Deadly Lies (Sequel to TBFOWS)

Deadly Lies- Chapter 21

            It was so dark. As a child, have you ever dunked your head under water just to see how long you can hold your breath for? Your eyes are shut tight, ears hearing nothing by the thumping of your heart. Little air bubbles are escaping through your nose. You're running out of air, your lungs are pleading for relief, but you don't panic because you know you can pull your head up at any moment and suck down a gallon of air. That same feeling of, being able to lift myself up and out of this fog, encircled me, but something was holding me down. Something was keeping me from taking a deep breath. I heard voices, movement, sirens, but the anvil that settled over my head wouldn't budge. I began to panic in the darkness, unable to see or hear.

            Knowing that I could easily rid myself of this darkness, but couldn't, chilled me to the core. A horrible concoction of dread and fear spread through my system, like a shot, paralyzing my thoughts. Focusing all of my attention onto my brain, I willed it to wake up and pull me out of this nightmare. When that didn't work, I concentrated on the sounds around me. Countless voices blended together, like some sort of a bad milkshake which was made out of everything that could be found in the fridge. When I tried to grasp onto one single voice, they blurred back together in a giant orchestra of cacophony noise.

            With the concoction of fear still in my veins and with the knowledge that I was obviously alert, I knew I could wake up...I'm asleep!  Or am I? Could I have just been imagining the voices and sounds and am actually now in some sort of lucid dream? Am I making this all up?

            "-you better wake up, I don't know how longer you can do this us-"

            Who said that? My eyes moved around the pitch black, but I couldn't even see my nose, let alone the area.

            "-you have to Sophie-"

            There it was again...

            "-you have to- wake up- I'm here and so is Cameron and Jo-" The rest of the words were a blur. Struggling, I tried to focus on the familiar voice and at the same time I noticed a spot of white in the otherwise black abyss. I ran towards it, but no matter how fast I pumped my legs, I didn't get any closer to or further from it.

            "-he's going- by himself, you idiot-"  Again, the words swam in out of consciousness. He? Straining, I pushed my mind to listen, even if this was a dream.

            "-please, wake up! If not for us then for him."

            Silence. The silence reached into me and I realized just how dark it was. The light dimmed and then dissipated. There was no residual remains to prove that the light even existed. Gritting my teeth I tried to bring the light back, bring the voices back. Concentrating like last time, I imagined a surge of sunshine breaking through the rainstorm, a crack of light in an otherwise dark movie theatre, a tunnel with only the trains lights visible- anything.

            "-can't tell them, yet-"

            The blip of voices disappeared as quickly as they came.

            "-he promised me- can't wait longer-going tonight-wake up!"

            A familiar horrible feeling registered in me, which I quickly recognized. It was the same mixture of fear and dread, but this time I tasted pain. When was I going to wake up from this horrible nightmare? Looking about, I noticed something moving amongst the abyss, shadows. The blob like form slithered closer to me, its counters outlined with a thin strip of gray.

            As it shimmered closer, I tried to run away, but like before, no amount of running put any distance between me and the slithering object. Watching it, I realized it wasn't blob, but more of a tidal wave. Knowing I couldn't out run it, bracing myself, I fell to my knees. I didn't know how long I was crouching, but something was touching me. Something was touching my hand! Looking down, I saw nothing, just more blackness, but I felt it! I felt it! Soft and warm. Focusing on the sensation, I saw a sliver of light crack open my dome of night. As the small streak of light entered, I noticed the tidal wave start to recede.