15 February 2015
0300
One hundred two point five. Hot. Comparable to Nosgoth in the dog days of Summer. There was no summer to be found, not even in the heat that cocooned her. Concrete weighed her down, Addie was sinking, sinking, sinking, far into the flames. It was like quicksand with how it leeched the motion from her limbs, futile struggle failing to free her from the sweltering embrace of her surroundings. It only got darker. Wetter. Sickening squelches that signified the violent separation of flesh and blood. Vitae and paint coated her frame, head to toe. This is what drowning felt like, huh? Absence of oxygen to the brain, hypoxia the doctors call it, results in a slow motion stop action sort of feel to the images that flashed before her eyes. Spasmodic jerks of her limbs did little save for sap her of her remaining energy as her heart hammered violently against her sternum. Every time she opened her mouth to breathe or to scream or to put up some sort of a fight, she found her parted lips flooded by the next gush of fluid. Iron and sugar, a sweet molten metal filling her gullet like some forgotten chalice left to overflow, unceremonious splashes and glugs signifying each and every burp and gurgle of expelled carbon dioxide from her throat. She continued to sink, so very far down. It was so? hot. It was hot and she couldn?t tell sweat from blood and blood from paint and? where was she again? Down. Yes, down. Too far to see the light and in her disoriented and stunned haze, she relaxed. There was no pain, no worry, no struggle left in her limbs. It was so much easier if she simply let herself fall. Until the hallucinations came. If this wasn?t one already, they tugged and tormented her with wicked little words whispered through the wisps of hair that clung to the shell of her ears, drenched strands filtering little of their murmurs. What have you done? What have you done?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! It was getting hot again, she thought her blood might boil. The wretched little urchins that dragged her further into the depths of despair tore at her limbs, pulling and yanking, twisting and contorting, all of it so very unnatural and for a moment, Addie thought her head might pop right off like a discarded Barbie doll, broken and abused, tossed aside like refuse. Still there was no pain. She had given up on crying out by now but the continuous tremble of her limbs betrayed the underlying fight for her life. Why was it so hard to breathe? My sweet girl, my dear sweet Adelaide? what brought you to this point? Addie didn?t know. She knew the voice even if she couldn?t see the face, her eyelids weighted down under the pressure of her overheated mind?s wicked manipulations. And so down, down, down she went, tongues of fire lapping at her limbs, blessing her with each lashing that left lengthy lesions along even lengthier limbs. The descent slowed and her shaking subsided, antici...pation for whatever came next. She couldn't move. She couldn't feel. She couldn't breathe. But she found herself at peace. Only at that point did she finally break the surface, an icy chill washing over her upon impact. It was both solid and liquid, her landing. Both up and down, her fall. In the dark she had no way of knowing, her bearings thrown right out the window, well, not literally. Her eyes were still heavy though, but they weren't weighted by liquid or the crushing weight of mortality, no, instead they were gently held closed by a press of a cold cloth that sent a minuscule trickle down her temple. The droplet tickled her ear as it wiggled into her canal, settling comfortably against an eardrum being gently tapped by the babbling of a soothing brook. A continuous mumble, soft, familiar. Not a brook, but steady like running water. Beep-beep-beep. Addie wasn't sure where her mind was, half in, half out as she was. Languishing somewhere in the haze of waking, the running litany of images before her eyes were projected as if from a film reel to an aging screen. The last thing she saw was the snowy white static of an analog tuned television left on a signal long lost. Excellent work, Doctor! Crackle-crackle. The voice cut out, replaced by the soothing rumble and a gentle caress of a rough thumb across her cheek, skimming the edge of the cool rag set across her eyes and forehead. Another hand settled on her shoulder, rounding the curvature of her anatomy until it had a gentle but firm grasp from clavicle to scapula. And with a light shake, she was at last yanked from the throes of the demons that plagued her in her sleep.
"Addie... Addie, wake up."
0300
One hundred two point five. Hot. Comparable to Nosgoth in the dog days of Summer. There was no summer to be found, not even in the heat that cocooned her. Concrete weighed her down, Addie was sinking, sinking, sinking, far into the flames. It was like quicksand with how it leeched the motion from her limbs, futile struggle failing to free her from the sweltering embrace of her surroundings. It only got darker. Wetter. Sickening squelches that signified the violent separation of flesh and blood. Vitae and paint coated her frame, head to toe. This is what drowning felt like, huh? Absence of oxygen to the brain, hypoxia the doctors call it, results in a slow motion stop action sort of feel to the images that flashed before her eyes. Spasmodic jerks of her limbs did little save for sap her of her remaining energy as her heart hammered violently against her sternum. Every time she opened her mouth to breathe or to scream or to put up some sort of a fight, she found her parted lips flooded by the next gush of fluid. Iron and sugar, a sweet molten metal filling her gullet like some forgotten chalice left to overflow, unceremonious splashes and glugs signifying each and every burp and gurgle of expelled carbon dioxide from her throat. She continued to sink, so very far down. It was so? hot. It was hot and she couldn?t tell sweat from blood and blood from paint and? where was she again? Down. Yes, down. Too far to see the light and in her disoriented and stunned haze, she relaxed. There was no pain, no worry, no struggle left in her limbs. It was so much easier if she simply let herself fall. Until the hallucinations came. If this wasn?t one already, they tugged and tormented her with wicked little words whispered through the wisps of hair that clung to the shell of her ears, drenched strands filtering little of their murmurs. What have you done? What have you done?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! It was getting hot again, she thought her blood might boil. The wretched little urchins that dragged her further into the depths of despair tore at her limbs, pulling and yanking, twisting and contorting, all of it so very unnatural and for a moment, Addie thought her head might pop right off like a discarded Barbie doll, broken and abused, tossed aside like refuse. Still there was no pain. She had given up on crying out by now but the continuous tremble of her limbs betrayed the underlying fight for her life. Why was it so hard to breathe? My sweet girl, my dear sweet Adelaide? what brought you to this point? Addie didn?t know. She knew the voice even if she couldn?t see the face, her eyelids weighted down under the pressure of her overheated mind?s wicked manipulations. And so down, down, down she went, tongues of fire lapping at her limbs, blessing her with each lashing that left lengthy lesions along even lengthier limbs. The descent slowed and her shaking subsided, antici...pation for whatever came next. She couldn't move. She couldn't feel. She couldn't breathe. But she found herself at peace. Only at that point did she finally break the surface, an icy chill washing over her upon impact. It was both solid and liquid, her landing. Both up and down, her fall. In the dark she had no way of knowing, her bearings thrown right out the window, well, not literally. Her eyes were still heavy though, but they weren't weighted by liquid or the crushing weight of mortality, no, instead they were gently held closed by a press of a cold cloth that sent a minuscule trickle down her temple. The droplet tickled her ear as it wiggled into her canal, settling comfortably against an eardrum being gently tapped by the babbling of a soothing brook. A continuous mumble, soft, familiar. Not a brook, but steady like running water. Beep-beep-beep. Addie wasn't sure where her mind was, half in, half out as she was. Languishing somewhere in the haze of waking, the running litany of images before her eyes were projected as if from a film reel to an aging screen. The last thing she saw was the snowy white static of an analog tuned television left on a signal long lost. Excellent work, Doctor! Crackle-crackle. The voice cut out, replaced by the soothing rumble and a gentle caress of a rough thumb across her cheek, skimming the edge of the cool rag set across her eyes and forehead. Another hand settled on her shoulder, rounding the curvature of her anatomy until it had a gentle but firm grasp from clavicle to scapula. And with a light shake, she was at last yanked from the throes of the demons that plagued her in her sleep.
"Addie... Addie, wake up."