A War on Death

Chapter Three: Help Me

The voices refuse to be silenced. Even in death, I can not escape them. They taunt and gnaw at the backs of my eyes. Trying to crawl through the crevice and out of my pupils. They are drowning in darkness and blood and I can't save them. I can never save them because, truthfully, I hope they all rot in the very hell they've created for themselves.

My eyes fly open, shadows wrapping around my body as I raise my head from the carpet beside my bed. A pool of dried blood leads footsteps from my nose, leaving a dark circle on my once-white rug. My eyes struggle to focus, my head pouring down my throat as voices echo in my skull. I can't think or move or speak.

All I can do is listen.

They scream and berate every piece of me. Taunting and jabbing at my vulnerable mind.
The voices and souls have crawled through my cage and have begun throwing stones at my eyelids, trying to pry free of my magic. The pain is horrific. Centered and well-executed as they ram their hatred at my brain.

My lips part in a gasp as I force myself up and onto my quivering knees. I have a theory that when Erebus blasted me into the wall with his magic, he also broke open the mental wall separating the souls from my own. And now they were ripping me to shreds.

I stumbled to my feet, sliding along the cool white marble walls as I trembled towards the door leading to the atrium. My breathing is shallow and pained, unable to keep myself quiet to not wake Erebus. I stagger through the doorway on lead feet, my hair tangled and caked with dried blood on one side. My pupils dilated then narrowed, over and over again as they kept clawing at my soul. My heart thrummed increasingly faster under my cool skin, my hands shaking as I palmed the wall. I leaned against it the entirety of the way, pushing myself from pillar to pillar until I reached the edge of the atrium. My movement faltered as I tried to flutter my wings. They stirred by my side, almost limp.

I groaned, pushing off the pillar and wobbling under the sunny sky. Erebus was nowhere to be found, and I just prayed it stayed that way. I gritted my molars, my hands clenched into fists as my muscles locked together. I raised my wings with as much effort as I could manage, gathering my strength before flapping as hard as I could.

I was launched from the marble floor, reaching toward the opening of the glass ceiling. My wings stuttered mid-flight, causing me to tip to the side as I glided downward. I threw my arms out to protect my face, tipping harshly toward the ground as my body rolled across the polished stone. I groaned, my limbs aching as the voices in my head started chanting louder.

I pushed myself off the white floor, my knees wobbling as a newfound sense of anger lit a fire in my soul. Flapping my wings harder, I tried again. I rose steadily this time, my limbs and muscles locked as I fought the dire effects of my pain coursing through my bones. The window was within five feet, almost within my reach before a sharp pain radiated from my temple. A cry tore from my lips as my wings fell limp by my sides and I fell awkwardly to the ground yet again.

I tried and failed to lift my wings, their white-feathered bodies refusing to move, let alone lift. Tears of frustration tore down my face, dripping past my lips and staining my tongue. Anger and pain piled together into one motion, my mind exacting my emotions on the stone as I threw my fist into the marble. A crack echoed through the open air, the atrium quivering slightly as my bones collapsed on one another and my body lay sprawled on the cold floor.

The voices screamed and clawed at my temples, razor-sharp teeth eating away at my mind from the inside as I tried to fight them. My vision blurred before my head slumped against the crack my fist had created.

———
A door. Large and loud echoed in my ear drums.
Dizziness and nausea rang through my hollow bones like the human churches. My limbs were not mine, the connection severed from my mind as an internal battle began in my brain.