A/N: Hey everyone, it's been a while since I've been back in the saddle. I hit a pay streak with my creative writing when I started this, and have just been along for the ride since. Looking for critiques and suggestions as the story develops.
Tried to smooth it out, but most of this was written between 1200-0230 hrs during a work week.
Prologue: It's always Darkest before Dawn
Dying would have been easier.
Instead, I found myself reliving a life I once had. Over and over. Their faces –distorted, tormented…monstrous. Iron dragons the breathed fire and smoke. The earth lurching beneath my feet into a lightless black pit. Every time I fell, I relived the impact. I felt acid and lightning course through my veins. Howling, screaming, their faces…nothing but an open gaping wound with gnashing teeth. It's almost always cold. There's a pounding in my skull, and I feel like I'm choking, I can't breath, no matter how hard I try to pull that awful something from my throat. Click. Click. Click. Click. It hurts, it's so damn loud it hurts!
Then there was that warmth. It's high pitched, but it's soft, like a chime. And it smells of sunshine. Sometimes, when it's the darkest, I hear that sound. It stabs me in the hand and drags me back, along with those horrid faces, muttering, chattering.
Stand by…
Stand by…
It never got easier. I wouldn't say I ever got used to it either. It was the same death gripping fear every time. On loop. On endless loop. Over and over. Each time, I tried to fight the monsters, but it never worked, it never stopped them. Then I ran, but they were around every turn. Then finally, I grew tired of running. I couldn't anymore. No matter what way I turned, everything bled into one another. There's blood on my hands, and I can't wipe it clean. I just want the nightmare to end. I have nothing else left to give. The tank's empty. I close my eyes, I feel like I'm falling again, backwards, down, but this time it's different. It feels finite.
I feel the sharp pain in my hand, and the lightning and acid burn through my veins. This is it. I can finally rest.
A/N: Yeah imagine some Jacob's Ladder shit there. It's not quite supposed to make sense. I do promise, things will pick up in the upcoming chapters. Also, I'm a bit peeved this format takes away double spacing after a "."