(I just slept for the first time in, well, a lot of days. And like every time I sleep I had a nightmare. They tend to be extremely vivid, pretty graphic, and relatively frightening. I don't know why I decided to type this out. Or why I thought it would be a good idea to post it here. But I'm very tired and probably am not thinking very straight. Anyway, this story is pretty gross, isn't happy, and doesn't end with some good thing. I also typed it in a pretty short amount of time with almost no proofreading so it won't be of exceptionally high quality. So yeah, here you guys go. I doubt I'll be around much to read comments. Sorry. Any mods can feel free to delete it if its inappropriate or to graphic or something. Or just because you want to, I don't really care.)
I feel a throbbing in the back of my skull. Constant and rhythmic, like the ticking of a clock. It causes me no pain or discomfort. No, such a feeling is familiar. Something to ground me. A constant in this world. I reach my hand towards the back of my skull, feeling the familiar bulge underneath my skin squirm and writhe. After giving a final prod I look at my hands. Bloody and flayed, wrapped in tattered rags. Little insects gnaw at them, crawling in and out of the open wounds. My body is no different. Flesh held in place by scraps of patterned cloth. Dried blood cakes my pale skin, pus and insects emerge from open sores, and my bare feet are black with filth.
The world around me is ever changing. But some things are always the same. The sky remains a sickly orange with dark clouds moving at unnatural speeds. The sun always stays in the same place. I look around at my current surroundings. Red sand covers the ground and is blown around in the wind. Tall spires of black rock are peppered across the landscape. They twist and turn in unnatural formations before ending in a flat surface. Shadowy figures sit atop the spires huddled around tiny fires and letting out animalistic cries. A tall tree sits in the distance, its branches pale and white like sun bleached bones. Bodies wrapped in cloth hang from its limbs as birds perch on their shoulders and peck at their heads. They twist and writhe in panic, unable to free themselves from their torment.
As I watch the bodies a scurrying sound comes from behind me. Before I have a chance to turn around something large jumps on my back. Landing on my stomach with a thud I feel a pair of hands pin my wrists to the ground. I begin to panic, listening to the clicks and buzzing coming from my unknown assailant. I look at the hands pinning me to the ground. Long fingers ending in long yellow nails grip my wrist. The skin on the creatures arm was black, almost charred in appearance, with skin bulging and shifting as though something was moving underneath. I felt another pair of hands begin feeling my head, tugging and parting my hair. The creature froze as it felt the back of my skull. The source of the rhythmic throbbing. Both of us were still for a moment as the creature sat atop me. Then, after a few clicks, it began clawing at the back of my head.
Panic flowed through me as the throbbing in the back of my head began picking up speed. I began to struggle and writhe as blood began to flow from my skull down the sides of my head. I could feel the creatures fingers clawing at my skull as I struggled to get loose. The creature began to pound at the back of my skull relentlessly. My face was forced into the sand and I closed my eyes as the throbbing in my head reached a fever pitch. Suddenly, a sound reverberated trough the area. A long and droning sound, reminiscent of an air raid siren. The creature on top of me ceased its assault and clicked few times. It released me and began to scurry away. I looked up as it ran away, seeing its slender form crawling on four arms. Its elongated head covered in dozens of eyes. It ran to the base of one of the spires and began crawling up the side of it. Once it reached the top of the spire guttural screams rang out, nearly overtaking that of the siren.
I reached down and removed a piece of cloth that was covering my arm. A few maggots fell out of one of my open wounds, landing on the ground and crawling away. Picked up some skin off of the ground and placed it on the back of my skull. After wrapping the cloth tightly around my head I began to look around once again. The visibility had reduced greatly. A sandstorm was beginning to rage. I tried to look for the tree but couldn’t find it. Everything seems to have disappeared. Even the spires seemed to have vanished. I started to walk forward, without any sense of direction. Despite the blowing sands the only noise I could hear was the siren. I continued to walk, watching as the sand around me seemed to shift and move like the wake caused by a creature swimming through the water. Dark silhouettes seemed to move in the distance, gargantuan in size. I look ahead and notice a shape moving towards me. Humanoid in appearance and roughly my size. I began backing away, panic spreading over me. The shape continued moving towards me, slowly, and deliberately. No matter how fast I moved the shape was always there. Never getting farther away, and never stopping. I closed my eyes and focused on the throbbing in my head. Counted the throbs. Focused on the constant feeling, and the one thing that never changed. The air raid siren grows louder and louder. I try to clench my teeth but my mouth is gone.
I open my eyes with a jolt. I’m in a familiar looking room, sitting in a familiar chair. A string of Christmas lights hang on the walls, about a quarter of the bulbs burnt out. A white fan blows in the corner. I look down at my arms and hands. Scarred in some places, cut in others, but largely intact. I let out a sigh and look at my watch. 9:03 PM. I slowly stand up, put on an old sweatshirt about a size too big and walk over to the computer. I open up a new document and start typing.
‘I feel a throbbing in the back of my skull.’
