Prologue
Sinister Dreams
Darkness surrounded her, swirls of black and grey behind her eyelids as she lay on a cold surface, her body shivering in it's balled-up position. It took her a moment to open her drowsy eyes, only for a flash of light to make her flinch them closed again. Lifting her hands up to her face, she rubbed her eyes gently, opening them more slowly the second time, allowing them to adjust to the sudden brightness before her. She uncurled her body and lay flat on her back, her joints aching in protest, before sitting up straight and gazing around.
Glowing lights floated as far as the eye could see, illuminating the seemingly endless blackness all around. The scenery, or lack-there-of, reminded her of the night sky, except she was getting an up-close experience, in a way. At that thought, she wondered where she was. Fogginess coated her memories as she tried to remember something, anything at all, to no avail. Instead she received a sharp pain that traveled through her head, making her wince, and she grab her head. She massaged her temples, ending her feeble attempts of regaining any memory, and shook her head slightly to clear the remaining pain. She sighed in relief as it went away, then looked around another time. Still nothing but lights, lights, and more lights. Frowning, she knelled then stood up slowly, glancing around for anything other than the floating balls of light surrounding her.
Nothing.
No walls, no doors, no ceilings, or other objects. Her frown deepened as she took a step forward, feeling nothing beneath her feet. She felt no solid ground, as if it had simply disappeared while she was standing there. But then, she didn't feel that she was falling. She stayed in place, afraid to move in fear she would start plummeting to her doom, like stepping off a high cliff above the clouds and plunging into the mystery below them. Although she was nervous and albeit a little scared, her confusion and curiosity over-ridding her other emotions a wee bit more, giving her enough courage to take another step. Wither she fell or not would be her demise.
Regardless of that thought, she eased a foot forward, leaning weight on it, hoping she wouldn't drop completely forward into the nothing underneath her. To her surprise, her foot was met with something solid, although it only lasted a split-second before the feeling vanished. Her leg stayed where she put it, her balance unmoved.
She drooped her shoulders, relaxing her body, and took another step, then another, and pushed forward, hoping to see something new. Whilst she strolled along the open space (though it came across more as gliding), she paused in her gait as she felt her shoulders twitch. Her hands shook slightly, and she felt sweat on her neck and forehead. Her heart raced rapidly and her head ached. What's happening? she wondered, the sound of her voice in her head resembling a little scared child's, am.. am I having a seizure? The longer this went on, the more anxious she felt, fear poking around her brief serenity. The longer this went on, the more anxious she felt, fear poking around her brief serenity. It was like she was getting washed away the longer she stayed in that place, the universe of lights before her stripping her sanity drop-by-drop as the bodily-liquid ran down her pale cheeks.
After she tried taking calming breath, inhaling shallow bits of air at first, she began to feel a bit more like herself. She stood there, hugging her arms to her torso. A chill ran up and down her bare arms, and she frowned, glancing down at herself. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. "Oh, God..." She took a moment to digest the fact that she was completely nude, wherever she was. She could feel her cheeks heating up, though she knew that no color would appear on her olive skin. After waking up in this situation and walking around for God-only knew how long, she had/em just noticed the fact that she had no clothes whatsoever on her small frame. A howling wind met her, the cold making her body tremble again. This was all a little to much for her to process, unfortunately, and she felt the tears behind her eyes, threatening to wreck her body in sobs. Giving up, she went back to her original position on the 'floor', a firm sensation numbing her chilled skin as she laid down, only lasting a moment as usual. She hid her face in her arms, cradling her knees to her chest as she hyperventilated. It took some time for her to regain her breath, though it was still evident that she was freaking out.
A sudden thumping sound made her jump, and she lifted her head in response, her eyes glancing in every direction, hardly taking in anything but glowing spots. Her heart began to beat faster, and she tightened her balled-up body in fright. Her respiration started to kick up again, and she held her breath. Another thump sounded, followed by a growl. She gulped and closed her eyes, shaking her head to try to calm herself. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes again, and she stood up in a high crouch, turning clockwise, taking in everything around her. She was having one of her brave moments again, where curiosity over-came her fear. Not that that was always a good thing.
Once again, she could see nothing but the lights. But instead of the lights simply floating, she saw them moving in every direction, like comets in the sky, dancing together. She blinked as she watched in awe, completely forgetting about the odd sounds from earlier. The lights began to crowd around her, coming closer and closer. One light touched her shoulder, and she yelped in pain. The light felt as though it was gripping at her skin, trying to tear it from her, burning her as though she was a burning log in a blazing fire. More and more lights touch her, and she let out a low scream. The burning sensation moved to every part if her body the lights came in contact with. The tears from before pooled in her eyes and dripped as her screams grew louder and louder. Torched, mangled flesh ripped off her body as the lights tore through her. She gasped through her blistered throat, and all she could do was take it. Her body ceased moving, completely scorched by the once pristine beautiful glowing balls. In spite of her corpse, she could still hear a faint, low malevolent voice laughing in glee.
Apart from everything that had just occurred, that laugh terrified her the most.