Don't Starve

Beauty

Willow's POV:
I run through the rows of evergreen trees. I run far from Wilson and his pale, ghost-like face. I run until the smell of blood is replaced by the smell of the trees. I run until the sense of guilt turns into exhaustion. I run until the thought of Wilson and night flee from my mind. Then I run farther. I run until my muscles ache and I can't breathe. I don't stop running until my legs give out and I fall face first onto the ground. I'm breathing heavy and every gasp of air comes in cold and sharp and painful. I feel my heart beating in my chest and hear it in my head. I use the last of my energy to crawl my way into a clearing. I curl myself in a ball and weep, tearless, into my knees. My sobs are loud and shocked and they sound like they are coming from a monster. I can't stand to think that I am the one producing them. I cry until my vocal cords give out and I'm left only with a groan. My stomach growls with the pain of hunger. I don't care. I just want to lay here and never get up. I want to enter into the state of nothingness and be lost to cold and dark places.
"Well hello my dear," a voice booms in my head interrupting my darkest thoughts. The voice is so calm and familiar that I forget about the pain. I fall into the voice as a cold hand grips my shoulder. I turn to the voice and am greeted with an inhuman sneer. He lets go of my shoulder and offers me his hand. I take it and he pulls me onto my feet. I know that voice from somewhere but my mind is too far for me to find out where.
"Looks like you could use a little pick-me-up." He said, his thin lips curling into a deathly smile. As he said it, he twisted his fingers into the air to create a black line of shadow that waved in the air. He waved his hand again and in the air positioned right over his fingertips was a lighter. It was my lighter. I pushed my fingers into my skirt pocket to grasp air. He leaned down next to me and waved the lighter in front of my face. I hesitantly took it from his hands. He sneered as I clicked it on. The fire raged out of the lighter and ran down my arm and over my shoulder. I screamed in fear as it curled its way up my neck. I could hear the inhuman man laughing at me. The flames inched its way up my face in soaring pain. Everything was hot-white for a second. The laughter stopped and I collapsed on the ground. My eyes felt like they were lighten on fire and I couldn't open them. I was shaking. For a while the world was black and when I finally opened my eyes it was orange. Pain seared into me as my eyelids opened and I let out a scream. I blinked a few times, everyone sending a hot stab into my eyes. The man was gone and the trees around me were in a blazing fire.
"Why," I screamed into the air where he had stood. I sounded weak and defenseless.
"Beauty is pain, my dear" the voice said in the whispers of my mind. It sounded sharp and harsh. I could hear the laugh hidden behind the words. He was enjoying this. I knew somewhere he was watching me and smiling at my pain. I felt angry and scared, but above all I felt betrayed. I got onto my knees and screamed into the sky. It was long and full of sadness and hate. The fire that licked its way up the trees exploded with excitement. The laughing was there still, it echoed in the wind and vibrated on the ground. My scream ended in a weak, pitiful sob. Something warm dripped down my cheeks. A single drop fell onto the back of my hand. It was thin and sticky and in the light it was dark red. It almost looked black, but there was no doubting that it was blood. I whipped the rest of f on the back of my hand. I felt so defeated. I stood, my legs shaking and my head down. I looked into the burning fire. I wanted to give up. I wanted the pain and the sadness to disappear. With the last of my strength I ran right into the fire. It was an unnatural kind of warmth. One I knew was too hot to touch. It didn't hurt. It just felt warm and inviting. I sank into the heat and the warmth. I let myself drift in the heat. As I breathed, I could feel the fire breathe around me. Everything around me was so beautiful in the flames.Things are so much prettier when they burn.