A Brown-Eyed Girl

Chapter Seven (II)

Recap: Kelsey decided to undergo training as a Elemenris after particularly disturbing 'dream' involving her deceased father. She was waiting at home for Peter, thinking about how little she really knew about what was going on, hoping he would have answers, when something burnt down her back door and burst into her house. Peter is on the way, worried thanks to a vague premonition, but it was uncertain whethere he would be in time. 

Chapter Seven (Part 2)

The person, the thing, strolled almost casually into her kitchen. In a way, that was more menacing than anything else. If it had lumbered or staggered, it would have still seemed dangerous but also slow and possibly stupid. Strolling, as if it was taking it’s time, it exuded a chilling confidence, a knowledge of personal strength and ability.

The measured pace was the only thing remotely blasé or suave about her new houseguest. Menacing was an infinitely better description.

It was over six feet tall, humanoid in shape, but with blackened thick, skin spilt by vibrant red veins, like the crevices of molten lava in a volcano. The Thing had no nose or visible ears, just a cruel slash of a mouth and large, fiery eyes. 

It left behind a trail of scorched footprints as it advanced on her. The blackened imprints flickered into flames, the same unnatural black and red that had consumed her doorway, moments after their creation, giving an impression of something invisible following after the Thing.The flames were only a few inches in height but slowly creeping outward, spreading across the tile of her kitchen.  

            The Thingopened its mouth, revealing a charred maw devoid of any teeth and a tongue that was split in three, like a pronged trident. The ends even looked barbed.

            "Elemenris," it lisped, "long has She waited for you to reveal yourself."

            Its measured pace continued, one delayed-flaming-step at a time.

            Kelsey didn't know she was backing away, lost to horror, until she tripped over the loose metal strip that was supposed to be the doorjamb connecting the kitchen and living room. Her heel caught, and she went down hard. The impact jarred her back to reality.

            Almost.                                

            Instead of blankness, her mind fell into the spin cycle she had recently become so familiar with.

            Was this reality? Or had she managed to fall asleep near dirt after all? Maybe Duc-Taping herself to the couch hadn't been such a far-fetched idea after all. And she had thought Peter was being a smart-ass.

            The Thing took another step forward, bringing itself level with her fridge.

How could she had even Transplanted in the first place - the dirt in the planter? No, she had moved that from its normal spot at the head of the couch because she had a vision of her hand somehow falling into it while she slept and then snapping back to reality to Peter’s hand on her shoulder, a gloating expression on his face. She had moved it all the way across the room, sandwiching it between the entertainment center and the kitchen doorway.

            Kelsey’s head whipped to the side. The planter!

            The Thing loomed over her, heat radiating off it stronger than any furnace, till her skin should have been scorched as badly as her kitchen floor. Itleaned forward, one black-encrusted hand reaching for her. Kelsey flung herself to the left, rolling away. In case of fire, 'Stop, Drop, and Roll,' she thought and bit back hysterical laughter.