Trinkets Of Dreams (Writing Contest)

Entry #10 - Treasure

TREASURE
By Michael Recto
Crime Fiction

***

I. December 11th, 3:53 am

Karen's last swig of bourbon must have been too strong for her that in minutes, she was out like a light. When she opened her eyes, she found herself amidst an empty, yet claustrophobic expanse of pitch darkness.

"Mama! Where are you?! It's cold! Please help me!"

Karen's heart leapt. It was a voice that she had longed to hear for months.

"Niko? Where are you?"

"Mama! I'm here! Please save me!" the voice answered back.

A wave of desperation washed over her as she ran aimlessly through the darkness.

"Niko! Mama's here! I'm coming for you!" she called out into the emptiness, hoping to find her bearings.

"Mama! It hurts! Please save me!'

Karen could not contain her overwhelming fear. It welled up inside her until it overflowed into her tears.

After what seemed like countless moments, she caught glimpse of a small light rising from a corner of the abyss. It was rectangular, like a solitary door opened in a dimly lit hallway.

She felt as if every part of her body were in tremors as she ran toward the light. Her knees were shaking. Her throat was parched as sandpaper. Her breath was constricted and labored.

She tripped and limped toward the door of light, refusing to give in to her rubbery legs. She was already drenched in sweat and tears when she found herself on her hands and knees by the doorway.

From there, she saw Niko in an empty room with walls covered in pristine white tiles. White, artificial light from an unseen source bathed the entire room, a stark contrast to the constricting darkness behind her. The smell of urine, medicine, alcohol, and formalin floated above the crisp and cold draft that circulated the room. Niko was naked and trembling in the middle of the room. His arms were close to his chest and his fists clenched while shuddering.

"Niko!"

"Mama! Please save me!"

Niko's nubile body was a shivering stick of tension as he reached out to Karen. His face was beet red and contorted like a crumpled piece of paper. His cheeks were soaked in tears and his upper lip was covered in snot.

The joy that Karen felt upon seeing Niko again was painfully fleeting as what she saw next gripped her with terror.

Black lines started materializing on around Niko's chest, tracing an imperfect circle around his heart. Another circle formed underneath it, around the upper left corner of his abdomen. The lines materialized like carefully drawn charcoal lines on an artist's canvas, as if an invisible hand was sketching them on his skin.

"Niko! Don't be afraid! I'm coming for--"

Her feet sank as soon as she stepped into the room. What she initially thought was a solid, marble floor transformed into entrails and blood. Her legs disappeared into the disgusting mixture of blood, hearts, livers, kidneys, and eyes. The once sanitary odor was replaced with the stench of blood, bile and saliva. The vile pool began to devour her from the waist down.

She looked up and saw her son, now covered in dried blood. It was caked all over his face, his chest, his abdomen, and his arms. His eyes were bloodshot red. His lips trembled and his hands violently shook.