Under the Gray Willow Tree

Chapter 37

Willow's POV

I couldn't see anything, it was all black, but I know that I am being transported to some place as I can feel myself bouncing up and down as the vehicle hit potholes and such.

I can't tell where though, as they've – whoever 'they' are – covered my eyes with a thick black cloth, and also gagged my mouth with a piece of cloth to prevent me from saying anything, especially screaming. It's very painful, though. And furthermore, my hands and legs are bound up with raffia strings, and they're very tight around my wrists and ankles.

I heard the door being pulled open, due to the rusty hinges creaking noisily.

"You're coming with me, "I heard an unknown, low voice said.

I soon felt someone pull me up roughly by the collar. And all of a sudden, I could feel someone's hot breath on my neck.

And then, the stinging sensation of someone jabbing a needle carelessly in my neck. The pain is like nothing I've ever experienced before. I could've sworn that I cried.

It took a while for the drug to kick off.

"Sweet dreams," I heard someone whisper into my ear.

When the drugs finally reacted, I wasn't even aware of my surroundings any longer.

~~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~~

I'm walking down a dark alley at night; I can't even remember how I got here in the first place. I'm just walking. I felt a cool breeze blow against my exposed skin. I don't have a jacket. I hugged myself and rubbed my skin in a vain attempt of trying to keep myself warm.

I just continued walking, and at the same time, making futile attempts to try and stay warm. After two hours walking in the eerie alleyway, I'm starting to grow very tired and exhausted. Though I am also starting to get very suspicious.

Why isn't the alley ending?

But despite that fact, I still continued walking down the never-ending alley. I have to get home faster. For some reason, even though I can't remember how I got here, I remember why I'm going back: for our Christmas Eve dinner party. I need to get home on time. I don't want to be late.

"Willow?" someone's distorted voice reached my ears.

The voice may be distorted, but I'd recognise that voice anywhere, in every situation.

That voice belongs to my sister: Jessica Rayne.

I spun on my heel and came face to face with my long lost sister. "Jessie! I'm so glad to see you! Oh, it has been too long!"

I tried to hug her, but before I could throw my hands around her body, she stepped back, indicating that she didn't want to be hugged. She didn't say anything, only chuckled at me. Very sinisterly. Which really made my skin crawl.

"Jessie...?" I asked, very unsure of myself.

The girl chuckled very sinisterly once more.

She stepped out of the shadows and started walking towards me, in zombie-like steps. I started to back away from the girl who I thought was my sister. She resembles Jessica a lot, but she looks like a mixture of a ghost and a zombie...

And it's really starting to freak me out.

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when I saw the colour of her skin. It's white. Translucent white. And if you look close enough, you could actually see the veins under her skin.

And her eyes...

It's missing the warmth. I normally can find warmth and kindness in her blue eyes. But now? Instead, I find cold, white staring back at me. Her pupils are gone, only the iris left. She looks so fragile and frail, like she is going to collapse at any moment now.

"Jess...ie?" I tried again, really, really unsure of myself this time.

I wanted to turn around, and break into a sprint, ad get the heck out of here. But I'm rooted to this spot. I can't move. No matter how much I want to, I just can't. I will myself to move my stiff leg. But no, it wouldn't listen. It's as if my mind and my body are two entirely different living organisms.

She stepped closer to me, and her hand reached out to touch my face. Her skin was cold, as if she had just stepped out of a freezer. She started caressing my face, but then, something terrible happened.

Her limbs started to grow fatter and fatter, looking as though it's swollen terribly. Her nails started growing longer. And sharper. And yellower. Which made her look like she had some sort of disease or something.

Her whole body kept on changing rapidly. Until I couldn't recognise her as well, no matter how vague. Crimson red blood started trickling out of her mouth, and when she opened it, her whole mouth was brimming with blood. The red liquid trickled down her chin, leaving a stain on her white skin.

When she finally stopped morphing into some unrecognisable creature, I expelled a sigh of relief. That was, until she started to grow bigger.

I had to step back to give her space to grow. It really freaked me out. Right now, she – or should I say, 'it' – looked like some sort of mystical creature crossed with some sort of wild beast that I can't really tell.

But all I have to say, is that it really freaked me out.

It dislocated its jaw, like a snake preparing for a meal. It started approaching me, and its mouth grew wider, and wider, and wider, until it looked like the mouth of a cave. I let out an ear piercing scream as it prepared to gobble me whole.

But it stopped, just millimetres from my body. And that was when I noticed the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. Getting stronger and stronger by the second. And soon, blood started trickling out of my mouth, falling to the cold cement floor.

I tried to use my hand to stop the flow of blood, but I noticed that my hands had become very, very pale. Almost translucent. I felt myself starting to grow into something else.

And for the second time that night, I let out an ear piercing scream.

~~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~~

I woke up with a start, panting heavily, my forehead dotted with many beads of perspiration. Subconsciously, I lifted my hand to my mouth, where the blood had once trickled out of. Of course, there was nothing there.

Which comforted me for a while.

And for some reason, I can't really tell if I've really woken up or not. Because this doesn't feel like reality at all. Somehow, I don't know why but somehow, I still feel like I'm stuck in a dream, with no way out.