Writer Games | Death Wish & 51

Task Four: Agony - Males

District One - Eoghan Monteligneau

DID NOT HAND IN.
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District Two - Edgar Phasear

I'd never understood  other humans; sometimes I wondered if I was even human at all and not  some dry-humored angel that had been cast to earth for the sole purpose  of killing people. To me, it was rather probable, after all it seemed as  though I was immune to most of the fog that clouded the vision of just  about every miserable creature on the face of the earth. I alone could  see things for what they truly were- the thunder was just one of those  things.

I hadn't moved all day. I  lay facing the sky sprawled across the top of the cornucopia with my  eyes shut. I listened intently to every slight breeze that rippled  through the leaves and to every small crackle of twigs made by a small  animal. My patience for the telltale soft breaths or the cautious yet  hesitant footing of a tribute was endless. They were coming and I could  wait all day. If my calculations were correct today would be the day  that they would start to feel an urgency for food due to the fact  tomorrow they should be out completely.

I had no doubt that I would hear them coming. Their fear would betray them as fear betrays everyone. Perhaps it even betrays me.

It had been a long time  since I felt the electric horror stem in my chest and infect my body,  but as the thick sound of thunder cracked in my ears I was reminded of  it. I sat bolt right looking at the massive clouds hanging ominously in  the sky. I hated myself for the feeling of infidelity that settled  itself in my chest as I peered at the cloud with a tight throat.

My friend Death always  seemed to make himself known to me in the sky. It was in the  thunderstorms that I questioned our friendship, for it was in them that I  knew he was furious. Sweat began to drip through my pores and I fought  the urge to wring my shirt. The sky had been perfectly clear since I had  gotten here, what had I done wrong?

It struck me in an  instant. I had failed to kill anyone since the bloodbath, I was wasting  time in Death's mind. I felt my heartbeat pick up in my chest, its  powerful beats sent adrenaline cascading through my veins like a river. I  had been moronic to attempt and wait them out. Death waits for no one,  not even me.

"I-I'm incredibly  apologetic." I stumbled, reduced to nothing more than a stuttering child  and I completely despised myself for it.

'Go to the castle',  the words popped into my head without me thinking them. Death, I  realized letting out a small exhilarated breath. He was being merciful,  he wasn't going to strike me dead with a lightning bolt and then torture  me in the afterlife for an eternity. That is, assuming there was an  afterlife, which in my mind was most definitely not worth a gamble with  Death.

"The castle it is, my dear friend. I won't fail you." I stated aloud eyeing the clouds warily.

I slid off the side of  the cornucopia and entered its gaping mouth, still teaming with  supplies. I scanned it and made my selections swiftly. Time was ticking  and I couldn't afford to be the slug I had been over the past two days.  My fingers closed around a backpack that I knew held enough food and  water for six days. I slung it awkwardly over my sword sheaths that were  also strapped to my back. I selected a few additional silver knives and  gleaming daggers, strapping them to my legs and arms to grab easily if I  were to need them. It was better to be prepared than dead. My mission  was proving itself more and more pertinent to fulfill, I thought grimly  as I resisted the urge to look back up at the clouds.

. My feet crunching  against the rocks while the unforgiving wind tugged at my hair. The wind  taunted my fiercely, warning me that I had better deliver another soul  to Death very soon, lest he showed me his wrath. The castle looked  moderately close so it should hardly take me much time to reach. I would  have enough time to appease him before sundown.