Post by McKenna Kallon Valerian on Jan 6, 2012 22:57:54 GMT -5
Mckenna couldn't tell where she was. It was dark – so dark that she couldn't tell where she was stepping, who was with her. The hand that was leading her felt familiar yet foreign – she was being half-dragged through a large empty room. She could hear other people moving, but there were no signs of life in the darkness – no light, no sounds of breath. She was tired of being dragged; she was just about to rip her hand away from the stranger and stalk away when suddenly she was in his arms, and some haunting melody began on the other side of the room.
He was tall and dark, a familiar stranger, someone she knew and yet couldn't place. Dim lights began to glow across the room – finally, some use of her eyes!She quickly gazed across the room, refusing to speak to the rude man that had dragged her into this cavernous room. She was looking for any familiar faces, and after a moment of trying, she realized why she didn't know anyone. They had no faces – each of the phantom dancers in the room was just a set of eyes and a painted on smile. She swallowed, turning to face her own dance partner, finally daring to meet the stranger's eyes and realizing with horror that she knew those eyes. She'd looked into them a great many times in her childhood, those beautiful dark sapphires that had adorned her elder brother's face. He'd been dead for years, and yet here he was, dancing away, looking as though he'd just been away somewhere else to spend his teen years. He squeezed her hand and waist where his hands were placed, the deep blue eyes begging her to do something that was just beyond her comprehension.
She suddenly felt as though she was suffocating. She couldn't breathe – she yanked away from Jonathan's figure, falling to the floor. With that motion, the music faded instantaneously, leaving the room silent. Once again, the first thing that she noticed was the lack of breathing – of course, now that she knew whatever monsters filled the room she was in didn't have mouths, that made a lot more sense. She still couldn't breathe – she raised a hand to her face, intending to stop the urge to vomit that had worked itself up into her throat, and met smooth skin.
It was no wonder she was suffocating – there was no way she could breathe. No mouth, no nose – she was the same as the rest of the phantoms that were now staring at her. Some of their eyes held pity, others held a haughty sense of self-achievement, and even others looked at her like she was something to eat. She snapped her neck back around to stare at her brother's phantom, who was simply standing there, staring at her with angry eyes. She wanted to speak, but her lack of a mouth prevented that easily enough. The beautiful white gown that she didn't remember wearing was pooled around her on the ground, seeming so out of place in the room – everyone else was wearing black. Wait....
There was another woman coming towards them, wearing a blood red gown that seemed to shimmer in the hostile atmosphere of the room. She was beautiful, easily classified as some deity by her exceptional looks. Perfect. Mckenna's mind went swimming upon her coming within fifteen feet of her – she couldn't figure out what was wrong. It wasn't until the woman got to Jonathan, stepping around him to whisper in his ear while staring at Mckenna all the while, that the girl in white realized that the red-dressed woman's eyes were black as Tartarus.
Whatever she whispered did something – suddenly, Jonathan had a mouth. He was smiling, but it wasn't anything like the kind, mischievous smile that she remembered. This was nothing but eagerness at whatever orders she'd given him, and contempt for her. She felt like a bird trapped in the gaze of a snake, staring from the black eyes to her brother's dark eyes.
Then he smiled and she saw his teeth. His mouth looked like a shark's, full of razor-sharp teeth that she knew would rend her flesh into shreds with just the slightest effort. She wanted to scream – that creature wasn't her brother. She glanced around the room, only to finally see that the other creatures in the room had grown mouths as well, and had closed in like vultures. The woman in red raised her hand, preparing to snap her fingers, and with a sinister smile, completed the action that sent the room full of black demons descending upon the daughter of Persephone clothed in white. She couldn't even scream.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
She awoke with a start, hand flying to her mouth to make sure it was still there. She'd been having tormenting dreams like that for a long time – never so detailed, though. Never involving Jonathan, never including the woman in red. She still felt like she was suffocating – a quick glance to the clock on the wall told her that it was just shy of four in the morning, and there was no way in Tartarus that she'd be getting back to sleep. She sighed lightly, flipping her legs over the side of her bed and working diligently and quietly to get dressed in something that would keep her warm enough until the sun rose. She managed to sneak out of the cabin without waking anyone – it was easy enough.
She needed to breathe, to get some real fresh air – the beach would probably be the best place for that, and it'd probably be nice and deserted at this hour. Not even the Dionysus cabin would be up this late on a week day, knowing that they had things to do. She crept out of the ring of cabins, being less careful once she was sure she wouldn't wake anyone up by kicking a rock or anything.
Her walk was full of thoughts of her dream – why were her dreams suddenly tormenting her worse than usual? There was always those normal dreams about the damned Krokottas that had killed Jonathan, calling out to her in his voice, but to actually see him, even in a dream... Something odd was going on. As she reached the line where the grass turned to a thin line of rocks that would eventually turn to sand, a horrifying shriek filled her ears and she winced. The borders of the camp were always under attack, but this early in the morning? That one had been particularly loud – it'd probably woken some people up. One plus about having no one in her cabin that really cared – they wouldn't even notice she was gone. She sighed again, starting off in a random direction, looking for a place to sit. Luckily, after about a hundred feet, there was a large tree that had apparently fallen ages ago – a perfect bench. She nestled herself into what once had been a massive branch, then reached down and removed her boots. She hadn't bothered with socks – she'd go back and get her tennis shoes before anything really started.
But until then, she could enjoy the sunrise, even if she technically wasn't supposed to be on the beach. She dug her toes into the sand, smiling slightly. It was setting up to be a beautiful day. Even she could appreciate that, despite nightmares and monsters lurking on the horizon.
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words • 1282
notes • Yeah... Maybe someone will want to take a walk on the beach at 4 am... *sigh*
outfit! • CLICKY!
credit • SERENDIPITUS at caution2.0