She didn’t know where she was, and there was a hand up her shirt, stroking the smooth skin over her ribs. A sultry voice (woman’s? man’s?) murmured things in her heavily pierced ear that promised all sorts of dark and terrible and delicious things. She wasn’t sure where she’d picked him/her/them up, but questioning it, or putting up a protests, seemed like a lot of effort right then… particularly when this was much like every other night. They’d probably met at a bar… flirted, drank. Went out back for a dose of something, by the fog that hovered at the corners of her eyes, confusing her when she tried to push too hard against it.
Head spinning, Sidney James melted back into the couch as though she lacked the bones that made her shoulders, knees and clavicles stick out at prominent angles. Someone else had a hand on her thigh, up under her skirt… or maybe it was the same person. She got lost trying to track the hand back to it’s source. Her stomach lurched, dipping and sliding in a nauseating way.
Was this the bar she’d started in? The rainbow DJ had lost track, somewhere along the way. There had been a succession of cabs, dour, beefy bouncers, and bright, neon drinks at crowded bars that all looked the same. It could have been two or twenty… the thought slipped through her fingers with another lurch of her stomach, refusing to resolve itself. The music that pounded through her skull wasn’t helping… there were too many drums and the filter on the guitar was harsh, the whole of it in a minor key with discordant notes that grated on her nerves. Someone tucked something into her mouth, under her tongue, and offered her a drink, the liquid inside moving sluggishly, like tar. She felt like she was choking, but it went down to burn in the pit of her stomach before Sid let her head loll back, pink eyes heavy lidded.
Where was she, again? Someone had said the name of the bar, but it slipped through her fingers like fish made of smoke, shining silver between the strobes from the stage. This was worse than normal… or she thought it might be. She couldn’t… think if she’d felt like this before. Everything was hard. She just… wanted to go home. The night had lost it’s sparkle and her bed held more appeal than this couch and the man/woman/person stroking her. Or… had been stroking her… they’d left at some point and now she wasn’t sure if they’d even been there in the first place.
Laughter over her shoulder pulled her attention and Sid rolled her head, catching, for a wild moment, something small and white flashing by. She blinked, but it was gone. All she saw was pink and green, reflecting wildly off moving bodies. Blinked again… rolled her head back… and someone perched on the edge of the low table before her. The DJ stared, watching their face shift sickeningly, never quite settling, except for the wide grin they wore. White teeth marking in a jagged line… stretching and stretching till the face seem cut in half and unease sent Sid fumbling around her with shaking hands for something, anything… as the grinning creature crept closer, leaning over her…
Sid jerked her head to the side, her heart pounding, and caught that flash of white again. It paused, surrounded by moving feet, and she caught long ears, small furry body… beady black eyes… a rabbit? But then someone moved between them and it was gone. Darkness curled in from the corners of the room, weaving between people. Glancing back, the smiling person was gone. She was alone… or she thought she was. Someone was breathing on her neck… smoke curling past her ears to color her vision.
Who? Are... you? They murmured, their voice hissing strangely.
“Chou..” She mumbled, her usual response, but the hissing only intensified.
Who. Are you….. The voice slid like the cold blade of a knife along her cheek, veiled threat and the beat of colorful wings.
“S-Sidney…” The young woman whispered, pressing her hands to her face. Her fingers curled, digging nails into her skin, and she couldn’t feel it. She scraped down, and still felt nothing. Another digging press, running down her cheeks and neck, into her chest, but it didn’t hurt. She could hardly tell she was doing it, save that her fingers felt the resistance.
Red blossomed, welts appearing down her arms, her bare thighs. The shapes of hearts and roses traced into her skin. They were almost pretty, but she didn’t remember putting them there. Hands closed suddenly around her throat, constricting to cut off her air. Sid arched against the couch, the surface suddenly sticky and wet, sucking at her limbs. The pressure increased and her eyes flew wide, but all she could see were teeth in a long, curling smile… smiling down at her.
The base pounded in her ears, thrummed through her veins as her head pounded. Someone was laughing, somewhere over her head. The rabbit was sitting on the table, watching her.
Off with her…. head.
Sid drew in a ragged, gasping breath. An invisible elephant sat on her chest, crushing her and making it impossible to breathe. She was falling… struggling, uselessly.
Someone was laughing.
Sparkles of light in her head.
Grin full of teeth… tearing her skin open.
Smell of roses…
Sid couldn’t say how she got home. She didn’t even know how she got there. She was just suddenly slumped on the stoop, frozen to the bone and shaking. Her mouth tasted like sour, rotten grapes and her throat hurt, dry and raspy. It took almost more energy than she had to drag herself to her feet, legs shaking. Her key was clipped to her belt still, a precaution she’d started taking after countless times losing it. The clunk of the heavy door unlocking was loud, making her head pound, but inside was a comforting, familiar… safe darkness. The DJ dragged herself inside and turned to close the door, the memory of an angry voice in her head reminding her to shut it. Just as the last sliver disappeared, Sid paused, shaking.
Had that been a flash of white outside?
Word Count: 1050
