Post by Morgan Payne on Sept 5, 2021 21:27:07 GMT -8
Call Of
The Great Dreamer
Pt 3: Awaken
She was running again. Every dream, she was running, running, running. Running along this same path as she heard the cry for help. It was the same dream every night since she remembered dreaming of her arrival here. After that, it had just been running. More running. The voice continued to cry out to her. She ran and ran and ran, faster and faster down that elevated path. As fast and hard as she could. It was definitely coming from up ahead. The voice of Danielle Deballion was pinpointed somewhere at the end of the pathway she was, somehow, able to run along despite being submerged beneath the sea at what should have surely been a crushing depth. Yet, somehow, she was able to withstand it. She was able to adapt and overcome the monumental challenge that lied before her. As long as she was able to breathe, as long as she was able to move, she’d follow that calling. She’d follow that voice. She’d follow the cry for help from her friend of whom she still didn’t know how she got down here in the first place.
“Help me, please!”
“Danni, I’m coming! Hold on!”
She finally spoke. She’d spoken before down there but not as brazenly and adamantly as she was doing so now. She heard her voice carry out through the watery depths like an echo. None of it made sense given the obvious circumstances. She didn’t care right now. She needed to reach Danni. She needed to find Danni and help her, however she needed. What kind of trouble was she in? Was she trapped? Was she hurt? How scared was she? What the hell was Danni even doing in this ruined city? And why was it that she, of all people, was feeling the pull to answer her call? Her cry for help. Something to ponder on later, perhaps, she thought as she tore down that walkway in a full on sprint. It was a moment later, as she kept running, that she finally saw something up ahead. It had to be at the end of the path, which looked like it led into a massive building. She thought it was a building, at least, the way it towered up above. There was something on the path itself, however, in front of the structure. No. Not something. Someone. Danni! She recognized her as clear as day by her colorfully dyed hair. Danni stood out in the dark surroundings in a pristine white gown. Literally, she just stood there. Unbound. Unrestricted. She didn’t seem to be in any sort of physical distress. Only the tears streaming down her face said as to how scared she was. Scared of what? Morgan didn’t know. She slowed down to a stop when she realized Danni wasn’t in any sort of physical pain. She panted a bit, to catch her breath. It was suddenly a little harder to breathe. She’d even dare say her chest was starting to feel a little tight. She shook it off.
“Danni. You a’ight? What…? What’re ya doin’ dahn here?”
She watched Danni, expecting an answer. She took a long, deep breath to try and get some oxygen. What the hell was going on, now? Why was breathing suddenly so difficult? Danni looked upon her, tears running down her porcelain cheeks and shook her head.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Morgan. Please, help me.”
She tried to respond to Danni but the tightening in her chest grew stronger. She pressed a hand to her sternum, gasping for air. It was a crippling pain that brought her down to her knees and she looked up at Danni, confused, just in time to see her begin to slide backwards on her feet, away from her. Danni looked around, panicking, beginning to stammer before she let out a blood curdling scream and vanished right before her eyes into the darkness.
“Danni, wait!”
The words had to be forced out as much as she could muster as she tried to reach for the woman. Little good it did her as she fell forward and caught herself on her hands. The pain in her chest grew worse as she looked up ahead of her when she heard the rumble. What the hell was going on now? The structure in front of her was moving. The building.
No….
No. It wasn’t a structure. Not at all. She realized that when the large shape began to morph and shift. Not so much as changing itself but more so like whatever it was, it was...waking up. The entire area around her began to tremble violently as this shape moved and expanded. The outer walls, she first thought to be, turned out to be a massive pair of wings that stretched out to the sides. Beneath it, a pair of arms that stretched out with them as the head of this giant monstrosity tilted upwards. Like rising from a deep slumber. It was...monstrous. Giant. Colossal. The largest person she could ever remember meeting was but a speck in comparison to the thing that loomed over her. Its arms lowered to the sides of its bipedaled body and it’s raised head turned downward. She almost forgot about the pain in her chest as she gazed up at the shadowy shape that almost seemed to remind her of. No. There was no way. But there was. It was right in front of her. Two massive eyes that were still larger than her opened and she stared up into the true face of horror itself. Movement beneath those eyes revealed tendrils on the creature's face. Those bright, glowing yellow eyes pierced the darkness as they gazed down at her with what she could only feel was...disdain. Disgust even. Like the way you look at something or someone clearly beneath you. It made a sound but she wasn’t sure if it was just a low, throaty vocalization or if it was speaking in some unknown tongue. She didn’t stop to think as the pain in her chest, spreading through her entire body, now snapped her out of her daze. Everything was catching up with her now. The depth she was at. The pressure on her body from being so deep beneath the surface. The crushing weight all around her. She felt a sharp pain in her head as her eardrums burst and she felt her ribs beneath to crack under the intense pressure. Blood filled her mouth as she was now in a struggle to keep her mouth closed. If she opened it, she’d drown for sure. Oh, but the pain. The pain was unbearable. Greater than any pain she’d ever experienced before. Still, the being before her simply looked on, watching as she was crushed before its eyes. Before his eyes. She could hear him. Even with her ears bleeding out into the water, she could hear the whispering inside her mind. Whispering that grew louder and louder until it was screaming inside her skull, threatening to make it split. When she could no longer withstand it, she grabbed her head and her jaw fell open and she screamed into the darkness as water rushed in, filling her throat, filling her lungs. She felt every bone in her body begin to crack and snap, crushed to pieces as she looked upon the face of the Old One….
1:15 AM EST
Monday, September 6th
Asheville, NC
“The Castle”
Morgan sat up in her bed, a white knuckle grip on her sheets as she let out a blood curdling scream that filled her bedroom. A scream that carried from the dream into reality. She only stopped when she realized she could actually hear herself and that the crippling pain throughout her body was suddenly gone. Once again, she was in the safety of her room. Her mismatched eyes darted around the room, taking in the familiar sights for a sense of self comfort. When she was sure all was safe, she sighed and leaned forward, burying her eyes into her hands. Sweat poured down every inch of her body as she threw back the sheets and swung her feet down to the floor. Her hand reached to her nightstand, fumbling for that bottle of hers. She couldn’t get the cap off fast enough before bringing the bottle to her lips and tipped it back for a long drink. Morgan set the bottle down and dug into her drawer, fishing out the bottle of sleeping pills she kept tucked away. She wasn’t sure what she poured into her hand was the appropriate dosage but who gave a shit, right now? She sure didn’t. She dropped the pinch of pills into her mouth and washed them down with another pull from the bottle. She took a breath then tipped the bottle back again, draining it almost completely before replacing the cap and tucking both away.
A moment later, Morgan paced back and forth with a cigarette in her hand. Her hand shook as she brought it to her lips and took a drag. What did it mean? What did any of it mean? Why was Danni there? Why had she been drawn there by her pleas? Morgan sat back on her bed, not bothering with the sheets yet as she grabbed her phone to get her mind off of the dream. That was when she saw it. The same face she had looked upon in her dream. Her nightmare. The face of death looming over the world. Morgan felt her hand begin to shake as she took a pull from her cigarette again. Now what was she feeling? Fear? Realization? Anger. That was it. Anger filled her as pieces of the puzzle began to come together. There were parts that were unclear still but….
“You fuckin’ bitch.”
She muttered aloud to no one in particular. Nobody that would hear her, at least. She tapped away at her screen, sending a tweet - “I see you” - and took one last drag on her cigarette; she angrily stubbed it out in her ashtray. Everything was beginning to come together….
End
