Ageless Dark

Chapter 1
Ageless Dark

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Chapter Description: In the dark age is not seen, in the light age is all too clear

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In the light

Age doesn’t hold

“Are you sure these lights work right? They go on and off at random times on their own”

“The lights are fine, mate, seriously. These are exactly the lights asked for, just be sure not to stick around them too long”

~~

The dog must have been quite the biter and shredder since yet again she could taste the hair of the dog that bit her, she always tasted it. She could also hear the drums being played in her head.

Another miserable morning alive then.

“Maybe you should come up with your own perfume, Petit Le Brewery” Funny, not, so funny. Always the same snide remarks every day.

Mumbling a good morning despite the pounding in her head, Micala flops down at the kitchen table and tries to calm her stomach while the smell of freshly made bacon stimulates her sense of smell, it was an amazing smell that was only making her feel sick from how heavily she had drunk, again, last night.

Her flat mate could joke all she wants, she didn’t care. The drink was to numb the pain in her heart, she didn’t care for stopping, only for dying. So far no luck despite how much she has drunk over the past decade since turning 15.

She didn’t care if she died as long as the pain would finally end.

“Can you manage any breakfast or are you still on your alcohol only fast?” Don’t care, let me die already was the only reply in her mind.

“You need to eat something” So what? What did it matter? Her stomach growled in hunger while churning at the same time in queasiness, the food really did smell good. So she nods slowly and accepts the plate of food that is placed in front of her, her flat mate was trying to look out for her and she didn’t mind that, she just didn’t care about being alive.

She never cared.

As Micala ate and tried to keep the food down, her flat mate signed quietly and served herself some breakfast. She worried about her friend, she had always worried ever since they were children. Micala rarely talked about herself and didn’t talk much in general, ever since she became old enough to drink – according to UK law – she spent most of her life just drinking.

It was clear that she was drinking to forget but what was she trying to forget? What had hurt her so much that she turned to excess amounts of alcohol in some misguided attempt to drown the pain?

Keira didn’t want to push the matter though, even though she was worried, she felt that it would be best to give her friend the space and time needed to speak up. But when would that be? At the rate she was going she might not make it another year or even a week and she didn’t want to lose a dear friend.

She would have to take matters into her own hands instead of sitting on the sidelines soon, her fried was looking even worse with every day.

“There’s a Halloween party in the old Brier house down the street tonight. You know the place, you’ve passed out on the front steps there many times. I was thinking that we could go, maybe you’ll meet someone nice” The reply, quiet though it was, was as expected.

“Will there be booze?” She hoped not but there most likely would be, sadly.

“Probably but you could try avoiding it for a change” Micala looks at her, her eyes bloodshot, her hair filthy and matted with dirt and probably vomit.

“I guess you won’t”

“Ding ding, you win the million” This couldn’t go on much longer, her friend looked so close to death.

“Once you’ve washed up and changed your clothes I was thinking that we could go see the doctor, get you checked out and see how your health is” She had already informed the doctor of Micala’s deteriorating health and had managed to take some blood samples while her friend had been sleeping off another night of heavy drinking, the results were not good to say the least.

According to what the doctor had told her yesterday that if Micala didn’t seek help now that she would all too likely be dead of severe renal failure within the year.

Something needed to be done while Micala still had a slim chance of being helped.

“Whatever”

Time was running out.

~~

Despite Micala’s stubborness and arguing, Keira managed to get her to see the doctor and she was told that she would receive the results of her blood tests as soon as possible. Micala had just shrugged while keeping her eyes fixed on her hands, she didn’t seem to care at all.

The rest of the day had been spent with work while Micala had slumped off back to the flat they lived in together.

Once work was finished for the day Keira returned to the flat to find Micala with her head over the toilet bowl again, she could smell some cheap alcohol in the air.

“I’ll get our costumes ready, you’ll have to wear a nappy again since you’ll probably drink too much again” A dry retching replies to her. Fighting back tears of both anger and fear at her friend’s dark looking future, Keira sorts out their costumes and waits for Micala to be done throwing up.

Finally she’s done and she stumbles through to the bedroom where the costumes are laid out ~ A costume designed to make Keira look a little like Dark Willow from the Buffy The Vampire Slayer series and a Wonder Woman costume for Micala, modern style though with the jeans so that Micala wouldn’t hurt her legs too much from any likely drunken falling, added to Micala’s costume are a few thick adult nappies in case of any loss of bladder control from her drinking.

“May as well just turn me into a baby with the way you look after me” Micala mumbles as she undresses, her clothes falling strongly of alcohol, urine and vomit.

“I would if I could, you would be easier to care for and help” Once Micala is dressed and sent through to the kitchen to have something strong, Keira gets dressed. Once done she heads through to the kitchen and makes herself some hot chocolate, Micala was struggling with a cup of black coffee.

“There better be drink” Michala mumbles into her coffee.

“Why? Haven’t you had enough?” The sound of the kettle warming up, since the water was already a little cold, fills in some of the silence between slurps and gulps from Micala.

“Never enough” An unwanted answer whenever it’s given and it was looking all too likely to be a death sentence answer.

“Let’s just go already”

“Once I’ve had this cocoa, okay?” This was looking to be another long night.

~~

As to be expected for the time of year the coming winter brings the usual chill that not even their thick coats can fully dispel. Anyone wearing a skimpy Halloween outfit would be feeling the chill tonight for sure.

“Good thing this place isn’t too far away, I would hate to try and get a taxi considering how busy they’ll probably be” Micala just grunts and hiccups, she was already feeling the aftermath of the cheap alcohol from earlier.

The house they are headed to isn’t far at all, barely an eight minute or so walk from the flat. The house was well known to the residents for both it’s age and it’s rumours, it was one of the oldest standing houses in the immediate area at close to four hundred years and had been commissioned by a former wealthy family in the area who have long since all but completely died off in the past century, the last remaining family member being on their death bed in a care home.

Brier house was pretty much handed to the public as long as they took care of it and cleaned up after themselves if they had any gatherings. The house was well cared for and respectfully treated with any vandals dealt with by the police after quick reporting by the area’s residents, none of them wanted to see a piece of local history be destroyed.

It had it’s fair share of rumours and myths though which was to be expected for a house this old. Many believed it was haunted while others were more interested in the mystery of a section of the house that was sealed off for unspecified reasons other than no one was to enter that part of the house, they had to go around it instead via another hallway and some stairs.

Some had tried to enter the sealed off area but the doors were securely locked with the key lost a long time ago.

It was a beautiful old house and as they neared it it looked as beautiful as ever and welcoming with some lights on and people heading in for the Halloween party.

Keira had been part of the planning and had arranged with neighbours and the other party planners to ensure that the music wouldn’t be too loud, they had to be respectful after all of others.

“I hope I won’t have to carry you home again” Keira remarks as they head up the front steps to the front door.

“You do? I didn’t know” How could she since she was usually too drunk to remember.

“At least it’s a bloody good workout” In truth though Keira hated it and hoped that her friend would take the hint to lay off the drink for a change.

Sadly her hopes are dashed as soon as they enter the house, her friend was looking around for the alcohol.

“Hey Keira! Head on through, we’re just sorting out the last of the food. Turns out no one in the area likes cold pizza so we’re had to order it fresh, just waiting on the delivery. Micala” Micala grunts and pushes her way past Keira and the man who had greeted them.

“Alcohol?” She asks.

“Upstairs where the party is, you’ll have to go through the haunted house to get there” Her shoulders slump, she had clearly expected the alcohol to be at the entrance, she didn’t want to have to go through the house.

“I told you that, Micala, the rest of us had the idea after seeing a Buffy episode involving a party. Although that party went badly wrong but we wanted to try our own attempt at the theme, if you had joined us with the planning you would have known” Micala just shrugs and makes for a stairway leading upstairs.

“See you there then” She mumbles as she heads upstairs.

“She looks horrible” Keira nods in agreement.

“She’s dying and she refuses to listen, is there any way to keep her away from the alcohol at all?” A shake of the head is her answer.

“Only if we didn’t have any but then people would have complained” That was true, just because she wanted to stop Micala from drinking didn’t mean that she had to ruin it for others despite her distaste for the stuff herself.

“Did you bring any protection for her? Can’t have her making a mess like she usually does” Keira pats her second bag which has supplies in it.

“Aye, she’s wearing right now. I doubt anyone will poke fun at her for wearing nappies, not after the last time someone did” It had been an ugly fight to say the least.

“They probably won’t, Terry’s going back in for another jaw surgery and to get his left eye examined to see how well it’s healed. He’s looking better than he was after Micala bashed him around” A local man called Terry, a self proclaimed ’Hard Man’, had made fun of Micala for wearing nappies due to how badly her constant drinking was affecting her bladder. Micala hadn’t even said a word to him, just punched him to the ground and laid into him which had resulted in a broken left eye socket, a broken nose, a few teeth being knocked out and a damaged jaw.

Then she threw him out a window and he had narrowly avoided being hit by a passing bus only to be hit by first one car then another before Micala had run out and laid into him some more, it had taken four men and three women to pull her off him.

The most Micala was hurt was to her knuckles and a small cut from a piece of glass when she had smashed a bottle over his head during the fight.

He had been in hospital for almost three months and was on the mend, and avoiding Micala as best as able. Whenever he saw her now he would turn pale and walk the other way, well hobble since the impact from the two cars had damaged his right leg and bruised his hips which left him needing to use clutches.

Micala didn’t even remember the fight and still doesn’t recall her actions.

“I’ll head on up then, I’ll try to keep Micala out of trouble” Easier said than done.

“Be sure to have some fun yourself, don’t keep looking after her drunken ass all the time” If only she could.

~~

Her head was pounding and the walls seemed to be spinning, she could barely see where she was supposed to go. So with her heads out in front of her even though to her they were just blurs, Micala tries to get to the party only to keep falling against the walls. That cheap alcohol always had this effect on her.

“Cheap junk” She mumbles as she tries to push herself forward, she hears a door creak open a soft voice call her over.

“Over here, it’s a short cut to the party. Come on, Micala, over here” Trying to figure out where the voice is coming from, Micala stumbles towards it and feels a pair of hands pull at her and hears a door shut, the lock making her head hurt as the door is locked behind her.

“Just down this hall, take a right and keep going straight until you reach a small set of stairs, go down them slowly and the party is right in front of you. Have fun” The voice sounds faint like it’s far away even though it’s right next to her.

“Thanks” Micala burps and pushes herself down the hall, turning right and going straight. She can tell that the lights are on but only for a few seconds before they snap off then back on again.

“Stupid lights” The lights do this several more times until they fall into a pattern, once they do Micala begins to notice that she can see a little better as if she’s becoming sober.

“Better”

The hall way is long, she can’t see the other end yet, it just seems to keep going and each time she moves forward the lights snap off then back on and each time they do she feels a little better, better than she’s felt in years.

She doesn’t notice one of her shoes falling off as she walked.

~

The party was in full swing, the music was being managed well and people were in good spirits. There were so many costumes to be seen, some ranging from cute and some to a tad revealing. Few were scary since it was hard to scary when you weren’t really trying to be.

Micala wasn’t here though which was odd, surely she would have found her way here by now. The haunted house theme wasn’t exactly extensive since the party planners had done the best they could do on a tight decoration budget.

“Maybe she passed out in a bathroom, this place has a lot of them” She hoped not considering the size of the house, it would take hours to search every room.

“I’m going to go look for her” The thought that her friend could be dead right now didn’t sit well with her.

“Why not stay and have some fun, she’s a grown woman, she should be able to take care of herself” She hoped so and she did like the idea of having some fun for a change, even for a little while. Micala had to turn up eventually.

~

The door still wasn’t in sight nor were the stairs, this hall couldn’t be that long. The house wasn’t even that big despite having something like fifty or so more rooms. At least she thought it was fifty rooms.

“Either Keira got me clothes that were a size bigger than I usually wear or I’m shrinking. That would be crazy though” Behind her are her shoes and socks, her jeans are getting looser each time the lights snap back on and she is certain that her bra is getting looser.

It was a trick of the mind, it had to be.

The lights snap off again leaving her in the dark again before snapping back on, this time forcing her to hold onto her jeans with one hand while pushing forward.

“Maybe that booze I had earlier was off” Again the lights snap off and back on, her jeans becoming too heavy to hold onto. Her bra felt even looser as well, the only thing actually still fitting her is the thick nappy between her legs.

“No exhibition today, folks, cancelled on behalf of padding” Micala giggles to herself at that, her voice sounding young in the hall way.

“I could always give people a nappy dance, oh yeah, wiggle that padded backside!” The lights snap on again and this time her jeans fall to the ground and she picks them up, what was going on?

“Talk about a weight watching plan, just use weird lights” Looking up she can see the door within sight and the small set of stairs leading down to it, a few steps, barely anything.

“Hope there’s booze left” The lights snap off again.

~

“You really should consider opening a bakery, these apple puffs are amazing” Licking the stray apple sauce from her fingers, Keira looks around to see if Micala has arrived yet, no luck. Where was she?

Surely she couldn’t have gotten lost.

~

Reaching the stairs, Micala realises that they look oddly a lot bigger than she thought they would. She had left her leans behind when they became too heavy for her to carry and now she was just wearing a heavy coat, an empty bra, a big Wonder Woman design t-shirt and her nappy which was still the only thing fitting her.

“I must be seeing things, there is no way that someone can get smaller like this. Even my breasts are gone! And I think I’m getting baby fat! Whatever was in that cheap alcohol it’s making me see things” Again the lights snap off and back on and again the hall seems to be getting bigger, she was starting to wonder if she was going to shrink right out of her few remaining clothes. Well all but the nappy which was fitting her just fine and seemed to be looking more babyish in design than the usual adult nappy design.

Maybe she had passed out somewhere and this was all just a very weird alcohol induced dream, it wouldn’t be the first time.

She had to get to the door though, she wanted to get to the party and have a drink. Many drinks. Maybe a nice ba ba.

~

“Just a thought but what if Micala went into the sealed off hall way?” It was unlikely since the hall way had been sealed off for who knows how long, no one knew where the key was.

“I doubt it, the doors are locked tight” Looking over to the door leading out to the sealed off hall way, Keira walks over to it and grips the door knob.

~

Almost there, the stairs had been a little tricky but the door was just a few steps away. Yet it looked like it was miles away and her legs were becoming hard to walk with, they felt wobbly.

“Just a little more, come on!” The hall way goes dark then lights up again, Micala falls to the floor. Efforts to stand up fail and she sits there in her piles of remaining clothes, her nappy feeling really comfortable to her and she had the urge to pat it for the sake of it.

Door first though, so leaning forward Micala pushes herself to crawl to the door and manages to reach it just as the lights go off and back on, the door opening when the lights come back on.

~

“Micala, you out here?” She had been surprised to find the door was unlocked. A gurgle and soft cooing answers her, looking down she sees a baby girl of maybe a year old, maybe younger looking up at her.

Behind her is a trail of clothing and all of it was familiar.

“Micala?” The baby pushes her to her back and waves her arms up at Keira, her eyes twinkling happily. Picking the baby up and cradling her against her chest, Keira steps back into the room while the door closes and locks itself.

“Cute baby, didn’t know you had a kid” She didn’t, did she? She couldn’t recall for a moment, she was sure that she had been looking for her best friend a moment ago. She had a hazy memory of a woman the same age as her anyway, she was sure of it.

But why did she bring her baby to the party? It was well past her daughter’s bedtime.

She didn’t have a daughter though, she was sure of it. Was she? Yes, she did, Micala was her daughter. She remembered giving birth to her, she remembered undergoing artificial insemination treatments since she was tired of dealing with men who were only looking for a quickie and run.

Besides her mum had been a single mum for years after dad had died so she was sure that she could do as well as her mum had done.

But why did she take her daughter to the party? It wasn’t exactly the best environment for a baby. She didn’t want to appear rude by leaving though, she was part of the planning community for the party after all. Hadn’t she hired a baby sitter or had there been no babysitters due to so many going to parties of their own?

“I’m going to have to head back home, Micala’s only going to be fussy here and I would hate to ruin everyone’s fun” Keira explains to her co-planners who accept her apology, two of them offering to help her get home since it was pretty dark outside.

As she leaves the house with Micala tucked into her baby stroller and after a nappy change, Keira has a sudden and very fleeting thought that she was sure she had arrived her with a grown woman her own age with the same name as her daughter, the thought fades away as quickly as it arrived though.

She had arrived her by herself and had taken her daughter with her because there were no baby sitters, she had hoped that Micala would be able to sleep peacefully but she hadn’t. Keira felt horrible for taking Micala to the party and guilty for not being able to attend the party she had been part of planning for.

Her mum had told her that any best made plans weren’t always going to work out while she was a parent. She should have listened.

“Well sweetie, let’s get you home to your bed. Guess I should have thought first behaving letting fanciful thinking overrule my common sense” Micala babbles tiredly in response as if saying ’Yes mum, you should have’.

Maybe next year she might have better luck in getting a baby sitter, she had wanted some fun with some friends.

Still she couldn’t hate her daughter for this, she only had herself to blame. Although maybe it wasn’t too late to hire a babysitter for a couple of hours, maybe.

In the dark there is no age, in the light age is all too clear.

 

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