"Why did you have to leave me? Why didn't you tell me your secret? I thought you loved me. . ."
She stood on the edge of the pier, gazing down into the turbulent black waters. They seemed so menacing, the way they grabbed at the pier, glittering with the pale moonlight, threatening to pull her down. Down, down to where the secrets lie. The ocean floor, the darkness. A place where she could drift from all memory. A place where she could cease to exist. Someplace where she would no longer be tormented by her memories, by her broken heart, by anything. The urge to fall, to dive into the black waves compelled her, delicate feet leading her closer to the edge. Would she have the strength to jump? To fill her lungs with the darkness and sink into the depths where the secrets lie? Could she do it? Before she could search for the answer to that question, the icy cold sensation of the liquid brushed her ankles, her knees, her shoulders and neck. Before she could scream, before she even knew what happened, the menacing black waters swallowed her up. The darkness invaded her body and she drifted to the ocean floor. Down to where the secrets lie.
-
She awoke with a start, thrashing around in the comfort of her bed, gasping for air, unaware that the darkness was not the black water, but the cool silk of her blankets. A sharp kick to her left yanked the sheets from off her face and light filtered into emerald green eyes, burning like salt in an open wound. A moan of discomfort slipped past her lips as realization stirred in her mind. She was not at a pier, and she wasn't drowning. She was in her familiar bed, with her snugly pink pillows and silky black blankets. It was just a nightmare. One of many that she'd been having lately. Nothing too special, not even enough to earn a second thought as she rolled, literally, out of bed and lay sprawled on the floor. Morning was not a good time for her.
She yawned, barely moving and wondering how much more sleep she could fit in before being stepped on by her roommates. A loud, window-rattling snore emanated from the lump of blankets atop the bed next to her and she had to suppress an oncoming fit of giggles. It was amazing that she managed to get to sleep at all while listening to that. Thinking over her options again, she decided to get up, make some super strong black coffee and get first use of the bathroom for once. Reluctantly, she got up from her not-so-comfortable perch on the floor and threw her blankets back on her already messy as heck bed. She looked at the other two beds, it didn't look like they'd be getting up too soon, and she wondered exactly how early it was.
She wiped the sleep from her eyes as she punched the button on the coffee maker, the little red light appeared next to it as she made her way to the bathroom. With heavy arms, she pulled the door open and stepped inside, making sure to lock it upon closing it again. She didn't want a repeat of the incident last week. A shudder rippled down her back as she raked open the shower curtain, which was delightfully decorated with duckies. She fiddled with the water temperature until it was to her liking and then looked in the mirror. Did she always look that bad when she work up?
He normally soft, tame blonde locks stuck out in all directions, frizzy and stringy looking. Her face, normally fresh and clean looking was pale and blotchy from another rough night. Not to mention what she was wearing. Normally she never cared about what she put on before falling asleep, it's not like anyone would ever see her like this. Though she was beginning to wonder if she was intoxicated when she chose her pajamas last night. She had on a white tank top that was so big it was showing off more skin than it was covering and a pair of vivid, bright, neon green shorts that were just a smidgen too tight. She shook her head, quickly stripped off the clothes, and stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain back.
The scalding hot water felt good on her bruised and battered skin and also woke her up quite decently, though not as well as coffee. She just stood there, letting the steaming water burn her skin and turn it a vibrant shade of pink. She grabbed her lilac scented shampoo from the shelves that hung on the side of the tiled shower wall and squeezed it into the palm of her hand. She lathered up her blonde locks and began making foolish hairstyles. From severe spikes sticking out in every direction to a cousin It reminiscent style. She giggled at her own silliness as she washed the shampoo out and reached to grab her favorite orange loofah. She poured lilac scented soap onto the sponge-type thing and scrubbed off the dirt, dead skin, and sleep from her body. Showers were always so rejuvenating and so much fun to play in. After rinsing herself, she turned down the water temperature to cool off a bit so she wouldn't freeze to death when getting out of the shower. She reached for her black and pink robe after turning off the water and cast it over her shoulders, tying the sash around her waist loosely.
As the bathroom door opened, a cloud of steam pushed its way out and the scent of strong coffee greeted her nostrils. She vaguely noted that neither of her roommates were awake yet as she made her way to the kitchen, grabbing her coffee mug from the cupboard and pouring herself a cup. She inhaled the delightful smell before bringing to mug to her lips and drinking deeply, paying no heed to the burning of her esophagus. She would rather burn her guts to death than suffer through a cup of cold or even medium-heated coffee. It was good only scorching hot and black. She looked down into the mug, the black liquid bringing back traces of her nightmare, though she shook them away almost as soon as they appeared. As the coffee sizzled and burned in her stomach, she felt much more awake than she'd ever been at...
6 A.M. ! Her eyes almost popped out of her sockets when she saw the clock. No wonder her roommates weren't up yet. Heck, who ever wakes up before 6? She grumbled to herself. What the hell what she going to do for the next two hours? She racked her brain until an idea finally popped up. She could get back at Yuna and Paine for last week! An evil giggle escaped her as she tiptoed up the stairs to get dressed.
-
Finished with all her little deeds, she was just about to go back down stairs and wait for them to wake up when she saw Paine's eyelids begin to flutter. Unprepared, she dove for the first hiding place she could think of. It just so happened to be under her bed. She was unable to go without watching, so she peeped out from beneath a black skull-decorated dust ruffle. Paine's bare feet touched the ground right in front of her face and she held her nose in a joking manner. She watched as her eldest roommate wandered down the stairs, somehow managing to slip out from under her bed and follow without being noticed by either of her roommates. Paine walked into the bathroom and Rikku dove beneath the stairs. An enraged scream echoed from behind the wooden door and she clapped her hand to her mouth, trying to resist the urge to burst out laughing. The door swung open violently on its hinges. Paine's face was twisted into an expression of anger that would have stopped most dead in their tracks, though with the clown-like make-up Rikku had put on her, it was quite comical.
The scream awoke Yuna, who bolted upright in her bed thinking someone was hurt. However, something was wrong... her soft white blankets were wet! She looked down at her comforter and found it soaked and yellow tinted. She gasped as Paine stormed up the stairs and raided Rikku's bed. She saw Yuna, her face red as an apple and her bed.
"Ummm.. Have a wet dream there, Yuna?" Paine giggled, though not as hard as Yuna did when she saw her face. After their laughter subsided at each others predicament, a look of understanding passed between them. They knew who to blame. And she was curled up on her side under the stairs laughing so hard that it didn't even make a sound. The two ran down the stairs and snooped around, though unable to find her.
"Rikku, if you come out now, we'll go easy on you!" Yuna called out, whirling around, running from place to place trying to find her cousin. The girl could barely move she was laughing so hard, let alone come out from her hiding place. However, Rikku did not think out her plan well enough, the stairs could only conceal so much. During her violent fit of giggles, she had rolled out a bit so that her feet stuck out from almost any angle on the room. It didn't take Yuna long to find her. The girl was starting to think her roommates would never find her and at that exact moment she was pounced upon by a clown-faced Paine and an enraged bed wetter. 20 horrible fingers tickled her sides, neck, and back until she screamed for mercy.
"Say you're sorry, Rikku, or you won't live to see another day." The clown-faced Paine threatened, though it was hard for the girl to catch her breath and stop laughing. She simply lay on the dirty dusty floor under the stairs where no one dared to clean, her chest heaving and her vision swimming from lack of oxygen.
She blinked away the tears that had formed due to her laughter, but her vision did not clear. Everything was so blurry, abnormally blurry and dark. Yuna and Paine who were once sitting right beside her could no longer be seen. She was starting to panic, what was happening? She tried to move, only to find that her limbs felt as if they were made of stone. The ground that she felt beneath her was starting to disappear, the feeling of falling aroused within her. She wanted to scream but her voice could not be found. The blackness, it was everywhere, she was drowning, sinking into the darkness.
"Come, Rikku. Come down into the water, down into the darkness. Down, down to where the secrets lie."
The voice echoed around her, seeming to come from every direction. It was neither female nor male, but oddly distorted. It teased her, it compelled her, it resisted her. Everything at once, making her head spin. The voice was the darkness, it was the water, it was her. And then that cold icy water swallowing her up again. She had no choice. She had to go down. Down to where the secrets lie...