Chapter two- "I hate Rabbits now, and I loathe Tuesdays."
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Well I can’t tell you when I was fished out, hell or even if I was fished out, all I remember was I did wake up…or so I think. When I woke up the air around me was thick and almost a black fog, I sat up, it appeared that the water had dried up and the branch removed. I slowly sat up coughing and practically throwing up water. It felt like my throat and nose was burning, but it felt good to have all that water out of my lungs, and where ever else it was hiding.
I climbed out of the river bed and looked around. There was a thick black fog all around and the sky was a hazy red-violet color. I thought I was dreaming, I wanted to inflict pain to see if it was a dream, maybe I was in a hospital, and when I woke up I would curse the bunny, and I would go to school, get all A’s, and never do anything stupid like that again.
My limbs felt so heavy and when I moved it felt like I was walking though molasses. I let out a deep sigh and I let my eyes wander every thing looked normal, I mean it was Avendale, right? Sure it was a bit dark and slightly daunting, but it looked like home. Something moved quickly across the ground near my feet causing me to leap backwards I almost fell, though strong arms seemed to catch me. I looked up and screamed, it was a natural reaction, I saw something I don’t think I could ever really explain, it was human…I think only it’s face was decaying and it looked hungry, I took off in a stumbling run it must have looked comical, my limbs fwailing and a high pitched scream coming out of my mouth.
Something tacked me, looking up it too looked human, kind of, it’s body was almost ungodly white, and furry, my hand had found it’s way to the person’s shoulders trying to pull him away from me.
I was staring into the face…well mask of a man dressed like a rabbit. I blinked I would have laughed if I wasn’t so shocked.
“Calm down…We didn’t think you would make it, we thought you would have you know…” the masked rabbit man said with a laugh.
“Died?” I answered my voice seemed distant, almost as if underwater.
“No, don’t be silly, lived.” He laughed again, I cocked my eyebrow.
“Lived?” I repeated.
“Yeah if you lived, then they would have fired me and they would never get to meet you.” He smiled and hopped a bit.
Standing he had to be six foot easy.
“So…This is a weird ass dream, but might as well. I am Adi…Ho-la.” I said looking around as I stood again. This was just a dream, I was sure of this.
“Sh!” He hissed wrapping his arms around my head and pulled me closer. “We don’t use those names anymore…they are useless, and remind us of the old days.”
“Old days.” I repeated, I was so confused.
“Old days…The days when we were…Living.” He shuttered at the word.
“What?” I said, I was really done with this rabbit man.
“I am Dresden.” He said smiling, “I use to be Atticus.” He spoke as if his old name was the devil.
“Um…Well I don’t have a ‘new’ name…so you get to call me Adi…Kaythanks.” I spoke starting to move again, my movements were quicker again, and my voice had lost it’s underwater quality.
“No wait up.” ‘Dresden’ half yelled almost tackling me again, I sidestepped and he hit the floor, this I laughed at, I took off in a run towards the way my house was, apparently this rabbit man had it out for me or something because he followed me rather quickly.
“Leave me alone!” I yelled, turning a corner to cut through the trees, the leaves were a blackish red color, and the trees all seemed dead. I didn’t like this dream anymore. The rabbit man was right behind me now, he sighed and with a leap he cut me off, I took a step backwards.
“Adi don’t make me pick you up and carry you.” To this I greatly protested.
“If you touch me I will cut you…cut you good!” an empty threat, he laughed and picked me up throwing me over his shoulder and hopped back towards the school house. Thought this journey I disapproved and told him he wasn’t going to get a cookie, or a carrot, for this.
He ignored me.
The scenery passed by and every now and then a shape would be visible for a second but the second I looked back it was gone. I heard a mutter from my rabbit captor, nothing I could understand.
Before I knew it we were inside a building, apparently I had passed out on the way, though my dreams had a tendency to change suddenly with no explanation. I was set down on a couch, and when I woke up I had a rabbit mask in my face, I fwailed and fell off of the couch, this produced a laugh from three voices. I stood almost instantly looking around. “NO I AM DONE WITH THIS DREAM!” I yelled backing up into the corner, around me, the rabbit man stayed seated, but still staring at me, then there was a man with long red hair, that curled lightly at the bottom, he looked like something out of a game I once played. He wore theatrical black and white aristocratic garb, the kind of outfit that one would think Dracula would wear, I wasn’t going to lie, he was a gorgeous creature, but I wasn’t to impressed. The second voice came from a woman, she wore garb similar to the man, only her’s was white and red, and she looked as if she was made from porcelain, I wanted to touch her to see if she was.
“Dream?” the woman spoke, she had the prettiest green eyes I had ever seen. Her voice sounded as young as I was, or maybe younger, which was saying something since I was only 18.
“Yeah you know the visions you see when you are asleep.” I spoke looking around.
“Ha ha, you aren’t dreaming.” the man in aristocratic garb spoke, his voice matched the outfit. “You are dead.”
“Dead?” I cocked my eyebrow again, I had some pretty sick dreams, but this one took the cake.
“Yes dead.” The woman spoke. “you drowned…remember…the river, the bunny….Dresden is notorious for luring people to their death, mostly children, I was surprised when he said he had an adult.” She half laughed.
“Atticus…was the rabbit?” I asked this was a bit comical, my mind wrapped around the idea that a rabbit was really a man, and I was dead, and in some sort of limbo…or something like that.
“Yes…surprise Adi!” The rabbit man sprung up and nodded.
“She’s a quick one.” the man said and the woman hit him in the chest silencing him.
“Adi, I know you are confused, I was too, when I died. I need you to trust me and do something for me, I need you to come with me, I want to show you something.” It was a dream what could it hurt I followed the woman looking around we were in a building that seemed to be decaying and home to many spiders. I was lead through the hallways until we hit a room with a red door, we entered it and I came face to face with my body, though it was in a white light and looked like it was underwater. I blinked.
“Adi, I need you to accept you are dead, so I can make them find your body.” The woman spoke I protested loudly and jumped back. “Adi.”
“Why can’t they find my body? I’m not dead…this is just a dream.” I roared and glared at the woman.
“Adi. No listen I wish this was a dream, you were so young, but you have more use in the otherworld than the human world.” The woman moved to comfort me, I shoved her away.
“Shut your filthy mouth, I am not dead, they found me and I am in the hospital, I am not dead!” I yelled, I wouldn’t believe this woman, she was just a figment of my imagination wasn’t she?
“Adi. You are DEAD, accept it, please, I don’t want to see you get found in three days…and if you accept it I can give you a new life.” She spoke “I am mother creation.” I just didn’t want to accept that I was dead, I knew I wasn’t…but maybe.. “Adi, please trust me.”
“No.” I said strongly, walking over to my body holding my hand up, though it felt like sticking my hand in the cold water of the river. “am I dead? This isn’t a dream is it?” I asked my eyes still on the body, the body that use to be me.
“Adi.” She sighed “You are dead, this isn’t a dream.”
“Fine…let my body go.” I sighed, maybe this was a dream and I would wake up soon.
“Agree. You are dead…say it.” She spoke sweetly.
“why?” I asked looking to the woman.
“Agree! Say it!” the woman growled.
“Fine, fine. I am dead.” I spoke, this seemed to be enough because I felt cold, and the body suddenly crashed to the floor breaking into water, splashing across the floor, it formed around my feet and consumed me something felt familiar in the good way. Suddenly it felt like I was drowning again.
“Say it you are dead!” I heard. I repeated ‘I am dead’ over and over again, the drowning sensation was over and I stood in one piece alone in the room, it had gone dark and the walls were half destroyed letting in the black fog from outside, the sky was now a solid red. I walked over to the wall to look out of the makeshift window.
It looked like Avendale, but not, it was dark and instead of regular looking people, there were, what I can only call monsters, in their place. It was insane, it looked like a nightmare, but something told me it wasn’t, this was my new life, I was dead. My mind was racing, but it was soon cut short when Atticus showed up pulling me out of the wall-window and out into the town, he smiled brightly at me and welcomed me to Otherworld Avendale.
Have I mentioned I really hate Tuesdays?
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