It's Only Gossip

39

Torture and torment is the cupboard my soul is trapped in. Pushing, shoving, pleading to find another exit. Lacking in hope favours the devil and tempts the darkness to conquer. I can't let that happen.

It has already occurred.

I open my eyes within a flash to discover prison like metal bars surrounding me. The coldness of the ground captures my attention, it's made out of stone. Where am I?

Sweat crawls on my neck as the room starts to appear smaller. A burning sensation strikes everywhere, forcing me to spread out hoping my sweat evaporates quickly.

"Your own personal hell," a female voice haunts from the ceiling.

There are two speakers above my cell. For a hell that looks ancient, those are some pretty modern speakers.

The sound of heels pressing onto the stone ground repeats, getting louder and louder with each step. Slowly I move towards the back of the cell and a giggle from the speaker causes me to flinch.

In front of me approaches a girl with silky, straight black hair. Brown is the lipstick colour she wears. Her define eyelashes covered with mascara to heighten the hatred blazing within her eyes. A slight smile is pulled onto her face when she sees the sight of me. Looking at me from top to bottom and bottom to top, she laughs.

Amelia, I wish she was born in Salem when they were drowning the suspects of witches.

"You were so easy," she shrugged.

I grit my teeth, "What do you want?" I question, powered with betrayal.

"Eh, I wanted a challenge," she gives a disappointed glare to her nails covered with black nail varnish.

Inhaling a deep breath, I walk towards her and attempt to punch her fragile face through the space between the bars. She proceeds an effortless swift motion. She dodged my punch.

"Amelia!" A voice calls out.

Selena's voice.

She jogs towards Amelia without even battering a glance at me.

"Master said I can do it." She states proudly.

"What?" Amelia screeches.

"You can't, you'll fail." Selena quickly lambastes.

"So I do all the boring work and you get to have the fun work?" Amelia attempts to make sense of the situation.

"Yeah," Selena smiles in response making Amelia rage.

They continue to argue whilst I take another look at my surroundings.

Metal bars, five centimetres apart. Stone ground. Two speakers attached to the ceiling on my left and right. Stone ceiling. Stone wall behind me and to my right. I tap the wall quietly in attempts to find a weak spot. I don't. I do the same with the floor. Failure mocks me.

I can fit my fists vertically in the space between the bars but it squeezes my palm. I pull my hand out and feel the rough texture of the bars.

Smudges of the metal colour is painted on my fingers. I scratch the brittle bars to discover that it's coated with something. Knowing I shouldn't, I sniff my hand at a small distance. That metallic smell, I can practically taste it.

Why else would a metal be coated on the metal bars surrounding me if it wasn't manganese?

They're trapping me in a cell with high exposure to manganese. They're going to torture me slowly. They're poisoning me.

My nervous system will be damaged. My actions will eventually get slower. Fatigue will stomp on me endlessly. Hallucinations may occur.

I've always wanted to have hallucinations but not in this way.

I quickly wipe the dust on the ground and move towards the middle of the cell. I know this isn't far enough but it's the best I can do right now. I cover my mouth and nose with my jumper while I reduce the pace of my breaths.

Amelia and Selena continue to bicker which causes me to wonder. Why aren't they wearing masks?

Amelia finally exits the scene, leaving me alone with Selena. She walks towards the bars in front of me and bends down. A menacing smile is painted across her face. Her eyes lock onto mine causing me to startle. I can't tell whether she's happy, sad, angry or even crazy.

Her eyes just look bland.

"Hey Levi," her soothing voice coos, "it's playtime."