not working.
Every step felt like she was descending further into her own personal Hell. Glancing at the man next to her she could tell that his mood wasn’t holding up either.
It was always like this. She could tell him but she was smart enough to know that he would find her warnings ridiculous, unbelievable. Anyone, anywhere would who had never seen the darkness like she had and not just any darkness, like the natural absence of light but a deeper, terrible darkness not of this world.
That darkness was a part of her now and she tried hard to keep it buried deep– hiding it from herself and from the world. It fed off her guilt and her shame… and sometimes when the tremors stopped at night, when her fears became thick, it would seep into her cave, her thoughts, and tugged at her soul.
She had seen the darkness blanket out the light around her until she was trapped in an endless abyss. The heavy press of it crushing. At the worst moments, she could hear distant screams, quiet cries sneaking up behind her.
But it never lasted. It would vanish as quickly as it had appeared. Allie wasn’t sure it was just her sanity becoming unhinged or a waking nightmare.
Allie hadn’t been back to the ship in what seemed like years. At first, after her arrival here she had stayed near it, hoping for rescue but as the days turned into weeks, the ship had begun to morph before her eyes.
The smell of burnt flesh and cooked metal never fading away.
During her time near the ship she had tried to bury as many bodies as possible but her strength gave out knowing there were parts of the ship she couldn’t access. Those bodies had been left to rot, to become bones, until even those bones disintegrated into dust.
Unable to find her friend’s body amongst the dead still haunted her to this day. It was because of her that made Allie ultimately stop coming back to the ship.
She had once crawled through the remains for supplies, for familiarity, and for the desperate hope of rescue. She had also stayed near it because she didn’t know how to survive and the monsters that came out at night frightened her.
But during her last visit to the ship she had been looking for supplies that she may have missed from previous scavenging sessions and that she may have overlooked.
She had been deep within the confines of the wreckage when she had heard a faint scratching noise behind her. When she had turned to look at what may have caused it, there was nothing there and the scratching had stopped.
At the time she had thought little of it– attributing it to critters or even the ship itself. But as she continued searching the rubble, the light, long scratches followed her. The longer she stayed in one area, the louder and closer it got.
Allie shivered from the memory.
She had stopped looking for materials at that point to in turn to listen to the scratches, trying to make sense of them. Testing them, they followed her from room to room.
The moment when her curiosity turned to terror with the realization that the noises were not from this world– that they were following her deliberately nearly broke her mind. As a breathless wail rose up behind her.
Her friend’s face appeared before her, moving from the shadows as if it was drenched in sludge. She had been screaming and crying. Her long black hair losing itself in the ominous haze behind her, looming over her shoulders.
Allie ran.
She ran and hadn’t stopped for days. She didn’t stop until she stumbled past the crags and into the desert where she found her cave; staying there ever since.
Now she was going back and Allie couldn’t decide if it was her need for companionship, her need to face her nightmares and make sense of them, or the thought of leaving Jack to face the ruins of the ship alone that had brought her on this path. Maybe it was all three.
Still, every step closer scared her. She glanced at Jack behind her and she knew she wouldn’t let him go alone.
At that
Every step felt like she was descending further into her own personal Hell. Glancing at the man next to her she could tell that his mood wasn’t holding up either.
It was always like this. She could tell him but she was smart enough to know that he would find her warnings ridiculous, unbelievable. Anyone, anywhere would who had never seen the darkness like she had and not just any darkness, like the natural absence of light but a deeper, terrible darkness not of this world.
That darkness was a part of her now and she tried hard to keep it buried deep– hiding it from herself and from the world. It fed off her guilt and her shame… and sometimes when the tremors stopped at night, when her fears became thick, it would seep into her cave, her thoughts, and tugged at her soul.
She had seen the darkness blanket out the light around her until she was trapped in an endless abyss. The heavy press of it crushing. At the worst moments, she could hear distant screams, quiet cries sneaking up behind her.
But it never lasted. It would vanish as quickly as it had appeared. Allie wasn’t sure it was just her sanity becoming unhinged or a waking nightmare.
Allie hadn’t been back to the ship in what seemed like years. At first, after her arrival here she had stayed near it, hoping for rescue but as the days turned into weeks, the ship had begun to morph before her eyes.
The smell of burnt flesh and cooked metal never fading away.
During her time near the ship she had tried to bury as many bodies as possible but her strength gave out knowing there were parts of the ship she couldn’t access. Those bodies had been left to rot, to become bones, until even those bones disintegrated into dust.
Unable to find her friend’s body amongst the dead still haunted her to this day. It was because of her that made Allie ultimately stop coming back to the ship.
She had once crawled through the remains for supplies, for familiarity, and for the desperate hope of rescue. She had also stayed near it because she didn’t know how to survive and the monsters that came out at night frightened her.
But during her last visit to the ship she had been looking for supplies that she may have missed from previous scavenging sessions and that she may have overlooked.
She had been deep within the confines of the wreckage when she had heard a faint scratching noise behind her. When she had turned to look at what may have caused it, there was nothing there and the scratching had stopped.
At the time she had thought little of it– attributing it to critters or even the ship itself. But as she continued searching the rubble, the light, long scratches followed her. The longer she stayed in one area, the louder and closer it got.
Allie shivered from the memory.
She had stopped looking for materials at that point to in turn to listen to the scratches, trying to make sense of them. Testing them, they followed her from room to room.
The moment when her curiosity turned to terror with the realization that the noises were not from this world– that they were following her deliberately nearly broke her mind. As a breathless wail rose up behind her.
Her friend’s face appeared before her, moving from the shadows as if it was drenched in sludge. She had been screaming and crying. Her long black hair losing itself in the ominous haze behind her, looming over her shoulders.
Allie ran.
She ran and hadn’t stopped for days. She didn’t stop until she stumbled past the crags and into the desert where she found her cave; staying there ever since.
Now she was going back and Allie couldn’t decide if it was her need for companionship, her need to face her nightmares and make sense of them, or the thought of leaving Jack to face the ruins of the ship alone that had brought her on this path. Maybe it was all three.
Still, every step closer scared her. She glanced at Jack behind her and she knew she wouldn’t let him go alone.
At that
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