Never Again

8

~Enjoy ❤️
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Present

Lynlee tossed and turned in her sleep. A cold sweat settled on her temple and she whimpered in fear.

Something as dark as a nightmare was taking place in her mind, but seemed worse than anything she had ever imagined.

Everything was dark- she could see nothing, hear nothing, except her heartbeat. The ground underneath her felt uneven, and rough. Something in front of her was shifting, knocking over rocks and scuttling closed towards her.

"H-hello?" Lynlee whispered. She tried to calm herself down, but it wasn't working. The scuttling grew louder and louder, until she felt something brush against her leg.

A yelp escaped her mouth, and she jumped in surprise. From beside her, a being with glowing blue eyes stared at her, watching in silence.

"W-what are you-u?" She stuttered. The being was made completely of metal, and was small enough to fit in her hands.

Without warning, the creature opened its mouth, letting out a hideous, raspy breath that almost sounded like laughing, and then it's teeth began to shift and change.

It lunged at her, biting through her skin and eating away at her flesh. A scream tore out of Lynlee's throat, and she shook her arm in attempt to get it off. Something pushed her, and suddenly she was in the air, then falling down.

Almost like a chainsaw, buzzing and making an unrecognizable noise, the little creature had almost completely done away with her arm before she hit the ground hard.

Suddenly, she wasn't in her body anymore, but was staring down at a giant metal being- all purple, with white streaks, thrashing and trying to escape a pit filled with the little creatures. They ate away at the metal on its arms and legs, devouring even the eyes and leaving nothing behind.

Lynlee whimpered and cried out as the pain in her body continued, almost as if she was feeling the pain of the metal robot in the pit. And then, almost out of nowhere, another creature was in the pit.

But this one she recognized.

The robot she had seen before- the one with the visor- thrashed and attempted to escape the pit while the little creatures at him alive. He glanced up, shaking his head back and forth before raising the visor and letting out a scream. Only, Lynlee couldn't hear it.

All she could see was that metal face that had originally been hidden before she woke up with a start, crying and shaking in her bed.

Placing a hand to her forehead, she took in a shaky breath and immediately grasped her necklace. Why, she wasn't sure. It somehow brought a comfort she had never felt before. It flowed green beneath her shirt, pulsing almost at the same time as her rapidly increasing heartbeat.

"What was that?" She asked herself.

What a strange nightmare. Why did it have that robot in it? What were those creatures, and how could they devour something so quickly? Shuddering at the last thought, Lynlee hugged herself close and sat in the silence. The necklace kept glowing.

Lynlee wondered what it was. Could it be alien, like the robot she saw? Maybe the two were linked together. After all, she had discovered the robot at the same place her mother had discovered the rock. Strange.

But then, the necklace did something stranger. Still pulsing and glowing, right at the thought of her mother, it sprang up from beneath her shirt and shot forward. With a cry of alarm Lynlee reached out and grasped it between her palms. It was warm, and the moment she touched it, it was like she was touching another living being.

With a gasp she dropped it. It still pulled and tugged at her neck. Dread filled her stomach as she stared at her bedroom door, right where the crystal was pointing. She could hear the sound of the television from downstairs. Mrs. King always had the TV on, since there was really nothing else she could possibly do during the day. But at night, she always made sure to shut it off, or ask her daughter to do it for her.

Lynlee placed her feet against the cool hardware flooring and quietly made her way towards her bedroom door. As she neared it, the crystal tugged so hard she wondered if it would break the leather strap tied around it.

She followed the hallway all the way towards the staircase, following the sound of pre-recorded laughing from some kind of talk show. The stairs gave a limited view of the livingroom. From the to of the stairs, Lynlee could spot the TV and single chair next the the fireplace. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs, the crystal pointed straight to her left, towards the couch, before dropping. No more glowing, no more pulling and tugging.

Lynlee gave the thing a confused glance before taking a deep breath and glancing towards the back of the couch, where her mother was laying. "Mom?"

No answer. Lynlee walked towards the arm of the couch, where the remote sat so she could turn the TV off. All of the noise stopped as soon as she pressed the red button. Then she sighed, pushing her hair out of her face and glancing down at her mother.

Her heart dropped.

"Mom?" Lynlee placed a hand to her mothers forehead, but stopped herself and instead placed to fingers against her wrist to find a pulse. A whimper escaped her lips when she couldn't find one. "Mommy? Come on, mom, wake up. Please? MOM!"

Her mother was staring up at the ceiling, eyes empty and without life. Her hands were tucked under the blanket she was wrapped in, and a small, tired smile was plastered onto her face. Lynlee's shoulders shook as sobs tore throughout her body.

She had known this was coming, but never expected it to feel like this. The one person who ad always cared for her- who fed, clothed, and gave her a home- was dead. Lynlee's one and only friend, who held her at night during thunderstorms, played dress up with her, and then protected her from the monster that tried to kill the both of them... she was gone. It was like her heart had just been shattered into a million pieces, and then scattered across the sky like those beautiful stars she always dreamed about.

Lynlee reached down and hugged her mother, tears falling past her eyelashes and down her face like a stream as she rambled off apologies.

And that's where she stayed for the rest of the night.