Pandora's Box

Chapter eleven

All his life, Milo thought the worst feeling was being alone trapped inside a dark room not knowing what lurks within the shadows.
Now he would actually prefer it.
He would prefer anything else over this moment.

His is alone.
He is in darkness... actually it is more like the light has been stolen from only him by a blindfold.
He doesn't know where he is or what is around.
He sits in complete silence, unable to move a bone in his body.
He feels completely paralyzed.

Suddenly he feels the motion of his arms.
The his legs start to move.
Fear races throughout his body because he is not the one causing his body to move. He feels controlled.
Like a puppet on a string, being pulled by an unknown force.
And he couldn't be closer to the truth because if he didn't have the blindfold, he would see the strings attached to every part of his body, hoisting him in any direction the unknown master pleases.

He tries to stop. He summons his might but the pain of resistance burns like knives edging into his skin. He cries out in immense pain even though he was barely strong enough to resist, the motion of resistance was enough for him to realize that there was no winning.

He can feel his arm moving over a wall. He can smell the wet paint all over his fingers as the puppet master writes its message that will forever remain hidden to Milo.

Dominican folk music starts to echo from unknown speakers. The same songs that serve as his only memories of his early childhood in the country. The music provides a sense of comfort in the time of fear.

He feels the weight of the strings pulling on his arms and legs. He is dancing. The most familiar of dances: the one Antonio taught him. He knows every single step and feels like one with the music even if he isn't the one in control.

However, the short moment of happiness is replaced with a searing agony as the song never stops and he continues to dance nonstop.
He can feel the pain in his feet which now feels as if he had been walking across broken glass.

The life in him fades as his head hangs lower and lower, finally admitting defeat.
He knows that the only thing that he has control over is his mind and no one can take that away so he waits for the pain to subside because there is nothing else he can do.