Pure of Mind and Sharp of Knife (Male Reader x Female Creepypasta)

Hymn of the Black Rose

Death.

The one singular coordinate which every living being's path will cross at one point or another. Whether it's sooner or later, violently or peacefully, alone or together, all of us must die. We don't know when our fated End will come. We don't know how it will happen, either. Death, and everything after, is not meant to be known by mortals. There is only one certainty:

It will come.

You cannot run from it nor can you cheat it because it only reveals its hand at the very end.

I'm not greeted by nothingness. A foreign but bright world blisters my eyes. A peerless, blue sky stretches across my vision and, just above me, are the stalwart branches of a great dogwood tree. Its leaves are as white as the clouds, pure and untouched by industrialization. Through the branches and leaves peeks the Sun. There's two of them. Where am I?

I prop up my body with my elbows but soon regret it. I fall back into my bed of soft, golden flowers. Their petals tickle my ears and comfort my throbbing body. I wait for the pain in my chest to stop flaring before turning my head to the left. Jane lays upon another bed of flowers. Her arm is back, stitched on like one of Ann's. Her head is bandaged, and I can see her chest rising and falling. She's alive.

I swallow the blood dripping into the back of my throat as my eyes drift to her reattached arm. With all my miserable strength, I reach up to my face. My fingers drift from my broken nose to my throat which is lined with stitches. I feel to see if they extend to the nape of my neck but whimper when my ribs are disturbed.

"Slen... da," I wheeze, still unable to breathe properly, my nose utterly clogged, and my throat not yet healed.

I close my eyes when she doesn't come. Then, a hand rests on my head. Opening my eyes again, I can see the silhouette of my tall guardian leaning over me. She says something to me, but I fall back asleep before I can respond.

My eyes open again. This time, it's to the light of a starry sky. Lustrous starlight flows across the sky like an astral river. Dots of blue, red, and white form its serene waves. With my naked eye, I behold a planet rising just above the horizon, a ring of asteroids encircling its dark blue surface.

A fresh breeze washes over me, giving my body much needed relief. I float inside of a clear, delicate pond, the stars reflecting off its surface like a galactic blanket. I'm submerged up to my neck and my head rests on a pillow of puffy moss. What are my wounds anyway? Broken ribs, broken nose, a real pain in the back of my fucking neck, and trouble breathing. Where's Ann when I need her?

Drops of blood slip down the back of my throat, and I cough. Immediately, my ribs are set afire, and I cry out only for the agony to worsen. Laying there, I squeeze my eyes closed, wishing for it to end as I drown in the worst pain I've ever felt. A hand touches my head again, and I pass out.

Muffled voices converse nearby. With open eyes, I tilt my head in its direction, seeing Ann and Slenda leaning over somebody. Tobi's legs lay beside Slenda.

"Be quick when I do this. I do not want her to wake up to the pain of it," Ann says, leaning down over her.

"I am more than ready. Quick now, we have to get to Benny again," Slenda moves closer to Tobi.

Ann stands up and plants her feet on either side of Tobi, "One, two, three."

She yanks on something, and Tobi's legs jerk and twitch from whatever she does. Ann stands back, pushing out a sharp exhale as she holds one of Tobi's hatchets in her hands.

Ann's in terrible shape: fresh stitches replace her old ones and there are newer ones in some parts of her body. Her hair has been cut at her neck, indicating that she was decapitated too. I touch my throat and feel the stitches again.