if i die tomorrow - permanent hiatus

agony

     I had to admit that it was smart.

     The way they let me hope.

     The way they gave me a possibility.

     The way they led me to a destination, a real destination.

     And the way they tore it down.

     I woke up with my hands tied behind my back, the rough surface of a wooden pole pressed against my back. Panic took flight immediately and I struggled, the rough ropes chafing into my skin. 

     "He's awake." Whispers rippled around the entire room, fraught with tension, fear even, and for the barest moment the red haze veiling my eyes cleared and I got a good look at my surroundings.

     Immediately I knew where I was.

     And that I had messed up everything.

     I was staring into the rim of a bottomless void, the unnatural darkness creeping up the pinkish rocks from its infinite depths. All around me were men dressed in fabric the colour of fresh blood, sickles gleaming like moons plucked from the night sky. An ocean of pearly white masks, the inverted eye painted in crimson at its very center.

     Okay, calm down. I am not dead yet. I stand a chance. Barely.

     Where is Sadie?

     Where is my sword?

     Grab them both and get out!

     I took a few breaths, forced myself to stop struggling. I glowered at the Yiga clan members, who were glowering at me right back. 

     Suddenly I realized that I didn't know which day it was. 

     An attack of fear choked me out of nowhere, wrapped itself around my chest, throttling the breath right out of my lungs. 

     Just how long had I wasted? Calamity Ganon--

     "Everyone out." A female voice, drawling, rang over the frayed silence. The men all started, as though jerked back from a reverie, and every single one of them spared a dirty glare at me through their masks as they filed out meekly like schoolchildren after being told off.

     A few moments later, it was just me, and a single Yiga member standing in the middle of the lane winding across the perfect circle of darkness.

     Even without seeing her face, her hands weaponless, I knew immediately that she was dangerous. More powerful than all of those scuffled wannabes put together. Surety and gravity radiated out of her, rolled off her shoulders like waves.

     My mouth was suddenly dry. 

     "Welcome, Hero." Her steps echoed across the room as she walked closer, deliberately feminine, malice evident in every curve of her body. "I trust you had a restful sleep?"

     Mockery dripped off her tone. I kept my face neutral, carefully blank. 

     She was close enough that I could feel the stir of her breath against my hair. Slowly, almost gently, she took my chin in her gloved fingers.

     My mind went into hyperdrive. With two flicks of her fingers she could snap my neck. 

     The leather rubbed against my ice-cold skin. 

     "Answer me," She snarled, her honey-sweet voice suddenly hardening into something harsh, something sharp. "When I'm speaking to you."

     I didn't see the slap coming, and there was nowhere I could have dodged to anyway. I said nothing, did nothing, just kept as still as I could as my face burnt, pain and humiliation twining together.