-Turn the lights off-


Her eyes were as wide open as they could be; but still, she could not see anything but the terrifying absence of light. Her shaking hands slowly moved upwards, desperately, as if trying to reach for something, however, all her efforts were in vain, she could not feel a thing. She turned round with the hope that darkness had not wrapped its cloak of miserable dimness entirely over the dismal, bizarre place she was present. No light, only darkness.

She smelt the tremulous air’s aroma. Her widening nostrils detected the essence of a particularly sordid, sickening reek she was familiar with, nevertheless, she could scarcely figure out what it was.

“Drip!” she felt the spine-tingling humidity on her right shoulder of a drop of… of what? With the tip of her right finger, she delicately met the balmy droplet and dexterously carried it in the direction of her minute, brittle nose.

She smelt it. It was that squalid stench again but gradually getting stronger, what could it be? She tasted it. It’s harsh, unacceptable flavour, tasted like… iron. Exactly. She immediately recognized the repulsive droplet’s tang. Only the simple thought of it being the crimson-coloured blood of a lifeless cadaver sent a nerve throbbing in her gums to grind her teeth and send uncomfortable chills down her spine. Suddenly her atypical, brutal heart beats, pushing through her flimsy skin seemed to go faster than ever; the volume of her breathing seemed to increase as the length of her air intakes appeared to decrease. Her first reaction was to desperately run as fast as she could, even though she knew she was in absolute darkness and could not see.

She yelled. She had fallen. There was an obstacle in her way. Unexpectedly, a vivid light that ran through the entire room came on. Nevertheless, she swiftly shut her eye lids. She did not want to see what had gotten in her way. One, two, three, she thought, while she acquired enough courage and bravery to, again, open her stunning, intense sky-blue eyes. She opened them slowly, imagining the horrifying sight that awaited her.

“Aaaahhh!” she cried in absolute revulsion. She was instantly paralyzed in unpleasant shock. Her face turned utterly white in astonishment, just as if the frosty blood in her nearly fainting body had outlandishly vanished and her heart had simply stopped. At that exact second, she witnessed the foul view of a decaying cadaver which she immediately recognized. She ran hastily to his side. His face looked so shadowed. She lifted his head up by his clotted hair and saw that it was dried blood on his cheek that created the mock shadow. The dent in his skull had stopped gushing; the coagulated blood had formed a gelatinous plug. Atop his gory chest was a kitchen knife, and he stared at the ceiling with his permanent expression: mouth in the shape of an O.

Despite this atrocious sight, her feelings towards his loved one were still the same. No, she didn’t love him. The word “love” lacked meaning when she talked about him. She adored him with insanity. She could feel his temperate presence hugging her passionately and tight, just as if he hadn’t seen her for an everlasting eternity. The slowly appearing silhouette, which her senseless imagination created in despair, gave such a vivid impression, it was almost real. His body emitted affectionate warmth and his tepid hands tenderly stroked her perfect body.

“I miss you…” she whispered in desolation. Then she serenely sighed and laid her head onto his illusory shoulder. She felt the humidity, and smelt the well-known odour of his close breath reaching her fragile yet firm neck. It had been ages since she had experienced something as pleasant as what she felt at that precise moment. She wished it could last eternally and would never end. But this desire couldn’t possibly become true, as the fake chimera was progressively vanishing into the air. She was no longer holding him nor seeing him, by now, he had completely disappeared.

Her lips began trembling as a tear delicately ran down her silk-soft cheek. Grief, sorrow, sadness, misery, depression, melancholy, despair … all these uncontrollable emotions invaded her all at once, and it was logical, as the only and unique reason that kept her alive had just died.

After she became conscious of what had happened, she was paralyzed yet again… Who had turned the lights on?