#we hittin' fun levels in Ch 8 boooi

[mooleche]

A Story of Ink and Venom - Chap. 7

A/N - A shorter chapter for once! There’s a needle reference and a little blood, just a fair warning! Also one french term near the end, it just means ‘stop talking’, haha.

Tagged - @master-sass-blast @leo-writer

If you’d like to be added on or removed let me know! Enjoy! (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

Chapter 7 - Awakening

They say that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes.

This was, well, true. I only say this because I’d experienced it myself when I was 20. Every memory was like a picture and every picture felt like it lasted a lifetime. It was hell.

After what had just transpired I fully expected to have the same result play like an old film projector playing its last tape. 

Only that wasn't the case.

I no longer sat breathing my last breath in the back of Renato’s lab. I blinked and was now sitting amidst a flower patch in a valley of grass. In front of me stood a woman.

Her back was turned to me, covered by a cascade of flowing red hair that ran through her pale hands like water.

“Oh Peter, this spot is wonderful,” I heard her call to me happily, and I frowned.

‘I’m not Peter’, I want to say, but I don’t get the chance.

A flicker of static hits me and the world goes black.

More voices now. They’re followed by laughter this time before the sound of glasses clinks together and I find myself releasing a content sigh. Only, the sigh isn’t mine, it’s that mans again, Peter. We’re at a restaurant. I’m looking into the woman's face this time, bright green eyes that light up as I stroke my thumb over her hand.

“When are you gonna let me put a ring on that finger, Red?” I murmur to her before she hides her blushing face away from me and stares out of the window. It’s a black abyss outside, but I’m met with the reflection of the man. He’s tall, broad-shouldered and clean-shaven, yet still somehow still manages to look youthful.

I ponder back to those words.

I never said that.

And I certainly didn't remember this place.

What was going on? These weren’t my memories.

Another flash hits me, this time with loud voices following.

The woman. She’s holding a knife at me now, green eyes alert with fear as I attempt to take a step towards her with caution. Another woman, an older woman, stands behind her with the same look in her wide eyes. We’re in a house now, there’s a broken vase beside me and my body is covered in a black skintight substance that fights me, or whoever I’m supposed to be, with every movement made.

“Peter, stop! This isn’t you!” the younger woman, the woman I’ve seen in all these ‘memories’ yells at me as I clutch my head. The voice is louder now, the urge to do something to stop her accusations growing with each passing second.

I want to tell her I don’t know what’s happening.

Instead, there’s a final flash before a blood-curdling scream hits my ears and I’m ripped from whatever strange dream I’ve been stuck in.

-

I shot up and released a startled gasp, gulping down air like my lungs had never experienced breathing before. What the hell was that? Who were those people? Those memories? Most importantly, where was I now?

A shrill beeping beside me alerted my attention and I turned to see what I could only guess was a heart monitor whose lines were now fluctuating rapidly as it tried to keep up with my wild heartbeat. I trailed the wire to my chest and delicately tore off the adhesive, immediately greeted with silence only dulled by the soft tune of what sounded like Claire de Lune to keep me company as I tried to recall what happened.

More wires. My thoughts were like sifting through a heavy fog until my eyes fell on the IV needle that lay nestled in my arm. I gritted my teeth before I removed it as delicately as possible, not like I had seen so many people rip it on in films and shows. I was met with the sight of blood that trickled down my arm in response.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. 

Renato. Phobus. The gunshot.

That terrifying black mass appearing before I-

I shivered at that thought, or maybe because all the sweat I had produced was now as cold as the room around me was. All I knew was that right now I had to figure out where I was and get some answers.

My vision blurred briefly in the dark area only to clear as I began to look around. It looked like your typical medical room; various machines lining the walls with a very neat looking nursing station for what I assumed were for various special procedures. 

It only occurred to me then that I had been in a gurney myself. I slumped forward and rubbed my face haphazardly to wipe any remaining exhaustion from my eyes before swinging my legs out to the floor. Even with my socks, the tile was ice cold, and like clockwork, a series of overhead lights blinked on at the sudden motion. I winced at the sudden brightness and fell back against the gurney to adjust to the change.

Nina.

The voice was deep and guttural in my head but so loud that I jumped in surprise. 

Who said that?

"Is someone here…?" I asked, voice dry and hoarse as if I hadn't spoken in weeks. I searched the room, even dared to wander to the desk nearby littered with papers and files. No one was there.

A menacing growl that faded into an ominous chuckle filled the air and I stumbled forward. My legs were a constant mixture of lead and jelly as I wandered through the large room before freezing in my tracks. Across from me in the reflection of a glass medical cabinet stood that creature's face where mine should have been. 

I released a panicked scream and stumbled back, falling flat on my ass as I missed the gurney and instead felt my mind grow dizzy with fear.

"This...this doesn't make sense...this isn't real, you’re supposed to be in jail…" I whispered to myself, hands shaking as the chuckle grew louder.

"And you're supposed to be dead! Funny how life works," it snarled smugly as I dared to stand and look at my reflection once more. 

The terrified face of a young woman stared back, black hair half matted to her dark skin while the other half fell in loose curls around her shoulders. There was no monster.

It was me. I was me again. 

I touched the fine black line that traveled across the bridge of my nose and sighed.

I must be hallucinating…, I thought loosely as I leaned against the counter for support, trying to ease my racing heart. I had to be, there was no other explanation to the sudden madness. This is crazy, I must be going crazy.

Not quite.

I gasped in horror, scrambling to catch myself as I jumped back from the counter like it was the culprit to the sudden voice. My eyes scanned the room desperately, settling upon the only door leading out to god knows where and I bolted for it, desperate to escape the memory of the creature that was haunting me.

Instead, it slid open to reveal Renato with a hand ready to knock, his mouth agape at me.

“Nina?” he gasped in surprise as my terrified appearance pushed past him into a brightly lit corridor. The flashes had returned, only this time I was not met with pictures but voices that overlapped one another. I clutched my head and closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on one but being met with many instead. I felt Renato grip my shoulders and call my name, worry in his voice. “Nina, speak to me. What’s going on?”

“Get off me!” I shouted, not because of what he said but because of what he now looked like when I looked up at him. He looked like that thing, that creature with its slick black skin and those long sharp teeth that snapped at me as I pushed myself away. 

I searched around me in a panic, trying to find an escape. The room was now spinning and I was losing my edge fast, unable to process everything happening. Renato called to me and I turned once more, seeing the face of a worried man I knew well and I grimaced. I felt like I was going crazy, in fact, I knew I was going crazy. Especially when I bumped into something hard and whipped my head around to see what it was.

Standing before me was a looming figure that stared down in what I could only guess was confusion. He was tall, taller than Ava or even Renato, but that wasn’t the strange part about him. It was everything else. He was covered in a fine blue fur that only seemed to end where his hardened facial features began and I gasped in shock.

“Miss, are you alright?” he asked me in a careful tone, but my hearing was muffled once more by those voices. Behind him, a set of doors similar resembling an elevator dinged open and I rushed past him, hearing both their voices call to me before fading as the doors shut and I was left alone once more.

“What’s happening to me…?” I whispered as I slumped against the cool wall of what was most definitely an elevator. Its slow hum confirmed this as it started it’s trek up and led me god knows where. I didn’t care, anywhere was better than where I had just been. My thoughts wandered back to Renato. Was that actually him? Was my mind just playing tricks on me again? 

Inside a dark chuckle rang throughout my head and I felt my heart pound once more.

What do you think is happening to you, Nina?

That voice again. I felt a chill run down my spine at it’s taunting tone and yet I couldn’t help but answer.

“I...I don’t know. What did you do? What are you?” I whispered frantically, feeling the elevator stop abruptly. Another flash went off in my head before it could answer, followed by a new voice, a calming voice.

Nina, can you hear me? He asked carefully. I nodded with hesitation before uttering a small ‘yes’ in response in case they couldn’t see me. This seemed to work as he continued.

Very good. Listen to me, you have to relax, he ordered, a voice that, the more I heard it, I swear I had heard before but just couldn’t place it. Another searing flash hit me and I found myself clutching my head in pain as the other tried to return. We want to help you, this is a safe place.

“A safe place…? I don’t even know where I am,” I whispered, pressing myself against the wall as my appearance took the form of the monster again. Its white eyes were narrowed into slits as it watched me, as if waiting to strike if I moved.

He’s lying, the other commanded. More flashes, little pictures of memories that I knew weren’t mine and yet they still invaded my skull like a hammer on wood. I had enough, I couldn’t take it anymore. He wants to hurt you, to use you-

“Get out of my head so I can think!” I shouted before bringing my fist to the metal door. I didn’t think it would leave a mark, I was never one strong enough for that. But I now stared at a heavy dent in the door that slowly slid open to reveal the outside and grimaced. I was greeted with silence, staring out into a room full of kids of various ages all staring back in shock at my outburst. There was nothing to say, what could I say after that other than ‘Where’s the exit?’ as I clutched my throbbing hand. A few lifted their hands to point to a corridor not far off and I uttered a small ‘thank you’ before booking it out of that room like a bat out of hell.

At any other time, I would have marveled the interior of this place. It was grand, filled with wooden architecture that even Ava would have gone gaga over. Right now it just looked like an endless nightmare of corridors that I had no escape from no matter how much I ran.

I struggled forward, my brain too muddled and my body beginning to grow too hot as I searched desperately for an exit. Anything to calm the chaos swirling around in my head. And just like that, the familiar voice popped in my head, this time stern.

Nina you have to stop, we can’t help you if you won’t let us.

“It’s too hot, I can’t...I can’t…” I whispered to no one in particular. Even if I wanted listen to him my flat out legs refused his request, desperate to escape this hallway of horrors. All I could focus on was making it outside. Outside would have cold air, maybe an escape to these voices. Outside was going to save me.

Don’t listen to him, the other commanded. I shook my head and rooted myself in place, suddenly unaware of where I was. In my hurry to run I suddenly found myself at a crossroads with growing panic spreading through me.

Nina, please-

NINA-

“Arrêter de parler!” I shouted to no one in particular. My voice must have carried through the halls because more children began to poke their heads out to see who was causing the racket. The eyes, the whispers, the incessant orders being given in my head were all too much. The room was back to spinning violently now and I could no longer keep up with anything. 

With a quick turn of my heel, I gathered up what remaining strength I had to head back to where I had been, to confront Renato or who I thought was him, for answers or help. Instead, I found myself smacking directly into something very hard. The heavy clang of metal contact rang through my ears before I hit the ground, only the faint whisper of ‘Bohze moi…’, being heard before my world turned black once more.

Finally, the voices had stopped.