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PRELUDE: THIS IS GOING TO HURT ( trigger warning: attempted murder )
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DALLIS FEELS LIKE SHE'S floating.
Surely this isn't what it's meant to feel like.
Her body weighs nothing. She's flying. The higher she soars, the darker it gets. It's the kind of sleep that has no ending or beginning, the kind where her eyes just can't open and her ribs seem to shrink until it's impossible for her lungs to expand. She is infinite, existing outside the boundaries of birth. Born screaming now dying silent.
(He's taken that away, too.)
In spite of the weightlessness, the water is ice cold. Her skin prickles with a thousand knives. Each leaves a mark that scars. There's no escape when there's a man at her back holding her under, tearing through sinew in search of blood.
Just a little longer...
Dallis feels like she's drowning.
A switch has flicked. Flight or fight. Die screaming or die silent...
Suddenly, her limbs are kicking, seeking soft flesh to bruise. There's burning everywhere. Oh, God, it's all she can think about. Come back, darkness. Lull me into a false sense or security for just one more minute.
She's drowning. She's dying. He's going to kill her.
There is more than one pair of hands on her now. Something isn't right. They're pulling her this way and that. She rises from the water like a broken doll, discarded now that the party's over. The water drops back to the bath. There are cold tiles beneath her, pressing into her back. Still, her eyes won't open. She can't see who's saved her.
"Dallis? Dallis, please. Wake up now."
Don't do this to me.
Lips on hers. Hands cracking her chest. They'll push life back into her even if she doesn't want it.
She knows this is going to hurt, but maybe that's what she craves.
Her ribs expand. In the carnage, she lets the air rush in. Just one more breath and maybe she'll be okay again.
Just one more.
The pain never goes away.
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A/N: Surprise. Bet you didn't think I'd be updating this any time soon lmao. Honestly, you can thank obliviates for mentioning Criminal Minds and therefore reminding me that both my fics are rotting for no good reason. Hopefully, you'll have an actual chapter in the near future, but for now enjoy some not-so-subtle hinting about what's to come for Dallis ;)
