Excerpt: Brick By Boring Brick

But even now her mother had begun to realize that something was wrong.

Lucy’s eyes had developed bags that rivaled even her own mothers but they were not red instead they were a dark deep purple that made her seem like she was constantly being beaten, her eyes had deepened in their glittery shade and although beautiful did not seem a positive sign as the girl seemed constantly plagued with sickness and dizzy spells that had even caused her to fall down the steps of the chapel and bruise her legs. The first time she collapsed around her mother she had also ensured it would be the last, running away each time she felt faint and hardly ever leaving her room, but as the days passed she realized that her mother was not going to let it go unnoticed. “LUCILLIA!!” her mothers shrill bellow made her stomach shrink and when she turned around Rika was not there. The door flew open and the thin form of her mother billowed in with her black gown and white shawl. Lillium reached out and grabbed her daughters hands pulling her up out her chair rather roughly. “Lucillia dear I know that something is wrong, I don’t know why you wouldn’t confide in mommy because you know the lord has ways of healing things like this…I’ve been so worried about you since you collapsed.” her mind filled with dread as her mother dragged her out into the backyard where the sun was shining over a dewy patch of grass that they called their yard and a metal bucket sat there by a chair and Lucy felt her stomach drop to her feet because she knew what was waiting.
“Leeches are The Almighty’s faithful poison removers, They’ll suck out your illness through the blood.” Her eyes widened and Lucy struggled to get away from her mother, because this was definitely not something that Father Erie would have wanted her to do. But her mother was too strong for her and she found herself bound in the chair as her mother put the first slimey creature onto her white skin. It latched on, and she felt a low wail escape her throat, another one, the sound was slightly louder this time and she was twitching trying to rid herself of the feeling of the creatures on her body “Lucillia please calm down.” Urged her mother as she stroked her shoulders in a calming motion. She looked elsewhere trying to find comfort, the black haired girls, including Rika were all sitting in the grass nearby under a blooming shade tree, they clapped their hands together in a clapping game as they looked at her they started to sing and she started to feel even weaker, started feel her vision blur and her hands involuntary clinch together. She listened to them sing a clapping word game
“Miss Lucy had some leeches, those leeches liked to SUCK, and when they drank up all her blood she didn’t give a….”
Blackness. The girls giggled haunted her.