Abyssal Reverie

Prologue:

BEFORE:

My mother used to tell me stories, things that she could remember from her small sea town that she could never get out of her head. She would talk about this beautiful woman who would walk among the people of her homeland, telling fantastical stories of perseverance and urging those around her to have blind faith, even if they couldn't see something.

The woman would talk about the world's creation and how she was sure they would someday be returned to an ancient deity unknown to the natural world. The rumor around her small village was that this Deity was a creature that would bring about the next age, a time of prosperity and love that would continue for many years. My mother recalled the feelings she would get when walking next to this woman in the village, the sun beating down on them as they talked about everything we needed to change the world.

My mother was confident that all we needed to do was love each other, love the Ocean, and create a home for those of us who had no place to go. Her heart was so full of love and ambition that when she awoke one morning with hatred in her heart, it was almost as if she had been taken... molded into a new person unworthy of the family she so desperately wanted to keep. My childhood was blurry- the memories of my life slipping away from me as though they had never existed. But I still remember the day I found my mother covered in blood. Her eyes were wild with rage, her stare with me almost animal-like.

"She is coming for you, Selah; you must be ready." Her hands were dripping with red, staining the grass below her.

"Mother... Mother, are you hurt?" I ran to her, ready to stitch her broken soul back together. "Selah, she is coming for you. Just like she came for me, I couldn't escape. But you can." Her mouth contorted into a wicked smile. "Stay away from the ocean, Selah."

I remember how my stomach churned, watching her vicious smile come closer and closer. My legs shook so hard I couldn't force myself to run away. "Mom, please. Please stop."

"She took everything from me, leaving me with this ache. Would you like to see it, Selah?" She began tearing at the soaked clothes, the blood clinging to her sickly, skinny body.

I watched as my mother tore at her skin, ripping open the soft patch directly in the center of her chest. The nightgown she wore fell on either side of her. I watched as she clawed again and again, the gushing of gore from her spilling out onto the floor. Her bright blue eyes were now fixed on me, boring into my soul like never before.

Her chest had become a ravaged mess of what used to be our once loving and beautiful Seraphina, now a shell of who she once claimed she was. I was frozen in my spot, the fear now choking my body. I couldn't move, I couldn't think. I just watched as she dug her flesh deeper and more profoundly. Letting out a blood-curtailing scream, she now had one hand viciously tugging at the hair on her head.

"GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT." She tugged again and again. The Pain inside of her spilling out, the cries for help now drowned out by the blood rushing to my ears. "SHE IS COMING SELAH." She contorts her body left and right, cracking bones and spilling her insides out of every open orifice. "Save yourself, Selah. There is nothing left for you here."

She looked me in my eyes and dug deeper into her now gashed chest cavity, wrapping her hands around her heart... and pulling it from deep within. The image of her still beating heart falling to the ground haunts the memories of who I used to be.

~

It had only been a few months since I watched my mother tear her heart from her chest. The gore of that night still lives so vividly in the corners of my mind as a reminder of what was lost. My mother had not only ravaged herself but the entirety of my family. After witnessing my mother tearing her flesh from her bones, I ran inside to shield my sweet baby brother from seeing the gore outside our door, to find the blood that covered her nightgown was theirs... My brother and father were broken; their bodies crumpled in unnatural ways. They lay in pools of their blood right before my very eyes.

I felt empty; nothing left for me to live for. My mother had taken everything from me, even who I thought I wanted to be. I wandered the town for the next few weeks... wrapping my head around what I had witnessed. Some town folk said she was possessed, that her homeland was cursed. Stories of other women who grew up with my mother began to circle. I prayed that they were just stories meant to scare children into reciting their bible verses... but I knew better than to put stock into tales of grandeur.

I walked and walked for days. Thoughts of ending my life circling every empty corner of my mind. I didn't want to live here anymore... I wasn't even sure I wanted to live anymore. Especially not after being forced to witness the eradication of my entire family... Until one day, not long after I had decided to give up on trying to live an everyday life, I could feel a tug on my soul, almost like a siren call. It felt like a string was attached to me, pulling me towards the Ocean. Towards the vastness of the unknown.

I followed that pull, exhausted from the turmoil that boiled inside me. Deep down inside, I thought it wouldn't make a difference. This newfound intuition led me to end it all; as I walked on, I decided I wanted to join my family. I wanted to be by their side no matter the cost. As I let my feet guide me this way, I contemplated how I wanted to die, and I remembered how at home the Ocean has always made me feel... This deep need to be close to the crashing surf, the wildlife that could only grow from my remains. I wanted to be feasted upon by the very creatures I was once fascinated by. The thought began to bring me comfort. Something I never thought I would feel again. I followed this pull inside me to a dock just on the outskirts of Jericho. Ready to end it all, I was greeted by a masked figure. He was pacing this long boardwalk just off the main path. His face was hidden behind a white mass. The tugging inside of me halted as I stood directly next to him. He turned to me, offering salvation.