david anonymous : “Ellie, been too long.” A familiar voice floods the room despite being soft in contrast. “I may be dead. Long gone in the snow. Ah, you don’t care about that. Just know I’m with you always. Always.”
gone but always with her. she hears the words and feels a knot in her a stomach. a lump in her chest, making it hard to breathe. it comes from behind, and she’s too scared to look behind her. frozen in place. years later his voice still haunts her, his presence never not felt in her nightmares. at times he succeeds and she wakes up screaming, feeling the machete through her back. the other times it goes just as it had, but he still gets up, the flesh on his face sliced into pieces before going for joel. whichever the scenario was, it always ended up with her waking up in sweat, heavy breathing and quiet sobs taking over the silence of the night.
it takes a moment, but she finally turns around, gun fired upon the nearest object without a hesitation. it was a tree this time, one shaped like the man who would not stop haunting her ( at least in her mind ). in reality it was just a tree, just like any other. “ you’re not real . . . you’re not real. ” desperate whispers repeated over and over again in attempt to convince her mind things were okay. he was dead. gone. long gone in the snow, as the imagination had said. just know i’m with you always. it hurts more than anything she can imagine. was it . . . true ? had she become the monster she so hard fought against ?
hands shake, eyes filled with tears close as she takes a heavy breath. all she had to do was concentrate. concentrate on the reality. concentrate on the people around her. he was gone and she was safe, and as long as ellie had control over her mind, he couldn’t consume it.
