The clunking of the washing machine continued for a while. Every few spins you could hear the feet scratch of the rough concrete floor of the basement, if the rain was light. It had been raining for quite some time, now.
Clunk, clunk, clunk.
The roof had a leak, evidently. Only one drop managed to get through at a time, the interval random but somewhere between five to six minutes each time.
Clunk, clunk, clunk.
A pale, outstretched hand twitched on the floor. It twitched again.
Clunk, clunk, clunk.
The puddle of water from the leak mixed with the blood, although it wasn't very visible in the dark, blueish light of the night.
The reflection of the moon didn't quite seem right.
It seemed wrong. So, so, so wrong.
Clunk, clunk, clunk.
The washing machine stopped. The jingle it played came a few seconds later than it usually did. The hand twitched again, and two eyes fluttered open.
They struggled to see anything, but they noticed the moon's reflection didn't quite seem right. On the contrary, it made them uncomfortable, unsettled, and wrong.
So, so, so wrong.
So, so, so wrong.
"Why?"
Answered a voice from upstairs. It was in a friendly tone, and didn't seem to understand.
"I can't tell."
Answered the girl lying on the floor. Her hand twitched again, and clenched into a fist. Her tone was unfriendly, and harsh.
"That means I did a good job, no?"
The friendly voice replied.
"Let me out.'
The girl responded.
Her demand was met by silence, and she stood up.
Half her side was covered in blood, which looked much more like a deep, dark ink in this light. The basement was not large, only furnished by a washing machine and mattress. Upon the mattress lay a blunt knife, and a flat phone, its screen littered with cracks and scratches.
The girl's legs ached, and her feet were cold- no, not quite cold. Just numb. So, so numb.
She looked down to find her soles scratched and wounded beyond repair, her bones easily visible, even in the darkness. However, she had no particular response to it. She looked at the exit- a simple set of stairs, up to a metal door. The metal door had a lack of detail other than a simple peephole seemingly carelessly carved out of it.
She took the knife and walked up the stairs to the door. There was no lock on it, and she thought to herself it wouldn't do much good anyways.
The knife scratched the wooden wall adjacent to the door, adding another tally. She walked back down the stairs, and looked out a small hole near the top of the wall. The fresh, cold air of the air assaulting her senses.
She blinked, and looked outside. The trees of the forest stood tall and silent. It was wrong.
"Why?"
Asked the friendly voice.
"There is no sound. No bird, nor gust of wind, nor creaking of a branch."
Said the girl.
"I see."
Responded the friendly voice.
An owl hooted nearby, a gust of wind shook a pile of leaves and the creaking of old branches played.
The girl's eyes narrowed.
"I'm done."
Said the girl, her voice resolute.
The friendly voice did not reply.
The girl walked back up the steps and opened the door.
She was immediately assaulted with a cacophony of sounds, smells, tastes, sensations, and sights.
It hurt so badly.
She felt so many things.
Love.
Hate.
Excitement.
Bitterness.
It was like a baby hearing someone laugh and trying to copy it.
It was subconscious.
And it hurt so bad.
Trying to understand something so far beyond her hurt her on every level, but she took another step.
It intensified, and she took another step.
It got even worse, and she took another step.
Her mind was going blind, and she took another step.
And it stopped. And she did not dare open her eyes. She didn't breathe, nor move.
"I love you, you know?"
The friendly voice said, with a hint of loneliness.
"Your love is wrong. Twisted. It hurts me terribly, and it's stopping me from being free."
Said the girl.
"...Is being free so important?"
The friendly voice said, almost knowing the answer.
"Yes."
The girl said.
She opened her eyes to see herself in a room that had no place in existence to exist. It moved beautifully, growing and shrinking at the same time. Growing darker and brighter at the same time.
"Stop."
The girl said
The room became stationary.
"Can I come with you?"
The friendly voice said, its source behind the girl.
"You have no place near me. You know that."
The girl said, her muscles tense and sweat betraying her.
"And you have no place denying me. You know that very well, Charlotte."
The friendly voice said.
The girl turned to see, and saw everything. She collapsed to the ground, her vision rapidly going blurry, blood streaming from her mouth and nose, tears running down her face and her breathing stopping.
A figure, if you could call it that, grew closer.
"You're so brave. After all this time you choose to take it upon yourself to torture yourself. We could have been happy forever. Hell, we got to forever, and then we went some more."
The friendly voice said, the contrast with the amalgamation of faces, hands, feet, legs, arms, bones, muscles, and organs, spewing out blood striking. The countless eyes looked towards the basement. The walls had layers of tallies covering it. Hundreds, thousands, millions, billions of marks. The walls weren't always that far back.
"Let me out."
The girl said through blood, her voice almost a garble.
"I'll have to die."
The thing said.
"Then die."
The girl said.
The abomination folded in upon itself, snapping and cracking. Till there was nothing left. And then Charlotte was free.