Equinox: Half Past Twilight

I could feel blinding pain. I could feel my blood oozing down my chest, dripping off my fingertips. Most of all, I could feel my last promise tightly gripped in my right hand. The pain was almost overwhelming. I felt like screaming, so I tried. From my perspective, a soundless wail erupted from me as I forced my mouth open. More blood spilled from my lips; the taste of iron let me know I still lived. for now, at least. I felt weighed down by a crushing force, yet held up by the the object that sapped my life away. My hearing was dulled save for a high-pitched and continuous whine. Though seemingly muted, I could hear a fire, which sounded somewhat far away. Only silence followed. I forced myself to open my eyes and gazed blearily at my surroundings. So much pain…. almost too much pain… Darkness hung in the border of my vision like a toxic cloud; the pain blended in with everything else. I forced my head left and darkness filled my vision for an instant before receding back. What the hell happened… My left hand was impaled by a long sliver of metal, holding my hand in place. Blood gathered in rivulets down my knuckles, rolling down my finger and dripping onto the sliver of steel. Small splashes of it decorated it as I tried to move my fingers.

“Augh!” I screamed in agony, my mouth filled with the crimson liquid.  Need to… open my mouth… I gently opened my mouth, inch by inch as the vital fluid poured down my chin and joined the other miniscule, yet growing, crimson stains.The taste of iron overwhelmed everything else. Blood pooled onto the floor like a crimson river, no longer small stains in abysmal states.

As I looked right, I closed my eyes to avoid the gruesome pain centering in my chest. My right hand was similarly crucified, impaled to the crushed ceiling above me. The small fold of paper was tightly gripped in my hand, my fingers bloodied and numb. Thank God… I breathed a shaky sigh of relief with no small bit of difficulty and prepared myself to observe the pain that held me in place, what my body was seemingly draped over. What could only be described as a long, thin, sword was impaled through my chest and back. I could feel the weakening beat of my heart pumping blood out of my chest and down the sword.

Darkness began to fill my vision as my heartbeat weakened and slowed, the pain ebbing away. A welcome numbness filled my body as I closed my eyes and smiled, gripping my blood-covered promise. Soon, the pain melted away, leaving only a homely darkness as far as the eye could see save for one thing. I could see a single white dot, the “light at the end of the tunnel”, as it were.