Dead But Breathing

 

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Chapter 1: The Hunt

I’m running as fast as my legs can carry me,

Distances as far as my knees will hold,

For as long as the people keep hunting me.
 

 

The Forbidden Area, a wasteland covered in mud and moss, my sanctuary.

My long and damaged hair is covering my eyes. Still I can manage to see the steel bars and fences that are supposed to keep people from getting to The Forbidden Area. Yet nothing stops me. I’m invincible. But then why am I running? I stop for a brief second, just to think about it. But in practically no time at all I get brutally interrupted by screams filling the air, screams of despise and venom.

“There she is! It’s the devil herself!” My heart skips a beat, and again, I’m on the run from the people that once loved me.
   I take a leap up to the fence and grab the rusty steel bar at the top. As I attempt to pull myself up, I spot blood on my hands and almost faint. But there is really no time to care about the scars I’m getting from the wires twirled around the bar. Nor can I faint in a time like this. That would lead to getting captured by the people. And God knows what an angry mob like that can do to me. Actually, I know.
They want to torture me, kill me. My own family wants me dead.

Quicksand or rather, 'Demon Sand', is covering the ground. Whenever someone puts their feet on it, they get sucked into the sand and suffocate. There is an old tale saying that the creatures managing to get out of the mud are demons. So is the case for me. But I’m no demon, for what I know.
   My feet hit the ground and I sprint across the sand without trouble. I stumble upon the roots of a dead tree and hit the ground face-first. Lifting my head up, I glance back at the people. Still they look furious. They all got tense facial expressions and it feels like their eyes could cut through steel.

“Hold my torch.” says a man while handing his light over to a woman. She is looking at him, worried. The man spits a gob and begins running towards the fence. He takes a leap, not leaving me out of his sight. I feel my heart pound faster and I get up from the ground in case I’d have to make a quick escape. But I won't. 
   As soon as the man lands on the sand, he gets stuck in it and starts to sink. People are terrified, one of their own is stuck in what will be his doom. And they can’t do anything.
   He yells curses at me, tells me that I shall pay for what I’ve done. Little did he know, that I was already cursed.

I walk away slowly, looking back at the people. Their grief is major. They came to kill, but ended up losing a loved one. Such irony.
   After running and walking such a distance, I need to rest. So I throw myself on a spot I thought looked pretty comfortable. Instead I land hard. But the sharp physical pain in my back isn't what causes my misery.
   I cry and scream to a higher power, The Creator. He who had started everything, Earth and life. “Why have you done this to me? Why did you curse me to wander soulless upon these lands of Hell? What did I do to deserve this?”

As out of nothing, I get struck by lightning and everything fades.

 

 

 

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Chapter 2: The Flood

If soulless people are emotionless, then why am I crying?

If soulless people don’t feel pain, then why does it feel like my heart is getting ripped apart?

If soulless people are dangerous, then why is the crowd chasing Me?
 

 

The next thing I know, I’m waking up to see birds and other animals. Thousands of them, all running in the same direction. I think about it for a minute and wonder why. But when it comes to it, I don’t really care.
   My stomach utters a huge groan and I feel a slight sickness approaching. I start wandering away to find something edible. But finding food in a wasteland isn’t easy, so I sneak back into the city, unnoticed by everyone.

In a place like this, shadows are what will keep me safe. Taking it block by block, I reach the market. The square is crowded with people and I attempt to blend in by ripping a strip of fabric from my long skirt, using it to cover my face. It’s dirty, but it’ll do.
   I make my way to a stand where they sell bread. While picking out the largest and finest bread with my mind, I feel my left hand reach for it. I just can’t resist, the hunger is taking over.

“That'd be 2 pounds ma’am.” says a polite voice. I look up from the bread to face a bearded man holding out his hand, waiting for me to pay. I’m standing there startled, trying to figure out whether I should run or simply put back the bread.
   Someone bumps into me and I drop both the bread and my mask. I bend down to pick the things up and the man offers me help. He’s on his knees and hands me the loaf of bread. But then he sees.
   My face is no longer covered by fabric and he now knows it’s me, the soulless witch living at an area where no human can go.

Frozen in his motion, his widen eyes are looking right into mine. Then they’re not.
He looks at something behind me and goes from being shocked to terrified. I see his lips forming words, but I can’t hear them over the terribly loud screams. Wait what? Screams?
   The man quickly gets up from the ground and starts to run for his life. So does everyone else. A crowd of at least a hundred people are running away from something that isn’t me.
   I turn around and see water, flowing in an abnormal haste. People try to get away, but there is really no chance of outrunning it.
The water is like a tsunami, fast and strong. It takes down everything it hits, nothing can stop it. Buildings are getting completely shattered and I can just imagine what the people are and will be.
    My instincts are telling me to run, but I stay put. For I know this is the end.

But it isn’t the end, at least not for me. I’m standing here, in the middle of the square, just waiting for my final moment. But it is not coming. The water does, but it sweeps right past me. It destroys everything, kills everyone - But leaves me. It’s like I’m in some indestructible bubble.

The flood is sweeping away the people I once knew and I try to reach out to them, but for no use. Dirt and blood, covering bodies and faces. I cry and pray. The creator did this to me, he wanted to make me suffer.
  I’ll have to live with the pain of having watched people, my loved ones, die a horrible death. Without the ability to do anything, I sink down in hopelessness and wish I too could join them.
Then I think of something.

I’m just as dead as the others, just still breathing...

 

 

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