The Last Task

"The Last Task" (Challenge topic inspired by Mik Klingelhaggen)

Ring Around The Rosie, Pocket Full Of Posie...

It's a struggle to catch my breath as I run furiously through out the woods, ducking and pushing myself through branches and vines as I try desperately to gain distance from the two men that have been relentlessly pursuing me for the last hour or so...

How did it come to this...?
It wasnt supposed to end this way...

The air I breath feels like fire shooting into my lungs as I gasp and wheeze desperately for air along with each stride I take, but the would-be pursuers footsteps and shouts become more and more softer and distant as I push myself further and deeper into the woods. I think im losing them.

'Losing them...?
Almost like the way you lost your famil...'

Agony takes over my body as sudden blasts of gun fire ring out into the soft lit sky and excruciating explosions of pain runs all throughout the left side of my neck as the bullet enters and exits rudely through and it takes every ounce of my strength to keep my balance and not fall while sudden shrieks escape my lips. But im steady and through the pain, I continue to run.

Lucky fucking shot, they must be shooting randomly into the woods at this point in frustrations to find me, my only hopes is that their despair turns into enough weariness that they give up on my search...
But I cant rely on that. I need to stay focused on staying alive at this point...its the only way. The only way to make this right.

I have to fix this, I owe it to them to stay alive long enough to take it all back. Just a little bit more and everything will be ok.
You hear that? Daddy is going to make everything okay again! Then we will all laugh and play and you and mommy will come back and she wont be so sad or mad anymore at daddy for taking you all away. Mommy will forgive daddy for getting so upset and taking all your lives. We will all be together again and daddy wont yell or argue no more! But first I have to finish this. This curse Ive been given in order to take it all back and make it all right again...

My breaths are getting sharper and weaker. Im losing way too much blood to keep running like this and my eyes are starting to get a little heavy...
I manage to pace and stagger myself far enough to fall and collapse against the rotting bark of a dead and decaying Mulberry tree, as I claw and crawl my way up it until I can finally rest my back against it in an attempt to catch my breath...

"PROVE YOUR WORTHINESS...
13 LIVES IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR OWN SINS...THESE ARE WHAT I DEMAND IN ORDER TO ATONE FOR YOUR INEQUITY. BRING ME THE LIVES OF THE INNOCENTS AND ILL GRANT YOU YOUR FAMILY BACK. DO NOT FAIL..."

I never really believed in the supernatural. To me the tales of God and a savior was all just a wise tale to keep the world in fear of their own morality if they risked a pursuit in their own carnal desires. It was all just a clever ploy and scam to generate power and influence and above all else, just a bullshit story to tell...
That all changed 5 days ago...
Whether or not God exists, I dont have a clue...but 5 nights ago to this very day, as I bled through slit wrists onto the tile floors of my kitchen waiting for death with the bodies of my wife and two daughters circling around me with gunshot wounds through each of their heads...
I felt almost a certain paing of remorse that quickly turned into regret. My anger has always gotten the best of me at times, more so than often, but on this night, I drove myself into insanity. My blood lingered and glistened onto the floor, and for the first time in my life, I actually prayed to take it all back...but God wasnt who answered...
As I laid helpless and dying surrounded by death, a dark figure clothed in torn garments as dull and black as soot seemed to emerge from out the depths of reality until all was engulfed by the cloak that enshrouded him, and only the tiny pupils of his blood red eyes could be seen. When he spoke, it seemed to not to have come from his mouth or any part of his being at all for that matter; but more like it came from every object around me.
From the walls....
From the sink...
From the wet sticky blood stained clothes that pressed tightly against my skin..
His eyes drove me to madness and when he spoke, it was not just mere words; there was more.
So much more.
It was life, but most importantly...he was Death.

Tiny drops of rain snap me out from my reminiscence as the Mulberry tree continues to be what supports my exhausted body from giving in to the urge of falling asleep and possibly never waking again. The bullet wound in my neck continues to throb in pain but as long as I dont make sudden movements I can almost breath in regular intervals. I look down and the way its bleeding is not looking good at all...the flow is too heavy and its too dark...Im no doctor, but I believe an artery was hit. If so...

Two more innocents. Thats all I need. All I need and the bargain he promised will be fulfilled. Ive already killed 11 so far, mostly men, some women, and all was going good, until an hour ago when I failed to slit the throat of my would-be 12th in the barn she attended as she brushed her horse down after a long ride throughout the pasture of fields where I first saw her riding.
I followed her. And I waited.
I waited and crept up for just the right opportunity to sneak up behind her and get a good angle. But just as I was in arms length, the horse in which she continued to brush, seen me from the corner of the barn door and as we made eye contact a sudden burst of lightning stretched across the sky and thunder rattled making it scream and jump, scaring my would-be victim into stumbling back and falling right ontop of me as we both fell down into the hay ridden flooring. She looked me dead in my face and screamed loudly for her husband.
I swung and slashed my knife wildly and frantically at her throat, barely missing as I gashed her cheek. She got up before I could catch my balance and ran straight for her house. I had just enough time to see her husband and another fellow running out with what appeared to be an Assault Rifle and a pistol. I gathered up my senses and left with a 7 second head start.

More rain this time, and the fog that surrounds me is getting thicker. My head is starting to get light and the urge to sleep is becoming to powerful to ignore... I know this feeling...its the same as in the kitchen... Im dying all over again. Death gave me what you would call an "extension" in order to pursue the task he demanded for my prayer at a second chance. 13 innocent lives to give me back the 3 plus mine. Every word he spoke was more terrifying than the next and I didnt have the courage to ask what would happen should I fail. But as the looks of things...I will no longer have to wait or guess to see what the consequence could be...

From deep within the woods, I can see that familiar shadow emerge closer and closer; the dark soot color of his torn and battered cloak swallowing and engulfing everything it comes in contact with. Closer and closer, he comes, lingering towards my depleting body with an almost ghostly ease. His blood red pupils becoming more and more visible with each second that passes. I bow my head down and begin to shiver. They say death is the greatest fear known to man...

"YOU FAILED..."

I doubt that...

Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down.

Written by Thumper Corrupts 💪💀