Hostage_

The smell of death, lingering as if I have been here all my life. The bleak darkness screams into a harmony of dissonance, looking me in the eye as if to tease. In a puddle of wet and pungent soil and fluids I lay motionless; I do not remember how I even got there in the first place.

My heart was rattled as I heard heavy footsteps; it was as if a giant was entering the room. The cold wind breezed through and gave me shivers down my spine, but I need not move a muscle or I may suffer the consequences. I held my breath and tried to keep calm while my heart turned into a tornado inside of me as I heard the steel toes coming closer. For the first time in my life I prayed; it was a very unexpected response knowing myself as a free thinker.

The sound of metal clanging. The aura of death getting closer. I heard something unsheathe. Then what followed was the most horrifying sound I have ever heard.

Muffled screams of a woman. High pitched and broken. Like a pig whose throat was being slit. Reaching a crescendo, I could've sworn I heard blood spurts. A major artery, perhaps? I felt the warm fluid gradually gushing towards my back, I resisted the urge to move. I feel the essence of the poor woman slowly fading away; her blood hugging my clothes on the stony floor. A small puddle forming circles around me, thick and consistent, now reaching my scalp. The smell of death is now upon me, caressing each part of my limp body.

A sudden swishing sound, followed by a hard *thud* on the floor. The sound of something heavy being dragged away. In conjunction with the heavy footsteps moving away, a small glitter of hope was forming. I felt my lungs. I was now catching my breath, all my senses frantically discerning what was going on. The door shut with a big clash as I heard creaking sounds above me. I had to think fast.

"Thank f*cking God," I muttered. I felt my hands tied behind my back; as I struggled to loosen myself, the rope was not cooperating albeit the lubrication made by the woman's blood. Thankfully, my feet were loose so I was able to wiggle them free. Attempting to get up, I slipped, and stumbled and fell once more. "AAArgh!," as I kissed the floor, the overpowering smell of rotting carcass almost made me puke. Now my face and nose are also covered in gooey material. I heard flies hovering from one place to another, as if harvesting nectar from one flower to the next. But I am pretty sure that those are not flowers.

Letting out a cough and wheeze I struggled to get up on my feet once more; my shaky legs giving way into submission. "Urghhh," the tiny glimmer of hope slowly turning into my worst nightmare; I couldn't even summon the strength to get up. Now that I lay face first into the stinking floor it was harder to move; rolling into one side was impossible because something big was blocking my way. On the other side felt a concrete wall, also immovable. With my final frustrated act, I tried to kick the wall as hard as I could; as expected it did not budge. I turned to my side to get better force on my kicks, one, two, three hard ones, nothing. I kicked and let out a cry of exasperation, hitting the wall until I felt numb. I felt something crumble; I gave the last one all I had and felt the small portion of the wall giving way.

With my feet, I tried to measure the opening I made; it was so small that I was unsure if I'd fit in there. I had no strength in me so I had to make a gamble; I tried to squeeze one foot into the hole. Success! A tear fell down my eye. With another struggle, I put my other shaking foot inside; I slowly pulled my body towards the opening in the wall. Now my breath is getting heavier and heavier as my knees got through. "Just a little bit more," I thought to myself. I grunted as I was able to insert almost half of my body outside; the prickly wind was the most welcoming experience I have ever felt. I felt the soil beneath my cracked soles. I felt alive once more.

*THUD!* Out of nowhere, I heard the clanging of chains; the familiar disturbing heavy feet now scrambling. "AAAAAAhhhh!" I hollered on the top of my lungs as I inched my torso onto the opening. The footsteps are getting closer. With each passing second I was slowly progressing outside; I felt my ribs cracking as I stuck my arms into the opening. Then it dawned on me, I was stuck in this hell hole I made. "EEEAAAArrrrgghhhhH!" Gasping for air, the exquisite pain of my ribs was nothing compared to what would happen next.

I braced myself for the worse. Flashes of memories gripped my consciousness as I fell into a trance. Instead of seeing the happy memories I was seeing flashes of red and black. The screaming lady who just withdrew money from the ATM. The bondage bitch I fucked as she was screaming for help. The guy who fell onto his own pool of blood as I slit his throat. Countless bodies piling up as I brought terrorism into a whole new level. My wife's head hanging on a dead tree. My child's broken doll.

I felt a heavy force dragging my useless body back into hell. His heavy breathing was a stench of massacre. "AAAAAAhhhhhhhhh," I shouted as I felt a sharp pain at my back; I felt suspended from the ground. My feet were hanging; the familiar unsheathing sound. As the monster inched closer to me and prepared for the final blow, I said my last words.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…."

I welcomed the feel of the cold steel on my neck; there was no more pain, only the sensation of something heavy sliding back and forth onto my open neck. As blood trickled, then spurted out my jugular veins, my soul was being gradually released. As my life is sucked out of me, I felt something warm; like being cradled by a mother. She lulled me into a deep sleep; I tried to force a smile.

I was once again awoken by a big *thud. When I opened my eyes there was only darkness and the smell of death. My heart stopped when once again, the heavy steel toed feet were coming closer…

-Game Over-