The Well

Suffocating...

In a vast expanse of thick twisting darkness, Cyphers body floated limp. Their was no effort, no struggle, or even an attempt to breath in the endless sea that enveloped him. It was weightless yet heavy, pressing down on him with the force of nothing and existence itself sending his mind reeling in disarray.

He was sinking deeper and deeper with each moment.

Thousands of whispers flooded his mind with thoughts, some distant, some all too real in their proximity. He listened, no, tried to understand their words as if they were the last things that would ever reach his ears...

"Aleck!" A women's voice called out with no source to be found ,"Look at what you did to that boy! Your teachers said he's in critical condition!"

A man's voice followed with equal aggression, "You've got the devil in your heart boy! That man has filled your head with blasphemy again hasn't he!"

Endless upon endless their insults of disgust and mockery rained down on him.

"Pray to the Lord so that he may rid you of the demons inside your body!" The women's voice, ferocious and unwavering ordered with the accompanying of heavy whip like impacts in the background.

Finally, their was a child's voice. In that voice their lay a pain that stung the very soul with their desperate mutterings and cries. And yet, even then, the boy still followed the women's order,

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes!"

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes...

They faded soon after, leaving Cypher alone again. Beneath the metal and leather of his mask, he simply looked up into the darkness him. In the dim light of his irises one could only see confusion, fear and uncertainty.

Where am I? Did I die? Is this hell?

Three questions, none of them answered.

Time felt strange here, distorted even. He felt he had been floating for years, days and seconds all at once. It didn't matter, he made no efforts to escape - not because he didn't want to but because he couldn't. The dagger still sent a cold burn through his system, amplified over the warped time to make for a constant pain he couldn't even react too, his body to weak to pull it out.

With tremendous effort, heade one final, desperate attempt to reach out for his life. Burning muscles worked to lift his arm, outstretching his hand into the void to grab onto something or anything that could save him.

Strange was this place that his arm stretched to an impossible length. Space didn't work here, more like and afterthought thrown in hastily by some cruel god to torment him.

With his outstretched arm grasping nothing, darkness soon enchoached on him greedily. The thick void threatened to swallow him whole many times over, mercilessly stealing his life.

"No..." His weak voice called out, reaching further.

And then their it was, a feeling or a touch. Something held his hand in a vice like grip, crushing his hand bones with their strength.

With this vice like grip, whatever held him pulled him up? Or was it down?

The darkness loosened it's grip, letting him fly through the thick liquid tar without resistance.

Like a tide, the enveloping black void broke like a membrane as he surged through its surface and finally broke through.

His broken body landed on a soft, strange and sharp floor.

For a moment, he lay still and quiet. Relief flooded through his system before the sharp pain in his chest jolted him out of his silent state, bringing him back to reality.

"Cough!" Black tar erupted from stinging lungs and, as he tore off his mask, it erupted onto a crimson red grass like foliage covering the ground.

A putrid scent only made him vomit more, the disgusting order of rotting and decaying flesh launching a constant assault on his nose.

Beside him, a man partly covered in black liquid paced back and forth frantically. He desperately covered his ears, muttering and shivering.

Cypher emptied out the contents of his stomach and promptly onto his back. His blurry vision darkened, a sign that his life was soon coming to an end. His shivering, trembling body weakened further, losing strength as his brain lost oxygen.

The man panicked and swiftly, no, desperately knelt down Infront of him.

"No,no," A hand pressed hard against Cypher's chest, "You can't die! You have to take us back!"

"Take us back take us back take us back..."The man grabbed the hilt of Cyphers blade and, without any hesitation, pulled it cleanly out of his body. The wound left a long profusely bleeding cut near his heart, speeding up his encroaching end.

While the man was trying to save Cypher's life, the boy simply listened. It was all he could do.

Black tar dribbled from the corners of his mouth, mixing with red blood from the internal bleeding.

On the edge of consciousness, Cyphers heartbeat slowed and his body grew cold.

Even then, through his failing body, he heard thing's that no man should ever have to listen too.

He headed voices - not words but something close - a thousand whispers layered ontop of eachother, crawling into his ears. A laugh of insanity so reprehensible even the thought of what's behind it made him shiver. Prayers of crowds in reverse like a perverse parade of worship. Wet, unholy, and gross wet slithering in the ground beneath him. Music played by every instrument yet none Cypher had ever heard played a distorted tune of broken symphony in his mind like an unwelcome parasite.

His thoughts slowed until a hand pressed against his chest. A warm, pleasant sensation enveloped the area he had been stabbed and instantly wiped away the pain and yet, it was trivial compared to the cacophony ongoing in their sorroundings.

Even so, the wound still stitched back together.

His skin moved like strings to stitch his body back together, working with impossible speeds to save his life. Inside his body, the healing hand burned the black tar from his lungs and mended his heart. Slowly but surely, a white scar tissue stretched roughly across his flesh.

"You have to take us back! Please, I can't take another moment of this hell." The man grabbed Cyphers clothes and pulled him up slightly, intensely watching him as he regained his bearings.

"E-Elie?"The boy weakly stuttered, slowly opening his eyes.

Only when he saw Elie's face did he realise thean Infront of him seemed different. Black bags lay deep under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days and marred his once beautiful face with the streets of an old man. His brown curly hair was ragged and disheveled, lacking the refined look he wore previously.

Elie's ears had small trails of blood running down his face, curving around his jawline and reaching his neck.

"I...I have waited for hours, waiting for you to come out while those things keep...no,it doesn't matter now! You can take us back right!?"