Ring Around The Rosie
It was raining-, no let me rephrase that, it was pouring outside; like take one step outside and suffer internal punishment pouring. I sat besides the window watching the campus flood with never-ending water. Rodger, my boyfriend, and I were going to go on a hike together, but MotherNature decided to fuck that idea in the ass.
"You still moping about your ruined date?" my roommate, Jeremiah, called from our bathroom.
"No!" I half-shouted in denial, slightly flustered that he'd known what I was doing.
"Look, Oliver," Jere said walking out of the bathroom smelling heavily of Old Spice and his dark hair styled in the perfect bad-boy look. "I know that this is you first anniversary. But you shouldn't be so angry, I heard that tomorrow is supposed to be perfect weather, you guys can go on you hike then."
I sighed and nodded my head. "Your right," I say glancing out the window before looking back at Jeremiah. I realized that he was dressed a bit more formal than usual and looked slightly anxious as if he was late for something. "You smell like an Old Spice factory and wearing jeans that fit." I say rising my eyebrow slightly.
"Sam and Lucy are having a party at there dorm and invited me to come." He said rubbing the back of his neck, "You should come, you know. Get out of this room for once."
"Thanks, but no. I have a huge test for Pro. James I need to study for." I decline. "And I'm not much of a party person either."
"Ah bummer, really going for that Psychiatric degree huh. Well, someday I'll get you to attend a college party." Jere said pulling on his jacket before slipping out the door and off to the party.
I chuckled and shuck my head before getting up and sitting down on my bed to study. Me and Jeremiah had a small apartment, we lived on campus, one room with beds on each side, small kitchen, and even smaller bathroom. There was some living space, but other than that it was tiny. Some apartments were much bigger than others while some were broom closets. Sam and Lucy were lucky enough to get on of the larger apartments.
After an hour of mindlessly boring studying I finally gave up. Placing my books and notes on the floor I reached other to my bedstead a picked up my phone. Thunder and lighting served as 'background music' as I began to text Rodger.
Oliver: Hey babe. ;)
Rodger: Hi.
Oliver: How are you?
Rodger: Doing well. Thought we could maybe meet up tomorrow? :\
I smiled and quickly replied.
Oliver: Yeah, sounds like a plan. ^u^
Rodger: I'll pick you up at 6
Fifteen minutes passed as me and Rodger texted. After saying goodbye since Rodger's battery percentage was running extremely low, I laid down on my bed and listened to the rain. After awhile I succumbed to sleep.
'Ring around the rosy…
Pockets full of posy…'
I was walking through a forest, it was night and up in the distance I could see a clearing with light. I tried to run but it seemed as if I was moving threw thick syrup.
'Ashes…
Ashes…'
Finally, I reached the clearing. There were lanterns and a group of children holding hands and spinning in a circle. I couldn't see their faces, the light couldn't reach that far. One of the children broke from the circle and daintily walked towards me, as if they were performing ballet. Slowly they reached up and placed their hands and each side of my face pulling them-self up to my hight. The child's face came into their and I gasped in horror.
Quickly I pushed the child away from me and I ran back into the forest trying my best to get away. Suddenly I tripped and fell down a step hill and stopped near a cliff. I got up and saw that the children had blocked anyway out and were slowly walking towards me. I backed up so far that I was barley standing on the edge. The children stopped their advance and stood still, horrible wide eyes staring at me. The same child who broke from the circle continued walking until it was right in-front of me.
"We all fall down." They whispered and with a quick light push sent me falling to the bottom.
I sat bolt right up in my bed panting as I looked around frantically. After awhile I calmed down and my breathing returned to normal. Jeremiah was in his bed sleeping, his snores almost drowning out the distant thunder. Sighing I pushed my coppery hair from my face. "What a weird dream…" I mumble, looking at Jeremiah's alarm clock for the time. 3:48. Damn! Way to fucking early to get up, but after that dream I won't be sleeping for a whole week.
Quietly as possible, I got up and got my clothes on, a simple pair of jeans, plain t-shirt, and my forest green army jacket. Slowly I stepped out of our apartment and closed the door trying to not let it squeak. I quietly jogged down the staircase and excited the building making sure my dark grey beanie didn't fly off into the wind. The storm had passed on though thunder was still audible and wind was being a pain in the ass. Walking through campus at night is really calming, no annoying young-adults shouting or over-pressuring teachers/'monitors' over looking your shoulder. Looking around making sure no one was around, I slipped of the path and into the woods.
The college was originally built smack dab in in this huge forest, but do to civilization the majority of the forest was plowed down. But luckily enough, they left a couple hundred acres of it left. I normally go hear when ever I'm having a bad day or just want to get out of society for a little bit. Drips of water fell from the tree's branches and the ground was muddy in some places; the other spots consisted of lakes. I walked for who knows how long before I realized that the sun was rising and it was time to return to civilization.
After trekking back through the woods and to the apartment I as silently as possible collapsed onto my bed. The stiff bed and the way to soft pillow felt like heaven compared to walking for something hours straight.
"I see that you have returned. Gave me quite the scare when I woke up to you not sitting in your bed studying like usual." Jeremiah said entering the room with a bagel in hand.
"I decided to go out for a walk last night." I replied voice muffled by my pillow.
"Well you get some sleep. I have to leave for class." Jeremiah said walking out of the room. I mumbled a 'bye' into my pillow even though I knew he wouldn't hear me. Hours passed as I laid in my bed contemplating my dream last night trying to find out why I dreamed what I did. Finally with hunger gnawing at my stomach and failing to make sense of my dream I got up and entered the kitchen searching for food. Glancing at the clock I saw that it was 5:45pm, I didn't make much of it until I remembered that Rodger was picking me up in less than 20min.
In a frenzy I rushed around trying to get ready. I managed to brush my teeth and change my pants before the doorbell rang, it was 5:50pm. Quickly I attempted to fix my messy, blood-red hair. Opening the door I saw Rodger standing there with his usual smile holding a bouquet of roses. "Hey babe', sorry if I'm a tad bit early." He said handing the flowers to me.
"Oh, yeah no it's fine," I stammer. "Kind-of forgot the time."
"Same old Oliver," he said chuckling as he hugged me, but something wasn't right. Rodger was stiff and distant.
"Are you alright? You seem troubled I say pulling away from his embrace.
"Yeah, everything is just fine," Rodger said smiling placing a hand on my shoulder. "Absolutely perfect." And then before I could notice, he pulled a knife and thrust it up into my ribcage piercing my heart. I stepped away in shock before falling to the ground; the last thing I saw before succumbing to the death and entering it's cold domain was Rodger's face smiling down at me with sickly satisfaction.
It's been six weeks since I'v murdered Oliver. The police haven't found his body yet and they only interviewed me once. This might be my most successful kill so far. However, normally I'm able to move on after a kill and forget that my victim ever existed, but no matter what I can't get that damn kid's face out of my head; every time I close my eyes I see his face in his last moments. The look of betrayal and sadness etched into his features. I shook my head and groaned, it's no use thinking about him, what is done is done.
Dumping my plates into the sink I glanced out the window, near the edge of my backyard stood a thin figure, shocked I just stared. I couldn't make out who it was, considering they were blended into the darkness; however the figures eyes glowed like beacons, a very bright and vivid blue. Like Oliver's… I shook my head angry at the slip of mind. But, when I looked back out the window the figure had disappeared.
Shaken, I stepped back from the window and exited the kitchen. It's probably some neighborhood kid playing a prank on me. I slumped down onto the couch and turned the tv on, finally slipping into a deep slumber.
Forest… That is all I could see, dark forest spread all around me. There was no brush or roots to trip on so walking through here felt as if your floating. Eventually I reached a small clearing illuminated by the moon's light. Standing in the middle of the clearing was Oliver; dressed in the same clothing he died in, ghostly pale, and with blood stains coating the front of his chest region. His eyes bore into mine with a deep loathing, filling me with untamed fear. I turned and ran crashing through the woods.
"Ring around the rosy…"
"Pockets full of posy…"
Taking a quick glance behind me I saw Oliver following close behind, darkness rolling of him and devouring everything in range. I ran faster determined to escape him, when I slammed into a wall. The wall was taller than the eye could see and longer than I could run, it was made of pure darkness, smoothed to perfection. I was trapped, Oliver walking ever closer, only he wasn't alone. Dozens of other young boys were behind him, their eyes glowing with the same hatred; all of them identical to all the previous boys I've murdered. "No, no no no no. This can't be real. Your all dead! I killed you all!"
"Ashes…"
"Ashes…"
They all formed a semi-circle around me stopping there advancement. Except for Oliver, he continued walking right up to me. Breathing heavily I backed up as much as possible, until I was pressed against the wall. We stood like that for a while, his blue eyes meeting up with my brown ones. Then like lightning out of nowhere he grabbed my face screaming.
"Ahh!" I yelled bolting out my sleep.
"Shhhhhh…" a voice said as two pale hands cupped my cheeks. Looking forward I saw Oliver identical to what he looked like in my dream. I whimpered and tears welled up in my eyes. This shouldn't be possible, he's dead.
Wiping my tears away gentle, he said in a quiet whisper, "We all fall down."
