Chapter Text
Tuesday February 1st 1955
Why was it so... bright? Elizabeth was sure that her eyes were closed, so why was it so bright? At least she was warm now. It was so cold before, too cold to stay awake. But now gentle heat danced on her skin. She should open her eyes, right? It was too bright to stay sleeping after all.
Suddenly, her head felt fuzzy, a sharp pain pulling at her skull. Elly groaned. She felt herself slipping down into something deep and dark. Suddenly things were so much warmer, burning even. It was just slightly too warm to be comfortable and too dark for it to be this warm. The gentle light she had felt before slowly disappeared as she was left in darkness.
A horrible smell lifted up around her nose, choking her. She couldn’t help but cough at the horrible stench, forcing herself up off the wet ground. She finally found the strength to open her eyes, slowly rolling awake. The first thing she saw was red. Her eyes shot open. Was it blood? But as her eyes focused, she realized that the world around her was simply tinted red. Some of it rolled off her cheek and dabbed the corner of her mouth. She gagged. It was filthy water. Did the snow melt under her? No, it was too warm out to have snowed, but as she expanded her vision she realized that this was not where she had settled herself down a minute ago.
The snowy alleyway looked different than before. The smooth concrete buildings that once boxed her in were replaced by crumbly bricks and cracked dirt. Elly pushed herself to her feet. Nothing looked the same as before. The air was filled with smoke and carrion and she could barely breath. She could hear loud murmurs from outside of the alley- nothing distinct, but not friendly in the slightest.
She carefully stepped forward to the end of the alley and glanced out, slapping a hand over her mouth. These weren’t people- they were monsters! Large beasts meandered around the street, some gangly with claws and fangs and others rotund with oozing slimes. The creatures scowled and snapped at each other, speaking with an array of accents, most of which she had never heard before.
She squeaked as her cheek was pinched with pain. She pulled her hands away, finding the ends of her fingers tipped with tiny claws. She stumbled back, tripping on something long and scaly. As she stumbled backwards, a large snake-like thing slithered under her. She yelped and backed away, only to realize the scaly creature with strange gears lodged in it was attached to her body. In fact, now that she took a closer look, it looked more like a tail. Her tail. Since when did she have a tail? Since when did she have claws?!
“What’s this?” Elly’s head shot up. Some of those strange creatures had stepped into the alley, smirking down at her. These ones looked like some kind of reptiles, crocodiles maybe? The largest of the creatures loomed over her, eyes hungry and dangerous as he looked her over. “Well, ain’t you a cutie? You a new soul? You can stay with me if you need. I’ll treat you right~” He reached out for her. She kicked herself back, a strange growl raising in her throat. The man’s smirks curled down into a scowl. “Don’t be a little bitch, girl.”
One of the women with him snickered, hanging off of a more fish-like man. “Come on, D, she’s just a little kid. What’s she going to do? Just grab her. She might be funny to play with.”
“Yeah yeah, I can handle a kid, B.” He reached out for her and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.
Elly felt her pulse jump as he lifted her up. Her heart pounded in her chest. Suddenly, the world sharpened. Colors were brighter and the movement and sounds of the world slowed down. Without thinking she braced her feet behind her and balled her claws up into a fist. She took a powerful swing forward, her hand cracking into the crocodile’s jaw. He choked out in pain, hand slipping from her shirt as he fell back hard. “Don’t...” She growled. “DON’T TOUCH ME!!” Her roar boomed against the alley walls, shaking the crumbling surfaces. The small group of monsters stumbled back in surprise as she hissed and growled at them.
“F-funkin run!” The girl cried, scrambling out of the alley way. Their companions followed, the crocodile nearly slipping onto his face as he clambered to his feet and darted back into the streets. A few of the other monsters around had stopped to stare, now all eyes on her. She felt her pulse spike. She pivoted and made a run for it, rushing deeper into the dark alleys.
Elly peaked out into another street. More monsters. All of them nasty, in every sense of the word. She pulled back, hugging herself.
What’s This- Nightmare Before Christmas
🎼“What's this? What's this? What’s that weird smell everywhere?🎵” She stumbled, grimacing as she stepped in what she hoped was white slime.
“🎶What's this? What’s that white puddle right there? What's this? I can't believe my eyes, I must be dreaming- Wake up, Elly, this isn't fair- What's this?🎵” Elly scrapped at her head with her hands, feeling something hard protruding from the top.
“🎶What's this? What's this? This is all so very wrong. What's this? Since when do I have claws?? What's this? The streets are lined with giant creatures snapping. Everybody seems so nasty. Have I possibly gone completely batty? What is this?... What's that?!🎵”
Elly snatched a torn cloth from the ground and threw it over her head, ducking down as she moved through a dim street. She grimaced as she watched two teens tossing a severed head back and forth. “🎶I’m sure that they have baseballs, so why do they throw heads? They’re busy snatching wallets- oh god, that guy is dead! 🎵” Elly skirted around a corps on the floor, seeing the large gash down his stomach and missing head. “🎶There’s cracks in every window, oh, that one has five eyes.🎵”
Elly scrambled up a brick wall and hoisted herself up onto a rooftop, staring out at the strange place she found herself in. “🎶And in my heart I feel a dread that boils up from insiiiiide… oh god, what’s that?!🎵” Elly scrambled over to the other side of the building, eyeing an open window. “🎶They’re hanging that man up- oh, that’s sex! That’s certainly unique… ew. Those men are gathering around and setting that tiger-woman-thing on fire! What’s this?!🎵”
Elly scrambled onto a higher rooftop, some movement in the alley under her catching her eye. “🎶What’s this? Down there, those two men together- oh god they’re queer! Who would ever think- and why?!🎵” Elly nearly fell off the side of the building, scrambling back up before springing off onto the next building. “🎶They’re covering the walls with their piss, they’ve just have their full parts out and they’re smiling and laughing, so now correct me if I’m wrong but this is so wrong, this is so wrong. Oh could it be-🎵”
Elly came to a stop as she spun on her heels and froze. She didn’t think she could feel so cold in a place so warm, but now that she had seen it...
Written in large, glowing light was the words “Welcome To HELL”. With shaking hands, she glanced back at the city under her, her eye catching the tail that protruded from her rear now. Oh god, was she dead? Why was she in hell? Why did she deserve this?! She had done everything she could to be a good person, so why was she in hell?
The sudden shock of gunfire snapped her from her thoughts. She quickly lowered herself, hiding from the monsters down below. She jumped slightly as she realized that she had wings sticking out of her back. How had she missed that?! The enormous, feathered wings were seashell white with delegate looking feathers. She realized with a heavy weight in her chest that she was a monster as well, just like them, and if she was a monster like them, that must mean that those monsters are people like her.
Elly squeezed her eyes shut trying to think of how this all went wrong. She was a good Christian girl! She went to church every sunday with her family, she never complained or back talked, and she... Her eyes snapped open. For just a moment she could feel it again, the blood running through her fingers and down her face as a grown man gasped for air beneath her, trying to hold his neck wounds shut with his hands as the gouges on his face bled out.
Then, it was gone. Her fingers, now claws, were clean, if not a bit dirty from the... everything. Just as she thought she couldn’t feel any emptier, her stomach let out a long growl. Elly whimpered and gripped her stomach, wincing as her claws dug in a bit too tight. Of course, she had been as hungry as she was sleepy when she had laid down in that box to sleep. With everything that had happened, she had almost forgotten about that, but now it was catching up with her.
With a grumbling stomach, she did all she could think of and slid down the building. She needed to find something to eat. Her stomach churned when she saw the decapitated body again. She would have tossed if there was anything in her stomach to do so, so instead she just covered her nose and mouth and scrambled away. She slunk through the shadows, hoping that no one in the crowded streets would care to even look at her. Luckily, they didn’t.
As soon as she spotted what she was looking for, she ducked into another alley. Sitting near the back was a large dumpster. In a familiar motion, she grabbed the edge and flipped the lid up before sticking her head over. She grimaced. It was full of rotten, moldy food and items, some of which reeked of all kinds of bodily fluids. There were broken knives, ripped cloths, and wooden fragments scattered through the mess. She shouldn’t have expected much else honestly. She doubted that people tossed food for anything less than it being full on deadly to consume in hell. She probably wouldn’t find anything in here that she could stomach, not unless she wanted to eat a knife.
She had no choice but to keep moving. Elly moved from one spot to the next, keeping her head down and her movements quick. Any time she thought she caught someone’s eye, she would scramble up a wall. She was lucky she was a good climber by nature, and her new claws definitely helped, though they really were nothing more than glorified nails.
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Elly had stuffed herself under the dumpster that reeked the least as her exhaustion caught up with her. She had been wandering all day, trying to find a single safe place to hide, but this was the best she could do so far. All of the other good spots were taken by other people who were ready to fight to the death for their spot under wreckage or in abandoned cars. Somehow the dumpster was ideal, despite the sticky floor under it. She was so much smaller than most of the creatures around here after all, so she doubted that most of them could even try to slip into such a small space.
Despite how empty her stomach was right now, she was just too emotionally exhausted after the long day. It felt like it had gone on forever, though she could tell that the day was only just ending as the dim light of the sky began to fade. She never saw a sun anywhere, so she wasn’t sure how it was getting darker, but she didn’t have the energy to really think about it.
She was lucky enough to lick some water off of some scraggily bushes nearby, but even that tasted filthy and left her wanting to wretch. Still, with the horrible heat, it was worth every drop. The world was boiling around her so harshly that her skin was covered in sweat, but that came with such a price. The young teen had ended up licking the sweat from her own skin in hopes of wetting her mouth. Now she curled up under the trash, forcing back the tears from her eyes. She couldn’t cry. She couldn’t waste water like that.
Instead, she let her tired eyes drip shut. Maybe she will have better luck tomorrow. Maybe find some food or some water, or better yet, a place to hunker down. Of course Elizabeth knew she couldn’t keep this up forever. She needed to do more than just barely survive. Then again, she really wasn’t even just scraping by. Exhaustion was going to catch up with her sooner than later and she knew it. Would she die again? Honestly, how would that even work? Maybe she’d be gone forever then. She forced her breaths steady- now was not the time for this.
The world outside was loud even now. Screams of pain, anger, and death echoed down the alleyway from the main street. Somewhere nearby someone had begun to play loud music. Another person, displaced with the choice, was screaming at them to turn it off. A gunshot. Silence. The music was turned off.
Even the terror of the outside world couldn’t fight the exhaustion from taking over as the world slipped away.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Elly awoke with a start, snapping her head to the side. A clawed hand was sticking under the dumpster and had tangled itself in the cloak she was using, tugging eagerly. “Come on! Dammit- stuck on something...”
Her adrenaline spiked and she roared, swiping at the hand and cutting it across the top. Whoever it was screamed in terror and let go, tumbling back before scrambling away, begging for mercy as they went. Elly was breathing hard, her nails clawing at the rocky ground under her. She tucked into herself, jumping slightly as her tail snaked around her, brushing against her arm when she hadn’t expected it to. Feeling a surge of annoyance, she shoved it away harshly, feeling the new limb scrape against the ground.
Elly turned her head, grunting as the horns on her head scraped against the bottom of the dumpster. She grabbed them and tugged, foolishly trying to rip from her her head. She didn’t want horns, she didn’t want a tail, she didn’t want wings, and she didn’t want claws! Tugging, she thrusted her head up, freezing as the sound of snapping metal broke out above her. She blinked and tried to turn her head, but it was stuck. She whined, unable to dislodge her horns from the cracked metal. The small teen yelped as a slimy, cold liquid began to trickle out from the bottom of the dumpster and onto the back of her neck. Wriggling didn’t help loosen her, it only increased the flow of the liquid. Resigning herself to her fate, she let her head hang, only to slip out and faceplant on the ground. She groaned and rolled away from the dripping liquid. Great, this spot was no good now...
She had been sleeping there for several days now, returning regularly as she found occasional scraps of food and drank from filthy puddles. She could see the meat thinning on her bones over the days as starvation carved her body into something thin and lengthy. It had become her home over the last few days, the only place she felt even slightly safe enough to sleep, and even though the ground was being covered in rotten liquid, she knew she would return to it tonight. Where else could she go?
Elly forced herself up and wiggled her way out from under the dumpster, flicking the liquid from her neck. The tangy smell of it caught her nose and she nearly wretched again. Elly forced herself up onto shaky legs before throwing the tarp more securely on her head to cover herself.
Elizabeth slowly made her way out of the alley, feeling a twinge of relief that barely anyone was out right now. The streets were still fairly warm but had cooled down significantly from yesterday. She was quick to make her way down another street. Turning another corner, there was another body. Her heart dropped as she realized the sight no longer frightened her as horribly.
Elly eyed the bag on the body, eyes wide as she spotted what looked like a bottle sticking out of it. Swallowing her pride, she snuck towards the body and carefully opened the bag. Relief flooded her as she snatched up the water bottle, opening it and throwing her head back to drink. She gagged. It was vodka. She tipped it over and spilled it on the ground. At least if she did find some drinkable water she had something to put it in.
Being reduced to scavenging wasn’t something that made her proud, but if she didn’t take the bag, someone else probably would. She slipped the shoulder pouch off of the man and placed it on her own shoulder, annoyed by how it dragged by her feet. Even adjusting the strap barely made it taller than her knees. It was large and clunky, but it was free for the taking. There wasn’t much else in there really, just some trash, some matches, and a loose cigarette.
Back to the dumpsters, Elly managed to dig up a dirty jacket. Slipped it into her new bag, pulling a small knife out of another trash can. While she did that, her eyes once again drifted to the strange, green symbols on her right hand. It wasn’t anything big, but they were certainly strange. It was a bright green circle with a line stretching from the center to the top. At the end of the line sat a smaller circle with a horizontal line crossed through it. Other than that, there was a sideways triangle on the right, an X on the left, and an infinity sign on the bottom. It didn’t do more than sit there and glow faintly, but it was certainly strange.
A crow cawed above her, slipping down to land on the edge of the trash. Elly stared at it for a moment. It looked like a normal crow, but with a third eye. She wondered if it was intelligent. She smiled and cooed at it, holding a hand out for it. It stared at her, then it opened its mouth to reveal rows of teeth and a long, lizard-like tongue. It lunged at her and she screamed, ducking away from it. She swung her body away, surprised as it screeched in pain. Turning, she realized she had accidentally hit it with her tail, sending it into the nearby wall.
Suddenly the air was overcome with the sounds of angry screeching. Looking up, crows swarmed through the air, circling around her. Elly squeaked and made a run for it as the crows dove down to attack. Around her people began to scream and hide, ducking away from the sudden aerial attack. The golden haired teen made a mad dash down the street, not really caring if who saw her this time. The angry murder had caught up to her, snapping their beaks as they tried to take chunks out of her. She realized with horror they might eat her.
Feeling panic flood her mind, a surge of energy rushed through her body. It was as if her whole body was moving faster, the world blurring around her as she sprinted far past the flock. As a turn came, she stumbled into the wall, grunting in pain, but quickly turned and darted down the new direction. Soon her legs began to ache and she had no choice but to slow down. She could still hear the crows screaming angrily, but they were at a distance down.
Near the wall was a large, gated community surrounded by bushes. Elly glanced up at the fence. It was fairly tall. The fence was made of long, metal spikes with pointed tops. The other side sounded fairly quiet, so perhaps she could find some places to sleep tonight instead of that dumpster. In fact, the bushes were very thick looking. She might be able to carve out a little space under them to sleep. Searching the edge, she found one bar that was slightly bent. Seeing her opportunity, she shoved herself through it and into the bushes. The bushes were larger than she had thought. She quickly began snapping branches, ignoring how they scratch and scraped her face and arms. It didn’t matter if she got a bit banged up if this could be a safe spot for her. Sleeping on the dirt sounded nicer than sleeping on rocks, and she could put her new jacket down to make a softer spot.
After a bit of work, she managed to create a very small cavern in the bush that she could safely curl up in. She pulled out her jacket and laid it down on the ground, laying down. She was still so tired from being woken up early this morning, so a nap sounded welcoming right now. The cool earth beneath her helped settle the uncomfortable feeling on her skin. She allowed her eyes to slip closed again as she drifted away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elly was woken by the echo of laughter in the air. For a brief moment, she had forgotten where she was, confused as she woke up in a warm world surrounded by leaves. After a few moments it came back to her. She huddled down in the bush and kept her ears peaked as the voices around her murmured. They sounded different than usual, no shouting, not screaming, and no pain. Curious, Elly squirmed forward through the bush, hoping to see what was on the other side. When she did manage to squeeze though enough, her eyes widened.
Beyond the bushes was a quaint little town. The roads were neat and lined with pretty flowers and lamps. A few pearly white benches were carefully placed between the bushes, sitting neatly in the pretty spaces left over. The buildings were clean and smooth, pretty awnings placed above doorways and on top of little carts that lined the streets. Couples were walking down the sidewalk, laughing and chatting happily while children danced around, a few of them kicking balls back and forth. There was a ditty little tune in the air playing from a nearby speaker, bright and friendly.
Elly stared with wide eyes. This place was completely different from where she had been. It was clean, the people looked mostly normal, and it was full of smiling faces. The fear and horror she had been filled with so completely began to fade away. Was this a safe spot? She couldn’t believe her eyes- a real safe spot in hell! Still, she hesitated. She could be wrong after all. It could be a trick. This was hell after all, so why would there be a single place that people could truly relax and enjoy themselves. More than that, why were there children in hell? What could they possibly have done to earn themselves eternal damnation?
Elly waited until the coast was clear before she ducked out from under the bush and scrambled behind another one. She carefully picked her way down the street, dashing across open spots when she could. For the most part, things really did seem friendly here. Sure, there were a few skulls carved to decorate a couple of the buildings, but nothing else seemed particularly wrong. It was rather old fashioned here, but other than that, it could be a normal neighborhood. Still, the people looked a bit off. Most of them had hollow, black pits for eyes and sharp teeth that were always pulled into smiles. Not to mention how pasty their skin looked. There was definitely something she was missing here.
Just down the street a couple of women were walking and chattering, smiling and laughing. As they walked, something fell out of one of their pockets, left alone on the street. A robust man spotted it and snatched it up, rushing it over to the women. “Excuse me, ma’am, I think you dropped this.”
The two women looked back and one gasped, patting her pockets. “Oh! Thank you so kindly!”
“No thanks needed, miss.” He lifted his cap to them before turning around and walking away.
The more Elly watched, the calmer she felt. The normal blood splatter was missing from the walls and that awful stench that she had nearly gone blind from was replaced with something far more delightful. In fact, the smell of well cooked beef now caught her nose. Her stomach grumbled as she followed the scent. She couldn’t help but feel a swell of hope. Maybe someone here would take pity on her and spare a bit of food for her. After all, they all seemed so kind and friendly with each other, so maybe they would accept her as well.
She peered around her bush and spotted a small vendor with a stove cooking something up for a young man. The two of them were smiling and laughing before exchanging money and goods. The young man waved goodbye and began eating his earn. Elly’s mouth watered at the sight of it. Good, fresh food. She needed some. But she didn’t have money. Maybe if she asked for some tossable scraps she could get something from it. It was worth a try. She began to stand before another man appeared. The two talked for a moment before the vendor bent over into his cooled and pulled out something long and thick. It was light like pig skin but too thin and long to belong to a pig. It wasn’t until she saw him pull a shoe off the end that she realized what it was she was seeing.
She fell back to the ground, her fear returning ten fold. That was a leg, but not just a leg, a human leg. Now she knew what this was. It was some sick and twisted place where they ate people! She knew something was wrong. There was no way there would be a place as safe and nice as this without something horrible and disgusting going on in the background. Her stomach yearned to empty what it didn’t even have, leaving her panting on the ground.
She needed to get out of here.
Elly ducked to the spot between two buildings, staying out of sight. If they really were cannibals, wouldn’t that make this place very dangerous for her? They might try to kill and eat her after all. But all fears lifted as her eyes caught something shiny connected to one of the buildings. It looked like a spout of some kind and she couldn’t help but notice that the grass under it was a little extra green. She sprang to the spout and grabbed the handle, twisting it as quickly as she could. As she did, clean water began to pour out and onto the ground. She stared in amazement before shoving her face under it, gulping up as much water as her body could handle. She pulled back to breath, quickly uncapping her water bottle and filling it to the top before diving back in for more.
When her belly was full, she began washing her filthy hands under the water, splashing it against her face as she tried to remove the muck and grime that hell had pained her body with. She hadn’t felt remotely clean in so long. For the first time in a while, she allowed herself to cry. She wished desperately to wash her entire body, but as she cleaned off her face, a couple of voices called out.
“Hey! You there, stealing our water!” Elly’s head shot to the side, alarmed as a couple of the cannibals were standing at the edge of the building. It was a man and a woman, probably the owners of the house, who were both armed with gardening tools. Had they heard her? “You can’t just take out water- that costs money!”
The woman was frowning and crossed her arms. “Who is that dirty little rat? No more than a stick.” Elly quickly scampered to her feet, pulling her hood down. As she did, her tail slithered out from behind her, sitting protectively in front of her body. The women eyed it, suddenly looking far more interested. “Then again, one shouldn’t turn down a good meal.”
Elly felt a growl rise up in her throat against her will.
“William, would you mind? I can have her ready in a few hours.”
“Of course my dear, leave it to me.” The man wielded his rake as he sized her up. “Are you sure? She’s really not more than a bite.”
“It’s mostly the tail, but you know I love a good bone broth.”
The man lunged. Elly dashed back, but there was nowhere to run. The space between the houses was closed in by the same iron fence that she had once seen as a safe spot. The man didn’t slow down. The world snapped into focus as the man almost seemed to slow. Elly reacted without thinking. She ducked down under the rake and balled her fist, swinging it up. It collided with his chin, a sickening crack echoing from his jaw as his head was thrown back. He let out a cry of pain as he fell back. Elly snapped from her focus, surprised by her own strength. Once again, despite how large these monsters were, she always found a surge of power when she needed it. It was exhilarating, if not a bit sickening, the satisfying snap of his bone.
She stepped back, ready for him to flee like the last one. His wife quickly rushed to his side, cradling her husband close to her body. “William! Are you alright?”
Elly hissed. “B-back off, now!”
The lady turned and screamed out. “HELP! WE NEED HELP!”
Elly’s heart dropped.
She couldn’t handle another fight, mentally if not physically. So she turned and dug her nails into the house and clawed her way up the side of the wall. Elly quickly dropped down the other side, her wings spreading in an attempt to slow her descent as she braced for a bad landing. She stumbled on her legs, but kept herself up. Elly was quick to dart away, spotted by a few as she fled. Elly was quick to dive back into the bushes at the edge of the fence, ducking down and crawling her way along the edge.
She could hear angry voices breaking out on the other side of the bush. She wasn’t sure if those things were trying to go through the bushes for her, but she wasn’t going to risk it. She continued to make her way around until she found her little carved out spot in the hedge. She kept close to the edge, ready to dart back out into the horrible outside world if she needed to, but she hoped and prayed that she wouldn’t have to abandon her little spot.
Elly sat there for almost an hour, just listening, waiting, but nothing. The sounds of the town were a little tense now. She wasn’t sure how much time she could spend in that town, but she couldn’t give this up. Clean water and a good hiding spot? She just had to be smarter next time about how she moved around this town. If she kept quiet enough, maybe she could continue to drink here. She just had to remain hopeful.