Something Wicked in the Dark
Read Part 1: Something Wicked in the Dark by kitirine
Warnings: Death, my writing.
"I can't find anything." Nothing that made sense, anyway.
Not that invisible people and floating cups made sense. But I wasn't ready yet to accept what my search results were telling me, either.
we laugh like the dead would laugh
we laugh like the dead would laugh tonight
I clicked over to another tab.
More nonsense.
Another tab, another.
The blood in my head began to roar like something ancient. The fearsome migraine monster had awakened; I could feel the tentacles twitching sleepily in my skull.
Another tab. Another, another.
God grant me an explanation that isn't this.
laughing like red death unmasked at midnight
Lilith didn't seem to hear me.
She was somewhere in her own head, beyond the reach of time and twins.
She's been staring at those pears for the better part of fifteen minutes. Just looking at them with distant disinterest. I wonder what she's really seeing on the other side of her eyes.
I can smell them rotting sweetly from the dining room.
I don't know how she stands it.
we laugh like the dead would laugh
we laugh like the dead would laugh
She jumps in her seat when I take up the one beside her.
"Oh, good, you're back. You were starting to worry me for a minute."
"Me?" She asks, surprised.
though your soul has gone so far away from mine
I try to shrug it off, but it bothers me, this disconnect.
"I just hope your day dreams were more productive than my recent journey to the land of fail," I said, hoping I didn't sound as discouraged as I felt. "Google had exactly no useful information for me."
"I wish the library wasn't closed," she says again, echoing her sentiment from earlier.
your mouth opens slowly blowing smoke like time
"Me too."
* * *
laughing like the dead would laugh tonight
That night I dreamt a thousand dreams at once.
laughing like red death blood splashed by starlight
I woke up in a grocery store that nobody worked at.
Everything was cold, buried beneath layers of icy crystals.
I could feel the air misting in my lungs, just like breathing glass.
I woke up with my lips frosted shut, the rich taste of decay coating the inside of my mouth.
* * *
"Someone knows what we're up to."
"What? How?"
"I don't know, Lilith. But you need to get dressed; we need to get out of here."
"Where are we going?"
"To that old grocery store on Main Street."
"The Holiday? That place has been abandoned for years, Ang."
"I know that, Lil. I'm not a complete moron."
"What do you plan on buying, anyway? It's like 2am, nothing is open."
"It's a coldspot, Lilith."
"Well, why the hell didn't you say so? Let me get my coat."
* * *
look up there's a monster in the moon tonight
"You're sure about this?"
I couldn't help but smile. My lips cracked from the cold.
"When have I ever been sure about anything?"
you were born into a movie without sound but it's alright
"I wish that I could go with you..." She toyed with her fingers, prying at her long rubied nails in a way that made my stomach curl in on itself. "I don't like when you leave me."
we laugh like the dead would laugh
we laugh like the dead would laugh
I think back to the pear scene in the kitchen, and can't help but feel a twinge of satisfaction.
It felt good to hurt each other.
I don't know why.
we laugh like the dead would laugh tonight
She wouldn't look at me as I prepared myself. Sometimes I think she's a little jealous.
laughing like red death unmasked at midnight
"Be good," I said.
"Never," she replied, and I was gone.
* * *
The library was unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Empty.
Dimly lit.
Silent. Unnervingly silent. I could hear the blood swirling in my head.
And cold.
My God, it was cold.
Bitter, unnatural cold scraped like tiny teeth across my exposed skin.
I thought of Lilith, back in the grocery store bathroom, swatched in her favorite pants suit.
Now whose the jealous one?
Why was it so cold in here?
No time for that, Angela, I chastised myself. Find what you came here for, and get out before you freeze your tits off.
Good advice.
"The books," I muttered to myself, suddenly eager to obliterate the crushing silence. "Check the books. There's gotta be something here that will help you unravel this little mystery."
I ran my fingers down the dusty spines. Tried to make sense of the strange symbols that adorned them.
There had to be something here... this place had called to me. There had to be a reason.
"David?"
The voice, as gentle and feminine as silk, was as sudden and jarring as a slap to the face.
I fumbled and thrust the book I'd been holding back into place on the shelf, paying no mind to whether or not I bent the pages.
"In the back, Lace," responded a male voice, deep and raspy. Sinuous.
It made my skin crawl.
"This way, my darling," the woman said, and for one terrifying moment, I thought she was talking to me.
"You didn't mention a David," came a third voice, shrill and prim and indignant.
"Oh, you'll like David," the woman assured him.
The man grunted his displeasure, but followed her into the backroom without hesitation.
Certainly, he liked her.
we laugh like the dead would laugh tonight
we laugh like the dead would laugh tonight
tonight
tonight
tonight
tonight
tonight
tonight
we laugh like the dead would laugh
we laugh like the dead would laugh
"Angela!"
we laugh like the dead would laugh
we laugh like the dead would laugh
* * *
"Angela!"
"Oh, thank God, it's you." I threw myself against her, basking in her warmth, the safety of her arms.
"Of course it's me, psycho. Who else would it be?"
"I don't know," I murmured into her hair, gorging myself on the smell of coconut and skin. "I don't want to know."
Lilith held me tighter, and laughed.
like the dead would laugh
Credits:
kitirine for the pictures. She is also the creator of David Meyes and Lacrimosa Valentine.
Song lyrics are from "Like The Dead Would Laugh" by Deadboy and the Elephantmen.