Sanctuary

They eat away at me, piece by piece - slowly, mockingly. They taunt me, begging me to challenge them. More and more my will to live drifts away. My body grows weaker by the day and with it, my mind disintegrates. "Do we intimidate you?" they tell me, "What are you going to do about it?" I keep my head down, begging for safety, mercy, anything to get away from these pests.

Then, I hear the sound of a bell, almost as if it was replying to my cries for help. Finally, I can flee this place.

I must return to my sanctuary. My sanctuary - just beyond the concrete jungle and down the silvery path paved with cement.

They can't reach me there.

I barge through the door and lock myself inside. The sound of the bolt clicking reassures my safety. I'm alone here, there's no sign of life aside from myself. I dash to my room and slam the door behind me, sighing heavily.

They can't hurt me here.

I position myself against a wall and lean my back against it. All I can feel is the coolness of the air surrounding me. Silence accompanies me. My thoughts start to overwhelm me and my body suddenly starts to shudder. It feels as though someone is watching me but no one is around, not a single soul.

No, they can't see me in here.

Whispers start to swirl in my mind murmuring dastardly thoughts. These voices sound familiar, I've heard them before. It's them. The same monsters I tried to run away from. The same monsters whose constant torment seems to haunt me no matter where I go. The whispers turn into screams, torturing me with their menacing words. "You're so weak." I can hear one of the voices shout. I scream in rebuttal but no one is around to hear my cries.

They can't hear me in here.

Louder and louder they shout. Laughter, insults...they start to poison my mind, killing me from the inside. "What a loser." I try to cover my ears but the sound is too deafening. "How pathetic." The pain I was feeling at that moment begins to consume me. It turns into agony, then despair, and finally rage.

With tears welling in my eyes, I clutch onto my backpack and break down. With a white knuckle grip, I close my eyes and try to picture myself in a better place. A place of serenity, a place that knows nothing but peace, a place that isn't tainted by such hideousness and hatred.

These buzzards have fed on me for so long and now all that's left are the remains of my tattered soul. I am too weak to fend them off any longer and now they wait to feast on my rotten carcass.

My tears stop falling. I can feel cold metal press against my temple as the sound of a rotating chamber hums quietly in my ear.

They won't find me in here.