Dark, very dark
Oct. 12th, 2003 11:29 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
suaine.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ds_flashfictionRemember that story with the movies? You all liked Lizzy so much and wanted more of her. Remember that veiled reference to nightmares and her real parents? Lizzy remembers. She said this needs to be told, or else she'll never get over it. Lizzy also went through a lot of counseling after the events in this fic...
Darkness
by Suaine
There is a small crack in the wall, just three inches off the ground. Her fingers find the spot easily on the otherwise smooth tiled wall. The crack smells rotten, like something died just beyond the wall, but it's also wet with a slow trickle of water and her only chance to survive.
They've left her here for days, she knows they aren't coming back. They rushed her from behind and put a bag over her head, blacking out her entire world. Sometimes she thinks the bag is still there and all she had to do was take it off. She claws at her face then, scratches until she feels the skin rip and tear beneath her fingers. The pain only registers much later, when the darkness takes the shadows and swallows them up.
Deep down she knows there aren't any shadows, there can't be shadows without a little bit of light. But the darkness moves. It doesn't leave much margin for rational thought.
Telling the time is impossible with no light and no sound but her own voice, her own naked feet slapping the cold floor. She's fallen asleep, bone-deep exhausted, maybe four or five times, only to wake up to the real nightmare. It's hard to tell whether she's awake or still dreaming.
The hunger stopped long ago, hours or days, she can't possibly tell. She doesn't dare to leave the wall with that trickle of water. Her whole reality is magnified to this point in space, just a bit of floor, a wall, and the echoes of her cries. She's terrified to leave this place and lose the last bit of sanity.
Someone will come, someone will save her. She believes that because her Mommy and Daddy love her very much. They will come and save her. They will come.
She starts talking to herself, making up different people who are here with her, protecting her from the darkness. As long as there are other people everything is going to be all right. She'll be rescued and this thing will be just another nightmare. The police will come, with their blue uniforms and funny hats, and they will bring light again, light and sound.
When they finally come the light hurts and the sounds grate on her ears like nothing she ever felt before. She wants Mommy and Daddy, but they are not there, just a man in a funny red uniform. The other man stands back when the man in red tells her that her parents have gone to heaven and she can't see them right now. The other man looks at her with tears in his eyes and that's when she stops speaking.
There aren't any people here, these are just more nightmares. Her imagination brought them all here, the funny man in red, the spiky-haired blond with the sad eyes and the nice Italian woman. The dog too. If she stops talking to them, they will go away, and her parents can come rescue her.
They will come. Because they love her.
This is part of Lizzy's bigger, lighter story I'm working on. Don't worry, we all already know how it ends.
Darkness
by Suaine
There is a small crack in the wall, just three inches off the ground. Her fingers find the spot easily on the otherwise smooth tiled wall. The crack smells rotten, like something died just beyond the wall, but it's also wet with a slow trickle of water and her only chance to survive.
They've left her here for days, she knows they aren't coming back. They rushed her from behind and put a bag over her head, blacking out her entire world. Sometimes she thinks the bag is still there and all she had to do was take it off. She claws at her face then, scratches until she feels the skin rip and tear beneath her fingers. The pain only registers much later, when the darkness takes the shadows and swallows them up.
Deep down she knows there aren't any shadows, there can't be shadows without a little bit of light. But the darkness moves. It doesn't leave much margin for rational thought.
Telling the time is impossible with no light and no sound but her own voice, her own naked feet slapping the cold floor. She's fallen asleep, bone-deep exhausted, maybe four or five times, only to wake up to the real nightmare. It's hard to tell whether she's awake or still dreaming.
The hunger stopped long ago, hours or days, she can't possibly tell. She doesn't dare to leave the wall with that trickle of water. Her whole reality is magnified to this point in space, just a bit of floor, a wall, and the echoes of her cries. She's terrified to leave this place and lose the last bit of sanity.
Someone will come, someone will save her. She believes that because her Mommy and Daddy love her very much. They will come and save her. They will come.
She starts talking to herself, making up different people who are here with her, protecting her from the darkness. As long as there are other people everything is going to be all right. She'll be rescued and this thing will be just another nightmare. The police will come, with their blue uniforms and funny hats, and they will bring light again, light and sound.
When they finally come the light hurts and the sounds grate on her ears like nothing she ever felt before. She wants Mommy and Daddy, but they are not there, just a man in a funny red uniform. The other man stands back when the man in red tells her that her parents have gone to heaven and she can't see them right now. The other man looks at her with tears in his eyes and that's when she stops speaking.
There aren't any people here, these are just more nightmares. Her imagination brought them all here, the funny man in red, the spiky-haired blond with the sad eyes and the nice Italian woman. The dog too. If she stops talking to them, they will go away, and her parents can come rescue her.
They will come. Because they love her.
This is part of Lizzy's bigger, lighter story I'm working on. Don't worry, we all already know how it ends.
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no subject
Date: 2003-10-12 01:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-12 02:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-12 03:08 pm (UTC)When I was Lizzy's age I was terrified of the dark. We depend so much on our eyes that, when they are useless, we feel completely alone in the world. I often tried to imagine what it would feel like to be so entirely alone and that's what Lizzy is going through.
I'm a bit confused though (or perhaps just dense). When she refers to her 'real Mommy and Daddy', are these the same people who locked her away like this and she's just idealizing them (as abused children tend to do), or was she kidnapped and her parents killed? Either way the story still makes perfect sense, but I need to uncross my wires*g*
She was kidnapped and her parents are dead. It's all a very disgusting mess that has to do with family feuds, mob bosses and someone making a terrible mistake. It's only mentioned in passing here but will be part of the big story.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-13 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-13 05:16 pm (UTC)