Bloodshed.

My eyes were still glued to the door almost 15 minutes after Taegan had left. I shook my head, bringing myself back to reality and sauntered my way over to the kitchen. I sure was hungry, but I doubt there was anything there to feed myself with. I checked the cupboards first, and found that there was one package of Salteens left. I couldn’t help but lick my lips. Taking them out precipitously, I made my way to the fridge, yanking the door open. I was met with an empty pitcher of milk, a full container of butter, some form of meat (I couldn’t tell, it was way overdue). I checked the side and was pleased when I found one last can of Coca Cola. I snatched it up and closed the door.

I sat down in one of the 2 kitchen chairs that I owned and opened up the package of crackers. Nibbling on one, I opened up my pop and washed the salty cracker down. It felt amazing as my stomach filled up with something other than candy. Taegan would be on my ass for the pop but at least I was drinking something.

I walked over to my writing chair, placing my Coca Cola beside my cell phone. Ifell sat down and almost shoved the crackers into my mouth. Before I knew it, the whole package was gone. With a slight frown, I tossed the empty package into the garbage. Well, it was good while it lasted. My eyes drifted over to the still blank page. It seemed to be teasing me now. And the incident just wouldn’t leave my mind. It was worse than the nightmares, to say the least.

“Why can’t I be normal?” I asked myself aloud. I sighed loudly, the air being exhaled from my mouth making my bang flutter in front of my eyes. Closing my eyes tightly, I tried to imagine happy things. Yep, my life was just full of them. My eyebrows furrowed together as I tried very hard to concentrate on positive things. That’s when I started to feel angry. Instead of happiness, my mind was overflowing with all the shit I’ve been put through. The dreams, not having a job, bumming money off my best friend, obsessing over a stupid story that caused me so many sleepless nights. I gritted my teeth. Now, usually I’m not the angry person. All those years of not telling anyone, of dealing with it on my own, took a toll on me.

Without thinking, I stuck my arms out in front of me and pushed the typewriter off the table. It landed with a soft thud on the carpeted floor. My breathing was heavy and my eyes were dead set on the last resting place of the typewriter. I instantly grabbed the massive pile of papers from behind me; my story. I threw it on the floor as well, and stood up crossly.

Moments later, my expression softened. It hurt to put my mad face on. I looked at the destruction I’d caused, but turned sharply away from the scene. I sprinted over to the bathroom and shut the door behind me, falling back against it and sitting on the floor.

I was overtired. I could feel it. I just had to get some shut eye, somehow. To be fair, I was afraid that the episode would repeat itself. But, it was as if I couldn’t control my own body movements anymore. I closed my eyes anyway. The colours returned before my eyes, and for a second, I smiled. Bright swirls of green, and pink. It was beautiful.

Then the falling feeling returned. But it was softer this time. It was kind of like I was falling onto a cloud. It was nice, I had to admit. Everything around me kind of disappeared. I couldn’t feel the floor anymore, and it was cold now. When all of a sudden -

‘Help me!’ came a piercing voice. It wasn’t coming from outside. It was in my head. And there it was again. The hollow ringing. The awful pain. The screams. I was really out of my mind. I tried to pull myself out of it like last time, but it wasn’t working. I felt myself being pulled. My head was hurting. Everything was hurting. I just wanted it to end! I gave a loud scream as it became unbearable. And then..

Darkness.

**************************************************************

Everything was hazy. Maybe I was waking up. I was enjoying this sweet silence until I felt that sickening tug again. It felt as if I was being pushed into something. Or pulled. I wasn’t sure at this point. I felt myself falling forwards, and my vision became suddenly clear. I was happy for a moment, until I realized what I was seeing was the floor, to which moments later I fell upon. I landed with a thud and a groan. I was hurting enough already..

“Master!” I heard someone cry out beside me. It sounded female; and familiar for some odd reason. But who was it? I didn’t know any women, and why was she calling me Master?

“Ohhh…” was all I managed to say. I brought one hand up to hold my head as I slowly rose from the ground, but what I felt caused me to become even more confused. I felt some sort of fabric; a hat, perhaps. But I never wore hats.

“Sir, are you alright? You just fainted, out of nowhere.” the female voice said. I blinked a few times before turning around to see this mysterious girl. I shrieked. Yes. Shrieked, at what I saw.

It was an elf. A girl elf. It was -

“Claire?!” I asked/shouted. She blinked and stared at me with wide eyes.

“Yes, it is I, Sir. Are you alright?” she asked me again. Her face softened and she neared me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I knew all this work was too much for an Innocent..” she whispered. My heart was pounding in my chest at this point.

“Master! Why did you fall like that? You left me to fly off your shoulder! Now Willow has a huge bump on his head..” I heard a small voice say at my feet. I quickly looked down and was met by small, dark eyes, from a rather short creature.. Thing.

I backed away from both of them, fear boiling inside of me. This was impossible. Complete madness. I had to be dreaming. I looked down at myself, and saw that my attire consisted of black leather boots, dark purple pants and a long sleeved shirt, covered by a thick, black cloak. I had the hat to match. My hand instinctively went into the left coat pocket, and there I found -

“The Chaos Container… Holy shit.” I murmured. I looked back up to see Claire and Willow looking at me with concern.

And that’s when it clicked in. This was the only true explanation for all this. I wasn’t out of my mind. No.

I was inside my mind.