Death's touch
Chapter 4
A dream
Have you ever been surrounded in such pure darkness that it felt like you could see everything and nothing at the same time? As if your brain can't truly accept the lack of sight and nearly forces your eyes to become hyper sensitive, aware of even the slightest movement…
Had he the mind that would surely be Danny would describe this. Everything he knew was black and though all logic would dictate this meant the complete lack of sight it wasn't really.
It was as if there was nothing to see rather that he couldn't see to begin with. It made no sense and yet it made perfect sense. On one hand it was unnerving, not being able to trust his most basic sense to guide him but on the other hand there was this unearthly quiet that was almost soothing in a way, a welcome relief from the drumming headache he'd had before.
On some level he understood he was looking for something, or waiting for something, he wasn't sure but whatever it was it couldn't get here quick enough. The all-pervasive blackness was strengthening the feeling of dread he could feel in his stomach.
He had never been afraid of the dark strangely enough, no matter how much his parents warned him about possible ghosts threats. Actually ever since he'd been able to go ghost he felt a strange familiarity when it came to the dark. He began to long for thunder storms and long winter nights where he could fly all night without having to worry about being seen or not.
And before that he had no greater wish than becoming an astronaut and experiencing the dead of space up close. Drifting through the cool darkness, exploring planets and stars…
But that was different, even in space there is light, distant stars shimmering through the tightly knit blackness. This however, was almost suffocating him, complete and utter darkness that was driving him up the wall.
Taking a deep breath he hoped the new wave of oxygen would somehow calm his nerves, if even a little. If only there was something he could focus on, something on the horizon that could distract him from this looming feeling, anything.
"A dream…" The words came out of nowhere, whether they just drifted in the air or he had actually spoken them he wasn't certain, they just hung there like a memory.
Perhaps this was a dream; it would certainly explain the strangeness of it all. Not that it offered any solace…
The strange thing about complete darkness is how detached you become from yourself and your body. You think you know the difference between left and right, know which way to look and how to hold up your hands, you understand your actions and are aware of them. But for a person who has always seen to suddenly not see, is as if they are no longer within their own body. It doesn't matter whether something is right or left, since you can't see, the entire concept becomes void, you could be looking up or down, left, right it doesn't matter, you can't see.
So to say he was standing or sitting or whether he was even within his body at all, he couldn't say.
Another strange thing about blackness is that it forces your senses to work on overdrive, meaning that every sound, breath, smell activate some primal need of self-preservation that makes you hyper aware of your surroundings at all time. Which was precisely what made him react so strongly when a speck of light seemed to emerge out of nowhere.
The foreign light shone brighter and brighter forcing the dark to curl around it in a desperate attempt to contain it; wisps of black furrowing the edges. For something so unnatural it seemed like the most normal thing in the world, brightening the blackness without effort. It didn't sting his eyes or force him to divert his gaze. Instead it seemed to radiate warmth, as if he had been cold without it, even if he couldn't recall it himself.
The glow cast shadows upon shadows, layer upon layers of black that run over into each other like an oil painting that has not yet dried.
With the light he grew more aware of himself, as if drawing back into his own body but also becoming aware of the warmth the light was radiating, glowing brighter and brighter like a sun ready to engulf him in warmth he didn't know he longed for, and he found himself reaching for it. Maybe he wasn't even trying to touch it but rather he wanted to immerse himself within the radiating warmth, welcoming the sensation into his very being.
He could feel the glow play against the surface of his hand forcing a smile to curl his lips. "Warm…" Words that seemed to flow so unnaturally clear again, hanging in the air like an echo of thoughts he had meant to voice.
As it drew nearer it was almost like the darkness again, only a brightness that would have been blinding in any other situation, forcing back the black with ease…
A shock of something he couldn't place, a tug within himself that tried to pull him back, unearthly and yet distinctly earthly. And when he didn't react to it came another tug only more direct, the feeling of hands on his forearms trying to hold him back, pulling him back into the thick blackness.
"Wake up."
Those words so stern and deep he swore he felt his whole body react. Little tremors shaking through his body as he was pulled back, the dark curling around him like he himself was a light source it needed to contain.
And still he fought it, making the tug even more distinct, hands on his forearms, hands, cold against his skin, pulling him back against something firm.
"Wake up Danny."
His name sounded somehow foreign to him now, strangely warm in a way he had never heard it said before. And again his body reacted, shimmering with the echo of the words.
The light seemed to grow dim, and something within him was screaming to follow it, throw himself forward and embrace the warmth but the arms that held him were strong and unyielding, holding him tightly.
"Let go!"
The desperation in his own voice was enough to scare him back against the firm figure that held him. The light before him seemed to swim in blackness, diminishing slowly in the dark its embrace just like he was.
"Let go..."
He was pulled back against whoever was holding him so tightly, cool arms wrapping around him, holding him back, keeping him close.
The light now so dim it begins to slowly flicker off into nothing, leaving nothing but a fake afterglow.
And with the light leaves the warmth and the cold surrounding him nearly engulfs him completely.
He turns around in the embrace, blackness infecting everything again not allowing him any comfort.
"How could you do that?"
The words taste bitter and he doesn't know why he feels this way… betrayed, abandoned, as if somebody broke a promise they made to him.
He breaks the embrace and moves to strike the figure, anger rising in his chest to mask the hurt he feels there. But just as he raises his fists his wrists are caught forcing him to focus as best he could.
"Danny, you have to wake up."
There that voice is again with that deep timbre that makes his entire body respond, deep and warm with emotions that both scare and entrance him. Another tug runs through him, pulling at his limbs with strange clarity lifting him up into the air up until the point he is sure the grip on his wrists is the only thing keeping him earthbound.
"Who… are you?"
The words catch him off guard and for a moment he isn't sure if he even spoke them.
Something hangs in the air however and he can almost feel a smile in the next words that are spoken.
"You Danny, it has always been you…"
…
He jumps upright suddenly; a shock of awareness driving all sleep from his mind but his body feels heavy and uncomfortable around him. He's in his room; familiar surroundings calming his racing heart some.
Adrenaline, pumping through his system till the point where his chest actually hurts, not to mention the headache that is swelling in the background… He cradles his head in his hands, pressing his palms against his eyes until they prick from the pressure.
"What the hell is going on…?"
…
And another rewrite :P Might as well delete the story and start from scratch XD
