-Erik's point of view.-
I didn't know where I was. In truth all I could remember was the year. The year I had turned fourteen and shortly found myself behind iron bars. Barely any exit in sight, mother lost from me.
And then through the darkness of this memory came the gas. The gas that killed all those but mutants. I could recall how many friends I had lost in these chambers. Yet I wished I could. I wished the gas didn't sting my eyes, hazing faces. Names lost to me.
I wish it didn't burn my lungs.
I remembered choking. Fighting to keep the air locked inside me. To store it as though this torture was nothing but water. That somewhere I could find the surface.
Yet, I could never tell whether it was the light-headedness of not breathing or the exhaustion, and the ache from the previous chores that left me content to stay underneath the imaginary water. To think I was drowning in a more peaceful state than to what was the cruelty of my reality.
It was only then did dying seem almost peaceful...
Until I heard the roaring sound of guns. Tanks...
My body trembled. Was I lost inside a memory or still trapped with Nazis?
“Charles?!”
Where had the garden gone?
The starry night?
Did he leave me too?
Something wet rolled down the side of my face and I screamed internally. More of the harshest tortures... They turned the water against me. “Charles?!”
I had never been more afraid of drowning than now.
“Charles please!”
The current of this water slammed against my chest, choking me. Burning just as much as the gas. I screamed so stupidly, but no one could hear me. The gates.
Down...
Down...
Down...
I was ripped from my mother's arms. The metal twisted. “Erik breathe. I'm here.” The memory faded away, I lost to the darkness. I didn't know which was worse. Yet, I could feel the wind in my hair...
“Where did you go Charles?”
“To pee... We're at the house Erik. Don't you remember?” I shuddered then.
“Are you angry with me?”
“No.” I didn't believe him. I couldn't. Everything was a mess.
The sound of gunfire was close by and terror gripped me so strongly. “Erik, shhh, shhh... Turn that off! Shhh, just the t.v. It's not real. I'm here. Your safe.”
“The gas...”
“Your not there Erik. There's no gas chamber. Shhh. Shhh.” The garden came back then, the starry sky. He came back. “Shhh... Shhh...” I heard the clatter of metal then and focused solely back on the dance. Let my tears fall, until the exhaustion caught up again and I was lost to both pain and contentment. Found myself only stuck in between...
