Allen’s POV
“God, Kristy, I know what I’m doing!” I tightened his grip on the steering wheel, trying to keep from screaming at my soon-to-be-fiancé. Yap, yap, yap- that’s all she seemed to do lately! Whine about her clothes, her hair, her family, and her friends; she complained about absolutely everything! Nothing could make my blond, blue-eyed sweetheart happy it seemed like!
“Ugh, don’t yell at me. Jerk…” She crossed her arms over her chest and stared out of her passenger seat window.
“Don’t call me a jerk! If anything, you’re a-“
“Oh, both of you shut up!” Connor yelled from the back seat. I sighed. When Mom had told me to make the 6 hour drive down to Virginia to check up on my sister, I was excited! Visiting little Emma, all grown up and going to college, sounded like tons of fun! Emma had always been the party girl, but not in the let’s-get-drunk-and-screw-some-stranger kind of way. She just knew how to have fun, in a non-scarring way! And what better way to maximize the fun than to take my girlfriend and my best friend with me? It was a brilliant idea!
That lasted up until we had been in the car for about 30 minutes. Then it was clear, this was going to be a hellacious ride…
“I’m hungry.” Kristy piped up. She had spent all of three minutes studying her baby blue finger nails, but I guess she just couldn’t stay quiet longer than that.
“And what exactly do you expect me to do about that? The food is in the trunk, where you put it.” I didn’t mean to sound so harsh, I really didn’t, but she had been bothering me literally the whole ride! And…I guess it wasn’t really her fault. Or at least, that’s what she kept telling me. ‘It’s just the hormones honey!’ Ugh.
“Well, I want some dang food! Must I remind you, half of it goes to someone else?” She growled at me, placing a protective hand over her engorged stomach. I rolled my eyes. For the past 8 months, ever sense that damned test turned up positive; she had been milking it for all it’s worth! She went from my sexy, confident, dancer girl to my warden. Always whining, always depressed, always wanting something. But even though she was a pain in the butt, I still…I still loved her; hence the fiancé thing.
“Okay, darling, we will stop at the next gas station. I promise you will eat soon…” She smiled at me, a smile full of love and warmth…such a rare sight recently…
And then it all went to hell.
...I need O2, stat!...
…come on, come on! I can’t lose this one! Too young to....
...It's too late Frank, call it...
...What? Everything was foggy and...I couldn't see anything. I couldn't think straight. I could barely remember who I was, much less...where I was.
I tried to open my mouth and...scream for help...or something. But I was...so tired...so very...tired...
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*creeek!*
Careful! Don't hit anotherone in the head with the door!
...a shame, so young...
...heard about the girl, did she-
Yes, she's gone too
And the...the baby?
Surprisingly, we managed to....
I have to...pull myself out of this...dream. Yes, a dream, that's what this has to be. Just a...dream. And any minute now I'm going to...I'm going to...wake up. Yes, that's what will happen. I will...I will wake up and...everything will be...fine. But I'm so...so tired...I just want to...to...
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...will only take a second...
...a dash of ywedh out to do the trick...
...open wide! Hahahahaha!...
Ahhh! My mouth! It felt like it was being set on fire! I could taste the smoke and it billowed out of my mouth and nose; I could feel it forcing its way down my throat as I choked around it. I could feel my tongue beginning to blacken and char, turning to fleshy ash in my mouth. The thought made me want to gag!
And I did.
I propelled myself up and off of the surface I was on, hitting my knees on the ground, and promptly I hurled up everything my stomach contained. I choked and gaged and threw up for what seemed like forever, in a state of complete confusion and panic.
Finally, I began to be able to breath. The fire in my mouth slowly smoldered out, taking the acrid smoke with it. My eyes were streaming tears, but I rubbed them and rubbed them until I could finally open them and see.
I was on my hands and knees on a cold, cement floor. There was a metal gurney just to my side, with a white cloth flung over it. That must have been what I had been on...before...
"My, aren't you a dramatic one?" The feminine voice chuckled and I whipped my head around to look at her.
The image standing before me had me drag gagging, and set a feeling of stone cold dread coursing through my blood.
It was...hard for me to picture all of it- HER- in one piece, in my head.
Translucent white flesh, speckled with grey, pulled taut over bones the color of decay. Empty eye sockets, with a red light dimly glowing from deep inside. A heavy black robe hanging from the monster's neck, with a hem dragging the floor, and sleeves that came a foot past its hands- HER hands.
"I...I don't...I don't under-"
"Shush, shush my child. No need to speak. For I am Death, High Priestess of Darkness. I've lived a hundred thousand centuries before mind kind was evil thought up!" The thing choked out a sound that...oh my god, I think it was supposed to me a laugh. "I can surely wait another few hours before the...fun begins."
It took a few steps closer to me, gliding across the floor more than walking, and a dry, broken scream surged out of my throat.
"SLEEP!"
And darkness fell...
