Madness

chapter 2~ absence

Something scratched against her cheek. It was sticky and felt odd against her skin. Elena brushed her cheek searching for the culprit. A dry yet silky substance clung on her fingers like a forlorn hope. Her mind still felt hazy like her skull had been stuffed with leaves and cobwebs and been carelessly thrown around. Something crept at the back of her mind as she clutched onto the duvet. This was not normal.

The broken black that appeared when her eyes were shut tightly were becoming a prison, almost taking over her sanity. Forcing her eyes open, she trembled when they remained shut. The fear was like a constant hammer on her or like a knife slowly being twisted in her gut, not enough to kill but enough to make you go insane.

Squeezing her eyes, she attempted to force them upon but Elena remained in the cracked reflection of black. Her eyes felt claggy and stiff like they had been glued shut. A sudden panic of disfigured questions battled her conscious as tremors climbed down Elena's back.

This must be a dream! This isn't real...it can't be. It's as if I'm going blind. Even with my eyes open all I see is a haze of black.

Rubbing her eyes, the frayed strings got caught on her hands. Elena froze. There were clumps of cobwebs entwined around her eyelashes and stuck to her eyelids. Cobwebs. The word was caught in her throat like dirt. The fear was as shapeless as the rain. It was as if a horror movie had come to life to watch Elena's sanity ebb away.

Sharp cries escaped her cracked lips. Vigorously, Elena rubbed at her charcoal eyes. Her mind was filled with tattered thoughts and a thicket of disturbed questions each one drumming against her mind, clueless. As a few strands of cobwebs pulled away Elena could make out a sliver of blurry colours and a watery light.

After a few minutes of prying of the cobwebs, Elena forced her eyes open. Her lashes remained stuck for a moment before they snatched away from the clasp. The trapped feeling washed away leaving only a faded mark. The binding darkness was gone. As she focused on the inky shapes and dewy light, Elena rose her trembling hand with dread.

Her eyes flickered in fear as Elena battled with her senses. As she opened her balled fists Elena carefully studied the webs. It was thicker than usual webs, each thread was a dull white and the stickiness clung to centuries of dust. They had taken the repulsiveness of dirty lace and clung onto Elena in an unsettling way. It scared her. It was like the cobweb had taken a strange life like that of a shadow.

The dreariness only thickened as Elena watched a single spider scurry across the ceiling and into a shadowed corner.

That day passed slowly like a heave of a dying man. The dragged ticking of the grandfather clock didn't help. Elena's mind was in a crumpled state as she wearily went about her day. Every few moments or so a darkness would flutter over her in an agitated way. She would blink several times and it would then fade like figments of dream.

She had taken a day of work for each time Elena caught a webbed corner the memory would jolt into motion. Tremors had taken over her body and her limp hair did nothing to hide her sickly, parchment coloured skin or her wide eyes which refused to remain unnerved and unmoving.

Chewing on the old pieces of chocolate cake, Elena switched on the television letting layers of dust scratch against her hand. Television didn't interest her so much so that it had become one of the useless décor pieces her mother loved collecting. The empty voices that merged from the TV filled the empty presence which was carving itself on her rough walls. Elena hated it. It as in the strange, shadowed presence that had suddenly appeared like an unexpected nightmare.

Creak. Elena peered around the living room for the cause. It had reminded of the sound that the rickety steps made underneath her weight. She tensed up.

That's strange, really strange. Why is this house suddenly a broken nightmare? Why is this happening to me? No one is there! So why are you so paranoid. Am I getting sick in the head? That was the worst sort of illness, the one where doctors drill holes in my head...

Elena shook her head not wanting to pursue the thought. An ache took over mind, a shaky discomfort. After a trail of half eaten thoughts Elena decided to stop thinking about it. If no one were to ever know and if she were to pretend that it never happened it would all disappear like it had just been a dream. At least that's what she managed to convince her desperate mind.

I just need to escape so that it seems like it never happened  Elena thought to herself as she peered around the room.

Quickly grabbing a thick, copper coloured coat and a red umbrella Elena stumbled into the morbid England roads. The gentle crinkle of the advancing rain rang in her ears as she plodded down the cobbled, grey roads lined with slivers of puddles. She felt her socks grow damp so she promised herself a mug of hot chocolate when she went back home. A leafiness crawled down her throat. What if she didn't want to go home?

Sighing, Elena studied the sky which was mainly clouded with a deep steel colour with breaks of an even draughtier grey. The trees bowed awkwardly, her black hair was caught in the drunken confusion and spirals of leaves weaved through the sky as a bleak wind followed closely behind.

After a stretched flurry of grey, loose twigs and misshapen thoughts Elena found herself approaching an unfamiliar place. The sign was had aged with centuries of weathering and partially hidden in moss. It seemed forgotten or lost and the words were faded but there. Whoville Graveyard.

Elena paused. A whirlwind of unkempt thoughts rushed through her mind all at once leaving her mind empty and vague. Why here? Out of all places! How did I end up here? This place is old and no one goes here anymore. No one really remember this place exists and I can't even remember coming here.

Carefully tracing over her steps, Elena found her mind broken with twisted greys and shells of rain. Her memory was foggy and clouded with faded rustles and the occasional snapping of a loose twig. Elena's mind performed an odd twist as the realisation crept in. Her memory of arriving here was a cracked sound and a small, watery blur. Furrowing her eyebrows, a chilling fear swallowed her conscience. She couldn't explain the feeling nor the ache in her head.

As if slipping in and out of breaks of sanity, Elena focused on her inky surroundings. The fence was rotting and barely did anything against the rough wind as the gate lazily swungback and forth. Thick brambles, weeds and the random mushroom grew in little tufts on the wearied paths. The paths slivered around the uneven lines of weathered, crumbling gravestones which were barely peaking beneath the clumps of dead trees and overgrown bushes. A thick rustling of damp leaves, the occasional creak and odd footstep echoed throughout the yard. An unsettling presence hung in the air like the presence of several unknown corpses.

To Elena it eerily resembled the chilling feeling that hung in her own home. After a distilled dreariness, a few words echoed through the yard creating newly found fears. Her heart stopped.

"Here in the forest dark and deep, I offer you eternal sleep."