I couldn't see. My eyes were wide open, but the darkness was absolute, swallowing everything. My breathing quickened, panic tightening my chest. "My inhaler!" I thought, but when I tried to move my arm, nothing happened. I couldn't lift my head, couldn't even blink. My body was paralyzed, trapped in some horrible limbo. The whispering grew louder, more insistent, a distorted chorus that filled my ears and invaded my mind.
I tried to scream, but my lips were dry, cracked, and immobile. Terror surged through me. Was I dead? Was I dying?
All I could remember was the warning from Grapebox, the dude who sold me this house.
"Don't let it get to your head."
Thanks a lot, bro. Thanks for nothing.
"C'mon Aves, it's not that scary. What are you, chicken?" a voice pierced through the darkness.
"Don't let it get to your head."
"Pssh, as if." I heard her muffled bickerings and her laughter, a very precious memory, slipping away, sinking into the shadows that surround me.
I couldn't see anything, but I could feel a surge of something. it was very uncomfortable, and chilly. It pricked at my skin, an icy sensation that crawled up my limbs, seeping into my bones. It was nauseating, a chill that gnawed at my insides. If my lunch hadn't come out before, it was ready to come out now.
"As if! As if! As if! AS IF! AS IF!" her voice kept echoing like a broken voice box over and over, each time louder, more distorted. It was driving me insane. What is going on? Am I in hell? Where's mom?
I couldn't speak, move or even see properly. This weird, haunting memory keeps playing like a melody to off me and I can't do a damn thing about it. What the hell was happening?
"AAGH!" I heard another voice. Kiara? NO, there must be no way. They must've hidden somewhere. They should've.
But I couldn't respond, couldn't react. The coldness was spreading, crawling up my spine, wrapping around my ribs like icy tendrils. I felt something wet, a puddle of some liquid engulfing my arms and legs, slowly creeping up toward my brain.
This is it, isn't it? Everything I worked for? I should've just applied to Yale, or community college or something!
Rachel and Finn, F-ck you! I hope you drop out of college and get sucked into poverty.
A single tear escaped my left eye, it was the most I could do in this form. Trish the madman, died over his obsession.
The coldness that I felt so much unease now had taken over the lower part of my body. But soon after, the unease left and I was numb to the chill feeling spiking up my spine. Ah, it was even comforting. I still had goosebumps all over my body, but...I don't know how to explain this elaborate but solitary feeling.
It was like the final scene in Titanic—your world sinking, but hell, at least you go down with style and music. The violins played, the drums beat, and you drifted off with the melancholic melody, entering your eternal slumber.
My sister's screams echoed louder and louder, merging with the cacophony of voices. I couldn't tell whose cries they were anymore. Maybe it was both of us, maybe it was just her. I'm sorry, Ki, I'm a bad brother. A bad son. Maybe I deserve this.
The icy grip reached my eyes, a splash of coldness that felt like being hit by a wave at the beach—stinging, blinding, but oddly right. My world was slipping away, drowned in the cold embrace of darkness.
KNOCK KNOCK!
A sudden, sharp sound cut through the drowning voices, startling me. It was out of place, impossible, yet there it was—someone knocking in this sea of chaos.