Jasmine's Nightmare

The music is loud, almost too loud, the beat pounding through your body. You're not so much dancing as jerking in response to the vibrations. Someone keeps handing you drink after drink, and you keep drinking them. Some of them taste weird, like copper, you don't notice much more than that. The place is dark, so dark you can hardly see anyone else. Here and there bright streaks of light as ravers do their glow stick dance. Here and there a flash of fire as someone lights a cigarette. Nicotine sounds good, you reach for Shelly, asking her for a cigarette. She says nothing, but a lit clove is handed to you. You inhale deeply, savoring the taste of it...

Somewhere, behind the music, there is a more primal beat. Like sex. Like screams. Like death. It has you excited, you throw yourself into the rhythm. Shelly dances with you, pressing herself against you, whispering in your ear as you pull her close. You don't know what she said, but it excites you. You taste blood on your lips as she kisses you.

Another figure presses itself against you from behind.. Male, obviously, you can feel his excitement. His hands roam over your body, pulling your clothes off as Shelly is pulled away by another man. You moan, leaning into his touches, trying to turn around, or reach him to return the favor... He laughs in your ear, nipping at your ear lobe whispering. "Not yet my love"

His hands become rough as he gropes, dragging nails across your belly, pushing you up against the speakers, pinning you with his body. He turns you around, his long hair hanging in your face. He looks familiar... Your mind makes the connection. His name is Chris... Sinclair? Yeah, that sounds right...

Nails dig into your arms as he slides down your body, on his knees. His teeth bite into your thigh, searching for the femoral artery. Other hands come, groping at you, pulling, pinching... It is like they are trying to rip you apart. You hear a scream as the music falters for a moment, a blood curdling high pitched shriek of pure terror... Shelly!!! You tear yourself away from the many arms, stepping around Chris as he leans back to look up at you... you run, naked, bleeding, across the club, searching for her. "SHELLY!!!"

Chains dangle from the ceiling, body parts entangled in them. Blood begins to rain from the ceiling... No matter how hard you search, you can't find her. You slip again and again in pools of blood. Hands grab at you, trying desperately to hold you back as you run naked, covered in blood, into the street.

The rain washes you clean, lightning showing you the way. There is a trail of blood that somehow isn't being washed away. You follow it, knowing somehow where it will lead. Words echo in your head over and over "How could I how could you you did this you let this happen..." Ahead you see a crumpled figure, like a bum, wrapped in many layers of clothing. You draw closer, positive it is her, its not too late to save her... You touch the bum's shoulder, turning it to face you.

Vincent looks at you with sad eyes, full of pain, sorrow, hatred... He bares his fangs, sending you running screaming back in the direction you came... You pass another figure, covered in maggots, controlling yourself long enough to pause, kneeling beside the figure, brushing the maggots away, barely resisting the urge to vomit...

It is Muse, bolted to the cement, her chest cut open, maggots wiggling around among her organs. A note is wrapped around the stake that pierces her heart. You gently pull the stake, reading the note. It says "This is your fault." Muse's body shudders, you look down. For a moment it is Shelly, then it is Muse again. She looks up at you blankly, not recognizing you, her lips moving in a whisper. "please... kill me..." blood trickles out of the corner of her mouth as she falls limp again, obviously still breathing, you can see her lungs fighting desperately for air.

A figure brushes against your back, you look up to see Bobby, holding a bloody knife, grinning down at his handiwork... Rick stands beside him, holding a tray of tools, a thin line of drool dripping unnoticed onto the tray... You stumble backwards, tripping on the body. They smile at you, inviting you to join them in the feast... You scream, jumping to your feet, running...

It seems like hours, though perhaps it is only a second that you are running, then suddenly, as you are watching over your shoulder, you slam into a wall... Dead end... alley... You whimper softly, crouching into a corner, staring at the shadows, certain that something truly evil is coming for you... The trashcans next to you bounce with the rhythm of a heavy footfall...

You catch the scent of Shelly's perfume on the wind... you relax, stand up, step forward, whispering her name, wanting to warn her of the danger... Suddenly the scent overpowers you, drowns you. Something is very, very wrong... A figure stands before you, looking somewhat like Shelly... its body... one of the heads is hers. She grins at you. Muse's head grins at you as well. Nick's head... Natasha and Serena grin at each other with nearly identical faces... your first boyfriend, your mother... your high school principal...Vincent, and an oriental, perhaps Hindu? woman smile at you, laughing in a chaotic cacophonous banshee wail.

Her arms reach for you, picking you up, throwing you into the mass of heads as the fight like hungry birds, each wanting a taste, racing to see which will win your soul. The teeth sink into you from every possible angle. You sink into darkness, final death, with one last thought. "I am a failure."