As The World Died (new)

Chapter One

12:17 PM

A monotonous ticking, a silver pocket watch. She groaned, closing her eyes tightly, and pulling a blanket further over her head. Sunlight threatened to break through her pastel fortress, illuminating her world in dim, greyish light.

"Katherine!!" her mother had shouted, clambering up the spiral staircase that connected the first and second floor.

"Katherine? It's already noon, you've slept through the day." Nora sighed, stepping into her daughters' room.

Clothing and notebooks were strewn haphazardly around the dark, oak flooring. Poems and drawings, songs and thoughts. All written on crumpled sheets of paper, and discarded carelessly. Nora reached down and plucked a page up, carefully reading each line of scribbled blue ink.

The agony of dreams - Katherine Greene
'She closed her eyes, puffy and red.
Crystal tears streaking her cheeks, she crawled into bed.
Charcoal liner smudged under her eyes, painting her pillow case with off-black splotches.
She sobbed, the dark room enveloping her being.
Stretching her further from reality, a fictional world awaiting, at the end of a dream-like tunnel.
Vision darkening, and breathing slowed, she drifted away.
Away to a different world.
A world where disease and death did not exist.
A world where everything was as it should be.
An escape.
Though it was...different this time.
The skies weren't that glorious blue the girl had grown to loathe.
The grass wasn't emerald, nor was it alive.
She sat in a dead field, the shrubbery resembling snow, a silvery tint.
Looking up, the sky appeared to be black, devoid of life, of colour.
What was happening?
There was no melody in the air.
No noises of life, no sounds of nature.
Where was everyone?
The girl tried to shout, calling for her friends.
"Kari! Alice! Leo..?"
But nothing came out, not a sound.
As she tried to scream out, a loud cackle came from outside the clearing.
Deceased trees trembled as the ground around her cracked.
A light breaking through the darkness.
"Who's there?" she mouthed, still not a word falling from her lips.
The light grew brighter, stronger.
And with it, the fantasy world turned to a bloody red.
And she was falling, falling, falling.
Raspy words flurrying through her mind, the air growing frigid and stiff.
"You have done wrong," the voice croaked, a smile drifting along it's words, "and now it is time."
Pain.
Spotty vision and cold tile.
She wheezed, her lungs feeling ablaze.
Warmth spreading through her veins.
COUGH COUGH
Obsidian smoke wafted from her lips, choking her.
Verdant eyes watered, her throat becoming raw ,as she gasped for air she would not receive.
The crackling of a fire erupted from inside, blood boiling and bones groaning.
Agony.
"Help me, please!" she screamed, her silent words reaching the ears of no one.
Skin blistered and peeling, bubbling and bursting.
Darkness.
Relief.
Awakening.'

Nora stared at the writing, astonishment gleaming in her eyes.

By then, Katherine had awoken, and was stood in front of her bed, glancing questioningly at her mother.

"You wrote this?" her mother had asked, gesturing towards the page.

"Yeah.. It's nothing special, though." Katherine mumbled, scratching the back of her head, an uneasy feeling falling over the room.

"W-well," she stuttered, "I'm going downstairs for breakfast."

Her mother nodded, stepping towards the door, and placing her hand on the doors' knob.

The pitter-patter of little feet, scampering down the hall. "Katty!" a little voice uttered, growing louder as the patters grew closer. Walnut hair and denim-blue eyes, Ruby ran into the room.

Nora sighed, a small smile lacing her lips, as her daughters embraced. The youngest of the two, barely age four, shared the tales of her dreams, grinning and laughing as she recalled the batty details. All the while, Katherine nodded along, grabbing her sisters hand and parading down the stairs.

"Let's get you some breakfast, hm?" she ­­said, her voice still scratchy from sleep.

"I want pancakes!" Ruby shouted, practically bouncing with joy.

Nora loved how fond of each other the pair were, Ruby wanted to be just like her older sister. Not that that was necessarily a good thing, but it wasn't the worst that could happen, she thought to herself, withholding a giggle.

Pulling her button-less, coral blue cardigan closer to her form, she walked down the dimly lit hallway, back to her room. Pale sunlight bled through a window at the end, showering her in the orange afternoon light.

An insistent buzz echoed through the house, indicating that Nora was receiving a call.

"Crap!" she breathed, jogging to her bedroom.

Her phone vibrated, softly jumping against the beech-wood nightstand it was sat upon. Stepping closer, she plucked it up, and flipped it open.

"Hello?" she asked, hesitation in her voice.

"I'm picking you up in 30 minutes, meet me at the park." a shadowy voice whispered, harsh and raspy. A voice tainted by mystery and uncertainty.

"Oh, uh, o-okay." Nora stuttered, the line disconnecting before she had finished speaking.

"Katherine, I'm going out..! You're in charge." She shouted, voice cracking, as she walked down the stairs, guilt growing more noticeable as she neared the door, and lip quivering slightly.

Her daughter stepped in front of the staircase, arms crossed and a small smile on her face. The girl took a breath, closing her eyes tightly, before mumbling out a cluster of words Nora couldn't quite make out.

"Hm?" she hummed out, questioning the teen.

"I, uh.. I need to talk to you. It's nothing important, so, there's no rush. Er.." the girl trailed off, looking to the ground, "When will you be back?"

Nora thought for a moment, that she should tell Katherine where she was going. 'No, she wouldn't understand..' she frowned, nibbling her bottom lip out of nervousness.

"I'll be back later tonight. Here's some money for food, you can get whatever you like." Nora had said, pulling out her wallet and counting out several bills, before handing them to her daughter.

"That's a hundred, don't blow it. Oh, and, you can invite some friends over, if you'd like? I just don't want you and Ruby to be alone the entire night." She added, heading for the door.

"Don't do anything crazy!" She shouted, slipping into the warmth of the outside world.

"Katty? Where's mummy going?" Ruby questioned, lightly furrowing her brow.

"Out, sweetie. She'll be back later tonight. Let's go for a walk, the park is open today. " Katherine said, a smile playing on her lips.

Ruby shot up, as if she was a sprouting plant basking in the pleasant warmth of the spring sunlight, after days of frosty rain, the last moments of winter.

"It's cold out today, so, make sure you put on a sweater," the eldest of the two had said, grabbing her coat and slipping on her converse, " we'll go whenever you're ready."

Pulling out her phone, she sent a quick message to her friend, Emily.

'Heading to the park with Ruby, meet you there?'

And with that, they were out the door, not quite knowing where the day would take them.

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A/n

Hey, guys. After mcu thought, I've decided to scrap what I had from the original version of this story. The characters will remain, but the events will be a bit different.
I wanted to give all of you more insight of Katherine and her family, since I only briefly went into that in the previous version of atwd.

Thanks for the support <33