Blood.
Is it mine? Is it hers?
Her veil trembles as if having a life of its own. The crown of thorns becomes darker, sharper, as if it, too, has come alive.
“I—” My tongue becomes tied in my mouth.
She moves, faster than I can follow. Then there’s a sudden pressure in my chest. It’s not painful at first; there’s only a sense of pressure without relief. Something hits at my chest, forcing its way through flesh and bone.
It’s as fast as a projectile. Within seconds, my chest gives with a sickening wet sound.
Empty…The word echoes in my head, though I can’t make sense of it.
She pulls back.
That’s when I see it. In her hand. Her palm squeezes it tightly.
My heart.
I stare at it, unable to comprehend what I’m seeing. It beats steadily, impossibly, each pulse echoing in my ears.Mypulse.
“What…” I whisper in shock.
She lifts her veil.
For the first time, I see her. Strange and alluring.
With a smirk, she bites into it.
Her teeth sink into my heart with a grotesque crunch.
Heartless and yet still possessing of a heart, I feel that bite to the core of my being; as if something is seeking to consume me from within.
Another bite.
The pain resounds in my soul.
She’s not eating just my physical heart. She’s consuming my essence.
Just as the pain reaches the point of no return, the ground beneath me shifts. A wave of thick, viscous liquid crashes onto me before spilling outward in all directions, swallowing the floor, the walls, everything.
A river forms, thick and endless, rising rapidly and engulfing everything around me.
It soaks into my skin, cold and suffocating as it climbs higher, dragging me down with it.Into the abyss.
The last thing is see is her silhouette reflected above the surface, untouched by the rising flood, watching me as I sink.
Smiling.
“Pathetic.”
10
My birthday came and went. I spent the day inside my house, terrified that the moment I took a step out, something would lie in wait to kill me.
To my surprise, there was no sudden explosion or a loud noise to indicate the expiration of the shield of spirituality my father left me. It happened seamlessly. One moment I felt normal, like the self I’ve gotten used to in the last hundreds of years. The next, I felt…bereft.
There is no other way to explain it since it’s not something tangible. My perception simply tells me I’m alone now. Helpless…
