Comatose

Living Dead Girl

Chapter 15

Ten stabs were what Angelica had remembered counting before the world went black that night. Ten stab wounds were what she concentrated on now hoping once the tenth one fell; she would be released from her nightmarish memory. Ten stabs were not where it ended however as she had initially thought. Her consciousness did dim on the tenth, but she had not actually passed out. Instead she found that she could still see even if her sight was greying around the edges. The pain was now a steady burn all over her battered body. She could no longer tell what was knife inflicted and what wasn't.

Angelica watched as he pulled the blade from her body again. Instead of brandishing it against her, he laid it on the pavement beside them. His head bobbled from side to side much like Cooper's did when she said something he was trying to understand. She watched his odd behavior with half lidded eyes wondering if he had snapped or if he was trying to understand why he had just attacked her. Before long he was lunging forward. His hands slapped to the pavement splashing blood over both of them as he caught himself. He was a hairs breath away from her face touching the tip of her nose with the tip of his. He held himself there not moving at all and still she couldn't make out his features. He slowly ran the tip of his nose down the bridge of hers stopping only to place a chaste kiss upon her brow. Angelica shuddered inwardly at the act as her body that night was too weak to move at this point. He moved his face down gliding his skin against hers until he came to her swollen damage cheek. The stubble along his strong jawline scraped along her injury as he rubbed against her like a cat scent marking her. Pulling back slowly he let out a deep breath laced with a hint of black licorice.

Leaning down lightly his breath heated her ear once again. Angelica was repulsed by his nearness. She could hear his ragged breath shudder every time he exhaled. She was forced against the pavement harder as his upper body pressed down onto hers. He was too close, and she was becoming claustrophobic. She was having a hard enough time forcing air into her burning lungs without him adding the extra pressure to her chest. Taking a deep breath, he held it a moment before letting it out in a sigh that stirred the hairs that weren't plastered to her head with crusting blood.

"It's almost over now. I'm going to set you free like the others. He'll never find you again." His voice was but a whisper as he spoke to her. The manic quality all but gone from his tone now. There was a resolution to his words, and a tenderness that had been lacking before. He was hard to hear over the pounding of her heart in her ears. She thought she could identify his voice, but it was too hard to tell without being able to hear it better. She wished he would speak louder. If he would Angelica knew she would be able to recognize it.

The sudden turn of his personality scared her more then when he had been hacking away at her. She knew what was coming before but now she no longer knew what to expect. If only she had remembered this part of the night. She felt his body weight shift as he lifted the arm opposite the side he was leaning on. She felt it caress past her shoulder as his gloved fingers tickled along her bare skin. She could feel the cool of the wet leather covering his digits as they grazed her collarbone. Moving upwards the seams of the fingers scratched the tender flesh of her neck. He lovingly cupped her jaw pressing her face to his in a poor semblance of a hug. He held her there a moment before releasing her head. The heat of his hand disappeared from her face only to reassert itself on her throat. His hand spanned nearly the entire length of the column of her neck. His fingers and thumb placed on the sides with his palm resting gently on the front. His fingers lifted lightly one at a time as if he were tapping his finger upon a table. Soon enough they stilled while pressure was applied. His grip was inadequate at first before becoming more like a vise. Angelica gasped for breath as he squeezed harder and harder. Leaning back up he placed all of his body weight onto his hand aiding him in chocking her. His other hand lifted to lay against her ruined cheek, caressing with his thumb in what should have been a soothing gesture. Angelica stared up into the dark depths of her faceless killer as he snuffed the life from her.

His hand squeezed harder still as his head turned to the end of the parking lot. His other hand moved down to join the first one now to increase the compression all the while his head kept looking from her to the edge of the parking lot. With a growl of dissatisfaction, he released her picking his knife up and standing. He took a minute to study his work before running back into the night. Angelica lay gasping and chocking for breath as she watched his figure bleed back into the shadows and disappear. Her blinks were coming slower as she tried to force herself to stay awake terrified, he would come back. Her body wouldn't listen to her commands as the time between blinks became longer. Instead of watching the scene around her in a smooth motion everything became jerky. It was as if she was fast forwarding life and stopping on seconds before everything went dark yet again. Over and over she watched different people leaning over into her view. She couldn't look away from where her attacker disappeared to. She feared he would come back. She knew it wouldn't happen. That she had been found at this point and the ambulance was called. The scene shifted and jerked. Time jumped ahead and still she couldn't remove her gaze any time her eyes were open. The red lights of the ambulance ran along the walls of the buildings around the parking lot, casting the shadows back. She thought she saw movement against the furthest building, but she just couldn't be sure. It was becoming harder to breath as the swelling in her throat continued due to the damage. She gasped and she sputtered but still she watched.

"Clear!" She could hear the words shouted out followed by a blazing light that erased the scene before her in a bright light. When the light pulled away as fast as it had come the scene reinserted itself just as she had seen it. Again the word came followed by the blinding light before once again leaving her. She had no idea what was happening now, but something felt wrong. Over and over the word and light came until eventually she was ripped violently from the memory.

Angelica lay in the white world watching the fog drift around her. She lay there disoriented waiting for something to happen. She wasn't sure what exactly. She never moved a muscle as she lay getting her bearings. Gathering her thoughts, she processed what she had experienced.

"That was close. Maybe we should have waited a little longer before trying that. You almost died." Her subconscious stated startling a scream out of her when her head shot into view. Angelica jerked up into a sitting position glaring at the woman.

"Of course, I almost died that night, but we know I didn't." Angelica pointed out angerly. Her doppelganger shook her head looking at her seriously.

"I mean just a moment ago. They had to shock you to get your heart started again. What the heck happened in there?" Angelica's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. She had almost died from reliving the memory.

"I don't know." She whispered completely shaken up.

"What do you mean you don't know. You were in there weren't you?"

"Aren't you my subconscious? Shouldn't you already know?" The woman shook her head looking at Angelica with fear.

"I would normally, but something was different from the minute you walked into the darkness." Angelica gasped as her eyes looked around frantically for the black mass. She breathed out a sigh of relief when it was nowhere in sight.

"I don't know what happened. All the other memories I watched them play out, but this time I was a part of the memory. I relived it all over again."

"That shouldn't have been possible. You must still be attached to the memory. You're going to have to detach yourself from what you experienced that night before trying that again." Angelica looked at her in curiosity thinking over her words.

"I'm in no hurry to go back into that place believe me." Her doppelganger sighed in defeat glancing at Angelica through her lashes.

"You won't really have a choice. That dark space is where all your worst memories are stored. It's not just the night you were attacked. Maybe if I follow you in next time, I can help guide you to where you need to go." Angelica shook her head in denial not wanting anything to do with that place ever again.

"I can't see a reason why I would need to go back in there other than to see that night again."

"Where do you think some of your memories of Kevin are at?" Angelica's eyes widened at the realization. It felt like a stone just sank to the pit of her stomach as she comprehended the fact, she would be visiting the darkness again soon.