Story: The Undertow
Title: The Undertow
Author: Guardian_Erin
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: original
Warnings: OD
Summary: Wren keeps going to extremes to delve into an otherworldly experience.
The room was still and silent, like an ancient tomb, laid in dust for centuries. Drips of water fell almost as if in slow motion, colliding when they struck, sounding slow ripples of sound through the thick atmosphere. Indeed, it seemed as though time itself had unravel and sprawled out, moving at a very slow pace. Perhaps it was the plethora of sleeping aids, painkillers, Thorazine, and whatever-else Charlie had stashed up in the cabinet. Maybe it was just the hour. Midnight was approaching and Wren could hear the clock slowing, the hand taking a small eternity before it jerked forward to count each second.
Wren slipped back into the warmth, the transitional liquid flowing around her. As she submerged, sound slipped away into the farthest recesses of her mind, echoing the beats that should be there. White melted away into a rippling sky, air dissolving away into light. A tranquility rushed over her body like a cold chill, sliding down her spine. So deeply relaxed, Wren momentarily forgot, and started to draw a breath.
She immediately choked, sitting upright to breathe in the air again. It was thick in her lungs, and when she looked around, miles of dark forest stretch out for an eternity. Wren took another breath and ran her hands back, over her sopping wet hair. She kept her hands linked at the back of her neck, looking down at what appeared to be fresh burns on each forearm. The smell of smoke pervaded the area, and an orange glow flickered far in the distance, casting the trees into stark silhouettes.
A smell like copper tinged the air, and Wren looked down to watch faintly red trails disappear from her into the dark water. Everything had run cold, and she felt as if she weighed a thousand pounds. Head spinning, she fell herself sink away, enveloped in cold water once more, something echoing from far away.
"Wren!" she was pulled out of shallow water, breaking the spellbinding effects. "Wren!" Charlie cried again when the dark haired girl coughed, and hugged her tightly. "What the hell were you doing?" Charlie asked, nearly in tears.
It was harder to breathe, but Charlie refused to let her go, and she was so warm.
"I was…there," Wren said, still dazed. "In the place. In the river. It's the river."
"You're so fucking stupid," Charlie said, covering her sob with anger. "You need to stop… stop going there, Wren. There is nothing there for you!"
"But it's real," Wren breathed when Charlie pushed her back, and she was met with hard eyes struggling with emotion. Charlie's eyes were a dark, like the cold and black water.
"I don't care," Charlie grit out, shivering ever so slightly with fear. "Aren't I enough for you here?"
The question restrained Wren more than drowning.
"Yes," she whispered, painfully pulling out the word. Painfully answering a question that shouldn't have had to be asked.
"Then why are you trying to leave me?" Charlie demanded to know.
Wren realized she had no answer for that, because Charlie would never believe that she wasn't trying to leave this world. It technically wasn't even the truth anyway. "I will never leave you," she promised, tears coming to her eyes for causing her lover such pain.
Charlie sniffed, smiling ruefully. "Then stop being such a bitch."
"I'm sorry," Wren laughed weakly and reached forward, wrapping her arms around Charlie's neck and resting their heads together. Focusing on the sound of Charlie's breathing, Wren tried to wipe clear the vivid images of that world, but knew she never could.
Author: Guardian_Erin
Rating: PG-13
Fandom: original
Warnings: OD
Summary: Wren keeps going to extremes to delve into an otherworldly experience.
The room was still and silent, like an ancient tomb, laid in dust for centuries. Drips of water fell almost as if in slow motion, colliding when they struck, sounding slow ripples of sound through the thick atmosphere. Indeed, it seemed as though time itself had unravel and sprawled out, moving at a very slow pace. Perhaps it was the plethora of sleeping aids, painkillers, Thorazine, and whatever-else Charlie had stashed up in the cabinet. Maybe it was just the hour. Midnight was approaching and Wren could hear the clock slowing, the hand taking a small eternity before it jerked forward to count each second.
Wren slipped back into the warmth, the transitional liquid flowing around her. As she submerged, sound slipped away into the farthest recesses of her mind, echoing the beats that should be there. White melted away into a rippling sky, air dissolving away into light. A tranquility rushed over her body like a cold chill, sliding down her spine. So deeply relaxed, Wren momentarily forgot, and started to draw a breath.
She immediately choked, sitting upright to breathe in the air again. It was thick in her lungs, and when she looked around, miles of dark forest stretch out for an eternity. Wren took another breath and ran her hands back, over her sopping wet hair. She kept her hands linked at the back of her neck, looking down at what appeared to be fresh burns on each forearm. The smell of smoke pervaded the area, and an orange glow flickered far in the distance, casting the trees into stark silhouettes.
A smell like copper tinged the air, and Wren looked down to watch faintly red trails disappear from her into the dark water. Everything had run cold, and she felt as if she weighed a thousand pounds. Head spinning, she fell herself sink away, enveloped in cold water once more, something echoing from far away.
"Wren!" she was pulled out of shallow water, breaking the spellbinding effects. "Wren!" Charlie cried again when the dark haired girl coughed, and hugged her tightly. "What the hell were you doing?" Charlie asked, nearly in tears.
It was harder to breathe, but Charlie refused to let her go, and she was so warm.
"I was…there," Wren said, still dazed. "In the place. In the river. It's the river."
"You're so fucking stupid," Charlie said, covering her sob with anger. "You need to stop… stop going there, Wren. There is nothing there for you!"
"But it's real," Wren breathed when Charlie pushed her back, and she was met with hard eyes struggling with emotion. Charlie's eyes were a dark, like the cold and black water.
"I don't care," Charlie grit out, shivering ever so slightly with fear. "Aren't I enough for you here?"
The question restrained Wren more than drowning.
"Yes," she whispered, painfully pulling out the word. Painfully answering a question that shouldn't have had to be asked.
"Then why are you trying to leave me?" Charlie demanded to know.
Wren realized she had no answer for that, because Charlie would never believe that she wasn't trying to leave this world. It technically wasn't even the truth anyway. "I will never leave you," she promised, tears coming to her eyes for causing her lover such pain.
Charlie sniffed, smiling ruefully. "Then stop being such a bitch."
"I'm sorry," Wren laughed weakly and reached forward, wrapping her arms around Charlie's neck and resting their heads together. Focusing on the sound of Charlie's breathing, Wren tried to wipe clear the vivid images of that world, but knew she never could.