To Sing the Tortured to Sleep

Prologue

Author's Note: Shout out to one of my best friends, Dancingdodo27. He's been there for me through everything, and I owe him so much. You guys should seriously check out his work, because he's a brilliant writer <3

“She would grab whatever she could -a look, a whisper, a moan - to salvage from perishing, to preserve. But time is most unforgiving of fires, and she couldn't, in the end, save it all.”

--- Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

In that moment, I felt nothing but fear. I was in a strange place, cornered like prey.  They were surrounding me, far enough away that I couldn't see them, but I could hear them. They were in the trees, watching me and assessing my actions. I was in a forest, of that much I was certain. There wasn’t a ray of light that shined through the abundance of leaves, whose occasional shudder was my only sign that the creatures were there. There was no combination of actions I could take to save myself from them now.

I was doomed, it seemed. If I was going to go down, I would go down with a fight. Without haste, the dark creatures descended upon me. As close as they came, I could see nothing but a shadow of their figure, as if they were wearing cloaks to mask their identity. The unsteady manner in which they walked lulled me into a false sense of security. I could outrun them without difficulty, or so I thought.

A chill ran down my spine as I realized it was too late to run. I’d underestimated their size, and now they were moving in on me. Their freezing claws were scratching, clawing, and ripping at my clothing. The nightgown I wore was left in tatters, cuts and lacerations decorating my skin. I tried my hardest to fight the creatures, overpowered by their sheer power. As I was beaten to the ground, I looked for any sort of hole in their line of attack that would provide for a decent escape. As I looked, I felt a sharp sting towards the front of my forehead, my hand pressing to it on instinct. When I removed my hand, I saw the blood and my vision blurred.

When I had fallen to the ground the creatures retreated, back into the woods they'd come from. I curled into the thick marsh beneath me, unable to rip myself from it. The smell of blood made me dizzy. As the musky scent of mud invaded my nostrils, I kept my eyes closed and let the thick black devour me. My consciousness faded, and I felt a strange presence beside me.

I could feel myself being lifted, and as much as I wanted to struggle, there was a part of my being that gave into the darkness that clouded my mind. It was serene, unlike anything I had experienced. I couldn't even feel the pain of my wounds.

I couldn't feel anything.