Prologue
This girl, she was beautiful. With pale blue curls running down the length of her face and neck; her bright, sea blue eyes hidden by more blue curled bangs, the young boy could envision her as nothing but an angel as she stood before him. However, her hair and eyes were the only things about her appearance that would normally be considered angelic. Her frightening, almost off white skin was flawed with blackened, spider-web like veins that were visible under the thin outer layers of her transparent flesh. Smooth, sweeping tendrils of white smoke rose from where her feet were positioned on the rocky floor of the unknown terrain upon which they were now situated. Her white shoes were cloaked in scuff marks and smudges from the earthy ground, the bottom of her lace dress and petticoat torn and ruffled; watery, muddy splashes adorning the front of the overalls in a random fashion.
A small, bitter smile graced her angelic features as she continued to gaze forward at him in the dreamscape. One of her petite hands elegantly lifted from her left side, fingers swaying as she waved at the other being. Taken aback by the gesture, the boy shifted from his normally upright posture, bringing his arms almost mechanically down to his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists as if to calm his rising nerves. Though the action seemed to do nothing but heighten the anxiety drastically. The air was stuffy, hot, and suffocating in his airway, as it must have been in hers, if she still held the ability to feel it. Through the numbing sensations that were slowly taking control of his body, he heard the scraping of rocks as the girl moved gracefully on her feet. Pallid, widespread fingers reached out into the thick, smoggy air as the girl shuffled forward. The smoke tendrils thinned as she slowly approached, and the boy took a cautionary step backwards at the notice of the shortened space between them.
The index finger of her left hand rose even higher as she came to a gradual halt in front of him, eyes almost twinkling with unknown anticipation. The breath caught in the young boy's throat as the icy fingers of the aqua eyed cherub touched his cheek tenderly, partially shaking as she stroked them down his cheek to rest at his sharp chin. Head tilted slightly to the right in pondering innocence, the young girl's smile widened a fraction as she moved her hand again, this time upward, to gently brush under the mysterious mister's right eye. Forcing out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, the boy's eyes widened fractionally as the girl's sharp fingernails dragged themselves across the tanned skin under his abyss like eyes. The thumb nail of the girl continued to drag itself across the boy's cheek, increasing in pressure until the fragile surface of the boy's body was breached; a thin line of dark, scarlet blood languidly dripping down his face, a speck of said blood seeping into the pressed collar of his white undershirt, streaking a line of crimson into the woven fabric.
A soft, whimper like sound clawed its way out of the small boy's throat, and the pressure of the girl's fingers increased simultaneously. The flesh underneath his eye was now marred with small, lined cuts that stopped halfway down his cheek. Pulsing pain shot down the right side of his neck, and his eyes squinted and blinked in retaliation to the unwanted ache. Controlling the pain to the best of his abilities, he slowly opened his eyes back up. Jumping backwards with a short yelp, his hands flung up to cover his face as he wrapped his head around the frightening display in front of his face. The girl was now a hairs width away, and was boring her dead eyes into his now stained cheek. The girl had lost all of her afore-mentioned angelic qualities, and now looked well and truly dead, almost ghostly in comparison. Her skin had sunk, hugging her bones which now creaked painfully with movement, and had taken on an ashen grey hue. Her hair had lost all its colour, now appearing white and wispy, and had flattened to the sides of her face; small knots and bumps tangling in the once bouncy blue locks. Her black veins were now crystal clear, running criss-cross patterns along her uncovered limbs, although he presumed the same would be apparent underneath her clothes as well. Though the one thing that unnerved him the most in her drastic change in appearance, was her eyes.
Her irises, now listless and dull, stared at him blankly; it was as if she was staring through him. She was hunched over, scratchy, throaty groaning sounds vibrating up her throat, escaping through her chapped, blue lips. Her body jerked sideways, and spasm-like shivering ran down the length of her frail body. But as soon as it had started, it stopped. She brought her body back upright, clawing her hands as she pulled her forearms up in front of her face. A flash of recognition sparked through her lifeless grey eyes as she eyed the dark crimson brandishing her left hand. Her actions now sluggish and slow, she pulled her hand further towards her face, close enough to smell the thick, coppery aroma with ease, had she had the ability to. Eyeing the blood at a closer distance, she opened her dry mouth warily; tongue poking out as she tentatively licked the scarlet stains from her cold fingertips.
Her eyes suddenly widened, dusky irises disappearing behind a cloudy white film that threatened to leak over her lower eyelids. A high pitched, almost animalistic shriek ripped its way out of her throat, reverberating around the seemingly empty layout of the dreamscape. Angled hands clawed madly at her throat, her head tossing back and forth in an almost fit-like fashion as she continued to scream. The shrill note of the girl sent waves of high-pitched ringing through the boy's overly sensitive ears, his heightened hearing proving to be a disadvantage in this current scenario. As a second, stronger pulse of pain ripped through the young mister's body, he felt all sense of attachment leave him as he stumbled backwards, arms flailing wildly at his sides as he tried to correct his balance. A lightheaded feeling caused his head to spin, and he fell silently backwards as he fought vainly for his control.
Everything went blank before he even hit the floor.