Anderson's eyes opened, to be greeted by nothing but an endless, black void. His senses peaked, the fine hairs on the back of his neck standing up as he immediately flew into high-alert.
But there was nothing to see, nothing to hear. Just oppressive darkness and the odd solid feeling under his feet. His head snapped down in shock as he noticed this, unsettled by the way this unearthly place had tricked his feet into thinking that there was ground where there was only more dark space. Looking down at the spinning pit of nothingness made his stomach twist and his brow begin to sweat, sick with the feeling of being so out-of-place in an unknown world whose very essence seemed to threaten to swallow him up at any moment.
Nostrils flaring with each deep breath he took his first cautious steps forward, his heart falling into his stomach every time his foot touched the not-ground, secretly terrified that he would fall into the abyss below. Yet he never did, so he continued on, drawn by his morbid curiosity into the never-ending dark.
It felt as if hours were passing with each second he spent there, an unknown weight beginning to fall upon his shoulders and push him down, the pressure increasing the farther he went on.
Yet he still walked forward.
His feet felt as if blocks of concrete were tethered to them, with another block being added each time his foot touched the false ground.
Yet he still walked forward.
The stale, unmoving air took on an acrid scent that assaulted his nose. It was so strong that he could taste the odd metal, salty tang on his tongue, and it built up like a pile on his taste buds the further he walked on.
Yet he still walked forward.
A strange feeling swelled within his breast, growing at an alarming rate and threatening his sense with the ferocity of a starving beast. Dread. An over-whelming sense of dread, mixed with the sharp pains now gnawing at his heart-strings. He felt sick, ill, his stomach churning with nausea and bile coming up into his throat as the dark seemed to close in, and he swore he heard a faint cry off in the distance.
He stopped moving forward, giving in to his senses screaming from the terror and, guilt?
Guilt?
Before he could begin to ponder the irrational feeling the mass beneath his feet began to churn and shake, forcing his feet to move or else be knocked over by its anger.
With a jolt he proceeded forward at the same pace as he before when another harsh wave rocked his footing, making him jog a few feet in his surprise. A horrendous tug yanked at his chest, making him cry out and turn around in his shock and the panic tightening his heart. He wanted to turn around and run, run as fast as his modified abilities would let him away from the terrifying thing this world wanted him to face.
A violent wave sent him crashing to the ground and another guttural cry resounded throughout the empty yet living space.
His breathing came is heavy, frantic crashes of air as he lay there, his hands digging into the unnatural earth with trembling fingers. Another far-off noise paralyzed his lungs in an instant. Something about it was so chillingly familiar, and yet strangely this only familiar thing was the exact thing he now wished with all his heart to avoid.
He didn't get up, laying on the ground with the faint light of hope in his heart that if he didn't get up, he wouldn't have to move. As the time passed, the blackness appeared to become quiet, and the world fell into silence once more. The fingers that had been digging into the solid void like talons loosened as Anderson let out a sigh of relief. He was lost in an unknown, irrational terror-inducing world, but at least for now he didn't have to move, didn't have to go towards those noises that made the guilt eat away at his insides and consume his sanity. Everything was okay, and he closed his eyes, hoping that when they opened he'd be back in bed, with arms wrapped tight about his bedmate as always.
The instant those fond images materialized in his weary mind a cruel, agonizing blow came to tear them away. In a seething rage the ground beneath him took great offense to his sedentary state and lashed out, impaling him with a thousand needles of its own substance.
Anderson screamed, his throat turning raw as he bellowed out to the unforgiving dark. Unnatural pain tore and ripped his skin and insides, feeling as if red-hot knives were being thrust into him a thousand times over and slicing away at his organs. Tears dripped down his face as he desperately tried to scramble up but this unknown force, this being wasn't satisfied. Another violent thrash and his spine aflame as if it was filled with molten metal, twisting Anderson back onto the ground in a screaming, wildly contorting mess. More tendrils thrust into his body and every single one of his nerves were filled with caustic venom, a strangled scream gurgling from his lips as every fiber of his consciousness was set ablaze in white-hot fire. His body fell into convulsions as wave after wave of escalating pain tore his very being asunder with cruel, systematic thoroughness, giving no aspect of him mercy. The pitch-black world turned searing white as the pain took away his vision, his eyes feeling as if they were about to burst within their sockets from the fire building within them. His ears felt as if they should be bleeding from the keening whine stabbing his eardrums and penetrating his brain.
Screams turned to incomprehensible gurgles when the last wave crashed through him, sending his back up in a contorted arch and then letting it fall to floor as it took away his strength, leaving him a lifeless, unmoving husk upon the ground.
The first breaths to come from his mouth were sobs, the indomitable man reduced to a crying, quivering mess desperately praying and pleading to God for an escape from this terrible place, even though he wasn't even sure this place was in His domain.
The noise in the distance started up again and the man broke down even further, the fresh, renewed wash of guilt sending tears cascading down his face as he sobbed shamelessly on the void.
"O God, Ah dinnae want tae, Ah dinnae want tae."
The "ground" shook in response, threatening another round, and the man leapt up as fast as he could muster. He cried out like a wounded animal as he stood back up, the fires in his nerves and the poison in his veins flaring up with the vengeful reminder to keep going.
Another vibration under his feet sent his running forward despite the way his bones felt like they were going to crack. The sounds became louder by the second as well as the man's pains. His shoulders burned from the invisible burden pressing down, down upon them, feeling as if he were Atlas with the earth on his back and somehow the world's mass was increasing.
Breathing became agonizingly hard as the pressure increased, crushing his ribcage and forcing him to pant like a breathless dog. Any sign of his desire to rest, any decrease in his steady speed was met with another, sharp reminding jolt of pain. He had to keep going forward.
He was forced on mercilessly for miles, his body becoming more battered and worn and no sight of rest in sight. His vision spun and spittle dripped from his mouth, too pain ridded to think of anything else but keep going. Even if he fell over from exhaustion, he knew he would be given no mercy, and he would be stuck in that chasm of agony forever.
The sounds, while still sending such painful dread through him that sobs would escape his breathless mouth whenever he heard them, were now a brand of twisted relief, becoming louder and signaling the eventual end of the seemingly endless death march.
A pang of terror and excitement ran through him. Was this the reasoning behind whatever force was controlling him? To drive him to a demise against an unknown being?
With each passing moment and burning step he could hear the frantic cries clearer, in all their heart-wrenching glory. It wasn't long before he could hear the rapid clicks of hurried heels rushing, towards him?
Anderson's eyes widened with the painful realization that he knew whose footsteps those were, and he knew who's terrified voice he was hearing. Suddenly the run didn't seem forced at all. Despite the pain and burdens he took off at a sprint towards that beloved voice, and opened his mouth to cry his name but-
No sound came out.
Panic flooded his veins as his feet were caught within the blackness, leaving him with neither mobility nor voice. His mouth open in a silent roar he bucked and heaved like an enraged bull against his bindings but the dark held fast, sending another wave of pain through the man to tame its catch.
Anderson's body convulsed from the shock but resisted, driven to a point of near frenzy by his pains, both the torture and the agonizing drive to find his wayward love.
His captor did not let up though, sending fire and lightening through Anderson like a cow prod to its cattle. Eventually, the repeated stress became too much for the man to handle and he fell still, shaking violently as hot tears fell from his eyes. The man's muscles had switched their loyalties and would not move, leaving him helpless to whatever cruel intentions this world had for him and his ward.
Enrico was screaming his name, over and over again with such tremendous fear and desperation in his voice at an intensity that singed Anderson's own heartstrings. When the familiar flash of blond came into view he was filled with both relief and dread.
"Anderson! Anderson! Anderson help me!"
Within him a storm was raging, the guilt flaring up again and gnashing away at his insides ravenously. White danced across his vision as his expression of fear and concern was forcefully changed against his will, the unknown force taking over his body and tearing at his muscles with its claws and ripping his face apart from the inside. If he were able to Anderson would have screamed his agonies to high heaven, yelled at his love between the assaults to leave, to run away from him, from whatever was controlling him.
Anderson could only lament internally and watch with an expression of cool disinterest as Enrico came closer. He could see the sweat pouring down the man's trembling brow and the way his eyes were wide with animalistic fear, staring mercilessly at Anderson with their desperate need reflecting off of them like sunlight.
His heart pounded in his chest as Enrico neared, only a few feet away and stretching his arm out toward him, ready to grab onto his protector and hide within his warmth. Time seemed to slow down as Anderson was forced to watch passively. Would he make it? Would he touch him? At that moment Anderson cared not what would happen if he were able to feel those slender fingers wrap into his cassock, Enrico was so close, and he yearned to give the man the comfort he so badly desired.
With an ear-piercing scream Anderson's hopes were shattered, dashed against the rocks like a boat caught in the clutches of a powerful storm. Pikes and lances of the void's own making had shot out of the ground and right into the man's defenseless flesh right in front of Anderson's eyes. His body tore into itself as Anderson was forced to watch as the heads of the blades made the screaming, thrashing man's chest and belly bulge from their intrusion, and then rip him open, bursting from his body and sending his blood and entrails splattering across Anderson's frozen body like a thick coat of paint.
Even though the tears could not run from his eyes Anderson cried, bellowing his pain in his mind as he screamed for his lover and cursed his bindings and this horrid world. His muscles were on fire from his pent up frenzy and his stomach churned like a whirlpool from the sickly scent of Enrico's blood layered upon him.
Enrico fell to his knees, gurgling and crying with hands still so desperately reaching for his only savior.
"Ander, Anderson! Guhh! Help me!" He was sobbing now, trying to crawl away from the blades embedded deep in his insides. "Why aren't you helping me?" A burst of blood gushed from his mouth as more blades thrust into him, leaving his stomach an open, torn bloody mess and his organs pouring out upon the floor. Yet he still tried to get to his shelter, his only love and guardian, who was standing so close to him.
"An, cough, Alex, Alex please, don't leave me, please." The man's blood formed an expanding pool of red at Anderson's feet, the man's life force pouring out of him from the wide holes torn in his chest and stomach. Crying, the blades digging backwards into his flesh and pulling his insides into his back, Enrico still managed with a shaking hand to grab a hold of Anderson's foot, choking with relief the second he touched the heavy boot. His eyes glimmering with a renewed sense of hope he looked up at his knight pleadingly. "Alex? Alex I need you. Please."
The gurgling, keening howl that Enrico emitted as the blades pulled him back would have made Anderson be sick if he was able to. For now the bile built up in his throat as he watched Enrico claw at the ground and wail for Anderson, still trying to get near him even though his the whole of his stomach had pulled out through his back, his glistening insides draping from the blades as they retracted from him. Only the pike in his chest remained, pinning him to the ground as he began to shake and vomit up an endless stream of blood. His pleas and cries only came out as wet, bloody gurgles as still he struggled for his guardian's love and comfort.
None came, and he was left to slump upon the floor as his body began to go in shock, seizing and contorting in his body's last dying throes only a few feet from Anderson's eyes.
Anderson's world felt like it was falling, disappearing into the nothingness surrounding him as he stared into the eyes still looking at him with such heartbreaking need even in the man's final moments. All of his thoughts and feelings were sapped away, devoured by the void with each slowing jerk and twitch of his lover's body, until the dying man stilled, and Anderson was drained dry.
Enrico was dead, dead right in front of him and he did nothing.
The feeling and control returned to his limbs as the darkness fell back, retreating from the man and leaving him his own self again, but taking what it had come for. The scream that had been trying to come from Anderson's lungs the whole time never showed, the man's tongue now silent of it's own accord for there was no emotion left to scream.
Anderson's knees splashed in the deep pool of blood as he sank down listlessly by Enrico's body. It was contorted, hideously ripped open and strewn about the ground like it had been torn apart by dogs. Guts and viscera hung out of the man like morbid streamers, glimmering in the light as bodily fluids gushed from them. His hair, soaked in his body's own juices, was stained red and stuck to the man's face like plaster, covering the blood-covered face for the most part, except for the eyes.
The green eyes were dull and glassy, but wide-open, still staring right into Anderson with their silent pleas even after all the life had drained from them.
Even in death Enrico begged for his teacher's mercy, and Anderson had failed to give it to him.
