Recurrence

I awoke to a bright town, my eyes burned adjusting to the pastel atmosphere. Colors swirled and blended making it difficult to understand exactly what I was seeing, like the feeling of where I was wasn’t conveyable by sight alone; the place itself was an emotion. But beneath the surface of the brick high school, masked to look and feel as if it came straight out of a 60s film, was nothing. Beneath the empty town laid nothing, like flimsy paper covering up a void so vast that life itself was intangible.

I stood on the front sidewalk of the school, adorned in a baby blue pencil skirt and small jacket in the same color with a sturdy white hat atop my head. I began to walk towards the back of the school, feeling cloudy and absent minded of my purpose; when a man pulled up in an electric blue Cadillac, looking identical to that of a sailor from the 20s. He politely offered me a ride to the back of the school and I politely accepted, considering how difficult it was to walk in such a tight skirt, and such dainty heels.

I climbed into the backseat of the car and began flattening out the wrinkles of my skirt, opening my mouth to thank the man for his kindness. However the man quickly leaned into me, pushing my body against the seat with one hand and splashing a thick, white powder into my face. He held a bag firm against my nose, which burned as the chalky powder forcefully made its way down my throat. Feeling dizzy, I glanced up at his face; His gaze held strong, eyes piercing through mine while his muscles flared, securing that I had ingested enough powder. My vision faded in thick waves, making it an effort to keep my eyes open, to even process what had happened to me, but soon exhaustion hit and I gracefully slumped against the leather seats.

I awoke to an empty town, except I didn’t. A beautiful woman now stood next to me with her black hair curled into large coils and a bright red smile. She wore an outfit exactly like mine but in a vibrant purple. She smiled at me then began walking to a vibrant blue Cadillac with a young man at the wheel; he had asked if we wanted a ride. What was wrong? I followed behind her slowly, cautiously. What was wrong? The man got out of his car and leaned against the car door, flashing a piercing smile. What was wrong? It all felt wrong, I felt cloudy, like I wasn’t really there. Then the man lunged.

He grabbed the other woman, wrapping her in a bear hug as he shoved the contents of a bag filled with white powder down her throat. She coughed, violently. She screamed at me and begged for my help as I motionlessly watched, that out of mind feeling made me slow to react. But I ran. I knew the chances and knew what would happen next. But my legs didn’t follow my mind; they lagged behind slowly melting, sinking into the ground. I turned, fear finally leaking into my mind, to see the man sprinting at me while I melted away, unable to break from the ground. He tackled me further into the ground, again holding me down with one arm and throwing, no, rubbing the powder into my face. Burning my eyes, suffocating me, I couldn’t breath, I couldn’t see, and beneath his strong build, I couldn’t resist. My vision faded quicker this time, wait, this time? Was there another time? I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breath. And I couldn’t see as the light finally fled.

I awoke to a cold feeling, a wind chill. I was in front of a brick high school with another woman. She wore clothes similar to me and had black, coiled curls. But this all felt morbidly familiar, and worse. The weather had shifted, the sky a little grayer, the world a little colder. Shifted? From what? I couldn’t remember.

The women smiled at me then began to approach an electric blue Cadillac with a handsome young man inside. They both shone so vibrantly in this fake, plastered town; one that I seemed to begin to blend with. Maybe that’s why he attacked her, jumping out of the front seat. The woman flinched back and turned, searching for an escape. But she must’ve known there wasn’t one, that’s why I couldn’t help, I could only wait until he came after me. However she found one, an open sewer drain, she dove in headfirst. A thick crunch resonated in the air, followed by the stench of death. She probably cracked her skull, oh God she cracked her skull.

All of a sudden I felt that pain, her vibrant pain. I was terrified. I sobbed and dropped to my knees, crawling away. Digging my nails into the concrete so hard that they bled and cracked beneath me, trying to go as fast as my lagging body would go. A mix of snot and tears ran down my face as I heard the man rapidly approaching behind me. A warm liquid spread down my legs as I choked on my sobs. But this wouldn’t do anything. The man still tackled me, still shoved that sickly powder down my throat, and my eyes still closed.