Page 6 of Citrine

I freeze. What new predator is this?

Something gleaming pierces the rhelld and I'm yanked up out of the water before I'm able to release it from my hold.

Once the spray of water clears, I see a giant pink… something in the sky. Floating there, just like I would under the water. It's… wrong. Nothing large moves through the sky.

Before I can puzzle it out or get away, it attacks me with its own tentacles, except there are far more of them than any creature should ever have, and when they pull against me, they feel nothing like flesh.

I try to tear into them, but they won't break and instead leave long cuts and gashes as they squeeze me into a smaller and smaller shape.

Then it pulls me into its maw, the rhelld screaming out in pain near me, its multiple rows of black eyes rolling as green blood pumps out of it and down into the water below us.

I try to fight against the hold, but only manage to swing myself through the air. The wind already biting into me and drying me out.

I'm spinning wildly as the creature pulls me into its mouth. I scream out my defiance as it prepares to eat me, but once I get inside its mouth…

I see other creatures. None of them look like they have been chewed. Do they live inside it? Cleaner fish?

I don't have a chance to figure out their role before one of them holds out a limb and coats me with something vile, every sucker sending me information about it I would rather not know.

My vision darkens as my stomach heaves.

3

Eli

Something's wrong.

I mean, more than just the fact that I've been arrested. We're heading out into the desert instead of downtown, where they should book me.

I've been there plenty of times on loitering charges to know this is bull.

The thought of confronting them about it makes my heart pound, but it's getting progressively more remote.

I clear my throat. "Where are you taking me?"

They ignore me, and it pisses me off. "My mom's going to wonder where I went. You can't do this!"

The one with the buzz cut scoffs at me, finally turning to engage. "Right, you little bitch. Clearly, the woman who accused you of beating her is worried about you."

"I didn't!"

He laughs. "That's pretty obvious."

The one driving lets out a long breath. "Are you sure about his one?"

"Yeah, I pulled up her record real quick while they pulled out that deadbeat. Just another nobody that no one's gonna miss."

His comment is like a punch in the gut, and I sink down into the seat, the zip ties cutting into my wrists in a sting to match the sick feeling in my chest.

He's right. I'm a nobody. I had plans to make a mark on the world. I had someone who loved me and believed in me. Both long lost.

Now I'll just be another statistic.

Someone who didn't show up to work, but everyone knew it was bound to happen, so they won't think about it more than a few minutes, likely just angry they have to figure out how to cover for me.

Hell, all I had was a bed share arrangement and it'll probably take her weeks to realize I haven't been around.

No one will even notice.