🩸 PLS (I sent it to you earlier, but I don't know if it got sent 😭)
sorryyyy for taking a bit longer, I got your ask. I'm just a little slow at the moment. thanks @stupid-waffle for asking about the same wip <3
🩸red rain/ a yawning grave
rosekiller - recreational drug use, grieving, dystopian world building
SO, this wip is actually the most unusual one for me. when I first heard about fests and someone told me about a marauders sci-fi fest, I was thinking about participating. I eventually decided against it bc that WIP is heavily out of my comfort zone topic wise. It's also the closest thing to an MCD (🚨‼️🆘) you will ever find in my house.
It is very very loosely inspired by Under The Dome by Stephen King. And when I say loosely inspired I mean that I haven't read that book and stopped watching the show after the first episode bc it lowkey sucked ass. I just stole the dome idea. Here is the summary:
When a deadly virus hits Europe, small towns are being sealed off by giant glass domes that appear over night. Evan is inside when it happens, Barty is not.
Three and a half years later, somebody is still determined to find out what’s going on behind the glass.
If you want to catch a vibe you could listen to Islands by the xx, The Passenger by Iggy Pop or the title giving song: The Yawning Grave by Lord Huron <3 (guys srsly you should all listen to the songs authors add to their fics)
here is a (kinda long) snippet:
Evan walks along the dome, through the forest on the edge of the town. He can still see his family’s home in the distance when the sky is clear like today. They used to live outside of town, and they were cut off when the glass came down. Pandora and him just happened to be in the town center, his parents were home. Evan and Pandora assumed they were dead pretty soon, neither of them had tried to reach their children in any way. They have never seen anyone outside the glass, and as far as Evan is concerned, everyone on the other side is dead.
The forest around him is dense, but Evan knows his way around. He had plenty of time to explore it during the last three and a half years. And even before, he used to spend a lot of time here. People didn’t like the forest too much, some considered it a bit spooky with all the animal noises, the dense treetops keeping most of the light from coming in.
The soft noise of branches breaking under his feed gives Evan a sense of comfort, something familiar. No animals are left roaming around the forest, not even a slight breeze, so there’s no other sounds besides what’s happening under his soles. It only takes Evan twenty minutes to reach the spot he was looking for, it looks as perfect as it always does.
He trudges up the small rise; it's man-made, and a sewer pipe runs underneath it. Evan and Barty once tried to unscrew the small grate in front of it, but it was soldered on tight. Evan never told Barty, but he was glad it hadn't worked. Barty was curious by nature and surely would have wanted to crawl in, but Evan has always been horribly claustrophobic.
The old wooden bench on top has seen better days surely, but it’s still Evan’s safest haven. The small scratched initials E + B are still there, still perfectly visible. It used to overlook some of the cornfields, but now it’s directed straight at the globe. The cornfields behind it look like they always do, and Evan wonders how long-lived these plants might be.
Then his gaze lands on the big heavy stone that he carried up here some time ago. He knows Barty would have wanted a big fancy mausoleum, not because he’s extra like that, but because he would have celebrated his death as much as his life. Evan has used the last bits of paint he could find to write Barty’s name on it. The makeshift gravestone doesn’t even come close to what Barty would have deserved, but it’s the only thing Evan managed to make.
He stares out through the thick glass while he’s smoking a cigarette, wishing he’d have someone to share. When he’s done, he takes out the joint. He decides to smoke it first and take the Ketamine after.
The flame of Evan’s lighter flickers once and then it burns. And the first drag is pure perfection. His lungs contract at the feeling of the smoke, but his brain relaxes immediately. Whatever else Rabastan mixed in there, he was right. Unfortunately, it’s really bad for every other part of Evan, too. It hits his stomach and he worries that the meager breakfast he had today will make another appearance.
Evan takes another hit of the so-called Joint. It’s probably stretched with all kinds of trash and not just opioides, but at least it does something. Evan can overlook the nausea and urge to vomit it causes, for the chance of at least a little peace of mind. He blinks a few times, and his eyes take a bit longer to re-open than they should. Evan sinks down on the soft grass next to the bench, looking up through the trees. The feeling in his fingers slowly fades, and Evan considers putting the joint down and taking a nap right there.
But then he starts hearing something.
Maybe the opium starts doing its thing and the hallucinations will set in soon. He can’t even really place the noise. It starts as a low hum, then it gets louder. Then suddenly a screeching grinding noise begins, giving Evan goosebumps. He sits up in one sharp motion, and almost loses balance. He tries to stay very still then, as if it would hide him.
Barty and him used to tell each other scary stories about the sewers, that monsters of all sorts live down there. Barty once made one up where people would hide there from a killer but because the tide inside changes, each of them drowned.
The thought makes him dizzy.
When Evan hears the heavy metal bars drop to the floor, he expects some type of waterlogged corpse to crawl out from down there. He doesn’t dare to scoot forward and look down, still sitting frozen in place.
It’s not a corpse that makes its way up the small rise and gets into view in front of Evan.
Instead, a ghost crawls up to the bench, straightens up and turns to look at Evan.
Hallucination’s are new but Evan can’t help the smile on his face appear. The ghost looks just like him, maybe his brain is making up a version of how Barty would have been by now. The electrical saw in his hands looks heavy when he drops it and stares back. His hair is a little longer, there’s a new piercing. Evan knows Barty always wanted to get more, but his dad never let him.
Evan wants to stare at the ghost forever. Wants to take in all the details his fogged up brain can barely register.
But much to his surprise, the ghost can speak.
“Evan.” It breathes out, looking equally startled.
“Hm?” Evan asks back, unable to form a proper word. It takes him just a tad too long to open his eyes every time they flatter shut.
What a nice dream this is, what a beautiful nightmare, he thinks, before he closes his eyes again, and this time they stay shut.
yeah, this ones a little more heavy then anything else I have written. but I have a weird sentiment towards it. thank you for asking about it <3
