Eternity

Beautiful Liar

I woke up to the strong scent of pine and damp dirt, the air was impossibly thick yet humid. Panic erupted through my veins as I opened eyes unable to see anything, it was dark, too dark. I attempted to call flor help but all that escaped my throat was a struggled whisper. Memories rushed into my head as I recalled the war, the pain of the arrows piercing my flesh, the blood blossoming from the wounds. The generals promise, the promise of life.

"Why... why are you so stupid... why did you do this to me, leaving me all alone in this dark world." The woman's voice was broken by sobs, sobs that cut my heart worse than any blade, sobs that came from a broken heart. A heart that seemed too loud, too close. Betrayal and hopelessness flooded from the woman's tears, emotions that could break the strongest of spirits. He sobs were painfully familiar as she continued to beg for my return, my life. I struggled hopelessly as my muscles disobeyed my command, I was a mind with no body, I could hear, but not speak, feel but not see. Useless.

"Why do you pray, why do you pray when you know his fate?" Asked a familiar voice in a firm, cruel tone. "You knew that he would die, his rank was one of fodder." The heartbeat above quickened as the sobs stoped and anger seemed to consume the woman's emotions.

"What do you know, I loved him and I believed he would return to me." She whispered barely audible over her racing heart. My heart finally broke when I realized who she was, SoYoung, I desperately tried to scream her name but only the faintest of whispers escaped my raw throat. She loved me, I promised I'd go back to her, I failed her.

Her heartbeat continued to pound in my ears, so perfectly that I could remember the first time I heard it. It was a bitter autumn day, she was holding my hands in her small fragile grip. I had known her as the fare princesses daughter, a child among many heirs to the throne of this war torn kingdom. I was a mere peasant in her stead, but she came close and would whisper in my ear, close enough to smell the faint cherry blossom perfume and hear her delicate heart flutter.

"I will always love you..."

I was drawn from the bitter sweet memory by a sharp pain that spread from my chest and flowed through my veins. The pain seemed to awaken my limp muscles as they twitched against the agony. The pain faded quickly and I was left in an exhausted state, too weak to fight the hunger that had begun to linger in my abdomen, growing steadily stronger with every beat of the delicate heart above.

"I loved him... I really did" SoYoung whispered quietly almost as if she were convincing herself. Footsteps rang above above treaded back and forth beside my resting place,

"If you loved him, why would you lie? Why would you promise him a lifetime together when you have so little left, when your life is so fleeting" the familiar voice questioned as the footsteps came to a halt.

"Lie? What do you mean lie?" She asked her voice quivering slightly, "I promised him a lifetime because if he would of survived we could of live till we were old and grey."

"Don't lie to me!" The man yelled causing the woman's heart to race and sobs to fill the empty air. "Your heart betrays your words, it's weak and has been that way for some time, a heart that has destined it's owner to a short painful life. You have known all along that you would die young, that you would never live to go grey."

"No... I would never lie to him, I loved him General HakYeon ... I just didn't want him to think I was suffering... he deserved to live happily" Soyoung explained he voice broken by sobs, the footsteps above continued masking the heart breaking cries from the woman I loved. She lied to me, she promised me a life, a family, a future. When in reality, if I had survived I'd be coming home to an empty house with a gravestone. With every weak beat of SoYoung's heart mine grew stronger with anger and betrayal. She lied, she made me promise only to spread lies.

"Why... Why did you do this...?" I whispered faintly heard over the chaos above, but the general stopped his pacing to listen again.

"What is..." she whispered only to be cut off with a harsh hiss.

"Listen carefully..." he replied

"Am I alive... I... I'm a spirit right?" I spoke again my throat burning with every syllable, "I'm dead right?..." panic  filled my veins as I realized my position, I was in a pine box six feet below the surface, seemingly dead. Above was the woman I had loved only to be betrayed and the man I fought and died for. Anger replaced the panic as I struggled against the wooden barrier that contained me. With a single punch I broke the bored revealing a clear fall sky.

"It's About time that you woke up, I was getting sick of this "light" of yours" the general smiled as he looked over the edge of the unfilled grave. His words causing panic to disrupt SoYoung's steady heart beat. Hunger and anger broke through the last restraint I had causing me to break free of the box and clamber out of the hole impossibly fast.

"You... it's.. it's impossible" SoYoung whispered stepping away from me her face a cocktail of guilt and grief. The beat of her heart caused more waves of pain and hunger to crash through my abdomen draining me of what little self control I held on to.

"Don't..." HakYeon shouted into the cold night, but it was too late. Her breath was warm against my cheek as I stood an inch away, one hand on her arm while the other held her neck.