writing until im bored 2

eight, seven, six...

crowds cheer, the flashing lights around the corner of the stage begin to shoot into his eyes.

five, four, three...

he rounds his neck, and stares at the ground. he is nothing now. what is about to happen is not him.

two...

he steps forwards, the backstage now silent as all eyes are on him.

one...

he steps from the curtain. the stage lights blast from the floor to his face. everything feels so warm.

he waves to the audience. thousands of people all in a horseshoe around him. behind, three sets of foot steps follow.

he steps to the mic, electricity swarming the air, wires buzzing, fingertips twitching with excited fervor.

he leans in and opens his mouth:

"Ladies and Gentlemen..."

everything is white.

a year later

stepping out from the alley, Fiona leans to the trash can and starts to vomit. she steps in her clanky high heel shoes from the mess she made and stumbles out into the road, sliding between two parked cars. a few cars on the busy night street dart around her, and she leans herself back to the sidewalk. "Fuck you, fuck you." she's flipping everyone off as they drive by. "Fuckin. Piece of shit. Goddamn." She wipes herself off "I'm tellin' ya, I said it's cold out here. Fuck. Wheres the place? Where's the place?" she shivers and pushes herself into the wall. her tight half shirt and leather jacket aren't enough tonight. the short cut jeans do very little. goosebumps dot her whole body. "Where the fuck is he?"

after freezing by the now cold wet vomit for what seems like an eternity, two others stumble onto the sidewalk by her mess. "Fiona, what the hell?" one leans up closer to her and gives her a hug. she wipes her mouth. "Fiona, we're goin home now, 'kay?" Fiona barely understands what she's saying.

she feels the warmth of the inside of something. then her bed.

she sees in her dreams spikes, in every direction, crooked smiles of all her friends as they begin to split in two and fade into puddles of color. flaring light dances around, and splotches of undefined shapes converge into a mess of strings and cobwebs. groans are heard, and a clicking noise. it fades. she feels her whole body quaking with fear, excitement, like she's being skinned alive and filleted for herself to see. fascinating.

she wakes up and remembers none of it.

"god" she moans. she flips in bed and sees the sun hitting her face through the blinds. she turns back around.

dragging her feet downstairs, she fills a cup with water and drinks the whole thing in one motion.

her roommates, Syd and Kevin, sit on the couch in the other room. they stare at her, then look at each other.

Fiona, her eyelids half-obscuring her vision, see the faint colors of something reflecting off the floor.

"Hey, Fiona," Syd says. "You okay?" Fiona props herself against the wall as she moves to the couch. after twelve steps, she sits. the ground is dancing right now.

"You seem rough, Fiona. What'd you take last night?"

"Mm."

"What?"

"Idon'tknow."

"I gotcha. You just seemed fed up when we came out to get you is all. No one spiked your drink you think?"

silence.

Kevin, sitting one seat away from her on the couch, stares at her then back at the tv. he does this over and over.

Syd looks with concern at Fiona, then slowly turns her attention back to the tv and her boyfriend. she pulls out her phone and begins scrolling.

Fiona looks at the floor, its individual cracks and lines.

she feels static in her veins, claws around her chest and dozens of slices down her arms. nothing is anything.

she feels nothing.

she hangs her head low. for a second, nothing happens.

she breathes.

Fiona springs up and claws her nails into Syd's throat. Syd screams, and her phone drops to the ground. Kevin gets up. Fiona squeezes harder and harder, as the feeling in her arms go numb. She stands on the couch and repeatedly steps on Syd's stomach and chest with all her strength, then moves down to bite her lip. She grabs it and tears it from Syd in one crunching motion, Fiona's teeth cracking in the process. Kevin starts to push Fiona on her shoulders, trying to pry her off Syd. Syd screams. blood is all over the couch.Fiona grabs Syd's neck again and starts clawing over and over again. her fingernails dig deep into Syd. Kevin finally throws Fiona off of Syd, all of them bloodied now, and gets between them. Fiona lunges at Kevin and starts flailing her arms at him. he grabs her by the throat hard and pushes her into the ground. she wriggles until a hand is free and claws him in the face. Kevin writhes, and Fiona slides out from under him, free. she stands and stares at the body of Syd, lying motionless, her blood from her mouth draining off the couch onto their small carpet. the claw marks on her neck pool up blood around her hair. Fiona looks at Kevin, against the side of the couch.

everything is just color. bodies. nothing.

Fiona relaxes her arms and walks calmly out the back door. she never saw Syd and Kevin again, and died on the side of the road later that day.