[DISCONTINUED] Strive | Bleach

Chapter One | Luxury

Chapter One | Luxury 

Hello! As of 5.15.15, all chapters of Strive are being updated, and I mean all. So if you see, for example, how one chapter, the writing is flawless, and all the others are complete shit, it's because it has or hasn't been updated! I encourage you to keep reading, voting, and commenting as I go along, if you can tolerate how much bullshit I've put into this book until about... chapter twenty-four. Enjoy this edited first chapter!

From what I've been able to tell, my life has revolved around being confined to a box: four walls, a ceiling, and a floor. There are no windows; no connection to the outside world above me. The chains that bind me to this box have cut into my wrists, ankles, neck and torso, and have long been a part of me. As one might expect, the pain is physically unimaginable. However, I've never felt it this bad before. Some days, it's hard to breathe. As time draws on, I become more and more prone to insanity. And now, it gives me hallucinations.

This is what this place has done to me.

I barely have even the strength to speak; naturally, I am too weak from exhaustion.

My thoughts aren't even my own anymore; they belong to the voice that has taken refuge inside my head.

I feel like I could die at any waking moment. I don't think I've eaten anything for over a hundred years, or at least, that's how I feel. But how is that possible? If that's the case, then how is it that I'm still here?

No matter how hard I try, I can't remember anything about myself, or even how I've gotten myself locked in here. It's all a blur. It's as if my life has been put on an eternal pause. What's my name again? What do I look like?

None of it is fair. Why am I here? What did I do wrong? I want to stop hurting.

Someone, please. Make it stop before it's too late.

Somewhere in the distance, something makes a loud creaking sound. I peer through the filthy, knotted bangs that are matted against my forehead, past the bars of the cell door, and see a small, red ball of light floating in the air toward... me. I then hear a pair of footsteps coming from the same location.

Oh, no, I think nervously. What if it's... him?!

"Who's there?" I croak. My throat is dry and cracked, making it painful for me to speak. But I'm surprised I still can.

"My, my," a voice tuts disapprovingly. It's a man's voice, there's no mistaking it. It's the fact that it's a real man's voice that shocks me. I can't answer him back, no matter how hard I try. It just hurts too much. The footsteps fade, and the ball of light along with it. And then, the red light returns, getting bigger and bigger and brighter and brighter. A figure of a person appears in front of the cell door.

"Who... who are you?" I dare to ask, forcing myself to ignore the pain. He stands there without a sound. And then, something moves behind him; another person, perhaps?

"Shall I open it, Captain?" It is a girl who speaks; a girl who stands behind him.

"What an idiotic question! What do you think?!" There is a loud clanking sound.

"There, it is done." The door has come off of its hinges, and flies toward the end of the cell, crashing against the wall. I watch as they step inside, the light following close behind them. The man kneels down in front of me, getting awfully close and in my face. I shrink back as far as I can, but with my weak limbs, I have no other choice but to flop forward into his chest, with my head resting against his neck.