Opposite Ends

Y/N | March 1986

Drowning.

It was the only word I could think, the only thought that flashed through my mind as I swirled deeper under the crushing wave of darkness.

I'd drowned once before.

I was a freshman, and as someone who had recently joined the cheer team, I'd been invited to the exclusive end of year party as the upper classmen celebrated their impending freedom of adulthood.

An endless supply of warm beers hand been handed out amongst the rest of my squad as we lounged around the water's edge of Lovers Lake, sunbathing, and drinking in the looming enjoyment of finishing another year of school. As the sun set deeper behind the horizon, and I sunk deeper into my cup, the idea of joining the older boys screaming in glee as they jumped off the nearby cliff face, seemed better and better the more my head clouded from the alcohol.

As I'd stumbled up to the rock face, spilling the dark liquor from my red cup as unseen hoots cheered me on in the nearing darkness, I'd hesitated on the crumbling edge as I peered into the intimidating depths below. A wolf whistle had distracted me, and I'd lost my balance, slipping off the slanted rock face and spiralling into cold water. I hadn't felt it at the time, but I'd smacked the soft flesh of my forehead into the sharp jagged rock as I'd tumbled off it, the blood and my hair blinded my vision as I plunged into the freezing abyss.

The silence was deafening as I over spun, kicking out against the heavy water. It was too dark and suffocating to tell which way was up, the fall had knocked away what little breath I'd had in me and the hit to my head had disorientated me further than the alcohol already had, as the panic set in, smothering blackness wavered in my blurred vision. Every nerve ending in my body was screaming for some sort of relief as the darkness won out.

As I came to, relieved laughs had been yelled far too close to my ear as someone wrenched me up right and smacked my back to bring up at least half of the lake up out of my lungs, as I sat shivering on the cold sand surrounded by drunk seniors, someone else slapped a fresh beer into my shaking hands and gave me a thumbs up. I'd tried to hide my terror behind a hesitant sip.

But the violent fear that choked me as I nearly drowned, was nothing compared the thrill of trepidation that floored me now.

I was vaguely aware, through the layers of thick haze, of large, warm pulsing fingers pressing painfully into my arms and shaking me roughly. It was dark when I opened my eyes, eerily as the darkness pushed in on me from all sides. Something unnatural that lingered in the air sent an electrified tingle up my spine as I shivered, slowly turning in a whole circle as I stared out into the blackness. The pressure of the unseen pair of hands was still there but lessening as a ringing screeched through my ears.

My breathing hastened as heavy footsteps echoed from all corners in my vision, fighting against the loaded clock chimes that sounded in the distance. I swung my head around wildly as tears sprung to my eyes and my entire body shook on the edge. Terror froze me to the spot as my name reverberated through my skull, silent but deafening as it was spoken into my mind, pounding into the soft flesh behind my aching eyes.

I gasped and snapped my eyes shut as an image of the 'flayed' me shot across the distant void space in front of me, crawling backwards on her snapped knees and hands. Even though those that had actually fallen victim to the fleshy monster, hadn't exactly been so grotesque in real life, my nightmares, and paranoid feelings towards what happened last summer, manifested in the horrors that plagued me during my waking hours until they appeared more terrifying than anything that the Upside Down could spit out at us.