Page 437 of Coal Hearts

It opened its jaws and swallowed me down.

I sank into its belly and...ran.

Threading myself back through the chasm, I scuttled like a crab, sideways and breathing hard.

I had to get away.

I have to get the fuck out of here!

I wriggled and burrowed, desperation rising, claustrophobia clawing.

Desperate to taste fresh air.

Gasping for freedom.

Panic.

Fuck, panic.

It vised around my chest, gluing my ribcage to my heart so every breath wrenched and suffocated.

I tripped and stumbled.

Fumbled at the black wall.

Blinked with blind eyes.

With a groan that sounded as if it came from a tortured, pitiful thing, I tumbled out of the alley and back into the cave of wonders.

The glow worms flickered with indignation at my arrival.

They judged me as I collapsed to my knees like a pauper and gasped for redemption like a thief.

Pressing my sweaty forehead to the damp cave floor, I fell to my side and flopped onto my back.

Darkness.

Everywhere.

Fucking everywhere.

In me. On me. Around me.

But pinpricks.

Staring back.

Glittering like glowing sapphires, forming an entire galaxy above me.

I focused on them.

I clung to their light.

The angelical luminescence wasn’t strong enough to forgive or absolve me.

I was unforgivable.

Unredeemable.