Post by Savannah Sunshine. on Nov 16, 2021 21:33:56 GMT -5
doc, i think she’s crashing now. & some things you just can’t speak about.
the following is a character development piece. it features dark and potentially triggering material. read at your own risk.
date: tuesday, november 16th, 2021
time: 7:00 pm
location: philadelphia, pennsylvania
There’s too much going on for her to deal with and the constant feeling of what feels like her head splitting in two is too much to handle. There’s a constant burning sensation at the back of her head, as if someone has shoved a hot branding iron into her head and through layers of brain matter and other gross parts. Hands come up to press tightly to her temples, palms pressing hard enough to where it leaves behind red in its wake. “Please.. Please stop. I can’t- I can’t take this anymore…” She’s begging, pleading with the many voices and pain she feels. It’s so much to bare, but the demon rears its head in the form of barely noticeable black smoke. A mere shadow in the corner of the room as it watches the human suffer.
“I don’t want to do this anymore, don’t make me. Please, please don’t make me…” She’s practically sobbing, doing her best to hold it all together as she curls up on the floor. There’s a mess in the bedroom she’s in, her own bedroom in the first house she bought when she lived here. The black smoke sways, but the demon can still see clear as day. It’s rare that a mere human can withstand such pain, but Savannah’s doing such a good job that they know they’ve made the right decision. Any normal human would have caved, would have died as soon as the venom spread. But, this one had more durability. This one was made of iron and blood and steel. This one was a fighter and she was giving the demon a run for their money.
“Not yet.” Persephone speaks, low and to the point, but not loud enough for Savannah to hear them. Meanwhile, Savannah is in agonizing pain as fingers claw at the plush carpet beneath her. She feels like her very veins are on fire, feels like thousands of little bugs are crawling through her skin. Nails scratch, try to dig into her skin as she breaks the skin. It’s hardly enough to cause too much damage, but the scratch marks are very evident. A loud and painful cry rips from the very core of her, lets out almost like a roar from the very depths within. Savannah’s curled into a ball, outer appearance that of a madwoman. If someone had walked in, they would be able to tell she clearly was not okay. But, there was no one else around her.
There was no one here to save her from her own demon. There was no one here to save her from herself. “Do not fight it, Savannah. Let it consume you, like a raging fire within. Do you feel it?” The demon taunts her, as if all of this is some silly game to them and Savannah lets out another yell. This time, directed towards the source of the voice that haunts her dreams and days and nights. “Go- Go to- To-” She struggles with her words, has to crawl towards the bathroom to puke out black sludge from the depths. It’s dark and tar-like as she continues for a few minutes. Persephone takes proper shape, following behind as orange locks blow slightly in the breeze left behind.
“You’re fighting what’s right. You need to let the darkness in. You need to allow it to take over, to swallow you whole. To encapture you and really help you reach your full potential.” The demon walks closer, kneels next to the human as they bring out a cool washcloth as Savannah still struggles to get a grip on herself. “Just a bit longer, we promise.” Washcloth reaches out in one of their hands, gently dabbing at the sweat that has collected against Savannah’s skin.
Yet, it does nothing to quell the fire that fills her to the very core. Nails dig into her palms as she curls up there on the porcelain floor that feels so cool and contrasting to the fiery heat that fills her to the core. It helps, even if it’s just a little bit. But, a high body temperature like this could not be normal. In fact, it wasn’t normal at all. There was no way a human body could go through these kinds of changes.
Everything hurts tremendously, it feels akin to being hit by a large vehicle, at least, that’s how she imagines it would feel. But, multiply that by ten thousand. She could hardly move from where she was, writhing in pain, curling up, puking black sludge, fire in her veins. So much was going on and she didn’t know how to handle it. Teeth grit together hard, jaw clenched as she bites back another roar of pain that threatens to rip from within. But, she doesn’t want to give the demon the satisfaction of knowing anymore than they already do. “If- If you want to- to kill me then- then just- just do it already.” Savannah’s words are barely gritted out through clenched teeth, arms wrapping around her stomach as if it could quell the immense pain she was feeling. If only it were that easy.
Persephone lets out an all too pleased laugh, one hand reaching out to brush curls from the frame of the humans face. “Don’t be silly, we need you to be alive. At least, for a bit longer.” They step away abruptly, leaning against one of the walls before taking a seat on the counter. “We do have to say, we are surprised you haven’t caved yet. Many humans have gone through the transformation. But, not many of them have survived. Some even have psychotic breakdowns and have to be locked away. But, not you, you are a lot stronger than we could have ever imagined.” They sound like a kid at a candy store, too excited, too giddy to know this. Their hands clap together, squealing with all the delight of a kid on Christmas, as they swing their legs around slightly. “At this rate, we will have things exactly how we want them and how they should have been all along.”
It was never this bad before, perhaps it was harder this time because of the pain and frustration Savannah had allowed herself to pile up lately. Or perhaps she wasn’t as strong as everyone claimed she was. Or maybe, just maybe, she should stop fighting. Maybe allowing the nagging darkness to take over would help. No, no! She had to stay awake, had to keep fighting it. “Please… Don’t do this. I- I can’t- I can’t go back there. You can’t-” She stops, cut off by the nausea bubbling up again. More black tar-like vomit spills from her in thick globs as she clutches onto the porcelain toilet as if her very life depended upon it. The wretching does nothing to help the pain or nausea, but it comes anyway.
It’s hard to breathe when the pain is so unbearable, but she can’t give up. She can hardly think straight, eyes burning as she fights back tears that threaten to spill from her eyes. Her throat is raw, from all the screaming and dry sobbing she’s done. “We give it about ten minutes or less before you are finally caving in.” Persephone is bored, examining their nails as they sit on the edge of the counter. Savannah tries to fight the near blinding pain as she tries to crawl towards the bedroom, cellphone lying on the charger mere feet away. Nails dig into the carpet as she forces herself to pull along. Happy thoughts, think of light, think of love. She tries to will herself to fight this off, tries to think of things that make her feel warm and safe and loved and protected. Nails dig into the carpet again, more dragging as she can hardly move. She’s sure she’s going to have even more pain from potential rug burn. But, it may just be worth it if she can pull a little further. If she can make it to her phone. If she can-
She stops, halfway over the threshold of the bathroom door. Eyes shut tightly as she glances down at her arms, veins turning a sickly dark inky-like color. The veins begin to spread slowly, crawling and crawling and crawling up past her wrists and past her forearms and they slow down. She whimpers, screwing her eyes shut tightly once more. I can make it. I can make it. I can- Her thoughts stop, eyes opening to the blurry sight before her. She shakes her head, tries to clear her vision as she wearily reaches one hand out again. Another fistful of carpet, more dragging. This time, slower and slower until she’s just fingertips away from the power cord of the charger. Her cellphone attached to the other side, it would be so easy to reach and stretch and tug the cellphone towards her. But, could she manage such a feat?
She’s mere fingertips away from the cord, fingers releasing their grip on the carpet. She tries to muster up the strength, reaches out as best as she can. She can almost reach it. The dark veins crawl further, slowly inching their way up past her upper arm now. Each crawling sensation can be felt, each sensation feeling worse the further and further the veins crawled. “N- No… No!” She grits her teeth, stretches as far as she can until she yanks the cord. There’s hardly any strength in the pull, but it’s enough to cause the phone to drop to the floor. Drops of blood drip onto the floor, one hand coming up to wipe at the bloody nose she now had. But, it’s not just blood. It’s that same black, inky, tar-like substance. She inhales a shaky and delicate breath, the mere action causing even more pain if it were possible. “Just- Just a little bit further…” She tries to will herself closer, tugs the cord with as much strength as she can manage until the phone is beneath her fingertips. She swallows hard, tries to keep the bile from spilling from her very core once more. Fingers unlock the phone, slide the screen around until the last dialed number appears there before her eyes. CONTACT: BLUEBERRY in bright white letters on a contrasting black background. The call button beneath it as she presses it with care and tenderness.
“Five minutes.” The demon calls out, but only loud enough for Savannah to hear. The phone rings and rings and rings and rings and Savannah prays Kit answers. Finally, on the last ring, a bleary Kit answers. “Sav?” Her voice is gentle and full of sleepiness as Savannah lets out a ragged breath. Something akin to thankful as her breath shakes slightly. “Help.” It’s Savannah’s turn to speak, barely above a whisper as she clutches the phone in her grip. She can barely make out Kit’s voice on the other end, but she can tell it’s full of worry. “Can’t-” She pauses, eyes rolling slightly as she curls inward on herself again. “Cold. Hot. Cold. Hot.” The words come out one after the other, body temperature changing every few seconds. “Sleepy.” The last word is a bleary murmur, Kit’s panicked voice yelling on the other side. But, Savannah can’t make out the words on the other end. She can no longer fight the darkness that has crept its way into her very veins.
Persephone steps out of the bathroom, watching as Savannah struggles to keep herself awake. The demon steps towards her, almost as if to mock her. “Well, that didn’t take too long, did it?” It’s a mere teasing tone, one full of mockery as Savannah wants to let out a retort full of vitriol. But, she doesn’t have the chance as her eyes roll into the back of her head. A cry of pain rips from deep within her as the veins appear on her cheeks and neck and along the opposite side. No amount of fighting can save her now. Not when it’s so easy to just give up. But, maybe this is a battle not so easily won this time. Maybe she can no longer fight this fight. It’s hard to breathe, chest rising and falling faster and faster as fingers twitch on her right hand slightly. Otherwise, her body is curled inward on itself and her breathing is labored.
Her body begins to convulse a moment later, writhing around on the floor for several seconds. Thirty seconds tick by, until her body stills… and she no longer breathes. Persephone tilts their head with all the curiosity of a mere child. But, they know fully well what will come next. There’s loud pounding at the door, several voices yelling loudly for Savannah. But, she’s in no condition to answer anyone. Persephone disappears almost into thin air, watches in her own little corner as the door is kicked in. EMT’s and Avery come crashing into the room a moment later. “No!” Avery cries out, rushing over to her sister as she puts her ear near her mouth. Feeling for any signs of oxygen coming from her lips or nose. “She’s not breathing… She’s not breathing!” She yells this time, forcing the EMT’s into action now. Avery is pulled away from Savannah’s body, kicking and screaming the entire time.
The EMT’s set to work immediately, checking for a pulse, trying to get any signs of life into the woman on the floor. Different supplies are pulled fro the small bag one of them carries. The other works to help their partner as they look to bring oxygen flow back. Portable defibrillator is pulled from its holder, one part placed just below the front of Savannah’s left shoulder and the other placed on her ribcage to the right. The other EMT works at chest compressions, before the other provides oxygen from the device placed over Savannah’s nose and mouth. The actions are repeated a few times, to no avail. Both EMT’s glance at each other, taking vitals before the other grabs Savannah’s wrist to check one final time for a pulse.“There’s a pulse!” She cries out, letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. “Barely there. We need to get her out of here. Now.” Both work to load her onto a stretcher and get her onto the ambulance. Avery riding along towards the hospital as both work along the way to get Savannah back to proper condition. Her vitals rise and fall every few minutes until she’s brought to a room immediately upon arrival.
