'Long Lost'

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. My heart starts to race again, synchronized to the rhythm of the boots. Sweat beads poured down my face and into my eyes. I'm scared. I start to feel lightheaded. The sound came back to surface. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom—silence—the boots came to a halt and everything went dark.

There was nothing that surrounded me but the black emptiness. At this moment, this exact moment, I was thinking I was about to die. This is my last moment at life, in some nasty, dark, and disgusting tunnel. I feel no wall anymore. I cannot feel nothing at all. It was like I was stuck, and my body is on standby. Not even seconds went by before I heard a faint noise of a leather coat moving in distress, almost as similar to a flag waving recklessly in the wind. Then it stops. Again, nothing but silence until a fainted steady beeping sound arises. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. I start to panic. Like before, I had no idea where this beeping noise was coming from.

The beeping accelerated my unnerved senses to where I could not differentiate the beeping from my own frantic heartbeat. And then there was light—I see a light. It was more of a distant, bleached glow, almost as if a bright phosphorescent light was shining through a misty town. Without a doubt I rush to that light at the end of the tunnel—how ironic… this must be my death wish. Right after my first move to run toward the light at the end of the tunnel, I heard the boots start up again, this time much closer and—chasing me? I pick up more speed and I could not believe how long this “hallway” or should I say 100-yard football field is. It felt like I was on a treadmill going nowhere but out of breath. I was really trying to get out of there. Just like in horror movies they always say to never look back, well I did, and as I did, there was nothing behind me and just in that millisecond of me taking my strength to turn my head 60 degrees while I was running an endless football field—the boots stopped, but that did not stop me. I was almost to the end of the tunnel and into the light. Then again the boots, same as before, same vibration, and same sound. Boom. Boom. Boom.

It took guts to look back again, and just my luck, I saw the man in the black leather coat. He was running faster and faster—how?—and his trademark coat flares behind him like a cape. My heart raced heavily like many hooves in a stampede. I get to the end of the hallway and the entrance of the tunnel. As I was about to step in, something grabs my hand or… someone—well obviously someone—and to my suspected guess, it was the man in the black leather coat. He pleaded my name, I froze and everything came to a complete stop. The way my name came splashing out of his mouth affrighted me,

“Don’t go,” he said. His voice sounded frighteningly familiar. I did not and I mean. Did. Not. Have time to make conversation with this man. I had to leave, part ways, dash, flee, fly, go, whatever it is called, I just had to get out there, the quicker the better. He stared at me, and yet I could not make out any features of this man like before. Even this close, just a very dark and shadowed face—strange. I guess he was waiting for me to say something, but I am flushed and I stare back in complete shock heaving in hollow breaths.

“Hunter,” he pleads “Don’t go.” I was not taking any part in his silly games, first of all he hunted me down like an escaped crazy chicken, and second of all I was trying to get the heck out of there. I tried to restrict out of his hold, but his grip only got tighter, “No, you must not go back. Stay, it is not safe out there with the kind of power you have. Stay with me. Your father...” Those toxic words had hit me like paintball pellets straight to the gut… shirtless.

“Father?” I repeated back, and then I continued, “You’re not my father. My father is…” and even before I could finish he gave me a devilish grin. He tried to yank me back out of the tunnel. On that note, every feeling was reborn.

Everything was so overwhelming—my heart raced, sweat poured, and the fear took over. I managed to break his hold, and not a second thought crossed my mind but to run, so I ran. I ran down the tunnel until I reached a dead end. How is this even allowed? It took me all that running and fear and near death to end up in a blindingly bright tunnel with no ending, no exit, no nothing. Here I was trapped, with the itching feeling of the man coming right for me, with no way out. Until I heard the beeping sound again. What a coincidence, but at the same time perfect timing. Maybe there was a way out. Somewhere, somehow. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. And just like that I was gone. Did not know how and definitely did not know where.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. I hear the beeping, a hushed sound of many voices, and talking people amongst themselves. The smell of cleanliness gives me a chill of relief. Just the smell accompanied that I was somewhere good and perhaps—safe. Did this mean I was dead? Was I in The Place? I could also hear crying, a familiar cry that reminded me of my mom’s, well my, so called “Mom.” I wanted to see her. I needed to see her. Even after all that I found out about my parents, there was still that space in my heart which was grown from their love and our family. The only thing keeping me from what I wanted to believe who was my mom were my eyes not wanting to open. I tried and I tried and I tried, but they would not budge. I finally came to terms with the fact that I was dead. I was a goner. Last breath was taken after being trapped in an oddly bright tunnel playing cat and mouse with some strange man in a black leather coat. Me overthinking with myself or just in general because at this point I didn't even know if I even had a “self” anymore, I just start to panic. I could feel a beating pulse and my—heart! I was not dead! I was alive! It was such a relief but the excitement was still terminated by the panic due to me not being able to open my eyes. They must have been burned alive from the overbearing brightness of that tunnel. Well, guess I better start learning braille, the sooner the better. I was still scared and still worried, braille is too hard to learn, too scary, way too...