Psychopathy

Chapter 24- Down The Rabbit Hole

Isabel tumbled in the darkness. She had opened her eyes once at the beginning, but the darkness was the same outside as the inside of her eyelids. A blissful numbness settled over her, and she sighed in contentment as she began to float in the comfortable darkness.

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Ciara fell head over heels in the darkness. She had been fully clothed when she entered the door, but then the ground underneath her shattered. As she stumbled and descended into the darkness, her clothes had been ripped off of her and she was left wearing the tortuous outfit she had been wearing when she retreated into her mind. The air was cold as it rushed around her, and she shivered, both in cold and in the fear of what lay at the bottom.

Or was there even a bottom? Was this side of the door simply nothing but infinite darkness? Well, if that was true, that was okay. It was better than where she was, in any case. At least, though she was falling, she wasn't bleeding, she wasn't in pain, and there were no prying eyes to see her in her undress.

Voices surrounded her as she fell. She couldn't tell exactly what they were saying or what their intentions were, but she still curled up into a ball, trying to hide her very existence. The voices quieted as her falling began to slow. She uncurled as she slowed down enough to stay facing in a single direction that she hoped was down.

She gently came to rest, her hands and knees on the smooth surface. After a few beats of her heart, she slowly opened her eyes to see where she had landed. Immediately she closed her eyes, frightened by what she saw. Below her was the same darkness that surrounded her with only that invisible surface to separate it.

She took a few deep breaths and screwed her eyes shut, and a whine of fear passed her lips. She forced herself to open her eyes. She couldn't see the surface beneath her, but she could feel it. She felt the glossy surface under her fingertips, and as she flexed her toes, it seemed to thrum with some unknown energy. A few more deep breaths, and she forced herself to her feet, the surface beneath her holding.

As she started to look around, goosebumps raised on her arms, and she tried to rub them away. The air around her wasn't cold; it wasn't warm, either. It wasn't really anything. It was as if the air around her simply didn't have a temperature; almost as if there wasn't any air surrounding her at all. She didn't know what the rules were in that place. She didn't feel the need to breathe, but she did it anyway out of habit.

Somewhere in the distance, she heard what sounded like soft crying. Her head whipped towards the sound, wondering if she should follow it. But she knew she had to. She had to find out if she could help the crier. And besides, she had to be in this place for a reason, and the crying had to be a sign, right? After all, she couldn't hear anything else, so she might as well follow to see where it led.

As she followed the sound of the crying, whispering voices began to mix with the crying, and Ciara hunched her shoulders in fear. As she continued to walk, the crying grew louder, and Ciara knew she was on the right track.

But before she could get much farther, something sharp clawed at her feet, and with a yelp, Ciara began to walk faster. The thing clawed at her back, and Ciara broke out in a full-out run. Fear began to run through her veins as she ran away from something she couldn't see. Before long, she ran face-first into something that felt like sharp branches, scratching her skin and trapping her completely.

She tried to move back, but no matter what direction she turned, she felt sharp pins poke her skin. She put her face in her hands as she tried not to cry at her predicament. Was this the only thing behind the door? A prison of thorns? She almost wanted to be back in the world she had come from. At least there were some sort of visual stimuli and some audio stimuli other than the crying.