Drip, drip, drip.I opened my eyes and all I could hear were the small droplets falling from the sky on the hard cement. That was the moment in which the feeling of soreness hit my body and with a groan I got up. I brushes off the tiny particles of rock that had been stuck to the back of my arms and hands. Wait, where am I? I turned my head from side to side and I couldn't help but notice that I was at what seemed like a park and it was incredibly dark. Isn't there usually lamps at parks? The only thing illuminating the space was the glistening of the moon and the sparkle of the beautiful stars. They shined so bright that it was almost as if they did this for me to notice their presence. The silence was so excruciating it hurt my ears. I start to take a few steps forward and the rocks now beneath me were like millions of miniscule swords against my bare feet. I then saw a blinding bright light coming from behind a dark, dark figure a few miles away from me. My heartbeat quickened. Calm yourself Jer, it's probably harmless. Curiosity, clicked in. What if it was simply a person who showed up here just like I did? But there was something odd to this dark creature.
Since I was a little boy, I always assumed the worst of people. So, I decided to approach it. And just like a camera zooming in I became more and more aware of the dark figure's complexion. It was simply a woman. She had a curvy figure, long hair as dark as midnight accompanied by a long black robe. Her back was turned toward me, so I couldn't take in her face. She stood perfectly still like the water of the small lake in front of her. It was almost as if she were frozen, frozen in time. She made no sound and the only thing that could be heard was the deafening boom, boom, of my heart wanting to leave my chest. I have to admit, I was a deer in headlights, I was terrified. I slowly took two steps forward, nothing more, nothing less. At this point if I turned around I would be able to see her face. But I was so scared I couldn't bring myself to do it. MAN UP, JERRY. I decided I should just rip off the band-aid so I turned around.
There she was, smiling. But this was no ordinary smile. It was mystical, mysterious, creepy even. I stood there for what seemed like forever, observing her, taking in her features. And never once did the grim smile leave her face. I took a few steps to my right, then my left. But she never took her wandering eyes off me. Wasn't she uncomfortable? What was she doing here? And then unexpectedly, with the blink of an eye, she disappeared. Was I going insane? I scanned the area with my eyes, maniacally looking for her. Had I simply imagined her? Was she just a product of my imagination? I closed my eyes, trying to make some sense of the happenings before me. But then the woman reappeared once my eyelids uncovered my eyes. She was across the lake. And as a lion trying to catch its prey, I ran to her. Only this time, something was different. Not only was she running as well, she was running toward a charcoal dark skyscraper-like structure. Thump, thump, thump. I kept running and running, regardless of the feeling of billions of needles being stuck on my legs. I couldn't keep running for much longer. Luckily for me, the woman stopped.
She stopped right in front of the medieval doors of the castle. She pushed the door open with a creek and disappeared again. I took a step into the somber looking hallway behind the doors. The hallway was so thin that two people would crash onto each other, if they walked side by side. It was filled with multicolored doors on each side. I took two, two more steps watching my bony shadow showing my bad posture beside me. In between each door there was a painting. The SAME painting. Well this person must be an obsessive psycho. Thump, thump, thump. I took three more steps and stopped to look closely at one of the paintings. It was her. The paintings were faceless portraits of the running woman. Then, something caught my attention, gold writing started to appear on the bottom right corner. As if a ghost where writing it with a feather pen. It read "The Faceless Mona Lisa" and beneath it was more unclear writing. I rubbed my thumb against it, in attempt to make it clearer. But instead I ended up smudging the dark color of her robe onto the gold writing. And then out of the sudden, loud singing captured my attention. It caused me to immediately start having a small migraine, I became hypnotized by the melodious singing. My brain was so focused onto following the singing that I couldn't focus long enough to make out the words being sung. The further I went, the dimmer the hallway became it seemed to be closing in. But that didn't stop me. I reached the very last door to the left. The singing became louder. And with this a neon yellow sign blocked my field of view. It became hard to breathe when I saw what the sign read. "DON'T PANIC" Written in all caps with a shiny maroon blood-like substance. I pushed the door slightly with the very tip of my left big toe and a piercing smell of rotting flesh filled my nostrils. I quickly reacted by covering my nose. And while breathing in and out my mouth, I took another step.
There she was- Mona Lisa. With a knife right in the middle of her chest and blood dripping from the left side of her head. It didn't seem to cause her pain, she stood still, singing and smiling just like before. She took a step forward and looked up. Right above her scalp was a huge old disco ball hanging from the ceiling. That's when I noticed we were in a vintage 90's disco. She then swiftly swung her head down and flashed a mischievous smile at me not breaking eye contact. My heart was beating so fast I thought I would die of a heart attack before she took the knife off her chest and stuck it in mine. Killing me softly.
With that I panicked. I broke the window all the way to the back of the room and I ran for my life. She was faster than me. She caught up in a matter of seconds. She sprinted a few feet in front of me and I stopped my tracks in confusion. When I stopped so did she. She turned around with the knife no longer in her chest but in her hand. She made eye contact with me. Her stare piercing into my soul, making me feel as if I was naked and exposed. "There's nothing wrong with just a taste of what you paid for." were her last words before her head bounced onto the grass underneath the starry night. This image will haunt me for years. I looked at the bodiless head on the floor. Her eyes were open, stalking my every move and her grim smile reappeared on her face before darkness engulfed me.
