Page 7 of Tainted Serenity

CONSCIOUSNESS TUGS AT MYheart and pulls me back into the realm of wakefulness as if I have emerged from an abyss. One final breath is all it will take before I will be able to float out of my body, my soul leaving its confined prison that is my skin. At least that’s what I imagine when I close my eyes. Instead, I’m stuck in a room where darkness has consumed most of it, and only a single candle leaves a glimmer of light.

With the darkness comes a throbbing headache that spreads from my temples to my forehead. My legs are bent upwards so that my head leans against them, and the small pressure from my knees gives me a reprieve from the pain. I continue to take deep breaths as the sounds of them echo off the walls of what I assume is a basement room. The air is cold and steamy, carrying a distinct musty odor that hangs in the atmosphere and makes it a little harder to breathe normally.

For each breath I take, my upper body expands before sinking down, which causes an overbearing pain to take hold of me. My stomach area is heating up, which suggests an infected wound, and it’s nearly impossible to bite through the pain.

I cannot even remember how long ago the knife was pushed into me, leaving me defenseless without a proper breath and wishing that death would claim me from the agony. It might have been days or weeks since I last saw Grey, and that fact feels like a hammer inside my chest, torturing my heart. It feels oddly enough like a sense of loss.

I survey my surroundings while trying to find a way to get out of here. The candle standing in the corner of the room on the floor casts an unpleasant glow inside the room, where shadows play games with my eyes, making me see things that aren’t there. The candle’s warm glow contrasts with the cold room’s bare walls, which were once painted in vibrant colors but have faded and peeled away, leaving the rough texture in a dismal state.

When the light shimmers once more, a window emerges at the top of the wall, making me sag in profound relief. The hope extinguishes as soon as I notice how small the window is, and I inwardly curse. There’s no way I’ll be able to climb through there.

If only Grey were here.

The thought of him has my heart clenching uncomfortably. There are so many things I wanted to tell him—needed to tell him—and now I’m afraid I will never get the chance to.

Don’t think like that.

I adjust my position, breathing out in the process, until the pain erupts and forces me to bend back from the overtaking torment. The sound of my breath is raspy, like a gate that has not yet been anointed. When I pause breathing, those raspy, screeching sounds continue, and the nerves shooting up within me make me hold my breath completely.

My body is frozen in place while waiting for something to happen, my pulse thundering in my temples. As the sounds increase in strength, it becomes clear that they’re coming from outside the window, and my head immediately turns in that direction. It’s cracked open slightly, allowing me to listen to the ear-splitting sound that resembles a gate slowly closing after being opened. With anxiety coating my every move, I press myself as far as I can against the wall while nerves settle deep in my stomach. I hate how weak I appear to be.

I am fucking weak.

Hurt and weak, with exhaustion wearing over me like a dreaded cloud and energy that makes me unable to fight.

The crunching of gravel coming closer to the window sends a fresh wave of unease into me. I try to hide along the wall as if it might offer me some protection from the dangers lurking outside. With my eyes glued to the crack, I wait for what I know is inevitable.

Two pairs of shoes appear right outside, the flickering light from the candle letting me see them for a few seconds before disappearing back into the darkness. My heart pounds as hard as thunder does in the sky from the unknown of who’s out there, behind the wall of concrete.

The shoes only stand there, making no other move, and I soon believe that it might not be shoes or a human at all. Maybe it’s only a figment of my imagination. But then the shoes disappear behind a pair of legs that sit down slowly, its knees now resting on the ground outside. My head swarms with thoughts of the unknown stranger, and it feels like a startled bird flaps around inside my ribcage.

The candle flickers once more, as if by a non-existent wind, leaving me utterly alone in the emptiness of the dark room with no furniture. The next time the candle flickers, illuminating the desolated room, an icy shiver creeps over my spine, creating dizziness that forces me to lean against the hard concrete wall.

Because a person kneels outside, a knife in their hands scrapes against the thin glass texture and leaves a hollow sound that rings in my ears precisely like that haunting melody in the forest.

And on the knife is a dried crimson color with two initials inscribed.

“A.G.”

The same knife that Arthur used to stab me.

Chapter 4

Grey

Fucking run!

My legs take me further away until they can no longer hold up the weight of my body. They fold beneath me, feeling like slime, and I stumble forward while desperately trying to steady myself. I cannot afford to stop; I have to keep running, but my lungs cannot receive enough oxygen, and I’m left struggling to breathe, caught in a grasp of hyperventilation.

I can’t stop.

She is there, standing before me, looking all beautiful with her chestnut brown hair and its navy blue color at the ends that fade in perfect harmony. Her gaze doesn’t shift toward me, even though my breaths are loud enough to echo through the endless world of trees. I try to scream her name, but it’s as if the trees pick up my words, absorbing them until there are no words left to be heard. Maybe the ecosystem is playing tricks on me, fucking with my head to make me shatter from the inside.

There are several tears in her dress, and blood runs down her legs like a coating liquid, giving her a grotesque appearance.

The leaves rustle under the soles of my feet, but she still doesn’t look my way. She looks straight ahead, straight at me, yet there is no recognition in her eyes. It’s as if I don’t exist in her world anymore while I keep pushing my way forward.

Haunting echoes fill my mind as the forest surrounds us both, preparing itself to take us into the branches’ hold, only to suffocate and end our lives. A scream for her tears through my throat as I see the man slowly approaching her, his footsteps crunching in the snow that has fallen upon the land. It’s an endless land of white and cold, death and torture.

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