Death

• Horror

								
		Tick, tock, tick, tock. The clock screams from across the room. Rats scurry across the damp floor scavenging for any food that they can muster. I lay in wonder about how long my body has left, how long I have left. I lay in complete darkness, with only the black void to fill my dreary eyes. All alone, I rest in the once-flourishing mansion. Now, no one but I left to live here. The house rests, closing on its last breath. I wonder who will go down first, me or this wooded shelter. I imagine we will both match our last breath.
	There is no reason, no point left to breathe in this dreaded place. So meaningless to take up space with my dark, gloomy life. My body, frozen and cold, stuck to this bed, my death bed. The bed I will end my life in, the bed I will have my last breath in, and the bed I will slowly decay in until there is nothing left. Emptiness surrounds me, revealing there is no future, barely any present. 
	Thump, creak. I hear something, someone, sulking around downstairs. The creaking of the dead, wood floors gives away the presence of the being. The being begins to sound closer, becoming louder. Who is this interrupting my and the house’s near end?
	All I can do is lay here in my lifeless body, waiting for the last breath to arrive. “Is that death finally coming for me?” I whisper although I haven’t spoken in days, so the question barely escapes my dry mouth, sounding more like gibberish. No response back from the questionable being adventuring my house. I hear the door slowly sway open, revealing a slither of light shining through, knowing it is here now, looking for me. It’s breathing, very slow and quiet, as it becomes closer, inching its way toward the bed. 
	I just lie in silence, waiting for it to show its face as it hovers over me. Then I see it, questioning if I am dreaming or already dead. My brother, my brother that has been long gone, staring me right in the eyes. As I stare back, I notice he is very pale, with matted black hair, and swollen-purple lips. That’s all that I can make out of him in the darkened room. I ask myself, how is this possible? How, and why is he here?
	I start to internally panic, not showing any fear as he just stares at me, hovering over my bed. He died over five years ago, I tell myself, so how has he appeared before me in my very bedroom? Is he actually dead? Am I dead? I feel my heart skip a beat as I ask myself so many unanswerable questions.
	“Come, brother. Let’s go get something to eat.” He says in a positive, but raspy voice, only acknowledging his hunger and no other sort.
	I continue to stare at him, not addressing his question for a moment, wondering why my deceased brother is ravenous. I feel frozen in my bed, barely able to move. As I struggle to lift my nearly departed body from the bed, he backs away from my view, disappearing into the darkness that surrounds the outer part of the room. I slowly relieve myself from my coffin, dropping my bare feet to the cold floor. My legs somehow still work enough to carry my other half towards the door. As I limp my way after my brother into the darkness, my body and limbs ache on the way, with my arms outstretched in front of me so I don’t run into anything object lurking in the dark.
	At the moment I believe I am outside of the room now, I hear a thud, then another, then another. A few thuds later, silence flows through the house. Silence, the time before my deceased brother suddenly appeared. Something fell down the stairs, was it my brother? I thought I felt something in front of me for a minute before the silence got interrupted. It’s too dark to picture what is at the end of the stairs. My troubled mind is trying to process what just happened. Did I push something? Did I push him? So many more questions flow into my head. 
	My legs are still, stuck at the top of the stairs, afraid to go down and see what is lying motionless on the floor. I take a deep breath as I take the first step. The stairs feel endless, a never-ending downhill flight of stairs. The next step I take, I feel as if I am not getting any closer to my destination. The steps are multiplying with every step I take. I close my eyes, hoping the stair maze will end. Then I see it, as I finally touch the bottom. My brother, his frozen corpse, mangled on the cold floor. I know his soul has left him this time. No presence of life anymore. Only my slow breathing and some mice scurrying, all the life left in the house. 
	How was he here, walking among this place in the first place? Did he die twice? So many questions I ask myself, which I now know will never be answered. Once again, I am alone, just me and some mice left barely surviving in this dark place. 
	Back to normal, lying in my bed once more, listening to the mice fight over a crumb, and the smooth ticking of the clock. The last few tick-tocks are near, so I listen to every one, taking advantage of them, until there are no more. Death is so close, about to welcome me, about to walk up those stairs just like my brother did. I just wait, listening for his presence to appear, to end mine. To finally free me from this desolating place called life. 
	Then I see it. A dark figure standing in front of my bed. It’s time, I think to myself. It’s time to join my brother. I see a light, then everything stops…


	
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