☀️ Sunshine (Pomni x Ragatha)

Chapter 8 - Take the Plunge

Pomni.

Pomni.

Pomni.

A bead of sweat traced a numbing line across her face.

Pomni. Pomni. Pomni. Over and over again, the familiar sound pummeled her ears, yet she was powerless to hear it.

Pomni. Pomni. Trapped in the endless corridor, she stood before the centipede's wretched shadow, stomach seizing, pupils shrinking, acrid bile smoldering in the deepest depths of her throat. Dread — profound and overwhelming — gurgled like poison through her veins.

This couldn't be real, she told herself, watching through shimmering eyes as one-hundred chitin-glazed legs chattered toward her. This had to be a nightmare, she insisted, flinching at the shadows in her periphery, feeling every shiver and quake of Ragatha's form in her clammy palms.

Pomni. Pomni. Pomni.

Pomni. Pomni—

"Pomni!" Ragatha screamed; at long last, her voice had pierced through the veil. The ragdoll snatched the scruff of Pomni's tunic, shaking the jester as hard as her weakened body could. "What are you doing?! Why are you just standing there!?"

With a jolt, Pomni came to, gawking at Ragatha as if she'd forgotten the cotton-stuffed damsel was even there. "Huh...?" she shook her head, "Wh-What?"

"Don't look at me like that! Do something!"

Pomni pitched an anxious glance down the hall. A discordant ensemble of prickling steps played a persistent crescendo, growing ever louder as the beastly centipede closed the distance. "B-But I...! But I don't—" she warbled, gasping through tears, "I don't know what to—"

"Run!" Ragatha shoved Pomni closer.

"Run where?!"

"AWAY!"

The little jester dipped forward with a frustrated grunt. She couldn't argue with that. "O-Okay!" she finally forced out, holding Ragatha tight and barreling forward with no thought, no direction, and no plan. "Okay!" she huffed, "Okay!" she croaked, "Okay!" she sobbed.

Tears shimmered behind Pomni's eyes as she sprinted for life and limb, shivering soles pummeling the endless ribbon of carpet underneath. Her destination was but an afterthought; all she could do was run, as fast and as far away as her body could carry her.

There was just one small wrinkle in the plan, however: Pomni could run fast, but so could the centipede. And the centipede was faster. By a longshot.

No matter how far the elastic corridor stretched, or how many corners the little jester swerved around, the beast's omnipresent shadow — spread across all four walls by flickering chandelier lights — stalked her all the same.

The shape, spelled in darkness, was a thing of nightmares. A despicable, wriggling horde of insect parts, growing and bending and stretching in the wavering light. Clicking legs. Undulating antennae. Crunching pincers, primed to devour the beast's next meal. Pomni swore she could feel their venomous touch as the wriggling silhouette reached for her ankles.

Every pixel of the young woman's digital form begged her to toss a glance behind herself — but her twisted guts were wiser than that. Under no circumstances could she look back. She couldn't look back. She couldn't even think about it. Couldn't look back. Couldn't look back. Couldn't—

Look back. Just for a moment.

Couldn't look back—

The shadow is stretching. It's right behind you.