Madness

chapter 6- darkness follows

*I added to the last chapter on the 23/10/17 so I'd suggest reading from the asterisks from the last chapter. Edward has been changed to Frank and Kathryn is now their Father. So instead of the subtle hints at Kathryn they will be changed to Father.*

"Mum!" Elena croaked. Swallowing, she found her throat dry like ash. "I'm scared. Mummy, I feel like I'm dying. I don't want to die..." She trailed of, helplessly. 

Dry, racking sobs escaped her throat like thorns. Watery streaks stained her freckled, blotchy face. Distraught was evident in her face. Why can no one hear me? As quickly as possible, Elena rose from her bed. Something in between melancholy and distress pressed against her leaving her shuddery and frigid.

"Mummy!" She ran out of the room, helplessly shrill.  The very childness in her quaking voice only made it seem strange and more fearful. Somehow, there was nothing more pitiful then a weeping adult.

Elena felt like she had been torn apart and stitched back together, half-heartedly. Soulless. Stitched within her mind instead of stuffing was a hollowness she could not describe. Nothing felt real anymore. Every bit of her way made up of the twisted type of wrong. The sort of wrong which could be found in a murder's mind.

"Frank! Mum!" She rasped as she hurried into her mother's large, cluttered bedroom. 

Beneath the heaving darkness, Elena could make out her mother's peaking silhouette and tired black hair. Something wasn't right. Perhaps it was the way her mother's unmoving silhouette made her chest tighten, or the way it seemed to rob her senses, or the way the undiluted fear misted her eyes. 

"Mummy?" She squeaked. She wasn't sure if her word had any meaning as it fell flat and ignored.

A hardly inaudible whisper edged across the cream, dusted walls. A dark whining clattered around the room leaving Elena in disorientated fear and confusion. The first thing to shift was her mother's face. Her beautiful, glossy brown eyes were now speckled with a depth of ink, pain and lack of life. In the intense stillness, Elena's entire body seemed to scream. It tore through her like a shard of glass. Was that her mother? That couldn't possibly be. 

There was no other way to describe the monster but a complete absence of light. It wasn't just an overbearing black or shadow growing physicality. It was nothing at all. It casted no shadow, it gave no reflection in the mirror behind it but made an unruly, twisted sound as if in distress. Something in between pain and disbelief left Elena ashen. 

Is that mum? What happened to her? It's all my fault! Her insides were a mess, a chaotic mess of disorded thoughts and feelings. Why did I come here?

The creature advanced on her. She screamed like a whining trumpet. Breathing hard, Elena still somehow felt like there was no air in her lungs. Giving a wordless wail of terror, Elena threw herself forward and stumbled out of the darkness and into the whickering light of the hallway. The movement behind her was indistinct and shapeless as the rain. It made no sound, yet she could almost feel the creature shift like her own shadow. 

As soon as Elena hurried into the light of the hallway the scrapping and groaning died instantly. Halting, Elena held her breathe. 

"Elena, why are you running away from me," her mother's voice bobbed as she swallowed. Her words were so gentle that it fell aimlessly onto the floor. 

"Mummy,"she quivered, her voice creeping. She wanted to trust the voice but at the same time she couldn't. The hum her fragile, broken words had left stirred the stillness.