Chapter 6- Confrontation

Who says nightmares aren't real?

She was always there. Not Anna… Grace. Will tried his hardest to avoid her�"went to meetings early in the morning, until she began showing up there. He switched to late nights, but after a few days, there she was again. Her green eyes pierced him, watching, until he left, usually with his heart beating frantically and panicky stars exploding in front of his eyes. Again and again, his shadow growled and forced him out. Swallowing adrenaline back, he looked for Anna, around the parking lot, around the corner. There was never even a trace, no yellow flowers or warm air.

Just give up. I own you. No one can take me away from you. Your miserable, stupid, lonely self

Blank white walls stared back at him. His shadow sat, heavy, on his chest. Longer and longer mornings kept him hostage. Will could feel himself slipping into darkness. Where before he flew, unconscious, now he fell�"jagged rocks rushed towards him as he tumbled over cliffsides. And his own voice whispered, let it come.

Sweat drenched him when the weight finally lifted just enough for him to slip out and make his way haphazardly to Jeremy’s car.

“Have you been drinking?” was the greeting he was met with, and he muttered in return, staring out the window for the duration of the drive.

He could feel his pulse throb in his palm, heat was growing in his stomach. He’d escaped the shadow, and now this wormy chick had the nerve to stalk him? She was taking away his life. His will to live. As his teeth clenched he glanced down at his lap and caught glimpse of red steam drifting from between his tightened fists.

In his surprise, he forgot his anger, and the steam immediately dissipated. It was all so strange, these things that were happening to him… he had stopped telling himself they weren’t real. He’d begun to believe. Will mused, perhaps now he was truly crazy.

Maybe if he could understand it all, he could use it.

He could tell that she was there before he even walked in the door. This time, however, he wouldn’t leave. Couldn’t leave, not with Jeremy there. Her green eyes widened as he strode directly towards her, ignoring the hisses of the shadow and its frantic expansions, its whispers turned to yells. Hot steam burnt his fingers. He felt it from a distance, as though someone else were feeling it for him. When he grasped her arm, worms fell dead between them. Ones that jumped from her burnt up in the air before they reached him.

“Come with me,” he said, pulling her outside with him. Cold air rushed from both their mouths as they burst outside, her eyes large with fear.

He turned to face her, narrowed his eyes threateningly. “Why are you stalking me?”

Mouth agape, stuttering, now more than a trace of hurt in her expression. “I-I’m not-“

“You’re at every meeting I’m at. Whenever I go to a new time, you end up there.”

She stared, lavender worms writhing in her skin. As he watched, they began to turn violet around her neck and cheeks. “I’m not stalking you!” she burst out, before turning and walking back into the meeting room, letting the door slam behind her.

Will followed after a moment. Sat on the opposite side of the room from her. Felt a difference in the atmosphere�"a hot resentment blasting in his direction, a new absence of her eyes on him. Far before the meeting was over, she rose and left. Shame burnt in his stomach, and triumph. Thick relief swarmed around him, knocking his shadow out for the first time in weeks. Will felt like crying.

P***y, it whispered, when he left on weak knees.