A shock; a sudden jolt; a chill. I look down and see it there,
sticking out of my chest – the dagger’s obsidian handle. My eyes dart upward
towards those surrounding me, walking by. No one stops; no one looks towards
me; no one sees the smokey black substance beginning to pour out from my wound.
The smoke continues to ooze out but does not fall towards the floor. It instead
forms two snakes, coiling and intertwining around my body to wrap me in a cold,
familiar embrace. The snake on my left shoulder hisses into my ear.
“Hey there, kid! Tcht. You’ve been taking care of yourself.
You look well. Looks like we’ve been asleep for a bit longer than I thought.”
Her voice sprinted through my mind, mapping out the terrain. “Well, it’ll take a
bit to get things back to normal, but I can’t tell you how great it feels to be
home.”
Panic sets in immediately as I feel her scraping away at the
back of my eyes. My heart rate spikes as
my breaths shorten and the world begins to spin. I drop to my knees, clutching my
head, shouting out for help. Those passing by carry on, oblivious to my
anguish. No one stops; no one acknowledges my voice; no one glances in my
direction. The snake on my right shoulder displays his forked tongue, touches
the back of my neck, and sends his chill down my spine, numbing the panic. He, too, hisses.
“Hello my love. It has been far too long. I’d almost forgotten
the way your skin feels.” His voice dripped with lust. “You’re uncomfortably warm
right now, you know. It doesn’t suit you. Let me slip you into something a bit
more comfortable.”
A sinister aura begins to pervade my body. In desperation, I
grip the handle with both hands, pulling it out only to have my heart sink
deeper. There is no blade. The hole in my chest in not that of a stab wound. Instead,
it is a perfect circular abyss. Nothing but shadow continued to pour out. I cry
out once more for anyone, anything.
“Relax now, my love. I’ll take your pain away.”
My cry is cut short by the pang of horror that fills me as he
reclaims the throne within my heart. For a moment there is a sharp, piercing
pain before a familiar numbness dulls…
Everything.
There is no longer a need for the
fear. There is no longer a need for the anguish. There is no longer a need to
cry out. He has made sure of that. He ensures that there is no longer a need for needing anything. She supports him, guaranteeing that any attempts to break free
are met with an onslaught of panic attacks and nausea. She twists and manipulates the world around me, causing every move I make to result in my own suffering. He then opens his arms
too me, promising to numb the pain she causes. They are vicious; they are cruel;
they are the ever-spinning cycle.
We return to our feet and look
around. We are enveloped by shadow and an abyss remains but have no need to
mind either. After all, this has always been a more natural state for us. We
step forward, matching pace with the crowd and blending in. A slight smile forms
on our lips.
"What a wonderful feeling it is to be whole again."
