A Pocket Full of Posies (Book 1)

Chapter Eleven (Part 1)

This time, I don't run away.

The creature stands taller than I remember, and I'd almost forgotten how black its eyes actually were. My instinct is telling me to run a mile, to catch up with the group, to get the hell out of here, but I don't let myself. I don't know if it's because I've officially turned insane, but I feel an urge to stand here and stare back at it.

Despite being partly hidden by the shadows, its broad frown is immediately detectable, and its face is still a washed out grey colour. The headache is beginning to creep in, and I'm losing the sensation in my fingers, but I refuse to budge. The creature disappears for a millisecond, then appears a few steps closer. Holy shit.

"Felix? What are you doing?" Annabel. "What are you looking at?"

I shift my eyes to my side, and see her staring at me with furrowed eyebrows. Can't she see it? I lift my eyes back to the end of the hallway in hope that maybe this is all in my head, but nope. It's still there. My chest is becoming tighter, and the pressure in my head is increasing by the second. The creature turns its head slightly.

"What do you want?" I try to ask confidently, but I sound like a timid child.

It doesn't answer. It doesn't even twitch.

"What? Felix, what the hell is wrong with you?" Annabel questions.

"Can't you see it?" I ask her.

She gazes at me and stammers. I point to the end of the hallway, directly at the creature that's now inched itself even closer. Annabel stares directly at it, but turns back to me and shakes her head. How can she not see it? She starts talking to me again, but the pain in my head is too distracting for me to pay attention to her. The creature's gaze lingers on me, weighing down my entire body, and I just want to stop it but I don't know how to, so all I can do is stare back. It vanishes, then reappears again. It's barely five feet away from me now.

My mind is screaming at me to get the hell out of here and never look back, but as my eyes lock with the creature's, I'm frozen. Its leer presses down against me, and all I can do is push against it. God, my head hurts.

"Felix, answer me!" Annabel's voice sounds distant.

I fight against the heavy feeling in my chest, as if doing so will force the creature's eyes off me, and I don't know if it's just some kind of placebo effect, but my breathing becomes less shallow. Annabel calls my name again, but I'm so focused on the pain that I couldn't respond if I tried. I keep pushing and pushing, so much so that the pain circling my body is gradually replaced by a weak numbness.

The creature is inches away from me by this point, and at least two heads taller, but I can't avert my eyes from its own. The pain is almost non-existent now, and it feels as if every flicker of my energy is racing through my blood, while my body stands as a shell. I don't even know if I'm breathing anymore.

The creature has stopped nearing me now, the sensation of numbness is turning into light-headedness, and it feels amazing. I feel invincible. I've not stopped pushing against the invisible force fighting me, but it's become effortless, as if it's simply human nature. My vision is blurring, but I don't feel weak. I can't hear Annabel anymore--I don't know if she's still here, I don't even know if I'm really here anymore.

This sensation of invincibility is exploding around me, and I'm so transfixed by it that I don't notice it coming to an end. As the sensation peaks, as I'm about to reach the nirvana of whatever this is, it shoots away from my body, and everything is replaced by darkness.

#

"... worth a try... recognise... voice."

"Oi... up... shithead."