Play// Stranger Things

002

Dark, cold, lifeless, helpless, desperate. These were the overwhelming feelings that had attacked Valerie Archer almost every night for the past month. A sensation of such despair it lingered on her well into the morning.

Even when she was awake she could feel it, crawling under her skin, eating away at her. She could feel it festering, growing into a never ending and all consuming abyss in her chest that was slowly depriving her of the ability to breathe.

It was always clawing away at the girl, but at night, at night was when it was the loudest. There was no escape from the monsters in her head when they came to life in her dreams.

The air was so thick she could hardly breath it in and the gravity seemed stronger than ever as she looked around at the decay of a dimension that was the hell hole she was trapped in. 

Valerie could hear the animalistic sounds of what could only be a beast growling in the distance. With each step that she took she felt her knees threatening to give out from under her, shaking in fear. The ground was slippery, a slimy substance encasing the entire world.

A crackling sound echoed through Valerie's ears as she slowly glanced around. The inhuman sound caused chills down Valerie's back. It was close and she could feel it. Her heart pounded against her chest as her skin started to burn.

Just as she began to slowly turn around she shot up, her alarm clock jolting her eyes open as she hyperventilated, a hand gripping her tight chest as she coughed out. Valerie ran her other hand through her sweat riddled locks.

She had become conscious of the way beads of sweat were sliding off her darkened skin like condensation on a hot day and how her lungs felt raw with every breath as if she had just inhaled a room full of smoke. The way her body ached with every move she made.

The girl desperately tossed her covers off of her as she hit her alarm silent. Her dreams had been plagued by the same nightmares for years, but the last few weeks something had changed, she had changed.

Valerie begged her mind to push the thought of that place aside as she stood, making her way to the bathroom as she continued to pant lightly before splashing her face with water from the sink.

Today was going to be a long day.

"Morning hun." Rachel greeted her daughter as the girl made her way downstairs, a hand brushing at her now perfectly straightened hair. "Where'd you sneak off to last night?"

"The gas station." Valerie let out a small yawn as she poured herself a large cup of coffee before pointing over to the black trash bag that was now placed in a garbage can.

"What would I do without you." Rachel praised her daughter as she kissed her forehead gently while on het way to the fridge. "Die, probably." The girl shrugged as she blew on the dark liquid in her cup before taking a long sip of the hot substance.

"Any plans for today?" Valerie questioned her mother as she watched her eat a spoonful of cereal from her almost overfilled bowl. "I should really unpack the rest of our boxes while you're at school. Do some adulting." Rachel frowned at the thought.

"An adult having to actually do adult things? What has the world come to?" Valerie shook her head sarcastically, causing her mom to break into a smile. "I know, right! It's truly a tragedy." Rachel chirped.