The Line Of Life Or Death - Chapter Two - Watch Your Fingers
#2 of The Line of Life or Death
The Line Of Life Or Death - Chapter Two - Watch Your Fingers
Chapter two is here. For those who have kept reading from chapter one, good for you (maybe). For those just starting, be warned, this is from the deepest darkest part of my being, so take heed before reading onward.
The night was uneasy and the sleep less than peaceful. Twice I was awoken by the mouse's gasps and shrieks, each time I had to quickly cover her mouth to quiet her. Four separate times I was also slammed back into reality, wakening in fear of being found by the sadistic bastard who brought me here. While slumped against the wall staring at the ceiling, I realized sleep was near impossible to obtain. I shuffled over to the mouse, nudging her slightly while covering her mouth. She awoke rigid, but slowly relaxed her body as much as one could in a situation as this.
"I think we should try moving again." I whispered in her ear, removing my hand from her mouth. She nodded and we made our way through the hole again, back on the damp stone floor. Across from the cell we were in was a horse, bound from the ceiling, hands and feet all wrapped together behind his back. His head snapped towards us, blood slowly leaking from his mouth.
"Help me" Came a hardly noticeable voice. Whenever his mouth moved, more blood would leak from it. Moving closer to him, I saw why. In his neck was a small wooden stake, drove through his neck. Somehow he was still alive, but only just. While looking for some possible way to save him, I heard the telltale slamming of a door. I looked at the mouse and we dove into cells across from each other. Backs pressed against the wall, we listened and hoped he wouldn't pass where we were hiding. Each footstep was growing louder, and with each one we both cringed slightly, stifling any noise possible. His shadow was cast onto the floor by the torches, coming closer and closer. On a shattered mirror on the right side of the hall, I could see the upper half of the horse, the sadistic creature still not in view. I heard a small grunt before the slashing of the wind. Like a blur, something flew by the image on the mirror before the sound of severed flesh sounded through the air. The creature nudged the horses' head with the blunt of a bloodied axe, and the neck fell from the shoulders, a torrent of blood following it. The shadow slowly started turning when I saw the mouse wrap her fingers around the wall and peek her head out. The shadow stopped moving; then I again heard an axe fly through the air, before slamming into the wall, four fingers falling to the ground and a shriek coming from the mouse's throat. She gripped her wrist and starred at the stubs that were her fingers before a hand reached around the wall and grabbed her by the neck, dragging her into the hallway. Her yells and cries of pain and horror following her while she was dragged back down the hallway where the beast had come from.
"I know she wasn't alone. Perhaps you could join me for dinner, have this as an appetizer and you for the main course, squirrel." The beast called back before opening the door and leaving, screams and whimpering echoing in the halls of death itself, leaving me slumped against the wall, again cold and alone.
My mind was once again flooded with thoughts of suicide, that death would be better than this place of horror. I looked to the wall of which the mouse had just been and saw fresh blood slowly making it's way down to the ground. My eyes followed it until it joined with the small pool of blood made by the four fingers that were hacked off. I closed my eyes in fright of what could befall of me. I had to move from this spot, because he already knew there was more than one of us, so I had to move. I went left from the cell into the hallway, going away from what had just happened to the horse. I could tell this floor was downward sloping because as I neared the end of the hall, there was a small pooling of blood about ankle deep before stopping in front of some stairs. I walked through the blood without even a second thought, for my mind was set on one thing, staying away from that beast. I went up the stairs, hoping to find another way down to the first floor where hopefully I could escape. I walked up the last step before arriving at the next floor. The floor wasn't stone, but felt like moss of some sort. It made a squishy noise with each step, feeling damp and wet. Immediately I realized this wasn't moss, but carpet saturated with god knows what. Actually, god probably doesn't know what the carpet is saturated with, for it seemed he turned a blind eye to this place. It was quite obvious what the carpet held, but I would rather not think about it. I approached the end of the room with another flight of stairs heading down, blood slowly trickling down the steps. I descended them to arrive in another hallway similar to the one I was just in. I avoided looking into any of the cells to avoid more mental scaring when I heard a blade piercing flesh. Quietly o dove into the cell next to me, rolling behind the still warm body of an orca, blood spilling from it's back. I laid down flat behind it, putting my body right against it in attempt to blend in and remain unnoticed. I heard hoof steps moving away from where I was hiding. Standing up, I found my entire front side coated in the blood and body fluids of the orca I'd used for cover. I had to find somewhere safe or I could be next. The only place I could remember being safe was the hole where the nameless mouse and I had been, so I quickly headed back that way. I swiftly crossed the blood soaked carpets once more, and heading down the stairs. On the last steps my foot paw slipped, causing me to fall into the pool of blood. I stood up and continued to the cell I had crawled out of not but half an hour ago. I tried to shake as much blood off as I could, but it was too thick so most remained on my fur. I crawled into the hole when my hand felt something like a snake. I found the lighter and flicked it on. I looked down and saw what I'd felt. It was a tail of a mouse and a hand with only a thumb remaining. With this the beast had left me a silent message. Nowhere here is safe. Nowhere.