Inspired by the Creative Writing Ink photo prompt.
‘It looks like a bad Ghostbusters movie set.’
Tom turns to me, confusion contorting his features, ‘How did we get here?’
‘We…’ I stop.
I don’t remember.
The last thing I recall is sharing a paella in Little Venice.
‘Where are we?’ I grip Tom’s hand tighter.
‘I’m not sure.’ He steps closer to the escalators ahead of us.
I glance behind me, into a void of nothingness, black as nightmares. My heart skips a beat and I take an involuntary step forwards, to stand beside Tom. My eyes follow the stairs ahead of us to an towering inferno. But there is no heat to prickle or scorch our skin. Nor smoke to starve our lungs. Just a wall of flames… raging and twisting, oppressive in magnitude.
‘Are these the gates of hell?’ I ask timidly.
He turns to me, suppressing a smile, ‘And I thought you’d be going to heaven.’
I grin back, ‘I probably was before I met you.’
A sudden, slicing pain steals my breath. Then more needle-like stings spread across my chest. I cry out, my knees buckling as the ground rushes up to meet me.
The escalator hazes, colours bleed into one. Faces, voices, the fiery blood-red sky morphs into a blanket of deep velvet night.
‘Can you hear me?’
A finger waves in front of my face.
I think I nod.
There’s movement to my right, then hands underneath me, lifting me towards a bright light.
‘No. I’m not ready,’ I say. ‘Wait!’
I try to lift my arms, to push back, but my limbs are too heavy.
There’s a tiny pinprick on the inside of my elbow. Coolness spreads through me, settling like a veil of calm.
I’m weightless again. Then lights, more voices, repetitive whirring noises.
‘Where am I?’ I slur. I lift a hand to scratch my lip, it feels weird, tingly, swollen.
‘In the ambulance Ellie.’ Tom’s hand reaches out to take mine. ‘You went into anaphylactic shock, but you are okay now.’
‘I think I was in hell. You were there too.’
He laughs, then leans in close. ‘Not today,’ he whispers.
Copyright © 2019 Lottie McKnight. All rights reserved.