Beyond the Fog

"I can't remember where, but somewhere I left my light. It was either in the depths of some unknown clutter or with someone who had left…" Jamie stated silently as she stared ahead down the street as far as she could. But no matter how long she focused on a specific spot, the rolling fog would not let up and continued to push cold air against her skin - Making goosebumps appear in waves.

"Though, I guess it was my fault for not watching it hard enough. I thought it would just stick with me, ya know. Isn't that what your light is supposed to do naturally?" She added before turning around.

A breath got stuck in her throat as she stared at nothing but the rolling fog behind her. The nerves in her chest tightened as her heart dropped down into a pit, leaving a growing burn as it did.

She thought her plan would work.

By giving in to her loneliness, she assumed the world she was in would produce something—anything.

But it didn't. The fog around Jamie enveloped her, inching closer until it hovered just over her skin and wouldn't leave.

The silence deepened as Jamie stood frozen in the middle of some stray street. She could have sworn the fog was getting thicker.

The small blooms of fog were jumbling over each other now, trying to reach out to touch her and invade the small gap left over, but they never did. All they left was the goosebumps that told Jamie that the fog was real, not some mental mist her mind had developed.

Sighing heavily, Jamie felt her chest crack in on itself as her warm breath clashed with the cold air, and that just hurt her more. With each breath, deep or shallow, she became more aware of her breathing. The way her lungs stung from the piercing cold. How much she was sighing and letting out deep breaths. Her arms flexed with tension, wishing she would just stop letting out the deep breaths, but she couldn't. They were addicting to let out as she hoped something would eventually happen if she hit a magic number of breaths.

She slowly looked up at the sky to see a dull blue plane stretched above. The clouds only existed because they were part of the fog, while the sun was nowhere to be seen, even though it was clear it was day. Her shoulders pulled down, making her head barely spin with the added pressure, as her gut tore when it tried to get her to follow something in the darkness beyond the fog, but Jamie planted her feet into the stone pavement of the street.

Why would she do that again? She had already tried walking towards the dark edges of the fog and all she found was more fog. There was no darkness, just a false promise that something was different beyond the fog.

Jamie couldn't bring herself to look away from the sky. It was the only thing changing in the place. The fog didn't reach high enough to envelop the sky, nor did the top of it curve in, so she could see the edges separating off the main body until they dissolved into nothing.

For a moment, she almost wanted to sink her fingers into the wall of fog to see if she could climb it. It looked thick enough that she could, but before she could let her feet step closer, her mind pushed the image of her climbing away. She had been walking for hours, and with each step, the fog never touched her body. So why would it suddenly let her climb?

"If you keep staring, something's going to come."

Jamie tensed, her eyes widening as she slowly traced the fog, following it down to its base and tried to ration out the voice as her just making something up for the lonely feeling she was forced to deal with.

"Or did you not care? Because let me tell you, that thing coming is not friendly. It won't just guide you out."

Pushing out a slow, steady breath, Jamie stiffly turned around, but instead of just seeing fog like before, a tall, lone woman stood in front of her, not looking away from Jamie but not fully acknowledging her either.

The woman's dark eyes stared into Jamie's but weren't latching onto anything. Her hair that curled in that the ends sprayed around her, almost blocking her body from behind.

If she weren't facing Jamie, the woman would have blended into the farther reaches of the dense fog.

"Well, say something? It's annoying trying to pinpoint stuff when you don't say anything." The woman demanded, almost hissing at Jamie.

Jamie lowered her head slightly but didn't look away from the woman, pushing her feet farther apart so they were more than shoulder-length apart.

"What are you doing here?" Jamie asked firmly, keeping her arms at her sides.

The woman pouted mockingly, trying to decide whether to smile or frown, but a quick gleam flashed in her eyes.

"Doing here? I didn't think you'd recognize me. This is the first time we've actually met."

Jamie paused for a moment, not even sure why she asked about the woman's presence and with that firmness. She had no idea who this woman was, and she made Jamie's limbs bend, preparing to spring into either a run or a punch.

The woman hummed shortly. "Nevermind. Clearly. You don't know." She said sharply, her annoyance running off in her tone. She drifted her face to the fog, staring at it as it continued to roll.

"I..." Jamie furrowed her brows, feeling the words to ask for help at the tip of her tongue, but they stuck there. Not sure if the woman was someone she could ask for help from. Not even sure if she wanted to leave the fog.

That thought made Jamie pause, confusion at her own thought about the fog setting in.

Though it seemed neverending, a slight familiarity started to develop. The constant fog was better than knowing where and what she was unknowingly walking past.

The woman barely looked at Jamie from the corner of her eye, narrowing her eyes. She rested her hand on her hip, frowning, almost gripping it that her nails poked through the fabric of her clinging dress.

"And that's why you're here. Come find me when you finally decide to leave." the woman stated, walking off into the fog.