Evanescence: Fading From Deception

Chapter One: Dreamer

The knot in my stomach makes me gag. Fear. That's what it is. If only it would leave as vomit does, but instead, fear is a much more bitter and baleful sickness. 

My throat is cold, parched, and dry. A mere swallow of spit would cut a fresh wound in my vocal cords. My legs shake and feet struggle to step forward to face the blood colored doors that stand before me double my height. There is no building housing these doors. They stand alone on the edge of this cliff in the soft blowing wind under a gray clouded forecast, and sprinkling rain. How I wish to turn back. Though that thought is comforting and sounds simple, the emerging darkness from the black forest behind me persuades otherwise. 

The vast, red doors open and a blinding, white light pours onto the whispering grass. My feet begin to step forward without permission. I walk into its darkness wishing to run away, but my body has given remote access to some unknown force. The doors begin to close behind me with a long, ear scratching squeak. It slams. My eyes struggle to see through blurred focus. Soft, piano music slowly resounds in my ear canal playing with such elegance that I no longer feel afraid. My vision stabilizes.

I stop and glance around a comforting lobby. There's red carpeting, golden chandeliers hanging high above me suspended from cream-colored marble, a beautiful gray fountain of child angels with small wings holding buckets of overflowing water, walls covered with self portraits and murals of heaven and earth like some cathedral, and a golden railed staircase leading to a second floor. This is all too astonishing, but oddly, it's all familiar. The fear returns tickling goosebumps across my pale skin. Where am I?

"Tag! You're it!" says a blonde-haired, blue-eyed little girl. Her sudden arrival practically makes me jump out of my skin, but I surprise myself with a smile from seeing such an innocent face. Beautiful is more accurate.

I can't help but find myself running after her and to my surprise, she's fast. We run from room to room on the lobby level and then up the golden-railed staircase to the second floor. Her giggles echoes above the playing piano music which makes me question who else is here. I stop running and continue to listen to the music, trying to find the sound. 

"Evan," the little girl calls out to me. How does she know my name? I don't recognize her from any friend -- or foe. She smiles, but then my happiness is interrupted. The monstrous teeth in her mouth are thickly populated with pure white fangs, two in which were much large and longer than the other smaller hundreds. Again...my feet disobey my orders.

She leads us to a shadowed dining room which house a table with a group of four unwelcoming faces. One of them stand at the head of the table. His black and gray hair is sleek and gelled over his sharp tuxedo and black bow tie. I look into his eyes and wish I hadn't. The ruby red around his pupils are piercing to my comfort zone. This wasn't some irritation in his eyes. The ruby red doesn't touch the white and was very much rich in color like it is natural.

Sitting next to him is a woman with blonde and black short-hair smiling weakly in the corner of her thin lips. She bows her head a respectful gesture. On the opposite side of her, is a man with long, jet black hair who smirks and tilts his head to the side examining me. And next to him, a young boy, with mid-length black hair covering much of his face except that one eye that stares into mine with fire. They all turn to the man in the suit awaiting his next move or gesture.

"Be polite," says the bleached skin pale man in the tuxedo as his eyebrows frown, "why don't you have a seat?"

"Well I --" I begin to say, but a chair pushes beneath me in which I have joined them at the table to a sit before I can decide to accept his invitation. They stare at me. I hate attention. It makes me uncomfortable and want to explode in anger. The man's expression softens a bit and forms a smile. The blonde-haired little girl next to me lets out a giggle.