BITTERSWEET SLUMBER

Evil Always Prevails

I always knew sinister creatures lurked in the dark.

I watched them find comfort in the forsaken corners of our minds – ever flourishing, never relinquishing. I could see the immortality in their obsidian eyes; the raw invincibility and sheer arrogance.

Yet I never once realized just how doomed I'd been from the very start.

Barren walls surrounded me as I tensely paced the floors of my small, inadequate room. I had been a prisoner there for 578 days; stuck in an endless loop of silly charades and consuming despair.

The voices always told me this would happen.

They told me these monsters would find a way to capture me and exploit me for their own wicked curiosity. They told me I would become their own personal little test subject until I could no longer open my eyes and keep moving.

I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy. I'm not crazy.

This time I could hear them before I saw them. They were right outside my room; wandering around the quiet halls; testing me, scaring me, threatening me.

My door unlocked and I froze dead in my tracks. Anxiety was crawling at me from within; moving restlessly under my paling skin. Fear was paralyzing me.

One of them was subtly gazing at me as they entered the room. I couldn't look at them.

With hands tucked loosely inside of their white jacket pockets, they took a careless sweep around the room like they had done a hundred times before. Although it felt different this time. It felt final. I couldn't understand why.

The tension was suffocating. I wanted to get up and run and never look back.

"Evenin', Daisy. It's time for your injections."

No, no, no... NO.

"Get away from me!" I pleaded, but unfortunately to no avail.

"You know we can't do that, honey. Just relax and it'll be over before you know it."

They approached me and grabbed ahold of my flailing arms firmly before I had the chance to take another step back. "Don't fucking touch me!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, but of course they wouldn't listen. They never did. Instead they restrained me to my bed like they did every night.

They always told me they were harmless, but I knew the truth. I knew they only injected me with antipsychotics to make me drowsy enough to operate on me and put secret trackers inside my bones. That's why I never wanted to fall asleep. They wouldn't be able to do anything if I stayed clearheaded, the voices told me. They were nice and trustworthy.

They never lied to me.

In the end I always ended up on the losing side despite my efforts; asleep and lost inside the depths of my own head.

And I knew the experiments would never stop.

"We aren't trying to harm you, Daisy. This is so you'll be able to sleep soundly tonight. It's for your own good. You know this. Please be still or this might hurt."

But I wouldn't hold still. I knew why they were here after all. I was wailing and screaming and shaking like some wild animal, and I couldn't stop. I wouldn't let them have me at their mercy without a fight.

Dread washed over me as one needle finally pierced my skin. My mind was on fire. My body was surrendering. My will was evaporating.

I heard them murmur among themselves as I struggled not to drift out of consciousness.

"I hate this goddamn place—"

"Division says we have enough subjects—"

"We just received word to initiate Stage Six—"

"They expect us to be back at headquarters by noon."

Darkness soon enveloped all of me; rendering me, once again, completely helpless in front of them. This time for the very last time.

I always knew sinister creatures lurked in the dark – I just never understood their purpose or agenda.

They were fundamental. Our remains. They were the small obscurities of our fading consciousness and the fleeting shadows of our vast oblivion. They were the end result of humanity's incessant pride and glorious ignorance.

And so every day, evil prevailed.

(Written on 18th of September, 2019)