𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 | eddie munson

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

FAYE

The sky above had been pristine. White clouds drifting over cerulean. She turned and found she was alone, isolated in the company of the one person who had given her everything and now she stood under a steadily darkening sky with the growing feeling that he was somewhere just out of reach.

Her hand, shaking with the fear of the unknown reached for the surface of the rock where his shadow had been only moments ago. Faye wanted to call his name, she wanted to run to his arms away from whatever place had taken control of her mind yet even now she understood none of this would work.

Faye closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly. Everything had been alright, things had been getting better and now she was thrown right back into the pits of hell. Something crawled across her hand, with a scream she fell back as the rock became patterned in spiders, black widows. She moved fast along the floor, eyes glued to the ravaging creatures before she pushed herself to her feet and bolted.

Thoughts in her head drove like knives to her brain. The world moved very slowly around her as though she was running on sand, lost within a dream.

"Help!"

It was pointless, a feeble attempt at freedom. If anything she'd just alerted that creature to her location. She could still see him from her nightmares. Cold dead eyes. Almost indescribable, nowhere near human. Silent tears traced down her face as she stumbled through the overgrowth of the woods.

"Faye"

The voice wasn't the taunt monstrosity she had come to fear. Faye turned very fast, her eyes colliding with those of her brother. Her back hit against a tree and old bruises seemed to blossom just at the sight of him. Anger swelled through her. He'd ruined everything, constantly getting in the way.

Yet even now his eyes did not seem so menacing, his hands were not curled into fists. He stood almost timid in the shade of the old oak tree. His limbs started to shake, mirroring her own. Faye frowned and the skin between his eyebrows furrowed. A look of shock appeared on his face. It didn't suit him, the artful skill of temper had erased any other memory she'd known.

Slowly, Faye raised her left arm into the air. As though pulling on puppet strings, he followed. His hand was stretched out and as she moved her fingers through the lacking breeze, his followed the same motion.

"Don't you see Faye?"

She jumped, spinning around as she tried to find the bodiless voice. It sent her nerves on end, everything inside of her lit up like a million panic buttons. The world around filled with glowing crimson, fog rolling over the discarded leaves. The scuttling sound of spider legs spiralled every tree and by the time she'd turned back to her brother, his face was right in front of hers.

"No!" Faye screamed but it was already too late. He pushed her neck hard against the tree behind her until her lungs ached with burning desperation and the air blocked from her throat. She shook her head, gasping in panic as his fingers curled with thoughtless rage. Faye could not control him anymore, even now as she waved her arms in pitiful fashion he remained where he stood.

"You were never the good one Faye" he spoke, his voice was not his own. Filled with the confidence to evoke fear, a low growl, a daring whisper. The lungs of a human could never conjure such noise. "You pride yourself on who you've become, you're just like me Faye, do you think everything was forgotten... all those people you hurt"

"That wasn't me" Faye whispered.

"You did nothing" the voice replied. Faye watched in horror as the skin on his face started to change. The flesh stretched, started to contort. His eyes had been a deep hazel, they now bulged in their sockets until the colour drained out. Milky white depths overcame the light blue beneath. It was as though his face was being torn away, tendrils, dark red and pulsing seemed to rise from the ground.

The hand around her neck changed too, the grip was new. The fingers grew longer, the nails sharp like talons. His skin became almost charred. Flesh reversed until everything looked like what she'd once sat and studied in biology. The surface of his body seemed ripe with disgusting colours of deep purples and bright scarlet. Height stretched up from the ground as his hair shrank into his head. Faye forgot she needed to breathe. In that moment she forgot a lot of things, terror did that to a person.

"Please" she cried out, "please, let me go"

The grip seemed to tighten around her neck yet she realised his hand had pulled away, the mutilated claw almost pulsating in the dim red light. Faye felt she could be sick yet her mind was too focussed on what was around her neck.

It felt like a snake, it moved like one. She felt her hands being pulled back as she gasped to retain the last bits of air that her lungs still harboured. Faye hadn't wanted to die this way, she thought of everything she was going to lose. Her eyes closed as red light stained the backs of her vision.

Was this karma? Had the actions of her friends really belittled her character so much? Bruises painted her skin yet the movements of the coiling tendrils made no mark. It wouldn't matter much anymore. Air failed her, her skin puckered with horrible sounds and her wrists felt as though they could pop. Bones cried out for help. Her mind screamed for some sense of comfort.

"This isn't real" Faye whispered, it was the only sound she could make.

"Oh but it is real Faye" the voice returned. She didn't want to look at him but he was all she could see. His darkened tone, his disgusting slimed body. Less than human but so much more.

"Please, help me please" she sobbed.

"No one's coming for you" he continued, "it's just me and you... I'm giving you opportunity Faye. You get to join me, you're free"

"No" she tried to shake her head but the snakes seemed to keep her in place, if that was even what they were. She writhed where she stood, planted firmly onto the earth. It was as though she was standing in water, her shoes felt soaked. Faye imagined a pool of blood below her feet, soon she would decorate that idea.

"Faye it's time for your suffering... to end"

She opened her eyes and stared at his skull-like face. The image of death, her death. White mottled flesh meshed with purple veins. He did not smile, the stretched skin under his eyes limited any emotion.

Faye stopped crying, she stopped trying to break free. The snakes curled around her neck, layer after layer. She should've said something. Faye had known she was losing her mind and now she thought of the news. All those killings. She'd be a name among the dust, no one would know who she really was. The only person who'd ever truly known her, and now she was going to lose him too.

The creature raised his hand, stretching the claws of his jagged edged fingers as he lifted it to her face. She could see past the moulded flesh towards his eyes. There would be no pleading. He was sent from hell, he had to be. Was this her reckoning? Had she not suffered enough?

Faye closed her eyes, her head tilting back. All she could feel was cold, the rasping breath of the ashen lungs before her. She could smell a putrid scent. This was all in her head yet nothing had ever felt so real. Her mind closed down. It would be better this way, to not fight. She bottled the fear swarming inside her and she only thought of him, she only remembered him.

"Eddie" she whispered lightly. A final goodbye.

And that's when it started.