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Nightmare on Malifaux Street.

Necromorph

By Necromorph
in The Writing Room

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Necromorph Proficient

Necromorph

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Sasha's eyes flicked open, and a sudden feeling of vertigo struck her. The second thing that struck her was the cold, unseasonable cold that seemed amplified by her sweat soaked nightgown. The third thing that struck her was that she was outside. Confusion quickly set in. She felt as though she had just lay her head down to sleep minutes ago, and now she found herself standing, nearly naked, on the streets of Malifaux.

She had only been in Malifaux for a month, working for meager wages in a factory to support her children. She was tough enough for factory work, but she didn't feel very tough now, standing exposed in the middle of the street at some unknown hour. She had heard of the horrible things that happened after dark in Malifaux, and her first priority was to get off the streets and back home. Sasha didn't know where home was, though. This area was unfamiliar to her, and the houses lining the street looked dark and foreboding, like black-eyed skulls nestled side by side. She looked for street signs to guide her way, but found only pools of darkness between the barely flickering street lights.

The final thing that struck Sasha, as she stood shivering in the street, was the silence. There was not a sound. No voices of drunk revelers, neither the squeak of rodents nor the harsh barking of dogs. Everything was dead silent. Cautiously, she approached the first few houses on the lane, knocking at the doors, and asking for help, but more silence met her pleas. Sasha tried looking in the window of one house which appeared to have light inside, but all she could see in the window was her own reflection, the low fire smoldering in the living area of the house was not bright enough to dispel the darkness of the room, and she could discern nothing of the interior. About to give up hope, Sasha heard a gentle swish of fabric and tap of feet on the cobbles the next street over. The silence was so absolute that the swish-tap was loud like the hiss-crack of gunfire through the cold, dead air. Sasha let out a breath of relief and ran to the corner.

There, walking away from her, was a woman dressed in the most elaborate evening gown. Layers of pink and crème swirling about her as she walked, and a matching parasol twirled about the woman's shoulder as she sauntered down the sidewalk. "Please, Ma'am, I need help, I'm lost, I think I was sleep-walking or something and-", Sasha's mouth worked soundlessly as the woman turned to meet her face to face. The visage under that parasol was a thing bred only in nightmares. Under a whisp of white hair was a round black head, covered in beady red eyes like those of a spider. The woman's mouth opened a fraction, revealing rows of needle like teeth. The woman spoke then, though her mouth never moved, and the voice Sasha heard in her head was like old, dry bones rubbing together in a casket. "Oh, Dear, I think you are lost. Come, let me show you the way…" The creature held one clawed, black hand out toward her, while that needle filled mouth seemed to broaden into a grin. Sasha screamed, turning and sprinting away as fast as she could, the sound of dry bones rattling came to her ears again in chittering bursts…the woman-thing was laughing at her. Sasha ran, screaming for help to the empty eyed buildings, but none answered. The shadows began to thicken between the houses, darkness spreading out toward the street. Through tear-blurry eyes Sasha saw shapes shifting in the shadows, half seen faces with dead eyes and too many teeth.

She ran and ran, her cold muscles threatening to cramp in protest, but still she ran. The shadows chased her, gibbering incessantly at her heels in a language she didn't understand. The darkness, almost a tangible thing now, like inky black smoke, drew closer, and one by one, the street lamps on either side of Sasha began to wink out. She was chasing the light, trying to stay within its protective circles, but she knew she was not fast enough. Something loomed in the doorway of the house to her left, all teeth and multi-jointed arms reaching for her. She yelped in surprise, ducking right into an alley between a row of houses and a storefront. She knew immediately that the alley was a mistake, and redoubled her efforts to cry for help until her voice broke from the strain. Tears streamed down her face, and in her hysteria, she didn't notice how they froze to ice halfway down her cheeks, shattering and cascading off her shoulders when she screamed for help that would never come. The darkness followed her into the alley, picking up speed in anticipation of the end.

Sasha came screaming out of the alley into a poorly lit courtyard behind the storefront. She searched frantically for an exit, but her heart sank to her feet as she realized it was a dead end. She wailed, slamming her fists on all of the doors, pleading for someone to help her, but it was futile. Sasha crumpled in a heap in the middle of the courtyard, bawling her eyes out and panting from exhaustion. All the while the darkness followed her out of the alley, spreading to encircle her. Tendrils of blackness, like claws and fangs, edged out of the encroaching darkness, eager to taste her flesh. Sasha thought on her life, the people she was letting down, the children she would never see again, and the rest of her life she would never experience. These thoughts, the strain, the emotions built up insider of her like water against a dam. The pressure built and built until something broke open inside her terror addled, grief stricken mind. Some dam of anger, so strong and so powerful it eclipsed everything came crashing down in a flood of blinding rage. It wasn't fair! What did she do to deserve this! Why were they trying to kill her! These Bastards! Whatdidtheywantwhataboutherchildrenwhatabout-. The pressure of her rage built behind her eyes and in her temples until it felt as if her head would explode; the blinding pain almost too much for her to bear. Still the darkness came closer.

She just wanted it all to- "STOP!" she screamed, her voice deepening unnaturally as the force in her mind broke through into the physical world. A pure wave of invisible, aetheric force spread out from her like a shockwave. The ground beneath her was crushed downward in a perfect hemisphere, mirroring the ball of force spreading out from her. The building facades on all sides of the courtyard were compressed and bowed inward as the wave continued to expand. With the cry of a thousand inhuman minds, the darkness around Sasha was obliterated, dissipating like a plume of smoke in a hurricane.

Silence fell once more on the courtyard. Sasha was shaking, staring down at her damaged hands. She was unable to properly control the aetheric forces spilling forth from her mind, power she had no idea she possessed. Releasing this energy had taken its toll on her body. Her palms and fingertips were split and bleeding and her arms felt bruised to the marrow. A thick line of blood ran from one nostril and she spat, noticing several teeth in the bloody mess at her feet. The power within her, and the crushing pressure in her head had subsided to a dull roar, but her thoughts were still cloudy. She collapsed in the crater that her power had created, trying to reason how she would get home, and what was happening inside her head. Terror gripped her once more as she found only confusion and doubt in her aching, churning head.

The darkness was not finished. A bellow issued forth from the mouth of the alleyway, the sound loud enough to break any intact windows in the courtyard. Sasha dragged her head up off of her chest to witness the monstrosity emerging from the alley to confront her. It was almost twice the height of a man, and covered in matted, moldering fur. With a sickening realization, Sasha saw that the creature was a massive and horrible parody of a child's teddy bear. The teddy bear opened its mouth, its impossibly large mouth, revealing teeth like short swords and the creature issued another bone shaking roar. The creature began to charge, starting out in an awkward, loping gait but as the teddy gained momentum its strides became longer and more fluid. Sasha knew she was going to die.

Sasha didn't know how to do what she had done before, but she owed it to herself to at least try before this lumbering nightmare ripped her to pieces. Without a command, the growing confusion and horror in her mind boiled over to anger and rage almost instantly, like water boils to steam in the engines of her factory. The pressure slammed into the back of her eyes with unimaginable force, and she could control it no longer. She thrust her arms out before her and screamed, with that same deep voice that sounded nothing like her own, "NO!" A focused cone of force tore forth from her outstretched arms, furrowing the ground before her like the bow wave of a huge ship. The blast took the teddy square in the chest, and it disappeared in a cloud of blackness and falling patches of blood-matted fur. The aetheric blast kept going, demolishing the storefront across the courtyard and punching through into the street where it dissipated with a thunderclap loud enough to shatter windows for several blocks. No one would come out to investigate the damage, because all of the houses were empty, and Sasha knew this too.

Sasha's face hit the ground with a wet smack. She was completely spent, and clinging to life. Her hands were ruined, little more than barely articulate lumps of flesh on the ends of her shattered forearms. Tears of blood trickled ran from her eyes as she tried to call out for help, but her ruined throat and mouth full of broken teeth could make no sound but a wet croak. She was shattered by the power within her, she was untrained, and it was far too much for her to comprehend. The power was there still, churning now in the back of her damaged mind, but it was dormant for the time being. She lay there, for how long she did not know, it could have been minutes or hours, when a sound so unexpectedly out of place snapped her out of her daze. The sound was a child's laughter. With a titanic effort of will, Sasha turned her head toward the alleyway, expecting yet more horrors from dark. What emerged was the last thing she expected.

A young boy, dressed in a pristine white night shirt not unlike her own came skipping into the ruined courtyard carrying a small wooden sword. The child stopped, the smile disappearing off of his face as he surveyed the scene with intense scrutiny. "Ugh," he exclaimed, "you scared all my friends away, you big jerk!" Sasha didn't understand what he was talking about, she could barely move. She tried to speak, but had no voice left. The smile returned to the little boy's face as he regarded her with his bright blue eyes. "Ya know what though," the boy asked as he began skipping toward the crater where she lay, "I al-ways WIN!" He punctuated his last word by bringing his wooden sword down on her head with a dull *thunk*. The blow was weak, but still pain flashed in Sasha's head like a starburst, but she could do nothing to defend herself. "C'mon guys, this one's no fun anymore, lets go find some new friends to play with," the child said to the shadows of the alley. Sasha could barely see the alley, but she could make out shapes moving in the shadows. A figure strode out of the dark, and though she couldn't see his face, his clothes were quite up-scale, she though. That was until she saw the tattered cuffs of his pant-legs and uncovered feet beneath them. The not-enough toes were tipped with black claws, and the skin of the figure's feet was slimy and green like a toads. Sasha whimpered as the figure strode closer, but she still couldn't see anything of him above the waist. Something else lurked in the shadows of the alley, but remained there. Whatever it was that lingered in the dark alley was massive, she couldn't see it, but she could hear its breathing, a throaty rumble that set her eardrums vibrating from its bass throb. Sasha's eyes widened in shock at the realization that she was completely at the mercy of these creatures and this insane child. The power that she had released earlier would not come; it couldn't, for she would die even if she could manifest it. There was no rage left in her, just fatigue and terror.

"Lets Go!" the child demanded, running back toward the alley. "You too squid-face!" He called back as he reached the alley where he began conversing in hushed voices and giggling with whatever massive thing lurked in the shadows. Fear gripped Sasha for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, and she tried desperately to scream for help. "Hush now," a voice cooed from above her. That voice was horrible, it seemed to scratch and wriggle through her ears and around her head like a bucket of barbed worms. The creature in the clothes of a man squatted down in front of her. Then that awful voice whispered to her, "Has anyone ever told you…that you have the most beautiful eyes?" The last thing Sasha saw before the darkness consumed her was a face full of tentacles and a wickedly clawed hand reaching for her.

Edited by Necromorph
Few random spelling mistakes corrected.
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Necromorph Proficient

Necromorph

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Nicely done. The very last sentence is a bit awkward to me- repeating the word "face" is a bit distracting.

Also, I kayfabe-hate the Dreamer, and this story makes me despise him even more (this means you did it right).

Thanks man, you're right about that last line. I just took the 2nd face out, but I might have to add toward in there or something cuz it still feels odd to me but w/e haha.

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