Depths

by C. S. Burkhart

  A tear drop plopped down onto my hand. More little drops spilled over the rim of my eyelids and fell. The tears were warm but they cooled quickly and evaporated off my face, leaving streaks. I didn't know what was wrong but I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. I let myself fall back onto my pillows and rolled over onto my side, crying shamelessly until I drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 3

  It must have been quite some time later when I woke up, no light at all came in through the curtains. I peeled my face off my pillow, soggy from my crying, and sat up. I couldn't explain what had come over me, I just cried. Not only that, I cried myself to sleep. I didn't know what to make of it, but it was rejuvenating though.

  What time was it? How odd, my alarm clock wasn’t on my nightstand.

  A loud crack from outside my door interrupted my thoughts, but I didn’t remember shutting my door before I passed out.

  The house started shaking and without a thought, I turned and jumped over my bed to the other side and ducked down.

  I peeked under the bed, a crushing sense of dread washed over me. My chest tightened, my breathing became shallow, quick breaths. Sweat slicked my palms and my heart pounded in my ears.

  Not again, please not again… What new horror would come for me this time? Is this another dream? Am I awake?

  Details, look for the details!

  Dresser, television, closet… But what color is the dresser supposed to be? My clock? Did I have a clock? I have to have a clock, but maybe I misplaced it or knocked it some—

  Silence, dead silence for only a split second…

  The bedroom door pealed off its hinges with a loud crack and was sucked away backwards down the hall, drywall and wood snapped and crashed into the walls and air rushed around my room—sending papers flying, knocking over my lamp and pulling my closet door open.

  My breathing increased to a frantic pace and I felt a cold sweat breaking out on my forehead.

  Details, details, details. Remember the details, this can’t be real… Breathe. Just breathe... In one, two, three, four… Out one, two, three, four...

  A black vortex twisted its way down the hall, tearing apart everything in its path. Drywall crumbled and support beams were ripped from their foundations and sucked into the cyclone. The roof was torn apart and shingles flew into the spiraling mass of what used to be my house. It advanced slowly, taking its time, ensuring that everything was devoured before continuing further on its rampage.

  My bed shook, the legs jumping and slamming into the ground and lurched towards the doorway. I stayed low, and clung desperately to the leg but it rattled so violently that it hurt my hands.

  The pillows and sheets were pulled out the entryway, sucked up like a giant vacuum, and my television slammed into the walls. Glass shattered and the television stand hit the door frame, taking a chunk out of it, before being sent into the abyss.

  The vortex was just a few feet from the doorway now. The pain was unbearable and I let go of the bed leg and clenched my fists, trying to nurse the blood back into my fingers. The legs clattered on the floor before the bed rose completely off the ground and flew towards the door, getting caught in the doorway for a moment before collapsing in the middle like a toothpick, and finally consumed by the unstoppable maw.

  The vortex stopped at my doorway, throwing dust and debris into my now exposed face. The curtains ripped away from the bar on the window which went hurtling into the vortex like a javelin. The window exploded, sending glass zooming about my room like little razors, slicing at my skin and drawing blood every time. I looked behind me just as my dresser drawers were pulled out, and my entire wardrobe went into the spiral.

  I scrambled toward my closet, clawing and fighting against the pull of the vortex. I dug my nails into the carpet, using every bit of strength I had to keep from getting sucked into the black spiral. With a last burst of energy, I leapt and grabbed the edge of the open closet door, clinging on by my fingertips.

  With the remainder of my energy, I pulled myself into the closet and shut the door, gripping the doorknob with everything I had to hold the door shut, as the vortex whipped debris around like a blender. My ears rang with the racket, I couldn't hear a thing, not even the thoughts in my head.

  I shut my eyes and prayed it would end quickly.

  Chapter 4

  I sat there in my closet for what seemed like hours, holding the door shut until the vortex subsided. I relaxed my grip on the door knob and stayed put for a moment while I collected myself.

  Silence. Pure silence. There’s a thing called the “anechoic chamber” that’s in this lab somewhere. It’s the world’s quietest room. Supposedly, it’s so quiet that you can hallucinate because you hear all the noise going on inside your body, like your blood circulating, your lungs moving against the walls of your chest. It starts making you go crazy. The longest anyone has stayed in there is 45 minutes.

  I bet I could do better.

  I just witnessed a tornado tearing through my house, I’ve died a few times now—not sure of the exact number… Along with all the other stuff going on, I’m still breathing. Maybe not entirely sane, but alive. I bet I could live inside that chamber.

  My breathing gradually calmed down and I was able to stand. I opened the closet door and stepped into the wreckage of what used to be my room.

  The silence followed me into the room, the dust hadn't quite settled yet and I sucked it up into my nose and mouth as I inhaled, making me cough. The echoes of the noise ricocheted around the indescribable wreckage, not so much from what was damaged but what wasn't damaged.

  A few scratches here and there on the walls from where furniture and glass had banged into and sliced up, but for the most part the room wasn't touched. The roof was still intact over my head as well but the doorway that used to lead into my hallway was piled up with rubble though. Twisted metal frames jigged and jagged—ready to impale some unfortunate person, probably me—and snapped beams jutted out from underneath drywall and tile. I could even make out various food items that had to have come from the kitchen.

  I was completely blocked in.

  Outside the window from my room was only blackness, like the vortex dragged the entire sky into its heart. There was nothing.

  Literally, nothing.

  I walked back to the corner by the closet and slumped into it.

  This made no sense.

  I held my head in my hands, trying to think of something, anything that I could do. It could take days, weeks even, to unblock the doorway from the wreckage. Not to mention I didn't have any food or water.

  Looks like you're shit out of luck.

  Shut up.

  You could always jump out the window.

  Possibly. But what was out there?

  I got back up and went to the window and winced from a sharp pain in my foot. Balancing against the wall, I held my foot up and saw a chunk of glass embedded deep into the ball of my foot. I gritted my teeth and ripped it out with my fingers and set my foot back on the ground. Blood oozed out and I wiped it away. I hadn't even taken two steps when another piece of glass lodged itself in my other foot.

  “Dammit,” I muttered as I pulled the other piece out. I stepped carefully, trying to avoid the glass, as I made my way to the window. The frame was warped and a few shards of glass jutted out like daggers. Carefully, I stuck my head out the window. There was nothing in any direction. Just blackness. Not even the ground was there and I couldn't see the outside walls of my house. And the air... No chill, no warmth no movement at all… Nothing. It's like the outside world didn't exist anymore.

  Just jump.

  I don't know what will happen though.

  It's not like you’ll fall and break something. There's nothing there.

  No.

  Come on... Just do it.

  “NO!” I shouted out loud.

  I stepped back from the window and planted my foot on yet another piece of glass.

  “FUCK!”

  I hopp
ed on one foot, holding it with both hands, smearing blood all over the walls as I tried to keep balance. I stumbled into the corner opposite my closet and dug the glass out.

  I sighed and dismally looked at the pile of rubble in my doorway again. There was no way I was going to get out that way.

  You can always try the window!

  Shut the fuck up.

  I put my hand up on the wall to pull myself up but I touched something metallic. Metallic and it twisted...

  I looked up and saw a doorknob.

  A doorknob?

  I used it to pull myself up. My feet were tender and I could feel the blood seeping out and staining the floor.

  Sure enough, there was a doorknob in my hands. Which was connected to—

  A door.

  Yes a door, but where the hell did it come from?

  Does it matter? Go through it.

  Just minute ago you were telling me to jump out a window into nothingness.

  And now I'm telling you to go through the door.

  I tip-toed back to the window and looked to the left, trying to see if there was anything that the door would lead to. But there was nothing.

  Jump through the window!

  Make up your mind!

  I went back to the door and stood there looking at it before putting my ear up to it and listened.

  I could hear voices now. Not sure how many there were, maybe two? Three?

  “Hello?” I called out, knocking on the door at the same time.

  “HellOOOooo?”

  No response. I couldn't make out the words the voices were saying, only indecipherable chatter.

  “Hello!” I banged on the door again but still got no response.

  I threw my arms down in frustration and paced back and forth. There was a pile of well, my house in my doorway, a window that led into nothing and a door that had magically appeared with voices behind it that didn't respond to me.

  Not an ideal situation.

  I kept pacing, trying to make up my mind. I could try to unblock the doorway, but if the window was any indication of what I might find once I moved the rubble—however long that would take—then it didn't seem like that would help me much. And the window... That just seemed like a bad idea.

  Wait a minute.

  I carefully moved over to the pile of rubble and yanked a piece of wood, maybe from the coffee table in the living room, out of the pile. I tip-toed again back to the window and held my arm out with the battered piece of wood.

  Should be interesting...

  I released my fingers and watched it fall and fall until I couldn't see it anymore. It made no sound.

  Good thing I didn't try the window.

  Oh come on, I was just trying to be proactive.

  I started pacing again, stepping on yet another piece of glass.

  “Motherfuckerpieceofshitsonofabitch! FUCK!”

  I held my foot up and ripped the glass out and threw it at the wall, shattering it into even smaller pieces. I stormed back over to the other side of the room and slammed my fist into the wall, punching a hole clear through it.

  Only one thing left to do....

  I had to go through the door.

  I turned the knob, unsure of what I would find on the other side. I took a breath and one last look at my bedroom. I turned away from the carnage and slowly opened the door.

  Chapter 5

  A blinding, pulsating light splashed over me. I put my arms up over my face to block it but it didn't help. I stumbled forward, trying to feel in front of me with one arm while shielding my eyes with the other.

  The door swung shut behind me and I turned around at the noise, losing my balance. I flailed out with my arms trying to catch myself on something but I fell flat on my face.

  The light slowed its pulse and dimmed each time. I rolled over onto my back squeezing my eyes shut, half from pain and half because I was still blinded. The light faded and faded until it stayed steady—bright, but not too bright.

  I sat up and found myself in a room that was completely bare. The walls were white, so white they seemed to produce a light of their own, the only explanation I had as to where the light source came from. The floor was stark white as well, like some sort of linoleum or something.

  How exciting. Maybe you can decorate.

  As sarcastic of a thought as it was, it seemed to fit. There was absolutely nothing in here. I turned my head to look at the door. It was still there, the outline of it barely stood out against the reflective white walls.

  I stood up, head still fuzzy from my fall and retinas still stained, and walked along the walls of the room. It wasn't very large, maybe 10’ x 10’ at most. I couldn't really tell where the ceiling was, it just blended in with the rest of the room, but so did everything. The only reference I had was the brass door knob. Without it I wouldn't be able to gauge distance at all.

  But where were the voices that I heard?

  Over here!

  Shut up.

  No, no... Over here!

  Shut. Up.

  The voice in my head actually did to seem to be coming from different sides of the room though…

  Pst!

  It came from my left this time and I turned, hoping to catch whatever it was. But I saw nothing.

  What the hell is going on?

  Think... What were you doing before you got here?

  Almost being killed by a vortex that just appeared inside my house?

  No... Before then.

  Sleeping?

  Before that... Come on! Think harder!

  As he said it, bits and pieces started coming back to me.

  You were sitting on your couch... Falling asleep... And you dreamed about her...

  I was sitting on my couch. I felt exhausted. When was the last time I had slept? I let my head fall back on the cushion, kicked my feet up on the table and got comfortable.

  I opened my eyes to the sun shining, blue skies overhead while a cool breeze rustled my hair. I tried to sit up but there was a weight on my chest. I peered down past my nose to see her head resting on me. Her wavy black hair tickled my nose and faint scents of vanilla drifted into my nostrils. It made me feel warm. The grass was making my arms and head itch so I shifted a little. She stirred in her sleep and slowly lifted her head up. Her deep brown eyes blinked from the sun, finally focusing their gaze straight into my own eyes. She smiled and I smiled back.

  “Come on!”

  She rolled off of me and stood up all in one motion while at the same time, grabbing my arm and attempting to pull me.

  “Oh come on, just a few more minutes. I like laying down better!”

  I playfully resisted her. She bent forward, planted her heels and yanked my arm.

  “Get up!” She cried.

  I have to admit she had a pretty strong grip, it felt like my arm was being pulled from its socket. I pulled back just a little more to continue the play fight a few seconds longer. I liked seeing her butt perked out while she put her back into her efforts. I finally gave in and stood up quickly, causing her to fall over.

  “That was rude!” She exclaimed, the hint of a smile on the corners of her mouth.

  “So was ripping my arm off,” I said as I rubbed my shoulder. It actually did hurt a little. I walked to her and held my hand to pull her up. She let out a playful squeal and took off running.

  “Come on!” she shouted, already way ahead of me. I chased after her, the sun glaring in my eyes, cushy grass beneath my feet. She finally stopped at the edge of a steep drop off. It had to be hundreds of feet high.

  She stood there, staring out into the distance and I followed her gaze. It was beautif—

  “It's beautiful,” she whispered. Both of us were completely awestruck by the view. The sun was setting over the mountains in the distance, the sky illuminated by oranges, reds, violets and yellows. A golden glow shined from the tips of the mountaintops as the sun's rays settled down upon them.

  “They're all my favorite colors,” she cont
inued staring out as if hypnotized, “and I'll never be able to see them anymore thanks to you.”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  She turned to me and with a sudden movement, shoved me. I tried to catch my balance but I fell over the edge. Her face quickly grew smaller and smaller and the wind whistled in my ears so loud that it hurt. I plummeted and twisted and turned as I fell. The ground was rushing up at me and the last thought I had in my head was—

  Chapter 6

  I opened my eyes, it was dark and the room was stuffy. I tried to sit up but there was a weight on my chest. I peered down past my nose to see her head resting on me. Her wavy black hair tickled my nose and faint scents of vanilla drifted into my nostrils. It made me feel warm. She stirred in her sleep and slowly lifted her head up. Her eyes blinked, still heavy from sleep, finally focusing their gaze straight into my own eyes. She smiled and I smiled back.

  Chapter 7

  No. None of that happened that way.

  I opened my eyes and immediately shut them again, blinded once more by the glaringly white walls.

  It wasn't? How do you know?

  Because it just wasn't. If I died, then how am I here?

  That could be the exact reason why you're here.

  Good point.

  That was one of my favorite memories of her. Only I knew that obviously wasn't how the memory went. Not exactly at least, I don’t remember a cliff. Or getting pushed off one, and I don’t think I’m dead…

  No. I’m not dead. Of course I’m not.

  Keep telling yourself that.

  I don't want to be here right now.

  So don't be.

  What do you mean?

  You don't want to be here, so don't be here. Why not go somewhere else?

  To where?

  I know the perfect place.

  The room began shifting from a bright white to pitch black. A small pinpoint globe of light grew just off in the distance ahead of me.