Dark shadows

Prologue

She itched her skin madly as if she could physically etch the shame out of her body. Red irritated flesh glowed underneath her fast fingertips but she didn't heed her movements. Her brain barely registered the pain, all too consumed with guilt to properly feel or think.

Time was indiscriminate, it wasn't until the sensation of arms wrapping around her shoulders and the sound of sirens infiltrating her brain did she come to.

Someone helped her stand, rickety bones popping as her feet met the ground. Somewhere in her mind she could hear a loud gasp emit from beside her. Absentmindedly looking down she took in her ragged fingernails that were cut down to the nub, blood clinging to the tips-some of it not hers.

They tingled and popped as she wriggled them in front of her face. Her gaze traveled to her arm which was left bloody and raw, barely distinguishable underneath the heavy scratch lines and blood that now coated it. She wasn't fazed, only turning her attention back to the scene in front of her.

An EMT vehicle lay next to the curb in front of her, lights flashing and alert. A random woman stood beside her, eyes wide and panicked. She was a small lady with wide hips and an even wider nose. Her eyes were brown, the same color as her mousy hair and they were currently trained intensely on the pale girl who had been impulsively mutilating her arm only seconds ago.

The woman had been trying to question the young girl for the past 5 minutes, but to no avail, there was no response. Only blank stares that looked like they traveled miles from here. She was getting worried and couldn't figure out quite what to do, she had just been making her daily jog before work. She didn't expect to find herself in a situation like this at 4 in the morning.

Suddenly the girl shrugged the woman's arms from her figure, shocking her further. She sent the woman an empty smile, and although the women was in her direct line of sight, her penetrating gaze seemed to be trained elsewhere. Mewls of protest shot from both the woman and the EMT as the girl started walking away. But the young girl ignored them, continuing her trek.

She practically skipped away, an intense feeling of euphoria coursed through her veins. Even though it was night time, bright colors traced everywhere she went, the auras of every object in her sight glowed intensely, crooning to her small figure. Her eyes hungrily took in their powerful lights, the farther she went the more energy that seemed to follow her. Hues of baby blue and pinks accompanied every living and non-living object near her. Even with that though, the specific patch of light that came from the moon followed on her back like a spotlight, it warmed her body and sent vibrations through her skin. She could feel her skin pulsating with energy, her every cell, buckled and jumped within her. Her body was swarmed with a certain type of energy, it hummed gently underneath her skin, she was electro charged. It was the kind of feeling junkies only dreamed of having.

There was always a certain train of events after she did whatever it was she would do. First came the guilt. It was always the worst part, it was like a magnification of the worst feelings she had ever felt. It started with a mental prickle in her gut, then her mind would take her on its own little trip. It was always the same, she'd be somewhere dark and then suddenly she'd be falling down a dark abyss. Her heart would thrum and the worst kind of loneliness would sink in, and she would continue to fall as all sorts of feelings assaulted her the farther she went. Each type had a certain smell and taste, it infiltrated her brain until all she could see, feel, smell was pain and angst. Then a light would appear below her with the most promising scents and sounds, and right as she is about to reach it, her conscious would snap her back to reality. And as if her subconscious peeling her from the inside out wasn't bad enough, it came with a physical clause. She always left this stage with some sort of unexplainable injury. At first the guilt stage wasn't that bad it'd only last a couple minutes or so, and she could usually escape this phase with only a scratch or two. But lately the more times she fed the worse it had been getting. Last time she came too an hour and a half later with all her toes broken. Which she had assumed she did herself. This time she nearly clawed her arm off and she wasn't completely sure how much time had passed. Glancing down she looked at her battered arm that looked completely normal. The skin had already sealed over and looked as soft and smooth as ever. Even her nails that had broken in the process grew to their normal height and no longer contained a drop of blood.

Then came phase two, or the junkie phase as she liked to call it, which was the euphoric sensations that she was currently feeling right now. It was the energy finally coursing throughout her whole body. All her senses felt magnified, sights, sounds, smells. It almost made the first part of the process bearable, but by the time she made it to this part, anything bad had already escaped her mind. And as time went on, this too had begun to amplify. The first time was only like a slight tingle in her body with a faint awareness of everything around her. No colors, and she couldn't hear things miles away. But now, it seems her body had no limit to what it could do, or feel. At the moment, her body felt light and she was sure if she actually focused hard enough there was a chance she could fly. The energy from within her would travel to the world around her and make it buzz with a liveliness. Colors and feelings made her lose concept of her surroundings.

Then the last phase. She had no name for this one, because by the time she would think to make one, she'd forget it. The junkie phase would end as soon as she made it to her front door, and as soon as her head hit the pillow; she would forget, and wouldn't remember anything about the night until the next time she fed..