Late one night, in the snug atmosphere of a furnished garage, three young girls leaned forward in their chairs with interest as a brunette reached into a shiny glass tank and withdrew a wriggling betta. Outside, a storm raged.
An orange lantern illuminated the brunette's wicked features as she held the gasping fish up for us to see. The corners of her lips upturned. There was a satisfaction in her eyes at the creature's suffering. Although only ten years old, there was something truly evil about this girl. She was the type that got a special pleasure from seeing things blackened and burned.
Dangling helplessly by its silky tail fin pinched between her two fingers, the fish grew increasingly panicked. It's purple hue seemed to deepen in saturation as it struggled for oxygen. The girl wiggled it mockingly before us. It's mouth inflated and deflated erratically, sucking futily at the air. It's enormous eyes bulged as life slowly drained from the poor creature.
Silver droplets slipped seductively from the fish's writhing body in slow motion; landing onto the carpeted ground in a tiny dark puddle that seemed to grow around us. Suddenly, the focus was on me. The girls all leaned in toward me, their expressions impatient. My mind was blank. My gaze bounced from each expectant face as I struggled to recall my role in all of this. Outside, the storm grew angrier. Rain pounded against the roof tiles. It seemed obnoxious in the otherwise silence of the room. The girls waited. Panicked, I scanned the room for answers. Rows of bookshelves lined the east wall. Everything between children's books to thick, complex novels occupied the spaces inside. Glass figurines and shiny metal trinkets decorated the shelves. Aside from the bookshelves, there was nothing but a couple of lawn chairs and plain, white walls staring back at me with likely the same question in mind: What is this? The lantern threw ghastly shadows around the warmly tinted room. They danced across the walls with a mocking disposition. Nothing.
A shift in the atmosphere caught my attention. I noticed that the girls were no longer blinking. My vision swayed as they slowly began to merge together before my eyes. Artificially, the girls' shadows took on sinister shapes as they twisted and writhed in aggressive motions that didn't reflect the actual movements of the girls. The lively silhouettes mouthed silent cackles as they climbed the walls in unnervingly bizarre stances. The girls remained still. Something in my mind jolted then and I was suddenly unsure if any of this was real. Water dripped coldly from the now still betta and the dark puddle swelled, extending toward my sneakers. It stretched ominously across the length of the garage floor like an impending shadow, staining its beige carpet and seeping to the core of its structure with alarming speed. Soon it had engulfed the entire perimeter of the building. A flash of lightening shocked my senses as water began to rise around our ankles. The frozen image of the girls' expectant expressions snapped back to reality. Looking down, they shrieked and jumped to their feet. Thunder rattled the building with increasing ferocity. The girls' panicked chatter was hardly audible over the screams of the storm.~
I drifted. My eyes floated and swayed with the water. The chaos had grown muffled. Distant. Colors ran together and shapes sped across my vision. Everything was blurred. The light kept changing. It was happening fast. The adrenaline came in surges. I'd fall into a haze each time it released its hold. Then abruptly, it'd snap me back into a frenzied terror, as if I'd fallen asleep while driving. The building was practically crumbling around us. Things flew from shelves in what must've been some sort of hurricane. I was mildly aware of the water that laced my hips. My toes swiped through it futily as I searched for ground. Not a chance. I didn't dare test the depth of it. Sharp objects flew at me from all directions. Hitting me dead on.
..Yet I felt nothing. Things seemed to slow as this realization resonated within me. Opening my eyes, the faint image of the girls splashing helplessly in the water seemed much farther than I remembered. With one swift, decisive movement, I planted my feet firmly onto the dry, solid ground.
I wasn't a part of this anymore.
I could almost feel the earth stretching. Putting distance between me and the horrors of the flood. Instead, I watched as the nightmare played out. The girls were nearly submerged in water and clearly not good swimmers. The looks on their faces matched the confusion and disorientation I had felt only moments ago. They thrashed and screamed and snatched desperately at whatever objects floated past them. It was apparent they wouldn't make it.
A fogginess settled over me then. A calm. The last thing that I can recall is catching the brunette's eye as she scrambled to find some sort of flotation device. Her gaze burned right through me. Something in her expression told me that she knew I'd managed to escape. I didn't share her fate. Her evil eyes pleaded for help, as I may have been her last and solitary hope. Her eyes bulged as the water rose over her shoulders and a final crack of thunder snapped me out of my dream.
