"What It Means To Suffer"

The trap door creaks open as my body drops - hanging from the gallows my small body convulses, my legs kick, struggling to find something to help me stand, the rope taking away my right to scream, only allowing rasping breaths as I begin to choke.

The thick rope lacerating into the layers of skin on my neck, squeezing me as tears take over my eyes saving me from the harrowing sights that lay before me.

The soldiers howling as the villagers are dragged from their burning homes and men are forced to watch their women's violations before they're mercilessly executed.

The soldier standing above me on the gallows douses my twitching body with oil before another soldier standing beside me presses a torch against my drenched body.

I let out a gurgling scream - kicking and kicking and kicking and kicking, after each kick the rope tightens - I feel every inch of my flesh being engulfed in flames - tilting my head back trying to save it from the flame, It does not help as my eyes begin to boil and melt into my sockets.

The flesh of my nose receding like melting wax, No longer can I smell my own flesh being burnt to a crisp; My ears surrendering to the flames, no longer I hear the horrors of my own flesh sizzling, no longer I hear the screams of the children, no longer I hear the cries of women, no longer I hear the pleading of men

Eventually, no longer I scream - my voice box no longer able to withstand the flame, all that comes out is a disturbing gurgle of my own blood as it boils in my lungs cooking me from the inside out.

Please end it, please I beg of you please end it please please please please

"SNAP"

Finally, the pain is over, no longer can I feel my body, no longer can I feel my flesh be incinerated by the flames.

My body hung limp, motionless, swaying in all directions, I stay like this for what feels like an eternity; not even this could kill me, but it makes sure I wish it did.

My mother was a kind woman, she would tell me stories of my father - one of the five peaks, soldiers of the Gods, seen as a hero by the world, a villain to his enemies; But my father was no hero, nothing heroic about him.

Mother said he had many children birthed by multiple women from all over the world. I never understood her love for a man like him; she told the villagers stories, that one day he would come and save us from our poverty - I knew deep down she knew he wouldn't, she had given up hope long ago, but she wanted me to have hope, hope that one day we'd be saved, that I'd have a good life.

The villagers saw my mother as a nutcase who gave birth to a cursed child, they would stay clear of me, giving me a terrified look as if telling me to die on the spot, they were in fear of their lives everyday because of my birth, my existence - they had every right to be, they all suffered heinous deaths because of me, because I'm cursed.

Our villages prophecy for an immortal child that would dethrone the Gods was the reason for its poverty and abandonment, it was seen as a curse to the other villages in the world, not because of what it'd do to them, but because of what the Gods would do to them if they found out they had helped the child; And because of that, my father sent his soldiers to the village to rid of his disgraced creation.

I bet even now the Gods are looking down on me with a smile, they think they've proved the prophecy false, they think it would only take a mere flame to rid of it, oh how blinding ego can be.

It's cold, and dark, the stars sparkle in the sky; I lay in an eight foot deep crater made from mud, buried in bones and corpses.

I've seen this crater before, It's where corpses are thrown, once the corpses reach a certain height of the crater a mage is sent out to incinerate the corpses leaving only ash and bones behind in its place - I know this because I watched it happen to my auntie and her husband who died from illnesses.

My body is now fully regenerated, I steal the clothes from one of the corpses that lay beside me, not all of these are from my village, they're probably still transporting them here.

I walk towards the edge of the crater, clawing, slipping, sliding, clawing and clawing some more, over and over again until I eventually make my way out of the crater.

I'm tired, so very tired; I stumble as I make my way back towards my village taking a diversion into the left side of the wood concealing myself.

I reach the village, there's only two soldiers left behind clearing the corpses, some buildings have already been burned to the ground, it's almost clear land, corpses flood the village streets, It's a sad, miserable sight, but I feel nothing, completely void of all emotion - all I can do is think, plan, as I wait for the moment one of the soldiers leaves the village to dump corpses leaving only one behind.

Once the solider leaves, I make my way towards my home - I enter the already opened door, it's a sight that makes my stomach feel heavy, my head goes cloudy, vision blurry as I see my mothers corpse laying besides my bedroom door, she tried covering me from one of the soldiers; They slashed pierced her through the chest before riving me from me room by the hair.

Darkness fills my heart, tears blurring my sight as the soldier enters my home; I hear him snicker

"well well well, it seems we missed one" 

Before he can call to his men I grab a blade off of the kitchen counter and rush towards him, I've gone mad, my mind wont let me be reasonable, all I want is to hurt, to punish, to kill.

I swing to the side dodging the soldiers blade and impaling the knife into the left side of his rib cage, he lets out a scream - drops his sword and falls to the ground - his helmet falls from his head rolling across the floor.

What I do next is animalistic, beast-like, what you'd hear of only in tales of demons, monsters.

The man kicks, screams, scratches as I dig my thumbs into his eyes, biting at his face, I chew on his left cheek before rocking my head back tearing a chunk of his flesh from his face- I can see his exposed cheek bone. He lets out a blood curdling scream and starts flickering around the floor like a fish out of water - I pick up his blade and slam it into his shoulder, pinning him to the floor to stop him moving so much, I feel his nose tearing from his face as I latch my teeth onto it, his blood coughs up into my face, gurgling, choking, still kicking as he tries to breathe, trying to get me off of him.

I am no longer thinking of this as a mere man, he is a devil I must get rid of, all that fills my mind is rage, I'm blinded by it, there is no room for moral high grounds, no room for questions of his family, no room for forgiving, no room for mercy, only room for death.

He finally gives into his fate, arms fall to the ground, no longer breathing, no longer living, all he is, is a stain, dirtying the earth beneath him.

I raise up from his corpse picking up his sword, dragging the blade along the floor, stumbling out from my old home that has now been dirtied by devils - I see the other soldier picking up more corpses, I don't think, I don't reconsider, all I do is act.

I rush towards him, he is stunned by surprise, It's too late before he gathers himself together to attack, as my blade penetrates his stomach, He was too slow, couldn't react quick enough to unsheathe his blade - a petty excuse for a soldier, killed by the same mere child he was so proud of taking part in killing.

I bet they're watching me from hell right now - cursing me, my name, my family, but I was born cursed.

I hear heavy breathing, as I turn to my right. I'm met with the village priest and doctor that helped her give birth, He has the ability to see through things, they call it X-ray vision - the doctor told my mother she was carrying twins, a girl and a boy; One was to be the immortal child, until one day, the other twin decided to start consuming or in other words, absorbing the immortal twin, the doctor was stunned - never seeing such a thing in his time of work.

"DEVIL, YOU DEVIL"

He says to me in complete terror whilst shifting on his bottom, pushing himself away from me.

I walk towards him, blade faced town, blood dirtying my entirety, I'd be terrified of me too if I saw myself right now.

"W-WAIT, I-I HAD NO CHOICE, YOU WOULD'VE GOTTEN US ALL KILLED, I HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO TELL; T-THEY WOULD'VE KILLED US ALL, YOU SHOULD'VE JUST LET THEM KILL YOU THEN NONE OF THIS WOULD'VE HAPPENED." He puts out his hand in a stopping form.

I continue to walk towards him, his words mean nothing to me, I don't care if he is pleading, I don't care if he is cursing, I don't care if he is justifying, I have no room for care, there is only room for death - but not for me, for them.

He looks at me with one last look of terror as I swing my blade severing his right hand as he lets out a horrifying scream. I swing my blade again just as he looks up at me, I hoped to sever his head with the swing but he flicked his head back, It was a sad attempt of escape from him, he could've had a quick death, instead it creates a gaping wound in his neck causing him to let out a blood curdling scream, well at least he tries to, his blood just causes him to make a gurgling sound as he flops to the ground suffocating in his own blood.

I wander into the great-woods, The village people used to warn the kids of man eating elves in these woods, I personally believed it was just so we wouldn't go in and get lost, never finding our way back home. I must have been walking for about an hour, I'm tired, I just want to disappear, I didn't want this, why was I born, innocents were killed, families were tormented, children were stripped of their lives before being able to experience the real world.

All of this because of men in power playing God, terrified of a child's birth; I look up to the sky, I hope they're watching, I want them to see the hatred in my eyes, I want them to feel fear, I want them to know what it means to suffer - I need them to understand the monster they've created.

I try take one last step before giving into my exhaustion, I fail to do so and collapse to the ground.