Chapter Text
You have strange dreams tonight.
You find yourself deep in mud. And just beyond where you can see, a voice calls for you.
"Ellison! Ellison!" The voice cries, a soft, gentle wail that echoes off the muddy terrain. It feels...Familiar, somehow. Like the voice of someone you love.
You feel an overwhelming urge to get closer, to run towards the invisible speaker, but no matter how hard you try, you cannot move. The mud surrounds you completely as you struggle, every attempt to claw yourself closer only resulting in a slower, yet deeper descent, like a screw in molasses.
The voice still calls for you, growing more urgent by the second.
"Ellison! Ellison!"
You try to claw your way to the voice. You try to call back to it, to assure that you'll be there, but just as you try to open your mouth, you've already sunk too deep. The sordid taste of wet dirt fills your mouth, forcing its way down. You gag. You gag, and gag, and gag. But no matter how much you try, you can't get it out. You'll never get it out. The voice screams for you, its shrill, head-splitting pitch burning through your ears.
"ELLISON! ELLISON!" It shrieks, its tone reaching a fever pitch. You can't breathe. You can't move. You can't even think. No matter how hard you try to stay still, you only sink deeper.
"ELLISON!"
Without warning, you surge from sleep. You shoot up in your bed, screaming. Your eyes dart around, the dark expanse of your room slowly fading into vison. Your chest is heaving, Your body trembling harder than a dying flame. Your breathing slowly begins to steady as you glance around your bedroom. It was just a bad dream. Nothing more, You assured yourself. You were safe. Nothing was going to happen.
Your hand reaches for the side table, a metal stool cluttered with cans and whatnot, eventually finding its way to your glasses. You put them on, your eyes immediately focusing on the darkness of your room. You glance back at the side table, Your eyes darting to your alarm clock.
3:56 A.M.
You sigh, rolling out of your rumpled covers, yet already missing the warmth of your bed. But just as you turn your back to the bedframe, your eyes fall upon it.
Your Window.
Now, you don't know why, but there is an overwhelming to look outside your window. Maybe it was a need for fresh air. Maybe it was a need for familiarity. No matter what, you can't tear your eyes away from it.
You approach, slowly trudging towards the blinds. A part of you feels...off. Like you shouldn't be doing this. Like you should just turn away and go get ready for the day. You do have classes later, after all. Those composition and shot selection exercises won't format themselves. But no matter what, you can't pry your gaze away from the window.
Your hands gently graze the blinds, the dingy plastic smooth beneath your fingers. You pause, staring blankly at the light filtering through. Hesitantly, you lift the blinds and Look Outside.
Your body immediately begins to tremble as you stare into the sky. Your eyes widen as you look upon...something. Something your mind could never even begin to process. A kaleidoscope of color and shadow envelops your vision, a million sensations shooting through your body. It's beautiful. It's so, so beautiful. Yet so wrong, so very, very wrong. You convulse, falling backwards. It's all too much. It's all too much. The blinds tumble over the window with a sickening CRACK. You can't think. You can't scream. You can't feel anything. You can feel everything. It's all too much. It's all too much. Your body continues to convulse, squirming on the hardwood floor like a worm in the mud.
The suffering eventually slows, only to be met with weakness. You can't even squirm through the agony anymore. Hot tears of pure torment roll down your face, pooling unto the floor below. Your breathing is labored, terror and distress clamping down on your lungs.
Your mind is a silent scream, so many thoughts flooding through, but none registering. You lay there, unable to move, only able to stare.
Slowly, it all goes black, and your consciousness fades away.
It'll all be better soon. It has to be.