Spiral

『so I stopped trying』

I entered a deep chasm of enchanted echoes. They were the sultry moans from the last few nights spent in the company of girls I didn't know. They were the screams of Aster, his light whispers beckoning me away from the darkness shifting around me. They were the pleads of Kitten to calm down. I could hear babygirl's voice crystal clear through the murky waters of noise drowning my ears. Her voice softened immeasurably as I tried to find it.

There it is! Yes, over to the left near that sparkling glass of pearl white soda. It's effervescent ripples span across the counter top, her reflection dim in the endless river of carbonated beverage. I feel my heart flutter about as a joyous child as her graphite eyes meet my own. They send a calming hush over the distant cries... momentarily. Her face morphs into that of a scream, paralyzed in the middle of a pained cry. Her eyes are rolled back, the iris melting into candy like crystals down her cheeks.

 "Adrian! He-help me," she sputters, her tongue curling around her neck like a deranged branch.

I am cowardly ~ I run from my problems; I'm telling myself a lie. I run.

I hear the tearing of flesh, a warm and damp squelch as teeth bore into the fragile skin like snakes. There's pained moaning from behind, serving as motivation to run faster, but my legs won't listen. They've run out of wound-up energy.

I see the white dress swimming across the deep black of whatever is lurking ahead. Her virgin movements are unmatched by the fluidity of my own fear; her dress bending and fluttering around her undisturbed figure.

"Adrian," she sings, her voice like the wind carrying dead leaves. "It isn't safe here." She is suddenly in front of me, her chilled skin brushing against mine. She pauses, eyes flooding with topaz speckles. The hair on my neck rises and my body quivers beneath her fixation. She drags her cool hand across my cheek slowly before flicking her tongue across my lips. "Wake up."