Safety Blanket

🌿 Chapter Seven🌿

He didn't know where to go. Sure, the Angel has resided here for years..yet places change. Soil churnes and buildings rise, paths altered by time and souls. Corpses lost to time writhed with worms under that dirt, preserved flesh sinking in and stomachs leaking in their cheap coffins. Water turns to cloud, cloud turns to rain. It seeps into all of Castle County. Between every loose shutter, through every leaky ceiling. Staining the valuable old trinkets cluttered by elders. That's all this town was made of, right? Clutter. Clutter that fell through the holes of the church walls, light as snow yet as spreadable as gossip. Tainted with the waters of sin, of death, of judgement that ate up Castle Rock.
He was stuck in the clutter. Moving, shifting clutter that whipped through the town.

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The Kid momentarily stopped in his tracks as a dark blue chevy whizzed past him, wind shaking his thin frame. The bright red taillights cut through the heavy night air, thick with moisture. The hum of the engine seemed to wander in the air with the Kid for a long moment as the red of the lights faded from the slick road. Those seething, hateful eyes of red pulling off into the darkness, taking the warm reflection they'd so graciously gifted to the asphalt with them. Gone as fast as they came, leaving him once again in the soft milky moonlight. Up ahead the road branched out behind the wall of nearby trees, distant yellow lights blinking through the dewy leaves.
Greens and blues, all except for the hints of firey golden warmth from distant outdoor lights. Possibly they acted as a beacon to an outdoor pet, or anything that needed the extra help on a dark and murky night such as this. Moonlight could only get you so far.
Before he could step onto the sloping gravel turn he stopped himself, leg high grass tapping at his fingertips. Why did he hesitate? He paused to look around, light glistening off his slick hair. Kid moved his head slowly as to look at the dark greens around him, the smell of rain dense against his nose. The foliage around him blended into blues the further down his eyes fell, blues that reminded him of the depths of his lake. His creation. This was all his, afterall, so why should he be scared? Go on.

You'll be fine.

Warmth of lovers hands was replaced with deathly cold, forcing Dennis's eyes open. He could feel water rush into his nose and ears, barely able to hear the sound of heavy rocks plunging into the water beside him. It was not the rushing of the water to cover his head that deafened though; it was the rumble of the water. Not just the twisting of the waves, but the churning of the power the Kid had left here so long ago. The lime green sky that he had altered turned the surface a light blue. The same surface that was fading further and further away from Zalewski as he sank.

Solid figures plunged into the water all around Dennis; who wasn't sure what they were at first. Through the twisting water he thought they were just rocks...until he remembered this was a lake. Lakes did not have currents. The movement wasn't the water throwing the proportions out of wack, but it was the masses of shadow squirming on their own.
Bodies.
Men and women, some more unclothed than others, yet all dawned with chains, and cinderblocksdragging them downward. Their bodies were all but masses of flesh and wild hair, the whites of their eyes popping out and desperately looking up at Dennis through the darkening blue. 'By God, save me!'
Voices and the deep coiling hum of the lake made Dennis's head burn, the sight of these poor souls would have made him catch his breath. His fear was so strong, it blotted out the hot burning in his lungs and throat. He needed air- air. He couldn't breathe- and if he let the water quench the fire? He was no better than the ones sinking beside him. No better than dead. Zalewski found himself moving in a rush of realization that if he didn't he would die, glancing up to get a feel for of he was headed for the gates of heaven or the surface.
Above him the water was practically glowing with light, dark yet odd shapes still above him. Shadows fell beneath them, bubbles from screams rising with Dennis as he tried to remember how to move his arms. 'Those are their ships.' He paddled his legs a bit faster, 'their crews. Will they push me under too?'