A Breath Never Exhaled

The pressures of the world were great. They could not hold against the days, beneath the sun.
So they went to the waters, and let themselves sink.
Further and further down, the world faded away, and they were at peace.
Beautiful was the serene quietness, but cruel was the surface.
For only in the surface could they find the air that they needed to breathe.
So they would break away from the waters, and return to their world, and return to breathing.
Some were rested, some invigorated, but always were there those who were afraid and exposed.
The days always dragged on and on, grating against their souls. But solace and peace continued to wait in the waters.
So they would bathe and and they would sink 'till their lungs could hold no longer, shrugging off the world in a place that rested deeper than sleep, that held wonders more beautiful than dreams.
At last, those who could no longer bear the separation from the tranquility gave in. They sank further from the surface, and breathed in. The darkness swallowed them.


From the surface, those who chose life looked to their sinking friends and spoke:
"Though we were greater in strength, they know now a peace eternal, carried away from the callous hands of life."

Sluagh Rising

"You can't give up. You don't have a choice."

The old man's voice echoed through my head.

I had to get up, I had to keep fighting.

The were four. I was one. How can you fight that?

I don't know kung fu. I'm not some motorcycle-riding bad ass that can beat up everybody that gets in my way. I can just see them, for what they really are. And I have to do what's right.

They take souls. Life force. Brainwaves. Whatever the fuck you want to call it. They take something from you, and once it's gone, you're dead. No one seems to see it happening. You might see, out of the corner of your eye, someone talking to someone, or perhaps kissing someone, in an alley, or dark corner. I'll see someone draining something out someone else, as if they were breathing in and taking away all the energy in them, all their thoughts, all their feelings.

So I make it a point to stop them.

I can see them in public, because their eyes are black. Empty. Like open, hungry mouths. They tend to work under the cover of night, but they're not like vampires. I see them riding the bus, walking through the park, at your work... you get the idea.
I don't think they're organized much. I don't think they meet. I've seen them cross each other's paths, and they seem to recognize each other, but they're like wild felines. They're out to fend for themselves. Or so I thought, until tonight.
I didn't see them coming. I was rushed by two of them into an empty parking lot underneath the raised highways of the city. Two more were waiting behind a giant concrete pillar.

They surrounded me and started to pummel me with their fists, and I went down. They kicked, and kicked, and kicked to the point I thought my rib cage was going to cave in. I tried to fight back, but they kept kicking me back down. Blood exploded and oozed from my mouth, dripping down, riding on my saliva. A boot connected with my left hand, and I felt one of my fingers snap, like a rubber band stretched too far. I screamed out at the pain. This was too much. I had gotten myself in too deep. They caught on to what I was doing, and they were going to kill me. I gave into the pain, I began to accept it. I saw death loom in the shadows, and I welcomed it closer.

But the old man's voice rang through my thoughts.

I grabbed some dirt and glass that was beneath my right hand, and rolled onto my back, throwing it as hard as I could into their faces.

I hit dead center on one, as the others shielded their eyes. I leaped through that brief window of opportunity and tackled the blind one. I lunged for his legs, and he fell backwards. I stumbled halfway through getting up, immediately shifted my weight over, and aimed my fast-falling elbow at his face. It connected directly to his nose, giving a most satisfying crunch.

I had a habit of breaking their noses. I hoped it was a habit I wouldn't break.

I was high off the adrenaline and the awe of my witty puns. I picked up a small rock and swung it up into the jaw of the next one that was running towards me, sending him sprawling to the floor.

My third and fourth attacker came towards me, and I struck my right fist towards one of them. He easily blocked it, but I was already sending my left thumb straight for his eye.

I held my breath, enduring through the pain of my broken finger. Just the vibrations from my thumb digging into his eye almost overcame my senses.

He threw his hand up at his gouged eye, yelling and grunting. I wasn't quick enough to dodge the fist of my fourth attacker. His knuckles dug into my chest, and didn't give me enough time to steady myself as another attacker, the one whom I had connected a rock to his jaw, got behind me and elbowed my spine between my shoulder blades.

I stumbled down to my knees, but I instantly kicked backwards as I tried to push myself back up.

The heel of my boot landed in his groin and he fell. He tried to get up, only to find gravity was still stronger then his lack of balance. Rock-jaw was down for the count.

The sound of feet shuffling turned my attention back to two other attackers. One-eye and Fourth guy were circling me, measuring me up, trying to psyche me out.

I had taken two down, but it had taken out a lot of me. One-eye would've been a fair fight, both of us tired. Fourth guy was still full of energy. Breathing was beginning to hurt.

Then clouds rolled across the sky, blocking the moonlight. The whole parking lot got much, much darker. Much darker then night can get.

Their hollow eyes took on a faint glow, and seemed much larger, almost the size of doorknobs.
I froze, not knowing what was going on... and I was even more shocked when they dropped to the ground.
The clouds rolled over, letting the moonlight show me four bodies, not moving, not breathing, not living.

I cradled my broken hand to my aching chest and left.