𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐏𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐌. isaac lahey

nine.

chapter nine

[ season 2 | episode 5 ]
[ venomous ]

               A BRIEF WHISTLE ON THE WIND, a breeze rustling the beige plants, the sun shining down on her earth like a prideful mother. That was it. That was the dream that swallowed Marley the night after the lizard made her a prisoner of her own mind. She saw the mystified clouds lining the silky blue sky, felt the soft brush of tall grass against her bare thighs. All she knew that night was true peace.

          In that dream she wore a white sundress reaching her mid-thigh, its neckline forming a light scoop with soft scallops and the waist cinching before flaring out so tenderly. It was a dress that she wouldn't be caught dead wearing in public, a dress that made her feel pretty and happy but enhanced all of her countless insecurities. The dress her mother once wore to church.

          Despite her criticism of the outfit, she did love the feeling of that kind fabric against her skin. It was almost satin-like but also possessed cotton qualities; a river of cloth that ran down her sharp edges like a deadly waterfall. She knew her grandmother would have nearly fainted at the sight of her in such an outfit. Not out of discontent but more shock— seeing how beautiful her granddaughter looked would have easily brought tears to Louise's eyes. She also knew how literally everyone else who knew her would gawk at the sight.

There was so much emotion, so much feeling in that dream that it filled her chest with something so close to content and made her feel truly happy for once. She knew that every rise and fall of her skin, every expansion and shrink of her lungs, every inhale and exhale meant something. They held so much laughter, so many tears, so many words that they just had to mean something.

In her dream, the world was golden. Held together by shimmering threads and the paint of beautiful white clouds and a bright sun made of watercolor, the world was simply golden. It shined as those droplets of watercolor touched down on the sewn earth, a pool of light ready to blind the darkness. It smiled as the silk of the sky gently met with those rolling hills of fabric. And it thundered like a precious heart as Marley moved her feet against the knitted dirt.

And that small beating of the earth pumped in sync with her own organ, a connection between the two entities, a tether binding them as one. That feeling of unity with this terrifyingly powerful planet made something twist in her heart, gave her a shock that ran so deep it echoed in her hollowed out bones. The Earth ran through her just as she ran through it; they flowed amongst each other, moved in harmony, a chorus of melodic blood and harmonious beating of that little heart. She was it just as much as it was her.

          It was unlike her usual dreams. Instead of the fiery rage and mournful cry that plagued her, this one was filled with simple beauty and an elegance that put gala's to shame. Until it was infiltrated by a flurry of fangs, teeth, and terror.