(4th) Infected

21- Who

Jen POV

"Wha... Where? ...Where am I?"

I sit up, my head pounding in the cold blackness surrounding me. My shaky legs try to support me as I stand, only for me to slip and fall on some sort of liquid. My vision too blurry for me to see, all I can do is try to feel around until I find something. As I crawl around, the liquid gets as higher and higher, eventually reaching up to my knees when I try to stand. Finally, my hand wraps around something cold and smooth. A thick, metal chain, soaked from the liquid on the ground.

I use my other hand to rub my eyes, only for the liquid to rub on my face. It's thick, warm, and sticky. What the? Ew! Luckily, that's what I needed to do to see.

Though I quickly wish I hadn't.

The liquid around me is dark blood, along with a few stray bones and organs floating by. I scream, and quickly try to run back to the shallow end, only for something to tug on my right leg, causing me to fall face first in the blood. The chain.

I feel the chain pull me deeper and deeper, despite my struggles that steadily grow weaker and weaker. Blood surrounding me, choking me, holding me, killing me...

Deeper

And deeper

And deeper

Until it stopped.

After coughing and gagging for a solid minute, I finally look around to find myself on the other side of the pool, hanging upside down from the ceiling... Floor? The chain tugs at my ankle again, this time not forcing my anywhere, but gently leading me to whoever just pulled me through that pool.

I shakingly manage the stand up, wading through the pool until I reach a shallow end, the blood only reaching to my lower thighs. My mind completely blank, I simply follow the chain, despite the fact that it tried to kill me, and I know it's dangerous, I just follow it.

On and on and on. Through the darkness, through the pain, through the burning sensation in my lungs, though my pounding head. It's like my body doesn't know anything else. What else am I even supposed to do...

A small part of me knows this isn't real, but at the same time, everything is real. I can touch and feel everything, but at the same time, I can't.

....

Is this how Pat felt during his dreams?

Did he deal this out of the dreams?

How long has he felt this?

....

How long have I let this happen?

After walking for a long, and I mean long time, I finally stumble across a sitting figure slumped over on the ground. The figure is crying softly, hands cupped over her face. She seems... Oddly familiar. I've never met her before, but I feel like I've seen her.

She has dark, reddish brown hair going a little past her shoulders, tied into a messy braid with a pale bow. Her skin is ashy and pale, almost sickly. A long grey cloak covers the rest of her body, while her bangs sheild her eyes, leaving her unidentifiable. However, the thing that most concerns me, is the fact that the end of my chain it attached to her wrist.

"Hello?" I call out to the figure. "Who are you?"

The girl flinches slightly, slowly turning around to face me. Her eyes are still covered by her hair, but I can now see she's unhealthily thin. A rough, scratchy voice rings out clearly.