tiny pool of blackness had appeared on the carpet. The sight of it
inspired her with a profound sense of dread, and yet her body did not receive
the empowering surge that she had hoped would accompany such a sense. Her limbs
remained useless, foreign objects, burdened by a fatigue that was unnatural in
its severity.Panic suffused her insides with a warm rush of energy - which, despite her harrowing circumstances, she found to be not the least bit unpleasant. After years of cold, oppressive tedium, even terror was a welcome improvement. At the very least, it allowed one to experience the unoccluded fact that one was alive.
The pool was visibly expanding across the floor now: snaking its way towards her with a movement that suggested an impossibly thick fluid dripping down a shallow incline. Any objects encountered by the lengthening stain were surrounded and then quickly assumed - yet through what process this was being accomplished she could not quite determine, so profound was the quality of the blackness before her. She watched helplessly as a small, wooden trinket - a carved and painted figurine of a grinning cat, purchased from a street vendor just a few hours earlier - was next to be absorbed in this inexplicable manner. She watched still as her shoe, lying just inches away from her immobilized foot, was similarly claimed. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the warmth in her stomach, which had just gained a marked increase in its intensity.
For what seemed to be a considerable period of time, nothing further happened. At last she once again opened her eyes, half-expecting to find that the dark satin had vanished as quickly and quietly as it had arrived. This expectation turned out to be thoroughly founded in error.
The blackness had in fact already traveled a fair distance up her leg, infusing itself into the unprotected tissues in a way that was very unlike what had happened to the other objects, and was presently arriving at a point that was just below the bottom of her knee. The sight of this sent an icy thrill along her spine - although this sensation as well she did not find to be in any way unpleasant - and elicited from her a short, involuntary gasp.
The blackness had now surpassed the level of her knee, its rate of progress
noticeably increasing as it began the journey up her thigh. Still she could
only sit and watch in fascination, savouring the feeling of aliveness while the
situation unfolded beyond the scope of her influence.
M7a(4)