i̸̞̺͑͂̚ ̷̧̜̹͈͆ḟ̷̲̫̺̭͍̣̺̺͔́̃͋̽̈́͜ḛ̸̮̫̝̯́̀̚e̶̛͍̠̬̱̳̘̼̅̐ḷ̸̦̩̙͎̻̲̝́ ̷̼͌̋̉͒͆̈́͝s̸̡̮̗̰͕͕̫̗̒̎͂͆̅̾̓́̕͜ą̸͉̲͈̫̝͎̫̿f̵̲̮͕͈̤͈͌̐̀͑͂e̵̲͗̂̈́́̄̃̔ ̷̡̱͚̤̙̩̈́̈́h̷̨̯̲̭̩̩̫̄è̵̬̼̤͖̦̾̈̍̽ͅṛ̸̩̥̝̏͗̈́̽̌̉͝ĕ̷̫̫̲̻͉̰̽͒͆̈́͆̎͘ ̸̨̼̗̫̦̭̬̂̏̃̓̍̈́̕b̴͉̻̟͖̰̻͛̈́u̴̠̙̽͂t̸̪͑̇̃̐ ̸̧͍̬̻̗͓̱̹͍̫̌į̵̺̙͕̤͌̕͘͝͝ ̵̨̧̛̻̹̻̦̬͌̃̑͗̈̐͝͝͠n̸̲̓̈͑͂́̉̈͊͜e̷̗̼̳̘̘̱̟̙̱̖͌̆̾̓e̸̫̤͇̩͚͉̭̟̦͎͛̔̈d̸̗̭̾́̂͆͌̌͆̎̌ͅ ̵̜͔̯̦́͝t̴̡̛̻͕̭̠͓̾̔́̇̊͆͝o̶̥͎̝̞̻̤̜͕͍͋ͅ ̸̛͓̱̇̍͂́̋l̴̟̙͐̐̀͛ê̶̩͒͂͑͗͛a̵̢̨̱̺̱̻̼͎͚̐͋͘v̶͕͂̍̇̐͂̀͐̃e̷̯̙̗̙̳͚̪̪͌́̀ͅ
"But where would you go?" the old man asks, he gently lights on a candle and they enter the library in his scruffy basement. Books of different shapes, sizes and times stacked carelessly into various oval shelves, only a faint breeze escapes between slits in the poorly furnished walls and makes the candle lights flicker.
"I don't know, I don't know, maybe something like the mountains. Maybe deep within a forest or to that one door they always warn me about. Somewhere, somewhere they can't find me." He stammers and slips into the chair with his name on it. It is an odd chair; he feels strangely comfortable in it.
"But you won't belong in such a place," the man smiles, tapping his cane on the delicate paper floor. The boy in the chair worries a little wondering if the floor would snap with weight or force
and pulls his legs up and hugs tightly.
"I don't need to belong, I just need to know that I am free," he mutters, brushing his small fingers against the chair that looks too much like a cotton candy cloud.
"You always want to be found, don't lie to yourself," he giggles like a little girl and swings around on his revolving chair letting out 'weeee'. It is as if the old wise man he followed is no more and only a child.
"But I-" he's cut off and the old stuffy library in the basement drifts into a playground. A playground surrounded by swings far too dangerous for children. They laugh and giggle with their cute eyes staring directly at him as if waiting for an order so they could pounce on the new little pinata and tear him to shreds.
"You want to be found; you enjoy the thrill. The thrill, the importance when others die for you to keep you safe," the little girl dressed up in the fairy outfit slowly smirks at him, like she knows him, and she knows everything he has done and everything he thinks.
y̷͍͂͊̇̔̀ͅó̴̢̨̗̤̻͎̱̖͎͐̀͝ȗ̶̩͔̱̠̗̦͗͝ ̶̛̛̱̮͍̬̹͈̬̿̿͊̏͘͝͝͝c̶̛͔̭̯̦̙̈̽̉́̌͘͝͝͝ͅa̸̭̞̔̾́͐̾͘͝ṇ̴̹͓̻̮̾̏͋̒̉̈̕͜͠t̸͎͐̀́͒̈́̋ ̴̩̼̹̹̾̃̆͘h̸̝̲̲̭̹̯͆̎͌̒́̈̈́̀͛͘͜i̵̛̪͉͎̫̦̦͑͗̿̓̑̈́̎̐d̶̩̻͓̳͕̤̟͍́͌̈́̀̚ͅe̶̢̩͇͓̩̳̖͍͗̅͆̈́̈́ͅ
"NO WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT-" he screams and jumps off from his chair only to fall on his face. He spits out the dirt and coughs. 'Why am I so tired...?' He coughs more and more and more and soon wheezing and panting to catch a breath, his eyes water and he bangs his head on the dirt begging it to end. He tries to scream but all the energy in his body rushes out like someone pulls a drain plug.
The children gather around in a circle swinging along, singing a nursery rhyme.
They giggle and scream at him.
(འìղց-ą-ɾìղց-ą-ɾօʂìҽʂ)
"ɎØɄ ₭łⱠⱠɆĐ ₮ⱧɆ₥"
(Ⱥ քօçҟҽէ ƒմӀӀ օƒ քօʂìҽʂ)
"ɎØɄ'ⱤɆ ₮ⱧɆ Ⱡł₳Ɽ"
(Ⱥ էìʂʂմҽ, ą էìʂʂմҽ)
"ɎØɄ'ⱤɆ ₮ⱧɆ Ⱡł₳Ɽ"
(చҽ ąӀӀ ƒąӀӀ ժօաղ)
Black. He gasps for breath, crawling forward in the endless darkness. It's all silent too silent. "HELP" he shouts at the top of his lungs with all the breath he has left slowly drifting away into nothingness.
w̵̫̲̜̆͒͜a̸͙͚̟͑̏́̉͆͐͗ķ̷͍̦̍͗͂̓̄̐̅͝ȩ̴͙͕̜̼̺̙̜̓̓̊ ̸̠̤̯̅̀͐͌̎͝û̵̧̙̖̼̘̫̍͜p̷̳̾̏̐͋̇ ̶̣̇̄̒̐̚
"Com! COM, YOU HAVE TO OPEN YOUR EYES," a shrill voice screams at him, continuously slapping his cheek.
It takes every inch of strength left in his body to sit straight on the hard concrete floor as if the gravity is pulling down at him, just ten times stronger. The bright light of the blazing sun hurts his eyes, and he knows he isn't in the dark nothingness anymore.
"Wha..." he mumbles groggily and instinctively reaches out for his cheek which stings after a hundred slaps. He doesn't feel his usual cold hands, he doesn't feel anything.
"Where...where are my arms...Mar??"
He shockingly stares at the back of a tall woman. Her short blond hair is roughly cut and damp as if not washed in weeks. She is wearing a green combat suit ripped from possibly everywhere, it reveals a large cut on her bare back. The cut's bleeding profusely but she remains standing like she doesn't have a choice. She knows very well that if she falls down, she won't be able to stand up again. Her feet are glued in one position; she doesn't move an inch protecting him.
She pulls out a knife from her pocket and doesn't reply to him firmly standing her ground.
"Mar...?" his voice cracks. He whimpers as his own warm blood seeps in the dirty wet bandages. He doesn't look at them because it will only increase the pain and peeks at the bridge.
The long seemingly endless bridge has huge uneven holes at every corner. The steel poles dangle from the edges of the holes and glisten under the sunlight. A bright sun illuminates the sky in contradiction to the chaos. A bomb erupts somewhere not to far from them and the entire bridge rumbles.
Loud. He cries, he wants to cover his ears with his hands, too loud. The noise doesn't stop, it keeps exploding and exploding and exploding but the sky remains clear, the sun remains bright as if they are being taunted, taunted by the paradise in the sky they could never reach. Another rumble, but it doesn't feel like the bombs because this one isn't far, it's close and it's coming closer every second. The girl tumbles down and shouts in pain and keeps shouting like she is done. She is done with keeping it inside her, the screams she stifled on the behalf of her teammates. The same teammates that now lay slaughtered, cut in pieces everywhere around them.
"Mar...Please, don't SCREAM IT HURTS," Com yells.
She flinches and quiets down, she reaches out her hand slowly patting his wounded leg with her bloodied arm, not looking at him as if she is afraid he will disappear as soon as she looks at him.
"I-I'm sorry, I couldn't, I couldn't save you..." her voice isn't a shrill scream anymore, it's a soft sobbing voice of a young girl, scared of everything. A girl who wants nothing but to curl up and hide away. "Please, close your eyes, okay? Please," she whimpers, and he does, he does close his eyes instinctively. The rumbles get closer and now he can tell, it is footsteps.
Footsteps of something too big and too impatient.
His heart thumps louder to drown out the head-splitting sound of the rumbles, perhaps, to calm him down or make him too aware of the impending terror. Vultures. They screech and glide dangerously close to him escaping towards the black end of the bridge. The bridge shakes violently like a swing, he shuts his eyes more tightly hoping it is only an earthquake.
Something breaths dangerously close to them, the hot steam bounces off of them, warming up his cold body but slowly it starts to burn. He feels strands of hair against his lips. Mar is close to him; she wraps her arms around him, hugging him tightly and glaring at the humongous monster. It has a deep scar splitting its body in two, with one half filled with burning flesh and other half blank. It doesn't have eyes, just a smile. A smile that covers the entire blank face, he brings together his arms filled with the blood of her comrades and claps slowly.
Mar grits her teeth fighting back tears of anger and frustration. Her nails dig into Com's back, but he keeps quiet, eyes closed, mouth shut tight. He's frozen in his place.
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT HIM GO AWAY"
Harmless drops of boiling rain stings on his skin like thousands of needles stabbing him. The hot steam blows again, worsening the pain. He knows that he has burns on his body and Mar probably has more burns stinging her because she shielded him. But her voice doesn't crack, it doesn't waver, and she keeps screaming.
"GO AWAY"
"GO AWAY"
"GO AWAY"
₲Ø ₳₩₳Ɏ
She jabs his chest with her nails, and he opens his eyes not looking at the monster or, just not having the courage. "Leave," she whispers, her sweet voice trembling. Her porcelain skin is covered in blood and burns, she pulls out a grenade from her pocket. Her hands shaking, she manages to force a smile which piques the interest of the monster. She has its attention, and it grins back, clapping his hands faster. Faster than his beating heart.
Com slips out of her grip, "I-I'm sorry..." he limps as fast as he can towards the dangling ledge of the bridge. He hears a blast, the violent shake of the bridge, the continuous smashing of a skull against the floor, a sound he is too familiar with and the only one thought runs across his mind.
I̸͔̽́͝'̵͖̣̆͐̄m̴̭̟͎͎̬̆͛͋̌̉̇̔́͌ ̴̡̟̻̹̙͖̮̔̀̐̉͂̓͊̀̀͜ͅg̶̻͑̋̽͆̇ļ̷̼̱̫̣͝a̴͉͓̜̐̅́͝d̷͙͙͓̬̺̤̬̭͔͂̏̏̕ ̶̺͙̪̰̪̹͊̈́̿̅̎̀͂͊͜͝ͅî̶̡͙̼̺͙̩̭̹̞̀̊̔͝t̶̨̢̪͗͆͝͠'̸̜̉͐̀̓̊̈͆̏͋͝s̷̢̙̘͔̼̤̜͙͍̏̊̀͂̑̚ ̶̨̨̞̦̭̌ͅņ̸̡͚̞̩̮̖̙͎̺͐͂o̴̮̊̿͂̇̒͝t̴̟̜̜̭͛͌͋̏́͂͂ ̵̧̟̟̙͈̘̦̓̾̔m̸̫̩͖͐̐͆̓̇̀͝e̷̛̪͖̺̭̼̔͘
'Huh?' The noise stops and pink clouds cover up the sun once again. Everything falls silent.
'Look back,' it says. He turns back, his gaze frozen in terror. Her eyes gouged out and jaw dislocated, her skin ripped from places like her suit and her voice a cracked shrill.
ɎØɄ ₣Ʉ₵₭ł₦₲ ₵Ø₩₳ⱤĐ
Shivers bolt down his spine as the dead girl screams at him with her own blood oozing out of her face. Com can't move, not because he has no strength left but because the guilt weighs him down, harder than the strong gravity. Rain droplets sting all his burns making him well too aware of everything when he wishes it all blurs out. But no, he is going to remember it. Every bit of it.
He feels a sudden yank on his shirt and a low voice whisper-shout at him. "How'd you manage to lose your arms? I LEFT YOU FOR FIVE MINUTES!"
The person yanks him down the bridge and right into a long fall. Com freaks out and snaps his head in the direction of the boy to see him dressed like a lady with puffed white sleeves and a pink frilly skirt. Com grimaces pink isn't his favorite color anymore. His purple eyes sparkle as he waves his small.
"This is going to be a long fall, I'm May by the way."