Holding On

Shouts, blood, fear and death; that was all that I saw whenever I closed my eyes. Matt had left hours ago and I've been laying in my bed ever since; I needed some sleep and some rest but couldn't get any of those. The only thing I could think of was Matt and Val. I don't want her to get hurt, she's been one of the closest people to me for years; the last thing I want is to lose her. I just have to protect her from Matt.

A yawn escaped my mouth as I tried to keep my eyes open, focusing on thoughts. But my eyes were slowly closing, against my will. The blackness was all that I saw until the red stains started to appear everywhere. Johnny I heard an echo calling my name. Johnny the echo got louder; it sounded familiar. It never stopped, only got louder and louder. The louder it became the more desperate they sounded. It was like this someone is screaming for help. I looked around trying to figure out where the voice came from, but it was just an echo, it came from everywhere!

Johnny I heard a weak whisper. The whisper was echoing around just like before, become louder and louder, more and more desperate. It needed help. I tried to understand where the whisper came from. The whisper, it was just so close! And so damn familiar, I know that person, I know that someone; I have to help them! I heard a movement between all the echoes, I tried to listen closely to where it was coming from when suddenly something gripped my leg, I gasped and opened my eyes in fear, looking down to see what it was.

Laying on the floor right next to me was Val, whiter than anything I have ever seen. Her hand loosened grip of my foot as I kneeled down to her. I looked at her, she seemed really bad. Her lips kept moving but making no sound. I tried to read them, it seemed as if she was trying to ask for help, trying to ask me for help. I tried to figure out what is wrong with her, what happened to her. Something on her neck caught my attention. As soon as I noticed it her head turned around so I could see it better. I shuddered. She had two holes in her neck, covered with blood, some sort of a horrible wound. My eyes widened, I wanted to look away, I didn't want to see it; but I couldn't tear my eyes off it.

The echo started slowly fading away, instead of getting louder and louder it had gone more and more silent. And instead of sounding desperate it sounded hopeless. Val's eyes closed the second the echo was getting softer. I grabber her by the shoulders and tried to wake her up. She has to wake up! I shook her body but nothing happened. The echo was fading away too quickly and I could feel Val fading with that. She was disappearing in front of my very eyes; literally. Her body became transparent and as soon as the echo was over Val was gone. My hands hit the ground where she was laying seconds earlier. I jumped on my feet as soon as that happened and looked down; it was all full of blood.

Johnny the echoes came back. Just like before they were getting louder and louder, surrounding me from everywhere around me. I looked up, Val was standing right in front of me, her lips moving non-stop but no sound come out of them. Then she collapsed on the ground. I would have checked on her but another Val appeared right where the previous one was standing. Slowly the entire place was filled with Vals, the more of them that were the louder the echo became. It was no longer screaming for help, they didn't call me. The shouted at me, they sounded angry, and amused at the same time.

One by one all of the Vals collapsed to the floor, the echo becoming even louder as they did so. I saw something moving. It was like a shadow between all of the darkness coming toward me quickly. I started walking backwards, trying to get away from it, but no matter how much I moved I was going nowhere. From the distance I saw something shining on that shadow; something red. As the shadow got closer to me I could feel the fear growing inside of me; I was terrified. I was relieved when I found out the shadow coming over to me was actually just Matt. But the way he walked, the way he looked and that shining red thing; it made me even more scared than I was.

Matt was standing in front of me, smiling widely with blood dripping from his mouth, I watched as the blood drops were landing on a neck of one of the Vals that were laying helplessly on the floor. And then he laughed, he laughed out loud. The echo of his laugh was horrifying. He took a step over to me and opened his mouth like an animal about to attack, revealing his red sharp, long fangs. I tried to run away but I seemed to be staying in the same place. He just laughed louder seeing me like that. Then all of the Vals around suddenly stood up as Matt raised his arms up. They all seemed sort of like zombies, with no life in their eyes and their arms stretched before their bodies.

You'll die as you lived in a flash of a blade, in corner forgot by no one. You live for the touch , for the feel of the steel. One man and his honor. They all started singing as all the zombie Vals were head banging to the sound of guitars and drums. The music had the same damn echo as everything else. Slowly all of them faded into white, the echo fading with them. The song kept playing over and over, chorus only. I found myself staring, terrified, at my ceiling; all alone. The chorus started again, I looked to my right, where the sound was coming from, and grabbed my phone.

"Yes?" I answered the phone, trying to sound calm. "Hey kid, are you up for some drinks?" Jimmy's voice asked me. I smiled; there was nothing I needed more than getting drunk as fuck right now. "Yes, please" I said smiling. "We'll be right there" he said and hanged up. I got up and went to the bathroom. I passed the mirror on my way to the shower, realizing I looked weird I stopped and looked. My face was pale and full of sweat. A shower is definitely needed.