necromorphosis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
necromorphosis) wrote2015-01-27 01:02 am
necromorphosis) wrote2015-01-27 01:02 am
Writing Prompt - "I'm still alive."
Storm green eyes fluttered open to stare blankly upwards, unfocused in the darkness. The moment stretched on, suspended like an object in zero gravity. A surreal air of numbness was all she could feel, despite the fact that she should have been feeling anything but, the events prior to her awakening rushing back with her awareness.
The floor caved in. I fell through! But I’m still alive… right?
She couldn't be so sure. Unable to see, her heart fluttered momentarily in panic. Why was everything so dark? Watching as her imagination began painting foreign designs in the blackness, Jessica gingerly felt down her torso, following it to her hip and pocket. She touched something smooth and hard; her cell phone. Pulling the phone out of her pocket, she tried to sit up, taking a sharp breath as she felt a twinge in her side and settled for using the other elbow to prop herself up for the moment. Turning the rectangular shape in her hand, fingers found the little button on the side of the slim device, and Jessica pressed it. The dim light lit up, and Jessica felt a flood relief when she saw the familiar picture of her little brother’s face smiling back at her from the screen. It hadn't broken in the fall.
Looking around, Jessica quickly found that the back-light from her phone wasn't enough to light where ever it was that she had fallen into, the pale illumination only revealing that she was laying on what appeared to be… metal? Her other hand curled and probed, fingers threading into the grated grounding. Something felt gritty on its surface, and when she looked closer it definitely appeared to be dirty, something dark and muddy splotching the dull shine here and there. Rust, maybe?
The scent of something vaguely metallic certainly filled the stuffy air, a faint but sharp flavor of iron beginning to reach the back of her tongue and down her dry throat. A few moments passed, the only audible sound being that of shallow breathing as she examined the odd choice in flooring.
“Where the hell am I?” She whispered, the words hardly more than a motion on her lips.
Looking back to the phone screen, Jessica recalled that the phone had a built in flashlight. Her calloused fingertips tapped at the screen, and a few seconds later a solid beam of light cut through the darkness. Dust swam through the light like snow, and a couple meters away the ray found a wall. A few moments and a sweep with the flashlight revealed that she was in a decently sized room, though utterly empty aside from herself and some rubble that Jessica assumed had come down with her. She then pointed up, and above her a large hole loomed, a gaping mouth poised to bite with fractured floorboard teeth.
That must be where I fell through, she thought as she gazed at the black abyss that lay beyond the hole. She could see nothing more, even when she outstretched her arm to try and bring the light source closer to anything that was possibly up there. How far down had she fallen? She blacked out after hitting the next floor down, but she surely couldn't have fell through that too, could she? If she did, that must have meant she was in the basement, or at least below the ground floor. Maybe she had been out longer than she thought, and night had fallen. It would make sense she rationalized, that little to no light would be available in the basement of a derelict and abandoned apartment complex. But still, gazing up into that hole… Somehow, it made Jessica uneasy. She decided quickly that she didn't want to be underneath the hole. What if something else fell through and landed on top of her? Jessica forced herself into a sitting position, to which her body protested; pain wracked her left side. She hissed and grimaced, bringing her free hand to the source of most of her discomfort. Pushing up to her feet, she nearly toppled back over; it hurt a lot.
Jesus! Did I break a rib?
Jessica gently lifted the hem of her shirt, shining the light on her torso and looking down. A maroon and violet bruise had already formed, standing out in stark relief against her comparably light skin, mottled and ugly and spanning a good six or seven inches across her side. Jessica swore lowly under her breath as she let her shirt drop, cradling her side tenderly with the free hand. She definitely did something, and now that her post-blackout numbness had nearly subsided, she could feel the discomfort radiate from other areas of her body as well. Moving her legs and arms, nothing seemed to be in as bad of condition though; she could walk and move about with minimal hindrance. But when she breathed in too deep, a sharp jab riddled up her side and made her feel like there wasn't enough oxygen in her lungs.
“Maybe there’s a hospital nearby,” Jessica mused. Either way, she needed to get out of here. She could look for a hospital after she found her way out of the place, and hopefully before finding herself in any more life-threatening predicaments.
“Last time I go urban exploring,” she muttered under her breath. Seriously, what had she been thinking? She should have turned around the moment she realized that the place had long since been deserted. She felt it safe to label the place deserted at this point, even though could have sworn she had seen a visage in the window. She had been sure enough to delve deeper into the old building, Jessica recalling her fruitless search for another living soul in the apparent ghost town. Then again, wasn't that a rather cheesy and common trope in those horror movies she would watch when she couldn't sleep at night? And she had fallen for it just as hard as the foolish teens on TV did, even though she had seen again and again how poorly that could turn out. She should have known better.
Locating a door just hardly ajar to the far corner of the room, Jessica picked her way to it, the floor crackling and clanging beneath her boots ominously, as though it would give way and she’d fall through it, too.
Jessica let out a humorless snort at the thought, but cringed with regret as the action disturbed her side. Stopping to let the pain subside, something fluttered above her head, a soft sound scuttling about the floorboards on one of the upper levels. But just as quickly as she had noticed the noise, it stopped. Jessica held her breath in the unnatural still of pure silence as she looked up at the rotting wood of the ceiling. The abruptness of it almost made her wonder if she had actually heard anything at all. Goosebumps rose along her lanky arms and she swallowed thickly. After a few more seconds of listening, Jessica dismissed it as being in her imagination, if only the settle the uneasy feeling in her gut. After all, she had just fallen through a floor or two – she likely hit her head pretty hard on the way down.
Placing the stand-in flashlight in the small (and rather convenient) breast pocket on her jacket, she pushed open the decaying door and left the room behind. The sooner she made it back outside, the better.
The floor caved in. I fell through! But I’m still alive… right?
She couldn't be so sure. Unable to see, her heart fluttered momentarily in panic. Why was everything so dark? Watching as her imagination began painting foreign designs in the blackness, Jessica gingerly felt down her torso, following it to her hip and pocket. She touched something smooth and hard; her cell phone. Pulling the phone out of her pocket, she tried to sit up, taking a sharp breath as she felt a twinge in her side and settled for using the other elbow to prop herself up for the moment. Turning the rectangular shape in her hand, fingers found the little button on the side of the slim device, and Jessica pressed it. The dim light lit up, and Jessica felt a flood relief when she saw the familiar picture of her little brother’s face smiling back at her from the screen. It hadn't broken in the fall.
Looking around, Jessica quickly found that the back-light from her phone wasn't enough to light where ever it was that she had fallen into, the pale illumination only revealing that she was laying on what appeared to be… metal? Her other hand curled and probed, fingers threading into the grated grounding. Something felt gritty on its surface, and when she looked closer it definitely appeared to be dirty, something dark and muddy splotching the dull shine here and there. Rust, maybe?
The scent of something vaguely metallic certainly filled the stuffy air, a faint but sharp flavor of iron beginning to reach the back of her tongue and down her dry throat. A few moments passed, the only audible sound being that of shallow breathing as she examined the odd choice in flooring.
“Where the hell am I?” She whispered, the words hardly more than a motion on her lips.
Looking back to the phone screen, Jessica recalled that the phone had a built in flashlight. Her calloused fingertips tapped at the screen, and a few seconds later a solid beam of light cut through the darkness. Dust swam through the light like snow, and a couple meters away the ray found a wall. A few moments and a sweep with the flashlight revealed that she was in a decently sized room, though utterly empty aside from herself and some rubble that Jessica assumed had come down with her. She then pointed up, and above her a large hole loomed, a gaping mouth poised to bite with fractured floorboard teeth.
That must be where I fell through, she thought as she gazed at the black abyss that lay beyond the hole. She could see nothing more, even when she outstretched her arm to try and bring the light source closer to anything that was possibly up there. How far down had she fallen? She blacked out after hitting the next floor down, but she surely couldn't have fell through that too, could she? If she did, that must have meant she was in the basement, or at least below the ground floor. Maybe she had been out longer than she thought, and night had fallen. It would make sense she rationalized, that little to no light would be available in the basement of a derelict and abandoned apartment complex. But still, gazing up into that hole… Somehow, it made Jessica uneasy. She decided quickly that she didn't want to be underneath the hole. What if something else fell through and landed on top of her? Jessica forced herself into a sitting position, to which her body protested; pain wracked her left side. She hissed and grimaced, bringing her free hand to the source of most of her discomfort. Pushing up to her feet, she nearly toppled back over; it hurt a lot.
Jesus! Did I break a rib?
Jessica gently lifted the hem of her shirt, shining the light on her torso and looking down. A maroon and violet bruise had already formed, standing out in stark relief against her comparably light skin, mottled and ugly and spanning a good six or seven inches across her side. Jessica swore lowly under her breath as she let her shirt drop, cradling her side tenderly with the free hand. She definitely did something, and now that her post-blackout numbness had nearly subsided, she could feel the discomfort radiate from other areas of her body as well. Moving her legs and arms, nothing seemed to be in as bad of condition though; she could walk and move about with minimal hindrance. But when she breathed in too deep, a sharp jab riddled up her side and made her feel like there wasn't enough oxygen in her lungs.
“Maybe there’s a hospital nearby,” Jessica mused. Either way, she needed to get out of here. She could look for a hospital after she found her way out of the place, and hopefully before finding herself in any more life-threatening predicaments.
“Last time I go urban exploring,” she muttered under her breath. Seriously, what had she been thinking? She should have turned around the moment she realized that the place had long since been deserted. She felt it safe to label the place deserted at this point, even though could have sworn she had seen a visage in the window. She had been sure enough to delve deeper into the old building, Jessica recalling her fruitless search for another living soul in the apparent ghost town. Then again, wasn't that a rather cheesy and common trope in those horror movies she would watch when she couldn't sleep at night? And she had fallen for it just as hard as the foolish teens on TV did, even though she had seen again and again how poorly that could turn out. She should have known better.
Locating a door just hardly ajar to the far corner of the room, Jessica picked her way to it, the floor crackling and clanging beneath her boots ominously, as though it would give way and she’d fall through it, too.
Jessica let out a humorless snort at the thought, but cringed with regret as the action disturbed her side. Stopping to let the pain subside, something fluttered above her head, a soft sound scuttling about the floorboards on one of the upper levels. But just as quickly as she had noticed the noise, it stopped. Jessica held her breath in the unnatural still of pure silence as she looked up at the rotting wood of the ceiling. The abruptness of it almost made her wonder if she had actually heard anything at all. Goosebumps rose along her lanky arms and she swallowed thickly. After a few more seconds of listening, Jessica dismissed it as being in her imagination, if only the settle the uneasy feeling in her gut. After all, she had just fallen through a floor or two – she likely hit her head pretty hard on the way down.
Placing the stand-in flashlight in the small (and rather convenient) breast pocket on her jacket, she pushed open the decaying door and left the room behind. The sooner she made it back outside, the better.