Chapter 3: Sleep

Yet it was not myself, exactly; in all aspects. It was indeed me in the facial structure, the stature, height, weight, etcetera... But it... I... Was wearing different clothes. I was wearing my favorite suit--the one I would usually wear to work, even though no one ever really saw me in it. It was modest, yet stylish at the same time. I despised wearing ties, so I rarely wore one. I was wearing a dark olive-green dress shirt with the collar neatly pressed and folded down, with the top button undone. I hate things around my neck too tight, I feel like I'm being choked. Upon my face was a deep, sullen explression... As if I had not slept for several days. My eyes were sunken in and darkened by rings of near black under my eyelids, and my lips were chapped and cracked. And upon those chapped lips was what was close to a frown, but not quite so. As if the effort part was a cut a little short.

I stood there looking at myself for a few minutes, stunned, not knowing what to do. Here, in front of my was myself, as if I was looking into a mirror back through time to just a couple of days ago--before I left to come here on my trip. We stared at eachother, eye to eye for what seemed like hours, but was most likely just minutes passing by agonisingly slow.

Then, suddely out of nowhere, the copy of myself began to laugh loudly, and maniacally. It startled me and I fell backwards, stumbling over the felled tree which I forgot was so close behind me. I hit the ground, hard. I looked up and watched the copy laugh louder and more crazed. The laugh began to turn into a cackle, which loudly echoed through the woods and the thick, foggy air... But most of all, it ehcoed in my mind. Bouncing back and forth upon my memories giving me a headache to end all headaches.

The copy's face then shifted and grimaced... It changed into a disgusting, terrifying face of a vile creatureish demon; gray and darkened, with protruding horns and a toothy grin from ear to ear. I began to crawl back on my hands in fear, pulling myself desperately away from the terror before me. The being before me lunged foreward, it's hands becoming claws in an instant. I cringed, and sheilded myself from it's attack with my arms, which would have prooved futile. Surely it would rip through bone and flesh, killing me instantly. My life flashed before my eyes, I layed there bracing myself for impact...

And nothing happened.

I shifted my arms just enough to see, and perred through the crevice between my tensed arms at where the being should have been. Yet, nothing was there. I looked around, attmepting to find it. It was not anywhere to be seen. Gone. Vanished.

Poof.

Shaken, I rose to my feet. I was weakened from the still lingering fear and absolute terror. I quickly gathered my bag up, and began to walk back the way I came. Back to the town, where I would be sae from that thing. I did not want to run into it again. I did not want to give it a second chance; I want to say luck was a factor in my survival, but something tells me nothing about it had to do with luck. After a brief moment I was walking on the trail through the thick fog, realising that it's goal was not to hurt me, but to scare me.

After a good amount of hiking, I began to wonder when I would break through into open. I had surely gone back the way I came, but nothing looked familiar. The muddy trails at my feet only looked more and more the same, the trees I kept bumping into kept looking simmilar. I would not admit to myself at the time, but I was indeed hopelessly, helplessly lost. I do not know exactly where I went then, but most likely I was only leading myself deeper and deeper into the woods, deeper and deeper into insanity. Out of the corner of my eye, I kept seeing a shadow lurking around a bend, behind a tree. I kept hearing noises coming from every direction more and more frequently, incoherent voices babbling louder and louder inside my head, the cackling laugh of the thing echoing louder and louder deep in my skull, which throbbed and pulsed with unbearable pain. I kept walking though, faster and faster, nearly breaking into a full run. I was sweating more then I had ever sweated in my life, I was in such excruciating pain, and panicing more and more by the second. The sky was darkening, and it was getting more and more hard to see in front of me, I still moved foreward though, running, turning on corner after corner, bend after bend, going more and more mad with every single step I took. I wanted to stop and scream into the sky, of anger and fear, and moments after that, I did.

A deep, rattling scream echoed through the fog infested woods, and I fell to my knees, punching the ground furiously. My knuckles began to bleed, but still I slugged the earth, screaming, crying, aching, bleeding.

The sky was now black, and the air was cold. I was tired and scared, in pain from my throbbing head and my bleeding hands. The only thing I could think about is smoking a cigarette, and sleeping.

So I did just that. I lit one up with shaky, stiff and aching hands and breathed deeply, feeling the smoke burn my throat. I left the burning cigarette in my mouth and lay there on the cold, wet ground with my backpack still attatched.

The air was still and quiet. The only thing I could hear now was my heart beating in my throat... No. In my head. It was throbbing so loud I could barely hear myself breathing, or thinking for that matter. Though the only thing I could think about was sleep. No thought being that attacked me, no thoughts of where I was, only sleep.

And so I drifted asleep.

Author's Note

This is the latest chapter, and this is as far as I got. Input on what you would expect would be wonderful. Once again, spelling errors should be noted.

I will continue this at a later time, please hold tight and check back often. If you wish, I shall send you an alert when I complete the next chapter.

-Sickfreed Minerva Faust