I thought death would be painless, at least.
My fingers brush against the bars. I can’t see them, but I know they’re there.
I’m so cold.
And it’s soquiet. So quiet that it feels… heavy. Almost a sound in itself.
I can feel something, though. Something else. Something that doesn’t belong to me, but… isme. It’s angry. I try to reach for it, try to touch it. But the bars won’t let me.
And the pain in my chest doesn’t go away. It grows, a sharp ache with every beat of my heart.
Why is my heart still beating if I’m dead?
***
My cheek presses against the floor.
I can feel that. I can feel the bars.
I curl up, trying to stay warm.
When the noise comes, it makes my ears hurt. My hands creep over my ears, trying to block it out.
The silence was easier. This noise burrows through, pushing at the bars. And the ache in my chest flares, so strong that it feels like someone is yanking on a rope. Pulling me.
Fear fills the air around me. My fear. Heavy, and cloying, and suffocating.No.
My fingers scrabble against the floor. Holding onto it.
No.
I can’t go back.
Back…
Confusion. I don’t know. I don’t—
That noise creeps through again, filling my ears. Louder, this time. It burrows into my ears, not letting go.
Words. So many words. I try to separate them, but it’s hard.
Kenny.
I know that word. Cautiously, I reach out—
But it’s gone. And the absence feels so much worse this time that I wish I’d never heard the sound at all.
Leave me alone.
Just leave me alone.
***
The tugging does not stop. A gentle, insistent nudge that won’t leave me be.
And there is… softness. I can’t see anything. Only that endless darkness.
But I canfeelit. It’s warm, and I push myself closer, against those bars.
