Doc fileted my flesh and inserted something large inside. I—
Felt something crawling up my spine. It was gruesome. Ghoulish. And macabre!
But he called it Divine.
My body welcomed this new peculiarity as if it belonged; it slid into my flesh unhindered. And settled inside.
The burning died.
My head ached. My heart raced. And all the while, the good doctor massaged my split flesh. And cried.
I didn't faint this time. Nor did the pain overwhelm.
But the new concoction soon jammed between shoulder and neck and was forced inside.
There were bugs. Crawling up my spine—!
Stop. Please, stop! I begged. Please, please! I told him—
Please don't let me die!
But my voice, it wasn't coming. They were digging and digging—and I heard the whisper of feet inside—!
The chewing. The cracking. The eggs!
And a thousand more bubbled inside.
My eyes turned inside out. And I heard the flutter of wings inside my body.
Who—
Am I?
***
I suppose I really died that time. And my Godly Ascension, it simply wasn't meant to be.
Though, at that time, I really only felt disgust; the devastation of a hundred bodies rotting beside me…
The horror. And despair.
***
My eyes burst open, straining to adapt in the darkness.
There were arms. Legs. Feet. And the foul stench of rotting bodies. I screamed—
Pushing—pulling—shoving—scrambling—!
The wounds. The blood. The flesh. The eyes—!
The strangers staring up at me. There were too many corpses beside me. Behind me. Beneath me!
Lost in a sea of the dead, my arms and legs were pinned by boys no older than me—!
I struggled, panting and straining, unable to pull myself out.
And all the while, what little vomit i had splattered upon those unfamiliar faces; my clothes soaked with blood and bile as their eyes followed me.
It was dark. And there was nothing.
Panting. Panting! The only thing I could do was continue struggling—!
And then, the light hit me. From above, I heard the sounds of dragging.
I froze. Would I be caught? Would this be my end?! The end of me—!
I couldn't be caught so easily!
My own heartbeat. The temperature of my skin cooling—
They wouldn't find me. They wouldn't—!
The dragging stopped. And a new body fell; broken bones and shattered veins not unlike me.
The shining light dimmed. And darkness once again permeated. My head relaxed—
Right onto the fleshy eye of a dead body. I screamed—
But quickly shut my mouth again. Just because they hadn't found me yet, didn't mean they wouldn't find me forever.
Instead, I stopped moving. Stopped struggling. Think. I had to think!
I wasn't strong enough. These flabby muscles couldn't do anything—!
Power. I needed power! More. More. More! If Edward could do it, so could I!
I bit my lip and strained—
My back cracked. My neck snapped. My heart, it burst from my chest in three—!
I felt it then. The stream.
Power. Aura. Energy—!
I pushed—
And the bodies fell back like grain; disintegrating in front of my face. I fell—
watching the ash turn to dust and flutter away.
My body thudded against the dirty floor. The energy calmed; what felt like an avalanche now a gentle wave.
My arms flopped uselessly. Why was this happening? Why was I here at all?
I couldn't move. Not even an inch. I watched the world spin; the haze in my eyes quite nauseating. Dizzy. Disoriented. All I could do was close my eyes and think.
What had I done? These bodies. The evidence—!
Branded by pain, the urgency slipped away. What did anything matter anymore? I wasn't supposed to be here. I wasn't supposed to be at all…
But wasted time soon became borrowed time. I smacked my head against the floor. What had I done?!
Escape. My heart thudded rapidly. I had to escape!
I forced myself to my feet. After all, no help was coming—
"Ethan!" A whisper that sounded like a scream. "Ethan!"
"Ed—"
"I have to go down there. I have to!"
"The dead are gone!" Another, fiercer whisper. "It won't open. We can't even get in there! Do you wanna die here with him?!"
A scuffle. And the sounds of fighting.
"Ethan."
"He's dead! We have to go!"
"You go. I'm going down there."
Silence. And then the sounds of fleeing. I tried to call out. I tried to scream. But my throat was numb and my voice was gone—
What could I do but scream silently. Were they leaving? They—were leaving me!
My heart sunk. I was abandoned. They abandoned me. I fell back against the dirty ground like ash amongst the breeze.
My hope scattered and died. And I felt demoralized—
Pressure.
Building—mounting—
pressure—!
I scrambled to my feet and hid against the wall—
The flare of light. And a body fell with a thud inside.
"Ethan! You—You're alive! I knew it! I knew you were alive!" Blood dripped from Edward's arm. And his cheek was bruised and battered and torn.
I flinched from the light touch of his hand against me. Because it was shocking.
Because I never imagined he'd come back for me…
We—were brothers.
He was—family.
He hugged me. Patted my head and comforted me. "You're okay. You're okay, now, right?!" He looked me over; his eyes boiling with tears.
And then, we looked up.
"How did you get down here, Edward?"
"My aura does have some use. But…" His voice cracked and he trembled. "I'm at my limit. I don't know if I can get us back up there..."
I, too, couldn't imagine lifting another finger. But we had to leave. We had to!
The dead were waiting. And we would be next!
"I'll lift you." He told me; his shaking hand hovering over my shoulder. "Just give me a second—"
But the sound of feet. And we froze. Because it was horrifying. They—
Were coming.
My stomach clenched. And terror rose.
Our eyes, they met.
And the brother I thought was frivolous looked through me. And smiled.