Night Terrors

2

Ivy

My eyes heavy, my lids flick open. The room is blurry.

I notice a stinging sensation at the back of my skull and a ringing in my ears like that of a power generator. The buzzing won't stop, and it fills my head.

The fuzzy figure of Andie sits to my right, and I can hazily make out her dull expression.

"Andie?" I whisper, struggling to sit up. I fall back to the ground with a thud, my muscles tingly and stiff.

She continues to stare at the wall in front of her, not even turning to look at me.

"Andie. What happened?" I ask again, bitterness filling my tone.

Her head snaps to the side in a quick jerk, her blank expression still there.

"Andie, you've had too much to drink," I complain, reaching for the cool metal flask in her lap.

My arm shakes as I reach for it, pain exploding in my side and in the base of my neck. The stinging I felt earlier gets even more intense.

Fingers grasping the sides of her canteen, I began to pull it towards me.

Her hand flicks to mine, fingers coiled around my wrist. Her grip is like it's made of steel.

"Andie what the hell?!" I scream, struggling to yank my hand from her's. Pain fires through my back, my neck, and my head, and I scream even louder.

Her face comes into focus, and I recoil in horror.

Her eyes are completely black, with dim white highlights where the pupils should be. Dark, crimson liquid spills from her eyelids, coating her cheeks in scarlet streaks.

Her mouth is drawn to the sides of her face, her skin rotting and collapsing in on itself to create a horrid, gruesome smile that stretches from ear to ear.

A raw human instinct takes over my body.

That thing is not human.

It is not Andie.

I have to leave.

I have to escape.

I have to survive.

I thrash against its grip, kicking at it with my feet. It does nothing to repel it, my hits only leaving strange dents in its body.

It's hand reaches up and grabs my jaw, yanking me closer to its face. I'm forced to stare into its soulless eyes as it's fingers press into the soft tissue on my neck.

With a sudden jerk, it throws my neck to the side, letting out a loud crack.

My head erupts in a fit of fire, pain exploding throughout my entire skull. I scream, the pounding resuming against the side of my head.

Tears fall down my cheeks and it reaches for the flask, prying my motionless fingers from the metal. It uncaps the bottle, lifting it above my forehead.

The lifeless fingers throw up my jaw, forcing me to look upwards. I don't have the strength, nor the energy to close my mouth. It hangs from loose hinges as I stare into the lights hanging above me.

It tilts the bottle, letting a waterfall of alcohol fall down my throat. The flask seems to be infinite, and it never seems to run out. I gag as it clogs my throat, my screams for help becoming gargled and unclear.

The gin fills my nostrils, the sharp smell flooding my senses. I choke as I run out of oxygen, swallowing huge amounts of the alcohol as I gulp for air that I cannot get.

My head begins to feel lightheaded, and the rims of my vision go dark.

The rest of the world is over placed by black, the buzzing in the back of my mind getting louder and louder.

And then, once again, there is nothing.

No sight. No vision. No pain.

The only thing left was the fast beat of my heart, rapping at my chest.

Even that fades away.

And just like before, I am left with nothing.