Green Decay

There’s this place no one knows about. A place that no one will ever comprehend; but dear God help them if they ever do. Where the line between light and dark, right, and wrong, good, and evil blurs into grey; where chaos reigns.

The ending of mankind echoes into the decaying walls, scratching like starving rats. Voices overlapping in disorder, where destruction rules. Where harmony does not exist, only the unalloyed intensity of insanity.

A soft touch of silence.

The tear of violence in the dark.

A musk of rot.

The heart is beating the wrong way.

Where you face your greatest fear.

Yourself.

Your mind is the playground of discord. Flashing images of annihilation and self-destruction project themselves like a silent horror movie. The rats of mental distortion gnaw away at your psyche. Leaking psychosis, flooding the chambers with the crimson hell that plagues you with every waking moment. Infecting you.

Being aroused by the unrelenting chaos and burning pain; you feel powerful. In the deep abyss of your mind, it screams for release. Bearing down, bearing down on your fragile body; the weight starts closing in on you.

The walls crumble away like nothing, the infection is released.

Spreading.

Crawling.

Scratching

Chewing.

Gnawing.

Ripping.

Tearing.

Devouring you whole.

Engulfing you; the vibrant colors spray upon your mind, the crimson on your hands is your own. You are tired, you are worthless, you are insignificant, you are nothing.

You must end it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

End it.

END IT.

Death lingers, you want nothing but destruction, everything hurts. Everything itches. SCRATCH IT. SCRATCH IT. SCRATCH IT TILL IT BLEEDS. SCRATCH AWAY TILL THERE’S NOTHING LEFT. PEEL AWAY AT THE ROTTING FLESH. EAT IT. EAT IT. EAT IT.

Seeing blood pour from your body fills you with pure maddening ecstasy. Screaming with euphoria.

No one will understand you but yourself and yet you don’t understand anything at all.

This place is frightening when you are alone.

It is always there, like a starving, rabid animal.

The confusion lies in all your words, mad is the soul. Barricading yourself in the void of your crescendo. Deceiving yourself of comfort and healing, the infinite fall of innocence is left behind to rot with your memories.

The plan is overthrown, the red dawn of a new age rises amongst the war-scarred land like flames swallowing up the earth.

Everything is said and done, the weight of the air is torture.

You don’t know who you are anymore.

Where are you?

Who are you?

What are you?

Ashka’s eyes slowly blinked open, only seeing darkness. “Where…where am I? Logi? Bjorn? Ambrosia?”, she asked the void but only echoes filled her ears. She began to walk but couldn’t feel her feet causing her to tumble from disorientation. Then the echoes began to get louder and louder till it was nothing but screams. Cowering she covered her ears and started to scream for it to stop. Then silence filled the air, numbness began to overtake her body. “Someone...help me.”, she cried. “Where are you?”, a voice from the void asked. “Where…I don’t know.”, she whimpered out. “Who are you?”, another voice hissed out at her in a nasty tone. “I’m…I’m…I don’t know!”, she began to cry as her tears felt as if they were starting to freeze on her face.

“So cold.”

“Let the numbness take over.”

“Slip away.”

“Slip away.”

“Become nothing.”

“Don’t trust no one.”

“I’m right behind you.”

Fear swallowed her up as she heard the last voice, it sounded familiar…too familiar. “No. You’re dead, I killed you! You son of a bitch!”, she suddenly screamed out as she turned around and a looming shadow enveloped in a yellow light was standing right behind her. She scrambled away tried to get further and further away, but to no avail, at every corner, she was surrounded like a rabbit being hunted by a pack of dogs.

“You can’t run from your past little pest.”, the shadow hissed at her. Ashka fell to the ground frozen in fear. Suddenly she felt an insufferable pain tear into her body, into her soul. “I’ll remind you that the phantoms of your past will always be there reminding you of how cheap your life is. How I will remind you of what you did to your family!”, the dark shadow screamed at her as she screamed in pain.

“You…none of you were family! All of you used me and killed my baby brother with no remorse!”, she cried out. “You killed him! You did this to him! It’s your fault you little bitch!!”, the shadow screamed out and lifted his hand to hit her. Ashka coward in muscle memory and felt a searing pain envelope her back. “You are nothing but a tool for your own demise. An object of worthlessness, something to bend to anyone’s will! Could you not remember any of your sins?”, the shadow continued to violate her thoughts.

“You’re slipping slowly away into the abyss and there is no one to give you a hand. And at the bottom, I am the only one waiting for you. Understand that no one, not even this troll boy would give you the time of day! You are used up! Broken like how we broke your brat of a brother to pieces! Let me show you how you let him die again!”, the shadow cried out in deranged laughter. Ashka cried out as images of a broken body of a baby flashed in her mind, repeatedly. Blood splattering everywhere. Crimson raping her mind.

Ashka laid there, her eyes red and glazed over as if she’s been dead for days.

“Stop.”

“Please.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop.”

“Please.”

“I’m sorry.”

She kept mumbling those words until the shadow vanished, then a bright burning green light flashed upon her fisheyes. Overwhelming the darkness it asked her a question, “Have you ever tried to hold on to your humanity?” Ashka didn’t respond. “When they told you that you are a monster, a demon that deserved punishment?” Still no response. The deep green glow got bright but smaller, then warped into a glowing green orb as it went up to her jaded face. It gave off a cold feeling but didn’t faze her one bit as it gave her slight frostbite on her cheek.

“When they took away your loved ones leaving you to rot in the dark? I have chosen you. You are remarkable. Just like me, you have an icy heart. But you are losing your mind, my sweet child.”, the voice whispered in a sinister tone. “You know, in the beginning, I just wanted what I believed was right. And I believe in you. I am giving you a chance, a compensation for the evil that was brought upon you.”, the orb said now sounding female. Ashka sat up slightly, “Who are you?” The orb giggled, “A family friend.” The orb began to release a cackle as Ashka’s body begin to float, “What’s happening?! Where am I?!”, she screamed rather hoarsely. “Home. The primordial void.”, it said as it came at her full force and vanished in a plume of smoke.

Smelling like frostbite and death. Suddenly the void began to open, pouring in sizzling molten rock and an avalanche of snow. Releasing a wall of steam blinding her with light and heat.

“Ashka!”, a voice called out in distraught. She could barely hear it over the sound of sizzling and hissing. “Ashka! Wake up!”, it kept getting louder and louder. “Wait…is that…Logi? Logi!”, she recognized the sound of his voice. It filled her with sudden warmth as she began to feel her legs and arms again. She started running towards his voice, but not sure where or how she was running as she was still floating in black ink. “LOGI!”, she cried out feeling suddenly emotionally attached to his voice. “ASHKA!”, he shouted. Not realizing that a wall of molten rock was coming down on her from above. Looking up she screamed out in fear, then awoke on an orange crystal table.

Her face soaked in tears she looked around and notice Logi laying his head on the table next to her head asleep. Suddenly feeling a warmth covering her body, it was blankets of all kinds. Thick, fluffy, quilted, and a pillow beneath her head. Then a heavy feeling on her hand, it was Logi’s. She smiled at his kind gesture, but then realized how close he was. “Please, don’t get too attached.”, she squeezed out from her lips.