When I came to, I was running. How the hell was I running? My head was killing me, blood spilling down onto my cheeks. Footsteps behind me. This felt all too familiar. The trees, the heavy breathing, the sweat.
There’s no escape from this awful place.
The twigs, the stones, the setting sun. I had been here before. I realized that I was staring straight at the ground and finally decided to peer forward.
The golden city. It can’t be. I just escaped your clutch. You are behind me.
Terrified, I mustered the courage to glance to my right, begging for her not to be there, for that house not to be there. But there she stood, the white gown torn at the sides, the magnificent shoes worn down to moccasins, the cursed veil, the long and slender finger urging me towards her.
The truth has finally shown it’s face. How long have I been in this place? Do I even dare to question fate’s design or submit to such a bleak destiny? No more running, no more of this shit! I am done. Show your face to me you heinous monster!
I stopped running and turned around, horrified to find the Temptress standing there. I had been running from the very thing I was chasing all along. I chased and I escaped, deeper and deeper into the circles of Hell. That wicked and most evil house had, in fact, been my own purgatory. I was being destroyed, punished for my sins, for the things I had done in life. God only knows how long I have been running in this same vicious circle. Chased by the Temptress, chasing the Temptress, avoiding the Fiend. Where did she begin and where did I end? When had I become the Fiend? Was I warning myself the whole time? I was trapped in a nightmare of my own insanity, led further and further below the earth into the depths of such despicable torture. My thoughts were interrupted by the screams of the Temptress: “We are the crucified, we are the virtuous, we are the damned! Let’s pray we never fall asleep!”
No more. Stand here and fight. Break the cycle, end the Temptress once and for all. She will mock me no longer!
I stared directly into her eyes and proclaimed, “Hey, stranger what’s your name? Have we met before? Take a look around, the scenes are all the same. I can see the veil is right behind me and yet here you stand. Have I ever said this before, or is this the first time I’ve caught on to your little game? If I just keep moving will I be okay, or once again panic in the mayhem? I will no longer take flight from you!”
I ran straight at her, tackling her to the ground. With a violence and rage that I never knew existed within me, I mangled her body. I gouged out her eyes, tore off her fingers, severed her nerves, shredded her sinews. She screamed and begged, but I ignored every plea. I would fall for her lies no more. I did not want to maim her, I did not want to kill her, I wanted to end her. I wanted make her disappear from existence. I was enraged. I had lost my mind. Her heart had stopped beating long ago and yet still I screamed, “Now that you’ve got me, what’s next?! I will destroy you, demon! Stripped from your body, crimson! A fury of righteousness will now consume you in death!”
I felt a tapping on my shoulder, glanced back and spied a beautiful and delicate hand. I leaned back and saw her. She stood above me, as beautiful as I had ever seen her. She leaned in and pressed her lips to mine. She ran her fingers through my hair and smiled that precious smile that always made my heart melt. I could taste her breath and it drove me wild. She dropped to her knees, pulled me close, and whispered into my ear, “Wake up, sweetheart. Wake up. Come back to me. Wake up.”
Of course, I obeyed. I always did what she asked of me. Never would I ignore the sweet words of my Annabel.
