cave.
“You said you were here for …” he started to say, his voice softer now with the recollection, he remembered what she’d said but he didn’t want to say it.
“Punishment.” she finished, the twitch of her mouth telling him more than her words ever did.
Alex swallowed hard, wishing there was somewhere else he could be right now.
“You’re finally realizing that I’m not here for my punishment, aren’t you?” she said, her voice dropping to a low whisper. “Think back Alex. Why are you here?”
Trembling and against his better judgment, Alex lifted his fingers, touching the eye patch on her face. He curled his fingers around it and tore it away. Tears flowed fresh down his face with the revealed horror beneath; there was no missing eye but a softly glowing socket – exactly like the shadowed creature that had leapt inside of him and brought him here.
“You do deserve this don’t you, Alex?” Lily asked as she leaned forward. She stopped when her lips were less than an inch away from his own, than she inhaled deeply; pulling what felt like the core of his being out of him.
“No, no I don’t,” Alex whispered, struggling against her. With the denial, Lily exhaled and Alex felt like he was being filled with fire. It raced through him and he struggled to scream but choked her breath instead. He felt his face flush and swell, then went blind just before he heard a wet pop and felt a thick liquid rolling down his cheeks.
“That is incorrect,” he heard in his head just before he lost consciousness.
When Alex woke he was sprawled across a rock, blinking up at an unfamiliar red sky. Rolling until he landed in a crumple on the ground. His arm was bandaged and his head throbbed.
“Don’t move too much.” The feminine voice started him and he almost pissed himself in response. “You’ll start bleeding again.”
“What… Who are you?” He gasped, smacking his back against the rock and shuddering at the pain it caused.
“Alex, it’s me honey… it’s Lily.”
###
A. Maire (MOY-rə) Dinsmore is a writer living in Snohomish County, Washington with her husband, whom she has shared her life with since she was 19, their three children and two spoiled husky mixes [husky-doberman & husky-pitbull]. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family & friends, planning events for the group Biohazard Party, watching football, camping and reading.
A. Maire is working on her debut novel to be published by Blysster Press. She was published in both the 2011 & 2012 Crypticon Seattle De-Compositions Anthologies, taking the first place price in the 2012 writing contest.
Email the author at
Website: https://www.amairedinsmore.com
Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/amairedinsmore
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/amairedinsmore
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, business establishments, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright © A. Maire Dinsmore
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