accompanied | billie eilish

thirty-eight

a young woman, maybe in her late teens, tosses and turns uncomfortably in her bed. the double feels too empty without the presence of her sister, who up until recently she shared a bed with; now, though, she'll never be able to share a bed with her again.

her dreams are dark and disturbing. she sees a dark forest lined with leafless trees, their branches stretching like talons to slice away at her skin; a murder of crows descends from the sky, screaming and pecking at her and pushing her body to the ground. the cold, hard ground, where hundreds and thousands of scuttling, crawling little insects with spindly scratchy legs crawl over her body, her face, so she has to screw her eyes shut tightly, their bodies are rubbing against each other and they're everywhere and they're consuming everything and she can't think, can't breathe-

and then she wakes up, panting; safely in her too-empty bed, at home.

she hears the floorboard by the bottom of the bed creak, and feels a weight sink down onto the corner of it as though someone's just sat down at the end of her bed; she sits up slowly, to see a girl of around her own age staring back at her. a girl identical to her, a mirrored reflection; the only difference being how the second girl is slightly translucent.

"b- bubbles?"
the first girl, the one in bed, speaks her childhood nickname for her former sister, her face the definition of disbelief. "is that you?"

the ghostly girl smiles softly, and the way that her eyes crinkle up when she does so is almost hypnotising; she seems to have an immortal quality to her, as though she's young but timeless simultaneously.

the first girl flounders in helpless confusion for a few moments before finally finding a way to verbalise it;
"why are you here?"

the second girl smiles softly, and opens her mouth, beginning to sing in a soft and lilting voice.

"no one can hold your hand;
now through the delicate darkness you go
if i trespass even one one step,
it all disappears
clock starts over"

then she stares at the first girl, right in the eyes, with a knowing look that sends a soft, gentle feeling of peace throughout the room as she fades slowly away into the semi-darkness of the room.

the first girl nods slowly, feeling as though she's just been enlightened. she repeats the words sung to her over and over in her head as she lies back down and drifts back off into sleep, which this time is peaceful and undisturbed. this time, she doesn't feel alone, though; it feels as though she has companionship, watching over her and protecting her from the evil of the night.

almost like a guardian angel.

✦ ✦ ✦

aria

i flop down onto the recording booth sofa, exhaling.

"that's a wrap," shay calls, letting out one final triumphant strum on his electric guitar before getting to his feet.

the others cheer; me, shay, bil, finn, ash and tyler all gathered in the recording studio, with leilani and a couple of sound technicians on the other side of the glass.