Chapter Eleven: Sekai wa Sude ni Azamuki no Ue ni
Be patient, running away means winning. I'm uncomfortable and worried…
XI.
The warm rivers of the shower water cascaded upon her skin like a hot waterfall, dampening her hair and ridding it of every oil and scum that was once on her head.
Her body was scarred.
Dirty.
Tainted.
She was relieved that she was going to be clean, and hopefully she would have a change of clothes too, since she didn't want to be naked anymore.
Not even for the likes of Marik, the demon incarnate.
The monster, as she called him.
Under the warm waters, Serenity felt herself sag forward, placing a hand on the shower wall, and hung her head listlessly, feeling droplets upon her skin, not even blinking once.
She became oblivious to everything: to what had occurred for what seemed like forever, to the ruined world around her, to time itself now. As far as she knew, seconds could have passed, or even hours could have walked by without a word.
Serenity existed in an alternate stare of mind, a state of conjoined terror and grief nearly at bay. She couldn't believe that she was in this reality, she just couldn't.
The reality of true hell.
What felt like an eternity.
Damnation.
True punishment.
Cursed.
What had felt like true hell.
Punished for living.
Punished for being born.
Punished for living in true existence.
For having a reason for existence.
Serenity blinked out of her stupor and looked over to see an assortment of shampoos, conditioners, and emollients, reaching out and grabbing one that suited her. She squeezed the sweet smelling liquid onto her hair and lathered her hair repeatedly until she felt the oily and greasy feeling on her scalp and in her hair was gone. She then placed her head under the water, rinsing her hair and letting the soothing liquid cover her entire body.
She felt so serene under the water, the liquid that nourished all humans and beings. Cool to the touch, but heated when needed be.
She felt peaceful……
Safe….
Happy….
Carefree even….
In her own world…..
Where no one intruded…
Where no one could break the fantasy…..
Where no one could shatter her dream world….
She found herself walking down a long path, a road stretched out beyond her imagination. All she knew was that she was walking alongside a grassy field and above her was a beautiful sky.
A sapphire sky, probably the bluest she had ever seen, hung above her and with no cloud to dampen the soft shade of the ocean in the skies.
She stopped in her tracks when she thought she heard rustling, something behind her. She froze, almost afraid to turn around.
No, she knew that she was alone in this world.
She just knew it.
She had to turn around.
She looked over her shoulder to see what was behind her.
Nothing.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
There was nothing.
No threat.
Nothing.
She turned back to the road ahead and nearly had a heart attack at what she saw next.
Blood decorated the ground like rose petals, painting the steel walls now around her red vermillion. It was there she realized that she wasn't in her own world anymore.
She lifted her hands to her face and covered her mouth, smearing the blood upon her hands on her face.
On her face?
She yanked her hands away and stared at them, horrified, and then looked down at herself and saw that her clothes, legs, and her shoes had sprayed blood all over.
She couldn't breathe.
She swore that she couldn't breathe at that moment.
Her heart pounded in her ears and she felt dizzy, the world right in front of her spinning.
She thought she was going to faint right then and there.
Her legs felt weak, wobbly and they couldn't keep her standing any longer.
Before she knew it, she felt herself falling backwards, the world still spinning.
Just before she thought she was going to feel the ground beneath her, two strong arms wrapped around her waist, and her form felt something solid behind her, supporting her, and keeping her on her feet.
A sinister chuckle reverberated around her.
She knew that voice too well.
All too well.
Something she couldn't get out of her head.
"Silly Serenity-pretty…"
Her heart froze, almost skipping a heartbeat.
She felt one of her hands travel up to her chest, where his clawed fingers began caressing the outline of her breast through her bloodied shirt, shivering underneath.
"Your world is no longer years, my dear. The place that was yours is mine now, where you will never be alone ever again. Face it, Serenity, even in your imagination; I'll be there, no matter how much you want me to disappear."
As the monster said these things, the hand around her waist crept down to the front of her vermillion-stained shorts, where he tucked his hand in her shorts, in her undergarment, and felt her seize up in that one touch.
'No, this couldn't be happening.'
"I'll find you wherever you will venture, wherever you will run off to. I'm here for you….forever…" He uttered into her ear softly as he pressed his lips to the outer shell of her ear.
The hand that was on her breast left as soon as he finished those words and that was when she felt something cold and metallic upon her throat, the sharp end near her jugular.
She shuddered, almost breathless at the feel of the cold metal on her neck. Her eyes caught the glint of the golden object nearly piercing her skin.
"Forever…"
One flick of a wrist and….
Searing pain….
Red coated her vision.
A deep-throated chuckle broke the silence in the middle of her bloody demise.
She awoke with a start, water still running upon her form, looking around wildly and realizing that she was still in the shower.
No where near the outside.
No where near him.
The monster…
She placed a hand upon her throat, sighing with relief that there was no wound and no blood when she saw that no blood was upon her fingers.
The knife near her neck…
It felt so real...
Like the wound upon her back…
The water stung the cut, just like the memory of that wound.
The memory….
The pain…
"You remember, my dear?"
She nodded absently.
"That's good, my little Serenity." He pulled her closer to him, the hand holding his ancient weapon upon her back.
"That's very good."
He then dragged the blade along her back, awakening her and reminding her of what pain truly was.
Agony.
Terror.
Death.
More death.
Manic.
Pain.
Illusion shattering…
Blood.
Death.
Requiem….
Shattered…
His presence…
Monster…
Demon…
Death…
Agony…
It hurts!!!!
Make it stop!!!
"AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!"
She shuddered at the vestiges of the pain that came from the blade upon her back, shivering and shaking her head, unconsciously covering herself with her arms before almost immediately dropping them again.
She refused to think about it anymore and hurriedly applied conditioner to her hair, combing it before she rinsed, and washed her body with a sweet smelling body wash. She scrubbed her whole form softly but almost hard enough in the hopes of washing all the filth upon her away.
The world is already upon deceit……
XI.
A/N: Yay I'm not dead! This seems to be a pattern with me and my multi-chapter fics, but I'm so sorry about the late update. Really sorry – I went to Europe for a summer vacation seeing the sights of London, Wales, Paris and Rome and eventually back to London again. It was an amazing trip, and hopefully I can go to Europe again soon. We've moved to a new home, so packing and unpacking has been a real hassle and that's why multi-chapter fics have taken longer to update. But don't worry, the house is a home now and there are fewer boxes to worry about. I'm taking the year off so I can gain residency and go to college in the coming year. Speaking of the year, Happy New Year! I'll be back with more drabbles, poems and more chapters and a commemoration of my third year here, with of course an Outcastshipping story. See you soon!
Soundtrack:
"Sekai wa Sude ni Azamuki no Ue ni" Kōji Yusa (Gin Ichimaru from Bleach)
"A Thousand & One Nights" SEE-SAW
"Professional Widow (Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix)" Tori Amos
"Mad World" Gregorian
"Somebody's Watching Me" Mysto & Pizzi
"12" Rie Kugimiya and Ryūsei Nakao(Nemu and Mayuri Kurotsuchi from Bleach)