Lonesome Bridge

Part Two, second entry

Kitty noticed with an odd stillness of mind that she was no longer as cold as she had been only a small while ago. In fact, she thought sluggishly, she really felt nothing at all. No soreness, no temperature, not even her own shallow breath or the thumping of her heart. It was as though something inside her had just been... turned off, like the flipping of a switch. Again she spoke, but this time loudly and full of anger. Anger at this girl, anger at her own confusion, anger for whatever it was that was now falling over her. "Tell me what's going on, you freak!" she screamed.

The sad girl took on an air of indignance, her soft eyes flaring. Her delicate hair flashed out in a haloesque arc about her face as if a strong wind had picked it up and frozen it there in place. "Freak?" she said sternly, "Is that really what you think we are? A bunch of freaks with nothing better to do than conjure petty tricks on a whim!?" Kitty realized that she must have offended the girl terribly and started backwards instinctively. "I... I'm sorry." she sputtered out in the most apologetic voice she could muster. Backing up a bit more, her sight suddenly grew black and what little sound remained vanished entirely. She flailed her arms about, startled fiercely, and felt that she was falling hard without the power to brake herself. A moment later she saw light again, forest green and soothing... the bathroom! Before she could begin to orient her dazzled senses, a heavy travel-worn boot put itself clearly through, yes through, her chest like a blade through air. She didn't have time to think about who the boot belonged to, how she had gotten through the wall, anything. Immediately the most excrutiating feeling she had experienced was coursing through every inch of her form. Throwing herself forward with far more force than she had thought herself to possess, the world began to spin and turn on itself with blinding speed. She found herelf behind the bar, clinging to the ceiling, whipping and dashing through tables and dancers like wisps of smoke. Walls faded in and out as she flew through them and back again. Wether she was controlling her movements was anyone's guess. It felt very much like she was being carried on a wild gale, over and under, through and through everything she saw.

Lonesome Bridge

Part two, first entry

The music that had once filled her head almost painfully in this very room now seemed distant, as though it were being played from beneath a screen of water, and for the first time of the whole night, she wasn't scared anymore. Instead, she felt restless and disoriented, like someone had turned the room on its side while she wasn't looking. Each dancer, each server, each person that was in this club flickered with a dim glow, some barely noticeable amid the throng, others visible from well across the floor. As soon as she looked up, though, she tried to gasp; realized she couldn't, as though her body would not accept the air here. The ceiling, where before had been lights and a patchwork maze of speakers, looked to her like a raging fire of blinding white. She tried to cover her face before she realized that she felt nothing from the flames, no heat or energy, and that though they were bright as a fallen star they shed no light on anything around them. Slowly she lowered her arms and just stared at it in its sheer magnificence. It covered everything, giving no smoke and no hint of the crackle that she supposed fires to have made. Whether or not anything underneath it was being consumed, she could not tell. Her mind was fixed on this beautiful and terrible sight for... well, she couldn't say how long. Time didn't seem to matter anymore. What seemed like a long time later, she tore her eyes away and looked  back toward the bathroom, the last normal thing she could remember. A chilling sense of dread filled her as she shuffled along, careful not to bump into anyone as much out of fear as of courtesy. She remembered now that she could not draw breath, and yet as she panicked once again she kept walking. She didn't want to see what was in there, nor did she want to know, but she couldn't stop. She simply moved by some strange force of will towards the open door. When Kitty had reached it at last, nothing seemed to be important except seeing whatever lay on the other side of the smooth blue wall in front of her; not the air, not the fire, not the haunting glows that followed everyone she could see, only to know what she feared to discover. Turning around the corner, she had to force her eyes open almost against her own mind, until she had nearly reached the spot where last she felt... 

"No!", came a voice from behind her. Spinning around in terror, she saw the one who had cried out to her. Another girl, about eighteen she guessed, though she had not been there but a moment before. Kitty tried to answer, or scream, or in any other way make a sound, but again she found that she could not. The girl was very beatuiful, a little shorter than Kitty, auburn hair and striking green eyes that commanded immediate attantion. "You must not go in there," she said in urgency, "not until they take it away." Kitty stopped gasping and mouthed the word Why? The girl took on a saddened air and shook her head. "You don't know yet, do you? Stop trying to breathe and just let yourself be heard." Kitty looked back into the girl's mournful, calm face and felt herself relax a bit. She mouthed three more words: I don't understand. The sad girl walked closer, placed her hand gently at the base of Kitty's throat, and said in a loud and ringing voice, "Speak!" Kitty started to notice a lump growing in her windpipe, first ticklish and quickly turning painful. It felt to her like a glowing hot coal was rising of its own will towards her mouth from her throat. She winced and grimaced in silence as it traveled on, and after several long minutes she could just make out the first frail inkling of her voice. Opening her mouth wide, a wisp of pale mist began to emerge. The pain was unbelievable as the trailing rope of mist came farther and farther out, and all along the air seemed to fill with a horrific screech that she knew to be hers. At last the thing seeped out of her gaping mouth, coiling around her and vanishing into nothingness as the scream dissipated as well. Kitty fell to her knees and clutched at her throat... the terrible burning was gone, replaced by an eerie stillness. Fragile yet relieved, she spoke at last. She stopped at first; her voice sounded too hollow, too empty to have been real, but soon found the strength to go on. "Please, tell me, what is in that room?"

Lonesome Bridge

Part One, fourth entry

     From the corner of her eye, a face again lanced out at her attention. The man, the odd one, not four meters away from her. Again she felt the cold brushing down the small of her back, again she could not specify why. It was how she imagined the touch of a ghost might feel, very real but without substance or form. Once more the sensation felt like someone reaching uninvited into her spirit and caused her to wince. The man might glance at her every now and then, blending in seamlessly to the crowded scene. He cracked a gentle smile whenever their eyes met, at the same time welcoming and coldly vampiric in its feel. A voice from somewhere in the back of her head began to whisper; Look away. It was her mind, she knew, but it seemed so foreign a thought for her that she was surprised for a long moment. Suddenly she realized that she was feeling very sick.

     A minute later she was in the bathroom, her face quivering over the cold granite sink. She looked frighteningly pale to herself in the mirror. It was as though her soft color had left her out there when the chills had struck. Though her stomach churned, she couldn't bring herself to throw up. Something had happened to her, something that made her nerves freeze up, beyond her control or understanding. The bathroom itself was remarkably well-insulated and the bulk of the music was barred from reaching her ears. What little did remain was the thundrous beat, which sounded eerily like the throbbing of a troubled heart through the walls. The light in here was a misty green like the color of woodland fog, which cast a haunting glow in contrast to the vivid atmosphere of the main room. Somehow her bad feelings of before were becoming more and more personalized, unlike the firings of a fearful brain. She did not so much as hear the words, but felt them, like a close breath on her skin. What are you doing? Call for someone. It almost  seemed too far away to be a thought or a feeling. It was seeming more and more like a voice, calling from across a great distance. She looked to make sure she was alone, saw noone. She breathed a sigh of releif, before the temples of her head erupted in pain. The voice for just a moment became clearly audible, like a nearby yell: Get out! Get out! She opened her mouth to form a sound which never escaped, and she felt a heavy arm draw quickly around her neck. She saw the ragged black sleeve of the pale man's jacket and clawed at it. The screaming in her head fell silent, and once again she could make out the heartbeat rythm a room away. "Hello, deary" he said in a gravelly whisper. His voice was deep and broken, like the villain of some old movie. Kitty struggled to force out a cry, but the grip was too tight. A quick jolt, a wet snap, and the room grew dark and icy all around her.

     Kitty could never have imagined a sensation like this in her wildest dreams. Where a moment ago all had been pain and empty darkness, she found herself now in a tremendous sea of light and noise. It should have hurt her eyes to look at it all, but she felt nothing, like something shielded her. She was again in the main room, but it looked different from before. Everyone seemed suddenly attached to a personal light, a dim glow of varying power. What happened to me? she thought, mouthing the words to herself silently.

Lonesome Bridge

Part one, entry three

Alex raised a finger and unceremoniously ordered a beer from the bartenders. One of Helix's many unusualities was its unique hiring requirement: for most visible purposes the club hired only identical siblings. I wonder if they're going for a theme here thought Alex, taking the head of his beer with a deep-throated gulp. He noticed his girlfriend's wide-eyed stare, realized that she may be finally opening up to this place. Well, any improvement was good. If she had been wound any tighter before coming here, she might have given herself a heart attack and spoiled the whole evening. "Soooo," he said expectantly, "what do you think?" Kitty was still trying to get used to the complex undertones of the grinding music that filled every ounce of the air, almost to where she didn't hear the question. She gave him a curt nod, never quite taking her eyes off of the enormous throng on the dance floor. The sheer intensity of the constant movement in here was in itself an atmosphere that she found intriguing. A couple of the faces that flashed up occasionally looked familiar to her, people she knew from college maybe, though she couldn't really place them. Suddenly she thought she felt a rush of cold go over her, like an icy hand running down her neck and spine. Shivering, she leaned back a little against the bar to catch her bearings. What was that? she wondered with a start. It had felt more like a cold glare than a draft, like a warning from the back of her mind. "Are you ok?" asked Alex, looking more amused than worried. "I'm fine" Kitty said, putting on her trademark smile. She had long ago learned that a great smile could cover up almost anything. Winking, Alex turned back to his drink and took another long sip. Kitty ran a finger down her hair, toying with it thoughtlessly as she looked back toward the growing crowd. It wasn't another two minutes until she felt the chill again, this time like the wintery breeze outside the club's walls. Accompying it now was a weird, creeping anxiety which she just couldn't pin down. Looking at her glass, she tried to measure how much she had drunk. Just a couple of sips, tops, not nearly enough to screw with her brain. She wrapped her arms around herself subtly, her shyness again raising its head. Just a little chill she thought to herself. Glancing around, she saw a tall man a couple of tables down sitting alone. Something struck her about him, something she could'nt say she liked, something that just eluded her. He wore a scrungy-looking black coat and matching slacks with a tight shirt that revealed his pencheant for excersise. His face had an eery pallor to it amidst generally attractive features, like some image of a Gothic lord. Something about him just made her uncomfortable for a reason she didn't fully understand. Excusing herself for a moment, she headed off for the dance floor.

The crushing press of bodies flowed perfectly with the music's intense beat, making Kate a little uneasy at first. She never really liked close contact (she still had not been kissed), but there was something athletic about this feeling, like an outpouring of energy. She found it easier than she had expected to blend in with the collective motion of the crowd with its predictable ebb and flow of movement.

Lonesome Bridge

Part Two, entry two

If the outside of this place had been the slightest indication of things to come, the interior was enough to make Kitty gasp despite herself. The four of them stood in the entrance lobby straightening necklaces or dusting jeans, bathed in a softly glowing blacklight which made the pale sky-blue of Kitty's blouse flouresce to a stark violet. Through the second set of doors, once again blue-and-green-on-red glass, she could sense the incredible throbbing of life that came from the main room. The music, barely audible from the outside to one who was listening, was as entrancing as it was caucophonous. Nearly-deafening techno with a powerful and driving bass line dominated the atmosphere all around, making speach possible only at intimate distances, and she found herself to be very fond of its strangely hypnotic draw. Walking through the doors with her head held high in a show of confidence, she finally realized just how incredible the swarm of people was here. The dance floor, marble by appearences, was avast sea of violently rythmic motion. She saw those on the fringes twisting and gyrating madly to the sound. The impressive array of lasers mounted strategically on the ceiling dove and darted in and out of the crowd and came together at places to paint images of light on the sprawling human canvas. It was like nowhere Kitty had been before, nowhere of this magnitude. Striding in, she tried vaguely to look at home as she sat down gracefully at a nearby table across from Alex. Alex's eyes were as wide as hers, and from the look of it he was just as impressed by it all.