Dark Home

In the waning moments of darkness, I stirred. My body struggled for comfort and sweat lined my frame. My bed was cheap, springs prodded out at its edges and the only sheet I had was stained yellow far before it made its way into my hands, this much I had gotten familiar with. Despite being familiar with my surroundings now.

On misty days like this I recall what happened only two years ago, a thick suffocating mist reaches for me as something invisible chokes at my lungs, I hear crackles and pops, images of cinder-clad pillars being rotted black overlay with the dull grey metal of my room's walls.

If I let myself dwell too much, I find myself pulled back into that time, but before I can fall back into that trance, I am shaken by my roommate.

"T-Tubbo, what are you doing? Stop shaking me!" I slipped into an aggression I thought lost to myself.

"Six, you were saying weird things again." I watched as his scared eyes settled into a more concerned look, and he made to sit on his bed. I realized that asking what I said would be pointless.

"Sorry Tubbo, get back to sleep." I turned to face the wall now, but before I could close my eyes, Tubbo's high-pitched voice squeaked at me. "Six, the wake-up call is coming soon."

'Oh Shit'

Few would understand the measure of exhaustion that fell on my shoulders at the thought. As of late rations got cut, and sleep has been hard on me for the past month, night terrors keeping me restless. My eyes fell on the wasted form of Tubbo. I recalled when his frame was far fuller, and his skin was far paler. Now black powder coated his skin, his bones showed through his blemished skin.

I wanted to console him, but there wasn't any time to dwell on that as the barely held-together door slammed open. A heavy-set man stumbled in through the door, 'Ugh, he freakin' reeks.' The scent of alcohol was certainly overwhelming. A baton that looked to be made of metal smacked against the edge of my bed, denting the cheap metal and letting out a clang that irritated Tubbo's sensitive ears. My anger swelled as I saw the younger boy flinch.

"You got fifteen minutes rats, meet in the assembly on time." I hated that word, but I was hard pressed to try anything while the man fondled a hand axe.

He grabbed Tubbo and me from our beds and tossed us to the sediment floors, dragging us for no reason but for the fact that he could. A cruel laugh rang through the halls as the large man left. I went to lift Tubbo from the floor as soon as the door closed behind him.

"Are you okay?" I kept my tone low, knowing that the others were waking, and keen to avoid drawing any attention.

"Y-yeah, it's not like this is the first time." He was right, I saw the bruises that lined his body but his most obvious deformity was hard to look at, his shoulder had set wrong after being dislocated a year ago when Tubbo accidentally dropped a crate.

"We'll get him back…I promise you." It was likely that Tubbo and I would die here, but I wanted to comfort the younger kid as much as possible.

Soon Tubbo and I made our way through the barracks, 'How can they be so cruel to their own people..' We were all born to this planet, and yet their sadistic mindset felt alien to me. Sharp stones at my feet caught my attention quite quickly. 'Gah, that never gets old..' It didn't help that they were cold as could be.

I looked around the underground burrow, and felt blue. The defeated men, and their nearly rotted meals made for a sad sight, 'Even after so long I still cant stand waking up to this.' We soon fell into a line heading down a narrow pass that would only permit the entry of two men shoulder to shoulder. Dark-light lit the way, despite it's warm green hue, it still irritated the eyes of those who worked deeper in the mines. Luckily I was the exception, my eyes have long been shielded from those sorts of issues.

We moved through the tight tunnels with earned ease. As we approached the break in the tunnels that signified we approached the surface, the large man turned to us. By now, our line consisting of at least thirty. All were clad in nothing but rags — haggard, filthy, and hungry.

"Alright rats, today you'll enjoy a bit of light. If any of you get any funny thoughts, our boys have been lacking on live targets. Try to give us a bit of a challenge." His sadistic laugh shot down the deeps and irritated my ears. That word again, rats, it frustrated me beyond belief.

'One day I'll crush that throat of his, or so at least I dilute myself with such fantasies. I could never touch that tub of lard' Vileness crept into my heart as I imagined all the ways i'd relieve my stress.

A heavy metal door before us slowly opened, following heavy duty tracks. As the light spilled in, many covered their eyes. A select few, having not seen anything except lowlight for years, flinched and nearly clawed their eyes out from the shock of it all. The beautiful sun of Uriel reflected well off the snow, giving everything a sheen. Personally, the beauty was not lost on me. For the past two years, all I've seen is rocks, and the occasional gem deeper into the mines. The snow even brought on a sense of longing that I quickly shoved deep into my consciousness. There was no time to think about my cozy past.