The Damned

Chptr 3: The Prisoner

The Prisoner

The man ran up the empty street, searching depserately for a place to hide. He didn't know if there even -was- a way to hide from this beast, but he had to try. He had known that it would catch up to him someday, but still...

He ran past a broken shop, it's windows smashed in and the letters of it's name falling to the ground, one by one with the relentless march of the years. All around him, he could here the spririts of those who had lived here before, laughing at his futile attempts to escape the inevitable. 'It's time, Nathan! The demon has come to claim what is his! There is no escape. Not for you.'

He darted into an alley off to his right and continued running. Down here, there were a few skeletons lying on the ground, and the skulls peered at him curiously as he fled. 'What are they so surprised about?' He thought dimly. 'It's not as if they've never seen a dead man before.'

He leaped over over a fallen trash can. As he landed on the other side, his left foot just happened to land on a piece of a broken bottle, which promptly slid out from under it. Before he knew what was happening, his legs flew out from underneath him and his head hit the ground with a sickening -Crack!- that echoed down the alley. Then, everything went dark.

*****

He couldn't see. He could feel ground underneath him, but either he was blind or there simply wasn't anything to see. He noticed vaguely that the ground on which he rested seemed to be covered with -grass-, which didn't make sense at all because he was laying in the middle of an alley and the ground was black top. Which, as far as he knew, grass wasn't able to grow on. But he couldn't mistake the feel of those invisible blades with anything else. It was grass alright.

He stood up. He felt light-headed and dazed. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. A wind blew past, and it carried the sent of the wilderness, not the city in which he had been trying to get away from the demon...

He shook his head trying to clear it. He took one last look around, afirming that it was still all black, then sat back down. He didn't know what to do, only that the demon wasn't here. At least, for now.

Then, it came. His memories of his past were an ocean in a storm. Usually, he could ride that ocean. But a particularly big wave came and crashed down on him, dragging him down... down into his past...

-Nathan!? What are you doing!?-
-Wait! Please God, no! Stop!-
-What have you done!? Nathan, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?-

He was dimly aware that he was now curled in a ball clutching his head. He fought, trying to swim to ther surface. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he heard his mother's voice shriek his name one last time, and then the wave receded.

He felt weak. He could barely move. So much pain... he had to get away from it. He was too weak to run from it right now. All he wanted was to rest... yes, sweet rest...

****

He awoke some time later, at first unsure of what had wakened him. He knew he was still not in the city even before he opened his eyes, for the grass tickled his face. He slowly sat up, then stood up when he thought he could manage it.

He felt much better now, and he decided that it was time to start walking again. He was about to do just that when he heard something behind him.

"Nathan..."

He knew that voice. His bowels froze to ice and it felt like his heart suddenly leaped up into his throat. He tried to run, but to no avail. His body was turning towards that voice on it's own and dragging him with it.

When he turned, he was able to see one thing. It was a woman who was glowing like she was standing in full daylight, but everything around her was black, including the ground. She smiled sadly at him, and then raised her hand in a beckoning gesture.

It was Auburn.