A Tragic Tale Part 4

I laid there on the ground and I tried to conserve that last little bit of warmth and energy I had. The noise was coming closer and I still couldn’t distinguish where or what it was coming from. Wait! That’s the same sound I heard in my dream before I saw the…I remembered the screech from my dream and my heart had begun to race. No. This couldn’t have happened: It did happen. This is where everything I knew began unraveling as a lie. Turning around I saw the bats. As they came closer, I realized they were not just bats, but were humanlike with wings. Like in the dream (nightmare), their skin was leathery like a cow’s hide. Except, I cow is gentle and fun to be around while these things were demonic things that fly. I ran even though I didn’t know why they were chasing me. The thought of a demon-like bird human chasing you would be terrifying enough. My feet only ran as fast as they would carry me. The landscape that surrounded me had almost completely frozen my body. It was hard for me to run any faster than a hobbled jog to get away from the terrible creatures. This is exactly what happened in my dream! I didn’t stop running.

I must have been running too fast or for too long because I caught my foot on a rock and before I knew it, I had blindly fallen hard on the rocky dirt path beneath me. I looked around for somewhere else to hide before those things found me like they did in my dream. A few feet away from where I stood was a line of bushes that looked like a good cover, so I ran over to them and crashed to the other side. Before I realized what had happened, I fell towards the bottom of the cliff and my doom. The last thing I remembered before everything went dark was the hiss on the air like the sound you hear after opening a can of soda. I heard the hissing noise and felt sharp talons reaching around my arms and waist, taking me up into the sky.

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I didn’t know if I could get back up ever again. I was terrified of never seeing my family again, and creatures, they were real and scared me most of all. I didn’t move, I couldn’t move. My eyes were only open for a second to feel the cold once again, hear the painful moans of some wild animal near me, and the sound of distant clicking before all the lights faded again.

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When I woke up, that same feeling of dread I experienced the night of Angie’s party proved itself again to show up at the worst moment possible. The dark was disorienting and of course, I had no clue where I was or where I had been taken to. I slowly stood up and looked around. I reached out to feel a damp, cold wall. Where was I? I placed my hands on the wall and followed it all the way around the room. The room was a circular design with no windows, no airflow, and only one door. The door felt metal, so I could only guess I was in some sort of prison cell. Great, another cell that made me feel like the most insignificant person in the world. I felt around until I touched what I believe to be a bench and sat down to wait out the lonely existence I thought I would never retire from.

What was happening? I couldn’t breathe. The air was musty and smelled of something truly awful. I coughed to clear away the layer of dust that had fallen over my lungs. I sat up trying to make out any other sign of life. Those noises I heard before weren’t animals; those sounds belonged to someone being tortured. Where was I? There was no light here wherever here was. I raised my hand in front of my face, but I couldn’t see it. Everything was dark and I was frightened that I would never see the sun again or run in the rain near my house. I would stay in this dark, cramped, and empty hole for the rest of my life. I sat down on the bench furthest from the cell door and began to cry. No one knew where I was and I this point I didn’t even know if anyone had wandered into that old house on Manchester Street to check up on me. Who cares right? I’ve always been the one left in the dark to fend for myself. No one cares that I’m trapped in this cage with no way out! Fine, I’ll die here alone if no one really cares.

My mind is tired from running and screaming; my head began to slide down towards my chest. I heard whispers from somewhere around me. I start to believe it is a rat and not some other person that can offer any company. I heard the noise again, and this time it was an audible voice speaking to me.

“Hey, hey wake up!” the voice says.

“What?” I respond in a groggy tone “Who’s there?”

“I’m you’re… friend; a friend who wants to get you out of here.” replied the voice.

“Where are you? I can’t see you.”

“Don’t worry about that right now. All you need to know is that Nixie is not a person to mess with, so when she comes to visit you don’t make her mad.”

All of a sudden, I felt the buzzing in my ear and realized this person was inside my head talking to me!

“You’re in my head?! Why are you in my head?” I shout.

“Please, don’t be frightened Stella, I just want to help you.” the voice said.

It was a boy’s voice in my head! OMG! I couldn’t have a boy’s voice in my head that would be ridiculous. Before there was time to respond to the boy, I heard the pounding of high heels walking down the hallway.

“Remember what I said don’t make her mad!”

The voice of the unknown boy who wanted to rescue me disappeared out of my mind, and I was again, left alone to endure the horrors that came next. My heart started pounding; dealing with confrontation is not one of my strongest personality traits. In my senior year of high school, my parents forced me to be on the debate because it would give me a confidence boost, but it really just gave me more anxiety and fear about dealing with people who disagree. Now, I barely talk around people anymore.

The sound of metal boots and maybe a sword made clanging noises as someone walked toward my cell. Turning around the dimly lit corner came a beautifully dressed woman. I wasn’t expecting someone to walk by looking like this or anyone to walk by at all. The woman stood her ground in front of me was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Her face was stretched and covered in dark shades of black makeup. The dress she wore was long, black, and terrifying because it looked like the dress that the Wicked Witch of the West wore in The Wizard of Oz. In this situation, I felt like Dorothy who had been transported into another world just like me with no friends to look out for her.

Unfortunately, for me, I wasn’t met by munchkins who helped me find my way. No, I was met by darkness, a man with no manners, and flying humanoid creatures that arrived seamlessly out of nowhere. The lady walked closer to the light source closest to my cell; I couldn’t see where it actually came from. Standing beside her was a guard in a tight-waisted uniform. It was sleek like the back of a cat as it stretches to reach its prey, and black as a night without the moon shining. There were silver buttons that ran down the middle of his jacket, and across the shoulders were chains also the color of silver. The pants he wore reminded me of those a biker wears. He was bald and also very muscular. The guard's whole outfit really just gave me creepy vampire-biker vibes. It's very possible that he and the beautiful lady were vampires or another type of mythological creature, but I didn't know at the time. They both approached the bars as I pushed up against the back wall as hard as I could. I didn't care what or who they were, I just wanted to go home!

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