Orion

Pain

What is a "pain"? When people hear the word "pain", they would normally associate it with wounds and injuries like a cut or a bruise. They would normally be right. These physical injuries are common in the world we live in. My body has lived through countless wounds. It's an occupational hazard. If any of you are wondering what I actually do for a living, keep wondering. I'll leave it up to your imagination. 

I remember just yesterday, I got stabbed in the back by the bartender in the very bar I used to frequent after a long day at work. As to why he stabbed me, I will probably never know because shortly afterwards, I killed him with his own knife. I could probably guess the reason though but I won't. No use worrying about the past. 

Enjoy your moments alive in the present and set your sights on the riches of tomorrow. That is my life motto. Well, it was until it blew up in my face and set me on a path of no return.

Things like yesterday happen all the time to me. People either like me too much or too little and many, many "yesterdays" have become part of my healed wounds. When you cut a string, it becomes two smaller strings and if you try to reconnect them, you end up with the same string with a slight bulge in the middle where you had to tie the two smaller strings together. In simple terms, once you cut the string, the change was irreversible. It's the same with wounds that cut deep. You may heal and you may forget but your body does not. Scars are left behind as if to remind you of the wounds which caused them.

I never liked fights due to the fact that I almost always get wounded but I do earn quite a bit of coin from it, so I kept my mouth shut. I knew I had made quite a few number of enemies, more than I'd like to count. Thinking about what my mother would have said to me if she found out about my social life made me shudder in fear. She was always a fearsome woman and she needed to be to keep things running in the household full of idiots. She's dead now, so no worries about that anymore. 

We're a bit off topic now, so let's get back to business. Right now, I'm lying in a pool of blood. At least, I think it's blood. My vision is blurry and I can't feel my body. Strange. I can only think of two reasons for my current situation. I am either drunk out of my mind and fell onto the ground, spilling my wine as I fell. OR I was attacked and now I'm lying face first on the ground, dying a slow death. I hear heavy footsteps on the wooden floor and I slowly turn my head in the direction of the steps and squint at the owner of a disgusting pair of mud-brown boots. 

A large figure. He was probably seven feet tall with big broad shoulders. He was wearing some sort of chest armour and he was smirking at me. In his hands were two large rounded objects. He gently lays them down next to me and whispers, 'Rejoice. Not many people get the chance to die with their loved ones.'

The rounded objects were, in fact, two heads, detached from their bodies. One belonged to a little girl and the other belonged to man. My eyes widened as tears started to run down my cheeks. Forcing my body to move, I slowly rose from the ground despite the nerve-wrecking pain coursing through my body. 'You...are....a real piece of....work, aren't you?' I snarled. Stepping over the heads, I slowly approached my assailant and drew my sword. He merely laughed at my attempt to engage him in combat before smashed his foot onto my stomach, sending me flying to the other side of the room. 

This time, I really couldn't feel my body. I couldn't even move. I glanced at my stomach to access the damage. It was then that I realised for the first time, the blood on the floor had come from my stomach which had been sliced cleanly open. My intestines were spilled out on the floor in front of me and blood was starting to flood my mouth. I could not speak and I could not defend myself. The pain was almost unbearable but at that point, I was numb to the physical pain of my dying body. I was feeling another kind of pain. It was a kind of pain which I've never felt before. My heart felt heavy and my mind was about to burst open. Was this what they call "emotional anguish"?

Death was waiting for me. I had probably less than a minute left to live. I opened my mouth and whispered, 'Kate.....Dad.....I should've....been a better.....son.....I'm so....sorry....God.....have mercy.....on their souls.....as they are....taken under....Your....merciful wings..........'

I didn't get to finish as I felt a sword entering my heart and everything went black.