Her brow creased as faces peered back at her, every one of them featureless, blurred. Fingers, pale like snow and cold as death, ghosting over her cheekbone, touching at her clavicle, lingering at her wrists. Not for the first time, she felt a sense of familiarity. Another noise, sounding faintly from somewhere unknown despite their silence - muffled, not unlike when she was submerged in water, pulling at her muddled mind. Her face turned, only for more fingers to curl around her chin and return her gaze. Tremors, from her shoulders to the tips of her fingers as they grasped at her tighter.
Tighter still.
Nostalgia, longing, sadness - she forced her eyes shut, willing her thoughts into silence as she evened out her breathing.
In. Out. In. Out.
In.
She started as they surged forward, closer, short of breath and blinking blearily into the mass. She clawed at them, prying at decaying fingers and recoiling at silent, empty faces. Fire crawled up her throat, the ice-cold grip of fear. Her body tensed suddenly at that sound - shuffling steps, uneven, clicking. Not human - no eyes, no ears, but ever-reaching arms and, yes, now she could see, mouths gaping with soundless cries, silent screams that left her own ears ringing.
The stench of rotting flesh stung her nose as more putrid fingers poked and pulled bruisingly at the corners of her mouth, drawing her lips up into a helpless, terrorized smile. Her vision blurred, only catching glimpses of all those pale faces and the flashing of lights. They pulled and kept pulling, splitting her skin, tearing at her insides and that crazed, too-loud silence scratching at the inside of her skull until she could almost scream-
"Sweetie, sweetheart, look right over here- perfect, that's the look!"
"Can you confirm you've gotten involved with-"
"Are you single? What about last month when-"
The car door slamming shut did little to drown out the outside buzz, the lights from the swarm still flashing against tinted windows as she slumped back into the seat with a sigh that shook all the way down into her bones.
"Just.. please, take me home."
She caught eyes with the rearview mirror, only to be met with a smile adorned with fangs, saliva dripping past the driver's lips and his hands flexing against the steering wheel.
"'Course, ma'am."
Tighter still.
Nostalgia, longing, sadness - she forced her eyes shut, willing her thoughts into silence as she evened out her breathing.
In. Out. In. Out.
In.
She started as they surged forward, closer, short of breath and blinking blearily into the mass. She clawed at them, prying at decaying fingers and recoiling at silent, empty faces. Fire crawled up her throat, the ice-cold grip of fear. Her body tensed suddenly at that sound - shuffling steps, uneven, clicking. Not human - no eyes, no ears, but ever-reaching arms and, yes, now she could see, mouths gaping with soundless cries, silent screams that left her own ears ringing.
The stench of rotting flesh stung her nose as more putrid fingers poked and pulled bruisingly at the corners of her mouth, drawing her lips up into a helpless, terrorized smile. Her vision blurred, only catching glimpses of all those pale faces and the flashing of lights. They pulled and kept pulling, splitting her skin, tearing at her insides and that crazed, too-loud silence scratching at the inside of her skull until she could almost scream-
"Sweetie, sweetheart, look right over here- perfect, that's the look!"
"Can you confirm you've gotten involved with-"
"Are you single? What about last month when-"
The car door slamming shut did little to drown out the outside buzz, the lights from the swarm still flashing against tinted windows as she slumped back into the seat with a sigh that shook all the way down into her bones.
"Just.. please, take me home."
She caught eyes with the rearview mirror, only to be met with a smile adorned with fangs, saliva dripping past the driver's lips and his hands flexing against the steering wheel.
"'Course, ma'am."