and looked down. “You knew Kara wasn’t going to miss your graduation.”
    “ Um…yeah…I guess, but why are my clothes in Kara’s trunk?” I asked, halfway smiling as I heard the whispers begin to quiet themselves.
    She looked up at me, then hesitated as she searched for words.“This city is not good for you,” she said, looking down quickly as she stood up straight. “I thought you’d be fine…but I guess I was wrong…I don’t even know you anymore….you’ve forgotten who you are - right when you