Bonds of Beast

The Ocean

~ Song How'd you hear me Boris and the dark survival

I'm finally free.

After years of grueling military service, I'm done. Not just done—top of my class. I'm proud of myself, and I can't wait to go home. I bet they all missed me. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when they realize how wrong they were. Especially my adopted father. He never thought I'd amount to anything. In his mind, the military and the mafia were two worlds that could never coexist, but I'm about to prove him wrong. I'm going to change the world. Although, I suppose what he thinks doesn't really matter anymore.

"Inna," a familiar voice calls out.

I look up just in time to see Sarah trotting over, her face flushed with emotion. My only real friend from this hellish place.

"I'm going to miss you," she says, her voice thick with sincerity.

I laugh, trying to play it off like it's nothing. "Girl, we can always hang out. I'll always make time for you."

She laughs too, though I can see the tears welling up in her eyes. We exchange a wave, and then she turns, heading off in the opposite direction. It's a strange feeling, walking away from someone who's been my anchor for so long. But now I'm headed toward my own future, a new beginning.

Or so I thought.

(Slow motion)

I step off the curb, my boots tapping lightly against the asphalt as I cross the street. The light is green, but halfway across, it flickers, shifting to red. Before I can process the sudden change, everything blurs.

A bus is charging toward me. Its headlights blind me, bright and unforgiving.

My body freezes.

The roar of the engine drowns out the world around me. I hear a scream—"Innnaaaaaaa!"—but it feels distant, muffled beneath the cacophony of screeching brakes and the wail of the horn. Time seems to stretch and warp, moments folding in on themselves like pages of a book turned too quickly.

The lights flash.

Then, darkness.

Adrift in the Abyss

I can't breathe.

Panic surges as I open my mouth, but instead of air, water rushes in, flooding my lungs. My eyes snap open, and all I see is a cold, dark expanse of water surrounding me. The weight of it presses against me, suffocating, and for a moment, I think I might be trapped in some nightmare. But the cold is real. The sensation of drowning is real.

I kick my legs frantically, fighting against the crushing depths as I struggle to find the surface. My limbs feel sluggish, as though the water itself is pulling me deeper. My lungs are burning, desperate for air. I push harder, my mind screaming that I have to survive. But the surface is impossibly far, the ocean around me vast and merciless.

As I thrash against the water, my thoughts race, fear gnawing at the edges of my consciousness. How did I get here?

My chest tightens, and my vision begins to blur. I'm running out of air, running out of time. My body starts to go numb, the cold of the water creeping into my bones. I feel myself slowing down, the exhaustion of survival weighing me down like chains dragging me to the ocean floor.

But then, just as my vision darkens, my fingertips break through the surface. And finally, I follow, gasping, gulping air into my burning lungs. I've never tasted anything so sweet, so precious as that first breath. My head jerks around as I splash wildly, trying to make sense of my surroundings.