Near death

A necklace made her see the thing standing beside her.

*

It was an eldritch school year for Visty, she never experience hunger or so she thought. Everything and every assignment meant more to her than the health of her body and mind, but this pernicious pattern will cause her to experience things that will make anyone stutter.

One morning Visty made her way to school but it was raining heavily and the wind was relentless, it very nearly tore her from the ground and as Visty would imagine it; rip what is left of her body apart. She believed even the birds would find her tasteless.

But what was so perplexing about Vistys logic was that even though she wanted to be voluptuous, she still would not eat. Food was appealing and everyone around her enjoyed it, but her brain was being eaten away to ever notice that a bit of effort and experiment would lay her back onto the ground.

**

‘My mom told me that she don’t care about my emotions,’ Mishka informed before shoving a piece of sandwich into her mouth.’

‘Oh yeah, well my mother told me that I would never succeed at anything I do.’ After she said this, a bit of pain covered her heart and she became aware that she might be overpowering the conversation, but it was too late.

‘I do care about you Visty, but sometimes I want to vent for a bit; you know that right? I will listen to you when it’s your turn. Okay? I am sorry if I made you sad’, Mishka was dangerously close to Vistys face but she didn’t seem to mind, perhaps it was her way of showing tender care for Visty, the kind her mother wasn’t able to part with.

Lunch time was about to be over and Visty parted ways to have a quick bathroom break. She discovered herself in the mirror and she was repulsed, it wasn’t her body this time, it was her face. She was ever so certain that she looked prettier than this before leaving her home, or maybe not pretty at all as it wasn’t very clear in this mirror.

As she stumbled into her seat feeling awkward that eyes were on her for being the last one in, she noticed that the teacher wasn’t looking, she was trying to find something in her bag.

‘Sorry miss,’ her voice quivered as if a tear was coming from the deepest part of her insecurities.

‘That’s alright Visty, you’re here now’, the amiable voice of Miss Tolkien made her swallow the lump in her throat and only a tear fell from her left eye. Miss Tolkien looked at her and as if engaging telepathically, Visty knew she would like to speak to her after class. Interrupting lessons even for the kindness of one’s heart was not permitted by miss Tolkien but the students honoured her for it.

At home Visty was changing out of her school clothes when a package arrived for her. She heard that little drop and she ran downstairs to pick it up with one arm failing to make it through the armhole. It was a small parcel so she suspected that it could be her necklace.

With her mother still being at work and she had the house to herself, she went to the living room to sit on the chair instead of the sofa, without having to hide it. After dropping the plastic onto the ground she opened the box and there laid the moldavite necklace.

It dangled before her eyes then she proceeded to put the necklace around her neck and breathe the breath of gratification, feeling as though she had received a gift. But before she could move, her right ear started to feel hot and there was a sort of energy in the air, her body radiating towards seemingly nothing. But there was someone there and it was looking right at her without movement, tall and black.

She ran to her room and closed the door, sitting on her bed she was overjoyed to be in front her mirror again. She could see behind and around her and she didn’t feel frightened anymore. Kicking her slippers off, she decided to lay down and almost immediately she fell asleep as if the necklace had a hold on her.

The room was dark and the sounds outside could no longer be heard, it was just her in this thick cloud of darkness until she could feel the air beneath her. But why is there air underneath?

What is happening? Visty debated the darkness, and it delivered nothing but silence. Visty clutched the side of her bed wondering why she would even have to do this. She was in her own bed and her body was laying on top of the sheets, except it wasn’t.

‘Say the word, and you will be back. Only promise that you will tell the world. Be wary of the things you do.’