I LOVE YOU SO
Chapter Twenty-six
❛ Depths of deathly hell. ❜
cw: blood
LIFE IS ALMOST like water. The consistency is so silky that it slips through your hands immediately after grasping on to it. When you're on the verge of death, it's in your human nature to desperately seize on to life, but often, it starts to slip away- like water.
"She's loosing a lot of blood," indistinct murmurs could be heard.
"Your instructions were strictly simple," a low, intimidating grumble fell impatiently out of a daunting person's lips, "your job was to keep her alive," their tone venomous, "all you had to do was to make sure she made it out ALIVE."
"There were people spectating, we had to make it seem believable-"
A sound of a gun cocking resounded heavily around the hair-raising room. Clanging of metal echoed greatly as the sound of turmoil increased, the sudden sight of the gun caused the guards to hurry with their actions, trying to help the young injured woman before them be on the mend.
The monotonous person slammed the tip of the gun into one side of a guards's temple, a poison laced his voice, "you could have done anything but hurt her-" Increasing all levels of terror, as if there wasn't enough on the guards shoulders already, the deadly person threatened the men clad in pink once more. Wrapping his fingers tightly and coldly around the handle of the gun with a cruel amount of force, he pressed it harder against the guard's temple, "you have five minutes to finish dressing the wound. Make sure she lives this time."
"We're sorry Sir. We're sorry Sir. We're sorry Sir-"
Water isn't pure, some bits of dirt gets submerged into it, causing it to be contaminated, making it undrinkable. Like life, the burdens of the past clings on to it, making the purity of it tainted. Hwang Aera's life was full of dirt, specks of them were arduous to clean away, and were most likely to be imprinted there forever.
The inner drums of Aera's ears rang heavily, all harsh sounds became a mumble, too faint for her to hear. Her tender ears felt like they were being punctured by a needle as she lolled her head to the side, a cold surface met her cheek as she did so. The sturdy metal bed she was on, felt stiff under her frame as it supported her tender body.
A dry grumble parted from Aera's lips as her bloodied face contorted, her quiet groans arose from her arid throat and scratched against it. Agony dispersed from her chest, as if three thousand swords were tearing the tissues of her skin apart. She tried lifting her head up, but was too exhausted to even move a limb.
Affliction swirled within Aera's head. Like multiple shards of glass jabbing at the core of her brain. She desperately wanted to grab ahold of her head and bash it against a wall to make the aching go away, or her entire body actually, every inch of her bones were consumed by a throbbing pain.
Voices began to flitter through her mind too, whirling to and fro from one side of her brain and to the other. Though, they seemed to be confined within her head, they seemed as if they were begging to be said aloud. The voice nearly crushed at her sore brain, tearing apart at her sanity-
'HWANG AERA.'
Recollecting the familiar voice, it rang through Aera's tainted mind. As if it were possible, her chest benumbed itself. A fragile version of the cold-hearted raven haired girl, swarmed within Aera's mind. A rumble of pain prickled at Aera's skin, like tiny pin needles sticking into the surface of it, she remembered the grief-stricken screams that tore at Sae-byeok's throat, it scarred her mind forever.
Sprawling her legs out slightly, Aera's toes curled from the unbearable amount of pain throughout her body, the muffled voice poked at her nerves, "Sae," Aera mindlessly muttered, her quiet voice ripped at her throat due to dehydration. Even with strenuous efforts, Aera couldn't get herself to sit up.
"She's waking up Sir," a voice called out, making Aera's tender ears rattle.
"I can see that."
"The sleeping gas wasn't enough."
"Well you should've given her more."
"We could give her some more now?-" They asked timidly.
"Is that even a question?" Snapping abruptly, "get on with it," The Front Man ordered with an icy sneer.
Seething through gritted teeth, bright, obnoxious colours met her fatigued eyes as Aera tried to force them open. Her eyelids were like iron doors that were sealed by the toughest of glues. Once the light hit her cocoa eyes, another tired murmur escaped from her cracked lips, she couldn't even bring a hand up to cover her eyes from the harsh lights, it was as though her arms were cemented down on to the metal bed she was on.
Fumes of pale grey smoke began to swarm into the room, the sound of the dispensers hummed as it puffed some knock out gas into the room. All of the masked men were able to stand awake, their uniform made it impossible to be phased by the sleeping gas.
Managing to push her eyelids up half-way, all Aera could see were blurry furniture and gas rolling just above her body. Her mind casted back, hastily, to the day she came across Sae-byeok within the van. Aera tucked her fingers into tight fists, digging her sharp, unclipped nails into the surface of her palm as she held her breath sharply, causing her pain to be benumbed for a brief second.
There was a reason why Sae-byeok told Aera not to breathe in the gas in that van, it probably wasn't healthy.
"Why have you stopped the procedure?" The intimidating voice called out once again. The supervisors jostled around, knocking down some surgery equipment in the process, their movements frantic. "That wasn't an invitation for you to take a break."
"We're sorry sir."
Now Aera wasn't one to have major beliefs in religion. Her family were Buddhists, and growing up, she never really had the chance to understand anything about it. But after enduring the barbarous games, Aera began to find comfort in marvelling about the afterlife.
Where would she go after death? Where would she stand in the universe outside of life? Would she be reincarnated?
Trying her absolute hardest to prop herself up on her bruised elbows, ones that painted her skin dark khaki and purple, Aera's mind clouded with thoughts like: is this it?
Aera half expected to be drowning in amber flames, to be scorched by more blistering fire for the consequences of her cruel karma. A whole deal of despondency would've weighted on Aera's shoulders if she found herself in the depths of deathly hell. Aera thought that, even though she had cruel karma, she wouldn't go to hell since her heart was still pure, that she had a mind of gold and that her cruel actions were unintentional.
But if all murderers said that, would that make them a saint?
'Murderers don't have a heart like yours Aera,'- Ji-yeong's voice sounded so clear. This left Aera with a thousand pondering thoughts. Hopeful thoughts. But then the hope destroyed itself. How could Ji-yeong listen in on Aera's thoughts? Of course, it was all in Hwang Aera's head.
"Ji-yeong?" Almost choking on her on breath, the air felt scarce as Aera tried regaining her regular breathing pattern.
Memories of her compassionate friend flew by her mind. Aera recollected the brunette with beauteous charms, a girl with a warm smile and strong morals- Aera's heart squeezed as if it was being hammered down by daggers.
Did Ji-yeong not make it? Is she here with me?- Wherever the hell I am.
Curling her weak fingers around the side of the metal bed tightly, Aera's drained and frail expression scrunched up from the needle that was threading her gnarly wound into a tight stitch. The tip of the fine needle pierced her skin, and without anaesthesia, the process of making a stitch on the gaping wound felt like death itself.
Fuck, if I'm dead, then why do I still feel so much pain?
An abundance of the smell of copper filled Aera's senses as she tried to inhale a deep, fresh and relaxing breath of oxygen, something her lungs were dying to obtain.
Every inch of her limbs were scorching with pain.
Her nerves were completely obliterated by the overwhelming amount of pain. Aera even thought that the healing wound on her leg was arduous to live with, but she came to a conclusion that the wound on her chest would be even worse to live with.
Well, was Hwang Aera even alive? Or was she even dead? Those questions were left unanswered as all she could focus on was breathing. Whether she was alive or not, she found that she was still able to breathe. Her chest shakily rose at every inhale and almost collapsed dramatically at her exhales, before continuing that cycle again.
"We're almost done." The guards announced as they messily grabbed an anti-septic wipe and cleansed the area around the wound with it, puddles of anti-bacterial soap meddled with the dry dirt and blood as they cleaned the stitched up wound.
"Good." Lowering the hefty gun away from one of the guard's temples, the guard shivered in relief as The Front Man stated in a rigid tone, "the VIPs are almost here, I don't want them to see any traces of this," he lifted his arm bitterly back up again, this time his gun hovered above the guard's chest, "and make sure player 036 doesn't escape. If you fail to meet those needs, your life will be the cost of it."
"Yes Sir."
With a hollow chest, a puzzled expression illustrated itself upon Aera's reddened face. Struggling to keep a firm hold on her consciousness, a million queries formed within Aera's mind.
Why was the afterlife still keeping her in captivity? Or was she still-
"Hey," Aera tried to smoothen out her gravelly voice, a worn out whisper tumbled from her cut lips, "what are you saying-" Aera stretched her bare arm out, ones that were littered with gnarly gashes and slithers of tiny stitches and tender bruises. Opening up her hand she grasped on to the nearest wrist she could see from under her slitted eyes. Aera's blurry vision met a with man, who had a thick black mask covering his face. "Hey, what the fuck are you guys doing to me . . ." Aera's small voice faded away due to fatigue, making her words harshly soft.
The colour drained from The Front Man's face.
His pulse jolted alarmingly as he flickered his eyes over towards the hand that gripped loosely on his wrist. Throughout the entirety of the games, he'd been dismissing the fact that he was a part of player 036's life. That player 036 a part of his life. But at that point, he was in utter disbelief. In complete shock that the young girl was before him. Blinking through mildly warm tears, they steamed his dark mask up. Rolling his shoulders back, he swatted the girl's hand away.
"Take her into the spare VIP bedroom. Make sure she rests well. Check if the clean clothes are in there. Then take her over to her designated room."
"Yes Sir." The guards bowed half way before clasping their gloved hands around the handles that were attached to the metal bed, the wheels rattled as they rolled against the crimson splattered, tiled floor.
The rubbery wheels went over some rocky tiles, making the ride extremely uncomfortable and bumpy for Aera. At every dip, her entire body jerked slightly, her head hitting semi-gently against the cold, hard surface of the metal bed. Lolling her head to the side, her muscles were drenched in fatigue, though, that didn't prevent Aera from thrashing around, trying to flee from the hellish situation.
Thrusting her wrists upwards, she found that they were imprisoned by cuffs that were locked in place, her ankles too, making it impossible for Aera to get away.
Shit, shit, shit there's no way out.
There was no way out of anything. Hwang Aera learned that
the hard way.
Her aching came in waves, it pounded at her chest and surged at her tender emotions, it shattered her soul. It wasn't just the wound in her chest, but the impact from leaving Sae-byeok again. It took a toll on both her physical and mental emotions- nothing could heal Aera's tired mind anymore. Not when Aera's mind constantly replayed the look on Sae-byeok's face when she slipped away from her slender fingertips, the way Sae-byeok's soft features were damaged with hurt by Aera's sacrifice.
Balancing between life and death, Aera wondered if there was any use in knowing if she was alive or not. With all her might, she hoped that she was alive, so that she could seek a way to get everyone out of the treacherous games. She was able to save Mi-nyeo, which gave her a strive to save more people. All Hwang Aera wanted to do was to find a way out for the other players.
She wanted this for: Kang Sae-byeok, Seong Gi-hun, Ali Abdul, Ji-yeong and Cho Sang-woo. For everyone. Aera didn't know if half of them were alive, but she could only force her mind to believe they were- it was easier that way.
Hwang Aera had other plans now, and somehow, she was more motivated to go ahead with this one. But, that doesn't mean Aera was going to give up on finding her brothers, she was going to find an escape route for them too.
She just had to make sure that she didn't let her hope be wrecked so easily.
With her limbs growing exhausted, her eyes gradually closed again, her fingers relaxed weakly, making them slip away from the metal handles. She couldn't go ahead with her plan right at that moment, for all she could focus on was surviving. Aera's tainted mind drifted off into Dreamland, a serene place her mind always visited when she fell asleep, though this time it wasn't all butterflies and daisies, it had a drizzle of chaos and revenge too.
( 2476 words )
DEAR ALL,
LMAOOOOOO you guys really thought I would let Aera die just like that⁉️🤨🤨
She said "sike😎😋😋i'm living bitches 💯"
Anyways hope this was good🤓
Did you lot have a good day😩 Today was black friday so I bought so many things #feelinghappy😁
I miss writing about Sae already ugh but dw she'll come back guys😍
WITH LOVE, SYLVIA