Shards
By Mia Salvano
A/N: Thanks for all your reviews, I love reading them! In case you guys didn't know, the reason I started a fanfiction account was to enhance my writing skills. And well, I think it's been very successful compared to my writing a month ago on July 29th when I started!
So thank you everyone, especially The Lifeless Girl and XxXPeaceReaperXxX for reviewing just about every story! thanks to Elizabeth Fuller, who has read every single one and left an amazing review. :)
Also, thanks to Sutherland, my friend who kinda sorta helped me out! He's awesome! :D
I sincerely hope that a future writing career will take place for me, and honestly believe that having this account has definitely helped my writing.
Okay, no more rambling. On to the story!
Red.
Red clouded his vision, flooding in like drops of poison trickling out of a dripping poppy. Opium filled its silky petals, overlapping its soft atmosphere with a devilish cloak, trapping its beauty under a veil of acid.
His world had been flipped, illusions interrupting his once pleasant visions. Simple sights have been cast over with shadows, its tendrils wrapping itself around anything he once called safe.
Mirrors reflected hallucinations, demons twisting into his view. Determined to chase them away, he slammed his fist into the glass, making it shatter and fall piece by piece into the sink. Pain shot up his knuckles, shredded smithereens trapped in bloody scratches. The fragments twinkled in the moonlight beaming through the nearby window, casting more shadows across the bathroom. He spun around, frantically searching each dark corner for more evil spirits.
His knuckles loosened its tight grip on the edge of the counter, now feeling the particles of crystallized glass stinging his hands, edging miniscule cuts into his pale skin. The fresh marks began to burn as sweat pooled into his palms.
He sunk in front of the sink, collapsing on the ground in a shaking heap. He reached a battered hand up to squeeze the top of his arm. The shards sunk through his clothing and into his skin, making bits protrude from the blood now seeping into his shirt.
The scratched skin, now numb from cut up glass, was nothing compared to the pain that circled his detached mind. His head throbbed with pressure, violently rattling to shoot tormenting pain throughout his skull. It seemed to lick with a feverish burn against his brain, heat rising from the inner depths of his core. All this twisted into reality, creating demons and shadows destined to remove his sanity, making images that weren't there.
His hands slammed against the sides of his head, the broken glass piercing his scalp as blood drips ran down his neck.
He curled his legs toward his chest, his heart beating against him as if it were trying to run away. Black shadows twisted from the dark corners, the inky features coiling in and out, tying its self up but fading into another spiraling stream. The shadows were warped, waving back and forth, up and down, crawling across the cold tile to his feet.
His eyes were crinkled shut; hot teardrops rolled out from his lids and rested on his lashes. He gritted his teeth against each other, his tongue glued to the roof of his mouth.
Head hurts.
…stop…stop…stop…
"Stop!" he yelled, kicking his legs out toward the shadows, making them disperse and evaporate.
He heard footsteps running toward him, making him curl back up again.
"Go away!" he pleaded, his fingers bending to cement hooks, his nails piercing his skin. He grimaced, the motion making the tear roll down his flushed cheeks.
Two slender hands came toward him, placing their warm grasp upon his shoulders. He shivered at the touch, the jerked forward to grip their wrists. "Stop! Please!" he shouted, wails escaping his throat with every breath.
"Kid!"
He snapped his eyes open, realizing that the hands holding him were no shadow demon, but Elizabeth Thompson.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Liz pulled him into an embrace before he could utter a single word.
"It's alright, Kid. I have you," she whispered. He gripped her hair and sobbed into her shoulders, tears leaving watermarks on his cheeks and her neck. Strangely enough, she was cold, and had zero comfort.
She glanced up at the mirror, seeing the broken mirror. "Kid…what did you…" she turned to look down at Kid, his hands soaked in blood and covering her shoulders and hair. She immediately released him, grabbing his hands. The chips of glass scratched at her hands, making her wince and pull her hands away.
"Liz…I'm sorry…" he whispered, his voice quivering with trauma. He looked up at Liz, tears trickling out of her blue eyes, swimming with confusion.
"Stop it," he said, "Liz, please don't cry." He ripped a piece of toilet paper off the nearby roll and pressed it under her eyes, gently soaking up any tears that pooled out. She bit her lip and grabbed a rag, running it under the sink with cool water and wiping the blood around his cuts. It clung to the cloth, revealing his pale white skin underneath. Afterwards, she began plucking the glass out of his hand. He winced, making Liz jump.
"It's alright Kid," she said, her voice wobbling from holding back tears.
0o0o0o0o0o
Kid's eyelids snapped open, his voice cracked as if he had been yelling. He heard footsteps bounding down the hallway, then Liz entering his room. "Kid? What's going on?" suddenly she gawked. "What…what happened?"
He sat up, taking in what was happening. Sweat beads were rolling down his forehead and chest, his legs hidden with a veil of perspiration. His knuckles burned as sweat filled glass cuts. Glass?
Kid looked at his nightstand. The mirror near him was broken. "I…I don't know…" murmured Kid, who began to tremble as the events of his dream pooled back in his mind.
Liz scurried to his side, sitting on the side of his bed. She placed a cool hand on his cheek. "Kid…what's going on?"
Kid's lip was quivering. His chest heaved as he attempted to hold back tears that were trying to fight against him, short breaths escaping his pursed lips.
"Kid?"
Kid fell into Liz's arms, tears rolling down his cheeks. His eyes blurred as they collected around his eyelids, a single blink sending them on Liz's shoulder. His hands curled around the back of her tank top, gripping onto it as if it was the only thing he had. Liz's hand reached up behind his back and landed softly in his hair, her nimble fingers slowly running through the silky strands. She felt his chest rise against hers with each sob, his heart beating against her skin. His blood stained her shirt, glass smithereens latching onto the fabric.
She pressed her lips to his cheek, his chin wet with tears that had collected.
"You're safe, Kid. I promise."