No story is original. And neither is this one.
C sat at her desk, picking at the loose skin on her cuticles. She picked and picked. L told her to tear the skin off of her porcelain fingers. She fought his whispers in her ear. She fought his tough grip on her wrist. She bled.
Angry and bleeding, she slipped into bed. Hoping to fall into a better place, she let the dreams play on the inside of her eyelids. She found herself out on a blue ocean. It was so clear that she could see hundreds of feet below her. She saw whales and sharks swimming, circling. Shining fish were fluttering around them. Sea lions popped their heads out from under the water to smile at her. The sea lion with the biggest eyes and the broadest smile swam to her. He took her in his fins, lying on his back and she lay on top of him, her head on his wet chest, hearing his erratic heartbeat. The sun was warm on her naked back. Under her face, his fur vanished, and his body became soft. There were no longer fins holding her, but strong arms. Her bare chest was still pressed against his, and as she looked up her gaze rested upon that of a handsome stranger. She ran her fingers through his hair, down is neck and along his body. He smiled and blushed with lust.
He smiled; it was the kind of smile that was crooked. His face shape never changed, but behind his eyes she watched a transformation. She saw L there. L was holding her, now grabbing her, bruising her body with his force. They were drowning together. She tried to swim away and he grabbed her by her hair. L took a deep smell of the salt water on her neck and the fear seeping from her pores. He dragged her farther out into the ocean. She couldn’t tell if she was sweating or crying, or if she was soaked from the salt water. Then she felt it. She felt him coming on to her. He dug his nails deep into her back, holding her throat. She felt him start. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think. With every force of his hips, she became emptier.
She started bleeding. She looked around and the water was red. He was gone. There was blood running down her face, down her back, down her legs from the violation he had committed. She felt her breath give out, and felt the top of her head submerge under the water. And then she woke up.
