Deep Skin Sleeping Skin Imprints Novels & Stories

I didn’t sleep much that night. The faint glow of my mark, now spreading across my chest, felt like a brand—warm, steady, and impossible to ignore. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it pulsating like a living thing, as though it had its own heartbeat.

I rubbed my forehead, feeling heat creep up my neck. “Like, every video online is some girl with perfect skin, going, ‘Oh my god, this is SO easy, guys,’ and then proceeds to do fourteen invisible steps in three seconds. ‘Just do your moisturizer, primer, color corrector, concealer, foundation, brightening concealer, cream contour, setting powder, bronzer, blush, highlight, spray—’” Shane choked on his soda. “That’s… a lot.” “Right?” I said, pointing my fry at him for emphasis. “And that’s just the base. That’s before they even start drawing geometry on their eyelids.”

I woke to the smell of cold. Not fresh cold, not the kind that bit the nose and stung the skin. This was stale cold, the kind that clung to the walls and sank into the mattress overnight. For a few seconds, I lay there, trying to piece together the remnants of the dream I’d been dragged from. There were scratches on my skin. Thin, faint, but unmistakable. Three of them trailed down the inside of my left forearm, another pair across my bicep. The skin around them looked irritated and pink. They hadn’t been there when I went to bed. I was very sure of that.

There was no longer enough blood flowing through them to keep them healthy. His eyes were closed, and the skin around them had sunk so deeply that he looked as though he had not slept in weeks. His hair had thinned dramatically, with patches already fallen away. Dark, irregular blotches mottled his skin.

He doesn’t know whom to believe, so he believes no one anymore. Jenny’s fingers relaxed from the palm of her hand. Her nails left four crescent-shaped imprints on her palm. The skin inside these imprints turned white, while the surrounding skin turned red. Her hand hung limp at her side, and her fingertips touched the rough stone pavement. The rough surface scraped against her fingertips, producing a “scraping” sound.

Through all of the whimpers, the pleads, she had never once uttered the word 'stop'. Well into the morning, I let her fall asleep. Leaving her in her own bed crossed my mind, but I couldn't force myself to move. Instead, I pulled the covers over her clad body. The creamy skin of her back was uncovered, giving me a good view of her round bottom. The taste of her skin lingered on my tongue, sweet and rich. I awoke by the sound of her shuffling from bed. Possesive pride flowed through me as I looked at the purple marks on her skin. The color purple was prominent on her chest, distracting me from the ugly red mark.

With an overwhelming feeling of urgency, I accelerated towards the washroom, driven by the desire to enhance my outward appearance to at least a modest degree. My reflection caught my attention. My sleep-deprived state was apparent in my disheveled appearance, with my unruly dark hair and the presence of weary, dark shadows beneath my eyes. My skin resembled an arid desert. It was embarrassing to see myself in such a mess. As I sprayed cold water on my face, the mascara dripped down my cleavage and soiled the top of my ivory dress.

My father had always told me of the dangerous creatures that roams the depth of the sea when I was little and some of those disturbing thoughts now entered my mind. As I stroked my hand over my chest in a soothing motion, I felt how irritated my skin was. As I looked down I saw marks traveling up from the center of my chest just above my breast and then continuing towards my neck. My eyes dilated and I began to pull in my skin and tried to rub it of off me. I started to panic. 'What is this?'

My mood changed drastically and Sebastian noticed this. He asked what was wrong with me and I didn't know if it was a good idea to tell him what was happening to me. -It's hard to explain. -You didn't sleep very well, did you? -Is it that noticeable? -Why can't you sleep, is something bothering you? -No, it's just that I can't get to sleep. -But I can tell you're tired, tell me what's wrong. -It's hard to explain. -I know I shouldn't interfere but it's wrong that you don't sleep, you're affecting your health.

Her voice was shaky, she was around my age. In order not to put them in a difficult position, I decided to go with the flow. I walked over to the dressing table and sat down. My reflection stared right back at me, I had dark circles around my eyes. I looked tired and stressed. My hair had gotten much longer than it was before, and- my eyes widened as I noticed a change on my neck. The Four puncture marks were no longer red, they were now golden and glowing. What the hell! What’s going on? Is it because of the imprint? I looked at the Imprint on my wrist and it was just there, no reaction.