Post-Apocalyptic, Supernatural/Fantasy, Drama
(You may post/commet, btw, constructive criticism is very welcome)
This is my entry for Zuchi and Rose's Prompted Summer Writing Contest.
I know it's not a piece that will win anything (I just know, because it's a little... different. And strange, but yeah). I still wanted to enter it, simply because I promised. I haven't had the chance to edit this, so it's actually the rough-draft.
And here it is. The story and presentation elements are intended, typos and mistakes aren't ;3
WARNING: Contains blood and corpses. Tread forward carefully.
***
Red. Red everywhere. It dripped down the walls, stained the ceiling, pooling at her feet, mocking her. The laughter all around came crashing in on her and all she saw was red, red blood. Until darkness took over. Until her piercing scream was joined by a dozen. Until her world shook itself into death.
Deborah doesn’t remember how long she’s living here. Sitting on the broad staircase covered by red carpet, she still wonders why the huge maple entrance door never opens. She stands and walks over, resting a weary hand against the wood. Then she tries to open it, again, but it doesn’t budge an inch.
“Let me out,” she whispers and lets her forehead bump against the door, “I’m going crazy here.”
But no one answers.
She slowly turns and starts to walk away, time being meaningless in this place. But then she hears it. Soft, careful steps resounding from the corridor to the right, and she freezes on the spot. Waits for the stranger to appear.
Deborah doesn’t believe who she’s seeing at first, and then he’s already standing in front of her, looking relieved.
“Debby...” he breathes, “I’ve found you.”
With a jolt, Deborah throws her arms around her boyfriend’s neck, squeezing him tightly. “Oh, Shane! You can’t imagine how happy I am to see you...”
He returns the embrace with as much force, buries his nose in her silky, auburn hair, and just breathes in, and Deborah’s heart flutters just like it has when they have last been together. When they finally release each other, Deborah brushes away the unshed tears from her eyes and smiles at him.
“How did you get in? And can we get back out the same way?” she asks, excited to finally leave this personal, lone prison.
Shane doesn’t answer for a moment, looking at her with a guarded expression. “I’m afraid it’s too dangerous outside. We can’t go just yet.”
“But... someone locked me in here. I need to get out!” Deborah took a step back involuntarily. She watches how Shane nervously clenches and unclenches his hands.
“What are you hiding from me?” she asks slowly, trying to keep their eyes locked, but Shane avoids her look.
“Nothing. It’s just dangerous right now. We need to stay here until it’s over.”
“So... later then?” she asks hopefully.
“Later.” And Shane smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Okay...” Deborah steps forward again and takes his hand. “Let’s get you something to drink. Shall we?”
Deborah leads Shane into a bright, homely decorated room that always reminds her of something she seems to have forgotten. The room calms her down considerably, and she feels safe enough to go through with her plan, although it pains her to deceive Shane like this.
He sits down on the cream-coloured sofa and Deborah leans down to him, smiles sweetly, and kisses him lightly.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispers against his lips, and it’s the truth. But she still straightens up before Shane enraptures her whole, and walks back to the door.
“I’ll get you a drink from the kitchen. What would you like? This place has almost everything.”
“Just water is fine,” he replies. When Deborah watches him briefly, he looks tired, with dark bags under his bloodshot eyes. She still leaves, and without another glance back, she hurries into the direction Shane came from.
It doesn’t take long for her to find the other entrance. It could have been so simple to get out, but Deborah has just never looked for other ways. Now, she doesn’t understand why.
A small passage branches from the corridor, and at its end, there’s an old, narrow wooden door. It’s covered in holes and looks very brittle, but Deborah doesn’t care. She approaches it, takes the cool, iron doorknob in her hand, and pushes it open. What she sees on the other side makes her heart stop for a moment.
Collapsed brick houses, huge chunks of concrete, something that looks like a crater in the distance, toppled rotten trees, a gray sky overhead... and a visible layer of dust over everything, as if it has been in that state for a long time.
As long as she’s been locked in.
In one word... the world looks dead.
She’s suddenly whirled around and faces a fuming Shane, face all scrunched up.
“I told you it’s dangerous out there... please come back in.”
She lets him drag her back, the door falling shut behind her. But in her mind her thoughts are whirling, and she doesn’t know what to say or do.
They are back in the room they have been in moments before, sitting across from each other. The silence stretches on, and Deborah is nervously playing with her hands.
“So...” she breaks the silence, “What is it like out there now?”
She knows there is no denying what she has seen. Now, Shane must be honest with her. He has to be. Deborah can’t take it to think he’s lying to her.
Shane regards her for a moment, before sighing and answering. “It’s hard. People are struggling to survive. The resources became scarce... we don’t really have homes any longer, just wandering around like nomads; wherever we find enough food and water, we stay for a few days, sometimes weeks even.”
A heavy sensation settles in her stomach, and for a moment she can’t speak as in a fraction of time, the fog in her mind clears. But that memory rushes by and the fog comes back to settle in her mind. But she suddenly has the urge to do something she has a hunch she should have done sooner.
“I’m sorry for all this...” she says, looks into Shane’s eyes, and prepares herself.
“I won’t try to get out again, Shane, I promise. But I need to look for something in here...”
Without another word, she stands and walks towards the door, and out. The way to the entrance hall isn’t long, and Shane follows her. “What are you looking for, Debby?”
But she doesn’t answer. She walks up the stairs, and further up, until she’s below the roof. There is only one door, and it has a massive lock that doesn’t look like it will open just like that. But Deborah is determined, and she wants to see where she couldn’t get in all this time.
“Debby, don’t!”
But it is too late. Deborah opens the door – and it moves as though on its own. To reveal a room covered in blood. And Deborah remembers everything. The fog vanishes and uncovers all the memories she has lost. And she suddenly knows what to do.
“Debby...”
“You wanted to protect me. I understand now. I’m sorry, Shane.”
Her boyfriend rests his hand on her shoulder, and she turns to him, the tears prickling in her eyes.
“I don’t want to lose you...” Shane says and hugs her again, and she lets him.
“You know I have to do it,” she mumbles, kissing his cheek. “This villa... it’s not real. I created it. In my dreams...”
“You did... you have this ability, Debby... only you now...”
She kisses him on the lips, not wanting to let go. “I know. I love you.”
She can see in his eyes that he understands it’s a goodbye.
“I love you, too...” he replies, squeezes her one last time. He understands it’s the right thing to do.
“You need to leave here now...”
He nods and with tears in his eyes, he turns and goes. The fight is over. The fight, the struggle, the tragedy... all this pain.
She closes the door, still inside the room, and turns towards the three corpses. Their eyes open in fear and horror, their whole bodies cut open. Her little sister’s icy eyes look at Deborah, almost accusingly. They all have died cruelly by the hands of humans. Just because her family has been different.
“I’m sorry, mom, dad, Sandy...” she closes her eyes and calms her breathing, slowly slides down the door onto the ground.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers and means all the people she hurt, “I’m sorry for causing this decay of our beautiful world...”
But when a dreamcaster changes the world, he cannot revert it to its original state. Only when they die does their power leave. Deborah sheds one final tear, and waits for the darkness to engulf her.
Shane stood in front of the ruins of the once beautiful memory palace Deborah had created after he had suggested it. Its sudden state of decay now matched the rest of the world. Only the dust didn’t cover it yet.
Behind Shane, people were singing and dancing, and celebrating the death of the one person they knew kept the world destroyed. They would never know that she sacrificed herself for them, despite the injustice they brought her by killing her family. She would never be a martyr, a saviour. But always the monster that finally died and released the world from her clutches.
Only Shane kew. And only he would remember her as what she was. A sad, desperate girl, and his girlfriend.
He silently threw a single plastic rose into the ruins. His final goodbye. Then he turned and joined the others in their celebrations.
It was Deborah’s end... but it was a new beginning for the world.
