Mezzanine

| 38 |

The sky glowed with the first hints of dawn as I stood at the edge of the sidewalk. I shifted on my feet to keep warm, but the air was damp and unusually cold, even for the end of October.

The windows of my house were still dark, which meant my mom wasn't awake yet. She usually didn't get up until long after I left for school, so I wasn't sure why I was worried she'd catch me sneaking off, but the anxiety around our plan built regardless. We wouldn't get another shot at this. We couldn't get caught.

I stared into the dense stretch of forest on the far side of the street, and chills rushed up my spine. I'd avoided looking at the woods since the night I ran through it to get away from Andy. Now that it was the only thing I could look at, I couldn't help but think about that night.

In the depths of the forest, branches shifted and broke. Shadows moved between the trunks of trees. The feeling of something watching me from within the darkness set into my skin like cold, wet breath on the back of my neck.

The Renson Factory was just a short sprint through the woods. There was nothing between it and my house—just trees and darkness.

A tickling sensation wrapped around my wrist like a hand gently tugging.

Come with me, a voice whispered—a ghost caught in the wind.

I took a step toward the curb, and the tug became stronger. It gripped me, cold and constricting as it slithered up my arm until it reached my neck.

Claws grazed across my skin.

Do I really want to leave? Can I really leave?

Teeth clenched around my throat.

I need to be here.

At the edge of the forest, a dark form materialized, suspended like an enormous insect caught in a web between the trees. Something pulsed within it, humming and vibrating like a massive, infected heart.

Heavy. Dripping.

It pounded through my body the same way thoughts materialized in my mind. The dull throb was like a toothache—painful, but I pressed forward. I needed to find out how much pain I could take before it became blinding.

I pushed, and like digging a finger into a wound, the mass bled. A deep, black tar oozed from the deformed heart. I reached through the damp folds of decaying flesh and into the void at its center. Something warm and inviting slithered up my arm. Tar dripped to the ground at my feet until it formed a slick, oily film across the earth.

The smell of rusting metal.

The stink of rotting meat.

The scents mingled until they became one in the same, a decaying and intoxicating odor that consumed every ounce of oxygen in my lungs.

Jay, come to us, distant voices called.

My feet moved beneath me, but it was like I wasn't controlling them anymore.

We need you. The voices became stronger and louder, haunting my mind and blocking out everything else around me.

I couldn't breathe. My mind buzzed, darkness dancing at the corners of my vision.

This is where I need to go. I need to be here.

The sudden squeal of tires over pavement blasted through my head.

What the hell?

I squinted into blinding light.

"Jay!" a voice yelled.