Entity #444

9: The Passage

Playlist songs for this chapter:
Mirror Me- Mansionair
Anomaly- Doldrums

***

Setting for this chapter is based on a real place in Chattanooga, TN called The Passage.

I'm trying to find a way to create illustrations for each chapter. I write 1000x faster than I draw typically, but have been on writer block recently- so y'all could get anything from sketches to full-color drawings.

Look back at the beginning of chapters 1-4, I've uploaded new images.

I'm also putting the chapter numbers with the titles.

I'm making a Spotify playlist for the book. Songs are in chronological order. Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0pO7bPHVHCoMgFTD8w3s9d?si=41d8f8ea67c947e5

Also let me know if you guys have any ideas for this book!! The Backrooms are very multi-faceted and I could go practically anywhere with these two. I'm up for a challenge!

Enjoy!!

~Marzena

***

Throughout the next day of my waking life, Nazarius' words rang in my ears. The result was a chill down my spine each time I recalled them.

"You wear this river like a gown," he had said.

"Beautiful," he even said.

The guttural growl in his voice entranced me completely, and I wished so dearly that I could've stayed awake in my dream to be with him longer. His voice seethed with a type of twisted desire.

But it didn't alarm me.

I liked it.

The next evening I was far too excited to fall asleep- but when I did, my dreams didn't lead me into the continuation of the River to Nowhere immediately. My astral body seemed to have trouble separating- and somehow Nazarius knew.

Laying on my back, almost entirely unconscious, my vibrating psyche was just starting to lift me from my physical body. There was a pause in the process, and only my arms came free. I twisted and turned my torso, trying to break free completely, but to no avail. There was nothing around me except a muted black.

Maybe I shouldn't tonight... I thought. I began to let go of my semi-consciousness.

To my surprise, an extremely satisfying, melting-hot pressure began to flood over my chest in waves. My attention moved to a certain familiar presence that manifested above me.

"Did you miss me that much, now?" A honeyed voice purred. The wicked, sharp teeth-filled grin I involuntarily envisioned riveted me.

"N-Nazarius...?" I could hear and feel (oh, could I feel) him, but I couldn't see him. My astral vision was still malfunctioning.

"I've got you," his rumbling vibrated my chest and throat.

"Come here, darling-" he uttered a cavernous growl in my right ear and the vibrations intensified.

I felt teeth grasp my arm and heave my astral body out with a strong, demanding haste.

With my mind now spinning, I opened my eyes to see Nazarius' body camped over mine. His incisors hovered over my chest, glowing eyes fixed on me, and his horns arced out above us.

I was sprawled flat on my back, knees bent with my feet flat on the ground. My clothes seemed dry for the most part, and my still damp hairbun had loosened.

We appeared to be in the mouth of another concrete tunnel. I became suddenly aware of the bed of river pebbles beneath my body, my eyes traveling down. Nazarius' plate-sized hooves were on either side of my hips, which made me wonder just how easily he could pulverize not just me, but any living being.