Go
Back
To
SleepIt slithered through the dark silence like a snake through river reeds. Just a hiss of motion in the black, vast, emptiness behind closed eyelids.
Go backThere was no air.
To sleep.No air.
Blue eyes snapped open immediately met with an uninterrupted expanse of white and the low drolling hum if the A/C unit tucked beneath the hotel window. Her chest was heaving, frantic pants of air blew past her lips as a bead of sweat broke free from her hairline and rolled down her temple. She hadn’t slept soundly in weeks. Every night she woke up gasping for air and sweating. Marcus Collins haunted every dream, twisting it to nightmares. Pulling the air from her lungs with the slow, sadistic, curl of lips too close.
She raised a hand up, fingertips touching to the delicate skin behind her ear as she looked around the empty room bathed in the deep red light of the digital alarm clock nestled on the side table to her left. Of course it was red.
1:13 am.The blonde didn’t move, just stared in silence at the white, down comforter twisted around her thighs. He was there. Everytime she closed her eyes Marcus Collins was right. there. She could feel him as if they were both still on that announcers table, she could practically hear the blood pumping through his veins as he moved on hands and knees. The breath in her ear burned like he exhaled hell as he spoke.
A shiver shot down her spine despite the beads of sweat clinging to sun kissed skin, damp against the sheets.
”...I give up…” she sighed, working on detangling herself from the sheets she’d thrust about in the frantic toss and turn that had become normal, before throwing her legs off the side of the bed, and moving to stand on her feet.
The rough surface of carpet pressed into her heels as she plodded over to the bathroom door tucked in the entryway of the hotel room and paused as she caught her reflection in the mirrored doors of the closet on her opposite side. Without the make up from the crew backstage at shows she looked tired. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen herself like this, but it was the first time she didn’t have the energy to dare to fix it.
Tired.
Tired had become a trend in the business, but it wasn’t in the physical sense. No, it was in the way that drained your soul of every fiber of will it had left in it. It was that exhausted in your bones feeling that told you it was time to give up. For Trine that was a dark place she found herself in often, but she would always pull herself out of it.
This time...she wasn’t so sure…
”You, miss lady, look like a hot bag of ass.” she stated simply, pointing to her reflection that pointed right back.
The door of the bathroom clicked.
Blue eyes went wide and slowly drifted from her worn face to the doorknob of the door at her back. It was pulled down and she could see the crack between the door and the door frame inching wider and wider still. It felt so quick, but her body received the rapid fire commands of
move MOVE like her system had been on some sort of horrible delay. She could see inside now, just barley. The white tile of the bathroom floor now a dull grey due to the lack of light from the inside, she could see the glint of the glass shower doors, but still no visual on who could have been inside. Until a hand slowly curled around the lip of the door and across the knuckles;
STAY
Then, as if all at once, her body got the message and her feet shifted against the rough carpet- twisting her body, and sending her toppling backwards into the mirrored closet. She squeezed her eyes closed, knowing full well what was next, readying for the crash of glass to shower down on her shoulders but-
There was nothing
Her stomach lifted as she was sent into a freefall, sending a wave of nausea and she snapped out a hand to grab onto the something, but empty air whizzed through the spaces in between her fingers. Another wild swing- more air, only air, and then impact.
Trine has expected it to be an abrupt stop some kind of all consuming pain as the force of the fall threw her flat against the earth beneath her, but instead it almost flexed beneath her weight. She felt the bob and dip of solid earth curl along with the shape of her body, up and down, and up again until it slowly churned to a stop. She had clenched her jaw with such an indescribable force that she felt an ache deep in the roots of her teeth once she finally let up, slowly rolling to the side and moving to her hands and knees.
The grass was so dry beneath her fingers. Rough, stiff, blades of grass cracked and bent as she ran her hand over the earth, assuring herself that it was in fact solid. She looked up and found the world around her had been coloured, but in a way that all of the saturation had bled out. The only hues left were dulled, creamy yellows, and faint greyed greens with muted browns.
It was a clearing with nothing but the sweep of rolling hills and a small stone wall, that fell just above eye level, to interrupt what seemed to be a never ending expanse of dried grass. The horizon was greyed, blending into the sky that seemed to have lost all of its colour. Blue eyes curiously followed the length of the wall. Every stone and line of mortar in between had been weathered and filthy. She started a slow walk, pressing her fingers to the stone and dragging them along as she went.
”...hold on a minute...I….know this place….” the blonde picked up a run, watching the rise and fall of the wall as is curled over the form of the landscape, her eyes anticipating the crumbled break she knew was there until-
Her fingers drug across new stone. Flat and smooth without the caked on filth of time and weather. The mortar in between was a brighter white, cleaner, more expertly applied.
Whoever had fixed this was practiced at building walls.
”Oi!” came a small, sharp, bark from the opposite side.
Trine couldn’t stop the smile from tearing across her face. It was strange, but the familiarity of this place was welcomed even if by know she knew better than to assume she was awake. She was alone the last time she had stepped into this place and now- this felt like starting over. A second chance.
”Delly! I hear you!” she laughed, pushing up onto the balls of her feet to try and see over the top. Her fingers dug into the nooks and crannies of the rocks all plastered together as she tried to find leverage to pull herself up.
”Me ol’ mucker! OI!””One sec! I’m trying to-” she grunted, pulling up onto the wall, and fumbling about to find somewhere to place her feet,
”Hey! Listen I know you’re sorry about punching me way back- I, I totally get it. You don’t have to worry about it- I forgiv-!”She was cut short as her fingertips lost their grip, her feet following soon after sending the blonde crumpling to the dried grass in an awkward heap.
”Oi! Oi!” the barks echoed, bouncing over barren hills in a stark burst of sound.
”Hold on!” Trine laughed, taking a minute to look down the length of the wall in an attempt to find a break, but there was none. At least not that she could see.
She frowned, her eyes looking over the newly spread mortar spread over the curves of rounded stone. The faded slate blues and mossy greens joined by tightly packed white all seemed so flawlessly laid. Slowly, she picked up a walk watching the lines in the wall for anywhere she could easily climb, or if there had been anymore sections that had crumbled down in her absence. On the opposite side of the walk she could hear the minuscule footsteps frantically trying to keep pace with her interrupted every now and then by a quick
”Oi!””Still looking! Gimme a sec!” Trine smiled, keeping her eyes trained on the wall as she picked up a run.
The dulled hues of the stones and weathered surfaces blurred by, blue eyes jumping from section to section as she ran in hopes of catching sight of the tiny, golden, bulldog she
knew was on the opposite side. Her pace kicked up another notch, the stiff crunch of the grass beneath her feet almost a constant roll of sound.
”Oi! Me ol’ mucker! Oi! O-! the bulldog’s bark was cut short.
”Delly!?”, no reply,
”Delly!?”The attempt to climb the wall this time was more frantic, the pads of her fingers just barely finding purchase on the stone as she grasped the top of the wall and pulled up- planting her converse into the creases of rock. Just as blue eyes peered over the top ledge she was nose to wet nose with...something.
Wide, black eyes stared back at her, smooth brown fur neatly swept up and away. The sun over head caught on the individual strands sending sparks of refracted light off the ends. She blinked, it blinked, and slowly the two of them leaned back to get a better look at the other.
An otter. The green bandana tied around its neck flapped in a breeze that rolled through the sloping hills. Trine slowly raised an eyebrow watching as the animal watched her in turn.
”Oi!” This time the bark seemed more annoyed than anything and Trine turned her attention to the source of the noise.
Cradled in the tiny paws of the otter was the golden bulldog, who by now looked less than happy with its current situation despite the fact that the otter currently seemed too preoccupied with Trine to bother doing much else other than hold him.
Clack, clack, clack!A surprised laugh burst from her lips as the otter abruptly set to trying to open the bulldog on the stone beneath it’s feet, deciding that the little figure in its hands was more fun at the moment. The bulldog, however, found nothing funny about its current situation. Plated wrinkles along its nose and eyes scrunched, deepening the creases of its face into a scowl.
”OI!!””Haha- okay, seriously...you can’t-” she moved to take away the dog, but the otter pulled its hands back,
”You can’t crack it open. At least I don’t think you can…”The otter stared her down quietly and she just as she reached a hand out-
clack,clack,clack!”Oh my God!” she tried her best to stop laughing.
”OI!” the bulldog quipped thoroughly annoyed now.
Trine reach her arm over the top half of the wall to try and get a hold of the bulldog, but the otter slithered out of every attempted grab all the while the bulldog being sure to make its feelings about the currently debacle well known. The otter seemed pretty taken with the little guy, but apparently that wasn’t a two way street. At least not at the moment. She could see the otter angle itself before dropping down on the opposite side of the wall. The blonde frowned, listening closely.
clack, clack, clack!Another stifled laugh as she threw her leg up, hooking her heel on the top of the wall and pulling herself over, but she lost traction and dropped to the floor.
clack, clack, clack!clack, clack, clack!The sound faded, moving farther and farther away. She picked up a run following the quiet thrums of gold slammed into the sturdy face of rock and stone.
”What are you doing? Dude, what is that thing?” ”Oi!””Ow! It just bit me!”Trine froze, pressing her cheek against the wall as if that would somehow make it easier to hear through solid stone.
”...hello?””...hey?”Something about the voice tickled the strings of her conscious mind, Trine frowned pushing harder against the stone.
”Who are you? Were you the one who fixed the wall?””Nope. That was all you. And fixed is kind of a matter of opinion…””What? What the hell is that suppose to mean?” she narrowed her eyes skeptically,
”There was a hole here. Now it’s gone. Fixed.””Mhmm and now we can’t reach you.””....reach….me?”There was a feeling in her gut that sent the hair on her neck standing on end. That creeping itch that demands you turn around despite your mind screaming that it doesn’t want to look. Trine slowly lifted her cheek from the wall, blue eyes wide as she slowly looked over her shoulder.
clack,clack,clackThe landscape that had once been nothing more than hills of dried grass had overgrown into twisted trees and thorny bush. Spanish moss, black and thick against the contrast of grey sky hung heavy from gruesome branches. Her heart kicked up a frenzy in her chest- flight or fight warring with itself in her person. Trine looked back to the wall, panic rising like a steady tide.
”But the otter! He was on the wall with me!””Yeah, he don’t have much time, Trin…””How did you-” she shook her head, deciding her name wasn’t important,
”what do you mean?! What is that suppose to mean?””It means he’s running out of time. I feel like that was real obvious…”The scratch of tiny paws scaling the wall echoed in the space. The round happy face of the bandanad otter stared down at her and the heart in her chest felt so heavy as she watched him hold out a hand. Slowly, she lifted her hand from her side bringing it to the top edge of the wall where the otter grasped the tip of her pointer finger. And in that contact it felt like all of her soul had left through her arm. There was a sad, sad look in its eyes before it let go of her finger and dropped back down to the other side of the wall.
Trine’s chest felt empty and she felt tears well up along the bottom line of her eyelashes. It was as if the otter had scooped her heart up like the tiny, golden, bulldog and now she just waited to hear the clack, clack, clack.
It never came.
The blonde tried to climb the wall, tried to reach the nimble creature that had reached out and snatched all of the filling in her chest. The unsuspecting thing that scaled that wall with such mischievous ease, but every grab resulted in a stone tumbling away- only to be replaced by a new one.
”Walls are a real ****.””WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE IS HE GOING?!””Quit yelling! He’ll hear you!””Answer my **** questions!””Shh! Quiet!” the voice hissed.
”ANSWER ME!””You wasted all of your time on the wall!” a pause,
”We gotta go.””No! Wait!”She could feel eyes on her, lurking somewhere in the deep darkness between ancient trees and greyed, rough bark.
”Hello?”Nothing.
Please! We can take the wall down. Right? It was broken down before!”Not a sound.
Trine Larsen frowned, dropping her forehead to rest on one of the stones that jutted out from the wall, and placed her palm flat against the wall as if she could feel them on the other side. She couldn’t, but she could feel eyes. Watching, waiting, boring into her back. She turned around, frowning at the cluttered expanse of warped trees and rolling fog.
She didn’t dare move into the forest at her back. Instead Trine started a slow, defeated walk along the wall, watching as the tree line to her right dipped and weaved. Blue eyes stared down at dried grass passing beneath her feet, just staring off into some empty space at the back of her mind- until a flash of light grey and black dropped straight into her vision.
Trine yelped the wet thud of whatever had been tossed before her sent her stomach into flips. She stumbled, the toe of her shoes catching on something soft and wet and...warm. Both of her hands snapped forward to catch herself, the heels of her palms burned as they skid across the rough surface of the grass. She twisted, now seated on her behind, her hands behind her.
It was a wolf. A grey wolf with a black mask of fur around its electric eyes. She followed the curve of its face, the fur along its neck matted and a deep dark red. Her eyes widened as she pushed herself back with frantic movements, her breath catching in her throat.
A second body was thrust from the bush before her and she screamed, moving to try and get to her feet as a third wolf was flung before her. Her chest burned from the frantic breaths her lungs pulled in from the cold air. Blue eyes scanned the tree line for whoever had thrown the familiar trio torn and dead before her, but there was only thorns and spanish moss.
Trine looked back to the bodies three sets of the same dazzling blue starting off into an unknown she couldn’t see. She waited for a breath, for some movement, but it never came. The muscles along the sides of her ribs burned and she pulled herself up onto her feet pushing off of dead grass into a fast paced sprint.
She could still feel eyes on her and as she scanned the treeline- there. Tucked in between old rotting trees was a man in a black hood. A sinister smirk curled and twisted the corners of his lips.
She ran.
Trine ran until her legs had given up on her, buckling at the knees. She squeezed her eyes shut, working against the pain and the burn in her chest as she tried to breathe. When they fluttered open again the light crunch of grass was replaced with the soft thud of cobble stone. Another familiar place.
Blue eyes warily scanned the windows, now tinted a dark yellowed brown from the years of dirt and grime that accumulated. Some were shattered, the shards of glass left to lie on the cobblestone shone along ragged edges as the sun overhead started to hide its face behind the angled rooftops of the surrounding structures. There was no crow this time. Just empty space and the smell of dirt.
The feeling of isolation crept in, curling at the corners of her consciousness like the wet pages of a book. She could feel it in her chest the heavy burden of being completely alone. The last time she had traveled through this place she had companions, but this time there was no one. Only confusing words and the fleeting touch of an otter that was cryptically running out of time. Trine curled the fingers of her left hand as if pressing them into her palm would somehow stop whatever was left of her soul from just pouring out onto the cold, cobblestone, road.
The brick buildings that lined the road on either side of her passed by without much of a fuss, the fact that she was not being gunned down by a psychotic bird had helped when it came to taking in her surroundings this time around. The windows were old, with thick panes of glass boxed in by sloppily painted supports. Every now and then she would spot a black brick tucked into the assortment of red and faded pink shades. The doors alternated in colour- some black, some white, some red, and once in a while a sage green colour would fade through, all them greyed by the world around them.
She continued to walk her foot colliding with something in the road, sending it into a fit of noise as it rolled.
Trine blinked, looking down to her feet and found a small mound of potting soil, and further ahead was an empty coffee cup. A memory fizzed away somewhere at the back of her mind of a beautiful woman with chestnut brown hair and a cat on the train. She felt her heart sink as she looked around the street, her attention falling on one of the white signs bolted into the side of a brick building that stood tall on the corner of the intersection.
RXR
The blonde stepped over the dirt and then the cup that had rolled a few feet ahead, before making her way to the intersection. The eerie silence of the world this time around had started to work on her nerves. She could feel the anxiety of waiting for something or someone to jump out from a quiet corner eating away at her, but it never came. It was just an empty intersection left in darkness as the sun drifted down until the street lights flickered on, casting heavy shadows along the street and the faces of the structures lining the quaint expanse of cobblestone. Trine took a right, following the railroad crossing signs spray painted over ancient stone, and paused as she came to the platform.
There was no train and no passengers awaiting its arrival. It was just her and the buzz of the station light overhead, the light tink of a moth as it slammed its own body into the warm glow of the light bulb. She stared down the track for a moment, silently longing for the familiar brush of fur at her side, but it never came.
Trine was alone and it was silent, but she could still feel eyes on her.
There were no guides this time. No push in the right direction and the only things she had seen or heard were left behind that stone wall on the hills. The only place she had chosen to avoid that dark forest of twisted trees where the eyes were watching. Trine turned back keeping an eye out for a familiar metal door nestled inconspicuously in an alleyway somewhere in the area. It was hard to remember where. She hadn’t paid it much attention the last time.
Black, black, white, red, black, green, black, white, white- the doors passed until just out of the corner of her eyes, tucked away in a narrow alley between what used to be a cobbler’s shop and a bakery was a filthy, metal, door. The blonde stepped over to it and pressed her fingertips to the cast iron handle.
”...why do I get the feeling I should have stayed at the wall….” and with that she pulled open the door.
The air from the cellar door kicked up into a frenzy, the dust from crushed concrete and whatever else had accumulated in the narrow stairwell wiped up on pressurized air and blew past her and into the street at her back. She closed the door behind her, but instead of being met with the eerie glow of flickering fluorescent lighting the blonde found only darkness.
”Alone? Brave, Larsen.” a low chuckle echoed from the bottom step.
”W-who’s there?””Stupid question.”The voice was so much louder now, right at her ear, and she felt the warm rush of breath roll down the side of her neck. Trine squirmed and threw her hands out in an attempt to push it away, but her hands hit nothing but the concrete wall, violently jamming her fingers.
”Oh sonnoffabitch!” she hissed, cradling the injured hand close to her chest.
For a moment she stood at the top of the steps, staring down to where the last few steps were swallowed up into darkness below. The metal door at her back pulled open and a slow brush of fur drifted over the skin of her calves, the flick of the end of a tail knicked at the back of her knee. Blue eyes shifted falling on a familiar feline bravely slinking down the first few steps before it turned to look at her.
Trine stared for a moment, the white whisper of whiskers along its eyebrows lit up like fiber optics in the light pouring in through the door until it drifted shut. Then all she could see was its eyes and then it turned away. She could hear the soft tap of its pads against the concrete steps.
”The flower-!” she cut herself short, realizing she didn’t know why she brought it up, or what she would say next, but she could hear the cat fall still,
”...I mean...uh...I saw the cup. The woman had the flower in it….last time…”Silence. The tap of pads started up again and she followed behind in the wake of the sound. There was a strange feeling now- not anything like companionship, but more like a mutual respect. Both of them continuing down the steps, but acknowledging the space between them.
”...I...uh...you know-”She fell silent, the faint whisper of a baby crying echoed through the tunnels beneath the earth. Refracting off of sections of chain link fence and concrete walls. The fluorescent lighting that she remembered hanging from chains above them had long since blown out. There was nothing but darkness and the reflective orbs of the cat’s eyes when it would look back to her every now and again.
”Oh, right, I remember this place…” Trine’s voice echoed back to her along with the muffled wails of an infant, with each step it grew louder, closer, and she could feel the goosebumps erupt over the back of her arms. She followed the sound, unsure of where the cat had gone until she spotted a flash of eyes from up ahead.
The cries grew louder. She walked through the darkness her hands dragging along the face of the concrete, before bouncing over a section of chain link, then more concrete. Maybe this was a second chance to free the baby from the cold walls, she had felt the warm little fingers wrap around her own, but they disappeared. She hadn’t been fast enough. Too startled to react in time.
The blonde slowed down as the crying filled the halls, swelling into a deafening crescendo despite being muffled behind a layer of concrete. Her hands padded along the walls in the dark, each wail sending another spike of panic through her chest. She was running out of time.
Her fingertips clipped a rough edge and she dug her fingers into the crack in the wall. Trine could feel her fingernails flexing with the force behind each pull. Chunks of concrete clattered down at her feet, she could taste the dust in her mouth with every inhale. Another pull. Another pull. Another pull until enough pieces fell away.
Just before she could plunge her arm through the hole in the wall, Trine felt the cat push its head against her calf, urging her to move on- but she ignored it. The wails of the infant in the wall almost deafening now without the muffle over it.
”I got you, I got you!” she thrusted her arm through, all the way up to her shoulder, until she had to push up onto her tiptoes in an attempt to reach further through. She waited for the warm touch of tiny fingers, but they never came
The wailing had died down into whimpers and as Trine let her arm fall limp they disappeared all together. She frowned and moved to pull her arm out.
SNAP!In one swift motion she felt a strong yank, her wrist encircled by thick, filthy fingers. Trine’s arm snapped straight and she shouted out in pain, her face pressed hard against the wall. She tried her best to find purchase on the ground littered in dust and concrete chunks, but another ferocious yank lifted her converse from the ground.
A short, pained, sob left her lips- the force cranking down on her arms too much for her system to stay silent. She tried to pull back, tried to plant her feet flat against the wall and push. Her left foot slipped, slipped again, the debri stuck to the soles of her shoes causing them to lose traction. She tried again and this time Trine found some purchase. The blonde held fast to the arm being dragged through the hole, planted both feet against the wall and pushed.
She hung almost parallel to the floor, both feet planted on either side of the hole.
”Walls can be a ****~” the voice cooed.
”F-**** you!” she cried out, putting all of her force into trying to free her arm.
The hand let go.
Trine felt herself free fall backwards and she threw her hands out to the side to try and break her fall, but it did nothing to ease the pain of her lower back as it collided with filthy floor below. She reached a hand out, trying to find the cat, but felt nothing.
”He’s not here to help you, Larsen. You two just happen to be marching towards the same fate.”The voice loomed over her and in the darkness she could see a deeper shadow. She could see movement on the cusp of her version and slowly she shifted reaching out a hand. Her fingertips brushed the black fabric as she squinted to try and find some sort of visual. It was so airy it was almost as if it wasn’t there at all.
”...who….are you…?””I’m the hero in this story…” the figure shifted, but she held fast to the fabric, until it pulled taught, and she shifted to get to her feet.
Trine followed behind the figure in silence and it shifted through the space, as if it willingly allowed her passage. And then it was gone. The figure, the fabric, only darkness was left.
click, click, clickFlame.
Snuffed out.
click, click, clickFlame.
Snuffed out.
click, click, clickFlame.
The blonde turned her head to section of chain link fence that stretched across the open arch in the wall. Watching the flicker of the lighter flame dance across a familiar face.
Snuffed out.
”Bridget….?”click, click, clickDeep, brown eyes looked up, catching Trine in the soft gaze. She was sitting on the corner of the desk, her legs crossed at the ankles, and her long black hair poured over her shoulders.
Flame.
”...what are you still doing down here?”Snuffed out.
”This is where I go.”click, click, clickThe blonde blinked, tilting her head to the side as she wrapped her fingers through the diamond shaped pods.
Flame.
”But...you left...last time. I didn’t know who you were, but now…”Snuffed out.
”I always come back here. When it’s too loud, or there is too many people, or God forbid I get a compliment,” she laughed wryly,
”hurray for social anxiety!”click, click, clickFlame.
”I am a real fuckin’ mess.” another dry chuckle.
Snuffed out.
”Do you mind...if I use that?”click, cli-
Silence. Trine could hear Bridget breathing, but it was the only sound.
”I need this.” clickFlame.
Snuffed out.
The black haired woman had been staring down at the worn metal lighter in her hand with a frown. Trine nodded, not wanting to push the matter and turned away from the fence. As she started to walk away she could hear the frantic pattern of sneakered feet against the barren floor.
”I’m sorry!” her voice shook and Trine could hear her push against the chain link,
”I wish I didn’t need it….””I know, Bridg’. I understand. Sometimes the dark can be too much.” ”....yeah....”Bridget’s voice sounded so small.
Trine walked on holding her hands out to gauge where she was in the hall.
click, click, clickFlame.
Blue eyes caught sight of long, dark brown hair. Seated on the floor opposite bridget was a woman with her knees pulled up beneath her chin, and her arms wrapped around her legs. Trine squinted, kneeling down to try to get a better look at her face.
”...are you okay?”Snuffed out.
”I’m better now. All fixed up, sparkles.”click, click, click”....Rayven….?”Flame.
The fenced in section was empty.
Snuffed out.
The blonde pushed up through the balls of her feet, standing up, and started a slow walk awaiting the next burst of flame to illuminate the hallway again.
click, click, clickFlame.
The next section house nothing but an empty coffee cup. The same she had kicked earlier, the same clump of potting soil left strewn across the ground. The flower was nowhere to be found, but creeping into the back of her mind was the realization that there had been something in the back pocket of her jeans. Her fingers itched and Trine slowly reached back to her pocket and pulled out a small bell. The ash from the burned down forest still clung to the surface of it.
Snuffed out.
In the darkness she could see two glowing orbs staring back at her, slowly moving to look at the bell pinched between her thumb and pointer finger. They’d stopped at the same cage, but the cat shifted and moved on. A small cough escaped Trine’s lips as the heavy scent of burnt wood and smoke poured through the chain link, forced into pillowed diamonds as the wire cut through the the screen of smoke.
click, click, clickThe last of its tail slipped away from the reach of the light.
Trine looked to the coffee cup and bent down, before rolling the bell into the center of the room. It jingled as it rolled, the sound almost out of place in all of the silence.
Flame.
She rose to her feet and followed after the cat.
The slow realization that now there would be no way to see the rest of the way in started to dawn on her and she could feel panic rising in her chest. There was a glow up ahead, but it wasn’t of any natural light. It was dull and green, and….moving. The flicker accompanied by the steady beeping of a machine. The blonde raised an eyebrow, following further down the hallway. The strange thing was that there was no fence between her and the monitor slowly coming into view as she walked closer, closer still.
”....hello?”There was no answer, no brush of fur...nothing...just alone.
Trine froze in her steps, staring at the screen in front of her with wide eyes.
A heart monitor.
Blue eyes followed the cord down to the railings on a hospital bed, to the hospital gown, and as she looked to the face there was a warmth wrapped gently around her hand. She jumped, startled by the touch, but then slowly lifted her gaze.
”...K-?””Mmm mm mm. That’s cheating.”The hand was gone.
”Who are you?! What is this place?!””Stupid. Questions.””Well, they’re the only ones I got!”A thick, low, laugh that sounded like bubbling tar curled out of the darkness surrounding her and Trine wiped her head around trying to find some visual purchase.
”You know exactly what this place is. We all spend time down here. Some more than most.” she could see the shape of two hands pushing through the darkness, reaching towards her own,
”...and you know exactly who I am.”Trine had moved to pull her hands back, but the pair reaching for her snapped up like vipers and grabbed her by the wrists.
”And I intend to keep you down here for quite sometime.”She tried to yank her hands away, to free herself, but the fingers wrapped around her wrist only tightened, the pinch of fingernails against delicate skin burning at the back of her mind. Trine could just barely make out the darker shadows against pale knuckles, a half silent gasp escaped her lips.
STAY DOWN
Blue eyes traveled up the length of his arms only to be met with a twisted smirk, half hidden by the shadow of a hood. The hands released her wrists, the finger slipping away with a sickening drag, and raised up- pulling back the hood.
-
”Uaaah!”Trine Larsen sat straight up in her hotel bed, the white, down comforter twisted around her thighs. Her chest heaved, her ribs wracked by violent breaths. Sweat stung her eyes and salted over the curves of her cheeks. The hotel room was empty, bathed in the soft red glow of the alarm clock perched on the side table.
1:13amShe turned her attention to the cell phone resting on the corner of the desk at the foot of the bed. The screen a dull white light as it charged. The lock screen displayed a rushed selfie from the short time in Vegas. It was mostly of Kid, but she was fine with that. It was a common problem when you were almost a head shorter than the person you were trying to get a picture with. Candid selfies were one of the things on her list of neigh impossible feats. Blue eyes flicked up to catch the reflection of the bathroom door in the closet mirrors and she frowned. That was another one- overcoming that fear. She had no way of explaining how Collins could get so far into your head, but after weeks of tormenting herself all she wanted was to get him out.
This was a chance. This championship match was layer upon layer of chances. A chance to take away what Collins had left to lose. A chance to take away what Wretched Nobody wanted so desperately. A chance to...prove herself, mostly for her own sake, to Adams and the WWG universe. She could get revenge for Tony she could get redemption for herself and it all relied on grabbing a suitcase.
The right suitcase.
Ladder matches had always been an advantage for her. With a low center of gravity and less weight to rock the ladder it made scaling them far easier than some of the other wrestlers in the card. Almost all of them in fact. The issue really was finding the right pocket in order for her to make it. The beauty of a situation like this was all she needed to worry about was timing. Wretched Nobody and Collins had the ability to work together. Trine and Adams had a common goal and the equal ability to work together, but that was one of those things you would have to wait and see how things played out.
She didn’t expect it, but she would not turn it down either.
The blonde stared at the door’s reflection for a few moments, the idea of just waiting until the sun started to pour through the hotel room’s curtains a tempting notion. He wasn’t there. That much was obvious and logical, but It didn’t stop the uneasy chill from skittering down her spine. Trine huffed, throwing herself back onto the mattress and staring up at the ceiling.
She was running out of patience.
-
”Whoa-ho, Larsen you are looking….sick? I want to say sick,” Hassan covered his mouth and back away slowly, as if he were trying to avoid whatever it was that had gotten its claws into the wrestler,
”Seriously, are you sick?”Trine raised a hand, waving him off as she continued to walk down the hallway.
”I’m fine. Worn out.””Worn out? You get your first win under your belt in forever- against Adams no less and you’re just- worn out? What are you eighty?””More like ninety five. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m late to get my hip replaced.”She didn’t stop. Hassan was the kind of people you just didn’t want to be around when you were not in the mood to deal with the blunt declaration of everything and anything that could be bothering you at any given time. Today was one of those days.
The white washed walls that twisted and turned in the belly of the venue were littered with the familiar paper signs that noted where every station that made up the production that was a WWG PPV a success. Trine paid them no mind, b-lining for the locker rooms tucked away at the center.
”Trin’!” It barely registered, drowned out by her own thoughts.
”Trine!””Hey Larsen!”The blonde startled snapped out of her thoughts on the third attempt. She blinked looking up from the tile beneath her feet to the pair now standing opposite her in the hallway.
”...wha?””Suprise!” Bo Brim threw his arms out to the side as if he were displaying some grand prize.
The truth was it had been pretty grand, to Trine at least. All of the stress leading up to the PPV had been overwhelming and when she had seen her friends last it was in a horrible dream. She had felt a million miles away from them, but now here they were.
”Speechless. What did I say, Bridge’? This is just too much man to go surprising ladies with.” the redhead grinned and elbowed Bridget Anderson in the ribs.
She shot a half hearted glare over her shoulder at him, before looking back to Trine, a worried expression on her face.
”Are you….alright?”Trine had fallen still, her hands balled at her sides, her teeth gritted as she tried to hold back the sound pushing against the back of her throat. It didn’t last long and as Bridget asked the question Trine’s resolve crumbled and she threw her arms around her fellow wrestler.
Bridget froze, her body stiff and her arms held out at her sides. The shock on her face melted away slowly drifting into a sad smile as she brought a hand up to rest on the blonde’s shoulder blades.
”Hey! It’s alright! This is a big PPV for ya! We couldn’t just stay in Sarasota!”Bridget shifted, fighting with herself to be a good friend all while battling the rising anxiety in her chest. Trine needed the hug. At least she figured she did. Just slinking away and hiding in one of the rooms that lined the hallway until her heart stopped beating so violently her chest ached seemed like a bad idea.
Normal people didn’t do that.
Right?
Right.
And Bridget Anderson was perfectly normal.
She swallowed hard, trying to ignore the sweat starting to bead up along the back of her hair line.
Just be cool. Just be cool. Just be cool.
She felt Trine squeeze just a little harder and something snapped. It was too close. So far she had done so well. There was nothing all that weird about Bridget. Just a cool confident lady with a neat wrestling gimmick and two whole friends! Two. That was a good number. Bo and Trine.
And this was what friends do.
Bridget’s fingertips itched, reaching for the lighting tucked away in her jean pocket. Bo warily turned to look at the black haired wrestler, the defensive body language of the woman being hugged all too hard to miss.
Be cool. Be cool. Be cool. Please.
Trine released the hug and Bridgets entire frame nearly crumbled down beneath the weight of the panic that had stirred up in her veins.
”Man, somebody is a secret hugger!” she laughed awkwardly, dropping her hands casually into the pockets of her jeans. Her thumb ran over the smooth surface of the lighter.
”Sorry, I- I had a shitty dream. I just- I dunno. It got me in a weird way.””It’s cool. You’re fine! Totally fine! I am totally cool and fine.””Oh yeah, both of those.” Bo laughed,
”Hey wait! I don’t get one?!”He held his arms out with a pout set on his lips and Trine laughed hooking her arms beneath his and stepping into another hug.
”Damn. All this time sneaking in belly to bellys and all I had to do was ask.”Trine laughed, rolling her eyes even as he rubbed his bearded chin across the top of her head.
”Ow! You ****!””What?! What did you call me?!” he squeezed, lifting her off of the ground and tucking his chin against the side of her face.
”Ooow! It’s like **** sandpaper!””ACCEPT MY PLATONIC LOVE!! ACCEPT IT!!!” ”BRIDGET!!! HELP ME!!” she squealed trying to pull herself out of Bo’s arms. She could feel the skin irritated by the hairs of his beard burn, leaving streaks across her collarbone, face, and the side of her neck.
Bridget just rolled her eyes, jutting her thumb over her shoulder
”I’m gonna go sit down. Y’all are gross.”Bo dropped Trine and she stumbled over herself, before punching him square in the thigh. Bridget started her way down the hall.
”Ow! WHAT THE HELL!?””Suck it!” Trine picked up a run behind Bridget.
Bo shook his leg out, limping for a step or two before catching up to the two of them.
”You ready for this match?””You know...yeah, actually. I think I’ve spent so long flipping out about it that now I’m just ready for it to be over.””Makes sense…””The faster you get that belt the faster it’s over.””True. I mean Wretched Nobody had been ‘coming for what’s his’ I’m starting to think he’s secretly George R.R.Martin. My thing is if he actually had what it took he would have had it already. That or he’d just trying to hide the fact he already came and went, but doesn’t have it in him to admit he failed.””Now he’s got suits battling it out for a rematch clause. Oh, how the mighty creepy have fallen.””You have Adams to go against though. That has to be a plus, right?”Trine nodded, watching the lull in the fluorescent lighting drifting down from over head.
”Yeah, I beat him in the ring last week which was...kinda surprising.””Do you always doubt yourself like that?””It’s not doubt. He’s a good wrestler. Every time I get in the ring with him it feels like I need to up my game ten fold. Sometimes he wins and sometimes I win. I’m not going to just walk in under the assumption I’m going to win because he deserves more respect and effort than that.””And I had won match with Collins and got my ass dropped back into developmental after that beating so….I don’t know where you find the courage for that…””I’ve had enough sleepless nights thanks to that guy. I’m going into this ready to take that title off of him if I have to break every bone in body to do it. I can’t keep doing this…”....sleepless….nights?” Bo grinned mischievously, shooting Trine a look out of the corner of his eye,
”You nast- ow! .”The blonde scowled, throwing a second punch to Bo’s arm.
”NOT LIKE THAT YOU **** SICKO!””Bridgeeeeee’ she hit meeeeee~!-----
And I always pictured this dreamscape looking how Over the Garden Wall was done and I got bored in between studying so I messed around with photoshop 8I Hurray for making gifs I guess
