Heart Beat

The corridor was dark, my head was still spinning. How did I get here? Where am I?  Were my first thoughts. I stood up in the darkness, flickering torches showed a hall made of cold stone and dripped of what seemed like water. The echo of a single drop was heard every other second, going into rhythmic pattern.

I stumbled my body forward, using the wet walls to catch my weak body. My clothes were torn, my shoes were wet and my body felt dead as I forced it to move. I felt no pain, there was no pain at all. I just felt dizzy and slightly confused.

My steps echoed as I went forward. A sudden thought went through my head: What happens if they catch me again?

I stopped, leaning against the wall, trying to sort out my thoughts and what had happened merely moments ago.

The picture of them entered my mind. My parents warned me and warned me.

But I did not listen.

The look of the creature was still in my head. They're body stretching to the ceiling, a hump back from a dead grandfather, their hands only made of bones, they're dark withered cloaks made of black sheets of metal, causing sparks to make their presence known. I never saw what their face looked like, behind the hood of death was figured to be nothing but souls.

I tried to process what they did to me, but I thought of nothing. Perhaps they saw me dead already, maybe I passed out as they dragged me along.

A sound suddenly entered my aching head...A voice, a voice that I knew.

"Don't go to them...Stay with us, stay...Come back and away from them." The voice of a mother. That's what I heard. I looked left and right and saw a wooden door at the end at my left. It's steel hinges seemed to have aged and its circled knocker beckoned to me. I hurried over to it, stumbling against the moist wall.

I pulled the heavy wooden door, it's loud screams of agony echoing behind me. I went through the door and pulled it closed.

The room was warm and welcoming. I looked around me and saw that I stood in a room of luxury, candles stood on small sticks of wire and lit everything around me. A tall window touched the ceiling and fell to the ground, while being hugged with red velvet curtains. A sofa made of simple white silk and red pillows sat beside me. A fireplace cracked and popped behind me, bringing my body to the ground. I sat on the white carpet, looking out the window.

The sky was dark, dark blue, holding the tiniest white stars imaginable. I stood once I felt hot beside the fireplace and went up to the window and sat to admire the night sky, seeing shooting stars come in and out of my sight. It was a beautiful sight, I wanted to stay there for as long as possible.

I have all the time in the world... I thought in my mind. I can stay right here forever... The window seemed to have not exist as I stared into the sky. I made wishes, thought of my family, my friends, and even tried to figure out what that thing was called.

They did no harm to me. They didn't rip me to shreds. They didn't even say a word. Why was I running if they simply left me there in the corridor?

My thoughts went on and on, but I soon stopped myself. I stood up from the ground and went to put my hand on the glass to regain my balance.

As soon as my finger landed on the clear glass, a crack formed and spread out to the ends of the window, stretching like an angry spider web. I stumbled backwards, falling down and landing on my back. I groaned but looked at the window.

I couldn't look out the window to see the sky anymore. They cracks kept going down into the glass, stabbing it to see how long it would last. I slowly stood back up and looked around me again.

The room grew dark, its friendly candles going cold and the fireplace dying. The room grew cold within seconds. I remembered seeing no moon in the sky, making the room become ink black. I stumbled forward, with my arms waving about so I wouldn't hit anything.

I stumbled to the couch, finding its silk somewhat comforting. I sat and stared off into the darkness. I was alone in the dark and began to shiver again. My body began to feel moist and damp, my hair sticking to the back of my neck and face.

I thought I was sweating, but how can I be sweating? It's cold in this very room, not hot.

"Wondering how this works?" A wheezy, whispering and slow talking voice stalked out of the darkness. "The fever, the fever of that world, the fever will be your doom..."

"A...fever?" I asked. "But, I'm fine...right?" A patch of icy air was suddenly beside me, as if someone wanted to talk.

"I tried to find you," the voice said, "I tried to get you here and meet your fate." Something landed on my shoulder, it was cold and light. It felt like a fragile mass. "They say to not go near me...they say to stay away...all because they are selfish." I rose my hand to my shoulder, to feel what was on me. "They are selfish because they want your soul."

I felt something smooth, something thin that connected to each other...almost like a chain link. I jumped, moving away from the cold spot, shaking the skeletal hand off.

"Get away from me! You just want me! You're the one that's selfish!" I yelled, stumbling off the couch. I heard metal scraping against the couch's wooden frame and I saw two red glowing circles, hovering in the air near each other.

"You have to come with me, you are suppose to come, you are suppose to go up there with me." The glowing dots grew closer to my face. I crawled backwards, my breath heavy and short. "You need me."

***

The room was dark and there was a beeping noise. It was a simple pattern, in fact, it sounded like a heartbeat. I was still on the ground, but now it felt like smooth tile. I stood and went to go find the beeps.

It didn't take me long to find the source.

I saw a small grid, floating in the air, a greenish white line making hills, syncing with the beeps.

"You need me."

The voice came back in my head. I looked around, but didn't see them. I went closer to the monitor and looked at the line making hills.

"You need me."

The voice was getting louder and my heart pounded.

The beeping grew faster and seemed to have grown louder.

"In order to live," The voice was right beside my ear, "you need to die."

I felt something stab through my back, breaking my spine and shattering it into pieces. I felt the blade go through my heart, breaking the vessels and pipes, having them explode with blood. Then it went through my sternum, shattering it into two pieces. Finally, it went through my chest, my back at the swords hilt.

My heart beat was no more as it's final sound was a flat line.