Drowning

Chapter 8

Something was wrong.

But that wasn't important yet, the important thing was the pillow, and the duvet, and the soft sheets...

°•°•°•°•°

No, she was supposed to wake up now. Why? There was a faint tinny noise, persistent and whiny, yet far away, like she was underwater. Underwater and warm...So warm...

°•°•°•°•°

Lillian sat bolt upright, the urge to urinate overpowering all other thoughts. She pulled her uncooperative body from the bed and dashed to the bathroom, sitting down on the toilet to relieve herself. Only once she had washed her hands did the smell start to permeate her foggy consciousness, a smell almost like an animal carcass, and that sound, so sharp and obnoxious, almost like...Oh god.

The vomit in the bathtub was slowly drying, releasing noxious fumes as it sat and festered. As she looked at it in disgust, a fly landed on her cheek, whining incessantly as it twitched and fidgeted. She swatted it away, and it flew to rest on the lip of the tub once more. Strange, the tub almost seemed to be moving...

She clapped her hand to her mouth, nausea rising in a sudden dizzying wave.

The bathroom was full of flies.

Dozens of them circled her curdled stomach contents in the bottom of the bathtub, seething from the drain until it seemed that the plastic itself was black and writhing, a solid mass of hungry bodies fed by her undigested food. The sound rose up and swallowed her, a rustling of tiny wings too loud and too overpowering.

She whimpered weakly and stepped backwards out of the bathroom, closing the door with a bang before slumping back on the bed, hunger pangs racking her body as her hands began to shake.

None of this made any sense. She'd eaten just yesterday, thrown up just last night. Those bugs couldn't have all appeared in the few hours since she'd fallen asleep. It was almost like a nightmare. She pinched the top of her hand once, just to be sure.

All of a sudden the messenger bag at her feet exploded with sound, making her shrink away instinctively before she realized it was only her phone. Lillian let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, mentally chastising herself for overreacting. She lifted the flap and removed her phone, but realized as soon as she pressed the power button that something wasn't right.

According to the date, she'd been asleep for four days.