Heart Aches

I felt something, no. It was the absence of a thing, nothing. 

Looking around I see myself in an empty room, three doors can be seen though.

A white one, a black one and an inverted one. 

Logically this should be simply a dream. It shouldn't matter much which I choose.

I opened firstly the white, I could see myself inside of an isolated room with a manic expression.

Black was next, I saw myself covered in moss trembling ever so slightly. 

In the inverted door, I saw a person staring at me, with their poached eyes crying though the tears never landed.

"I am 'Yourself', a person who fears death yet denies it."

"No, you're not."

Closing the door I calmly await my awakening.

Suddenly I could directly feel someone staring at me.

Behind me, in the inverted door was two blurred eyes staring, judging me.

Suddenly I feel a burning pain searing my chest.

'A knife!?'

Losing my cool I frantically panic, my mind in chaos, forgetting that this is even a mere dream.

'I cannot die! I shouldn't! My life will start and WILL not end here! I must escape, survive!'

In front of me is the same figure from before.

"You see, you do fear death ever so terribly. Doesn't it just ache you're heart seeing a person's soul cease to exist?"

~…~…~…~…~…~

I woke up inside of a rugged blanket.

"Oh hey! You fell asleep quite suddenly so me and my wife decided to just keep you here for the night."

Searching for the knife I found a second scar this time seemingly from a stab wound that I had no recollection of.

Still sweating profusely I fell into the warmth of the quilt from my sheer tiredness.

'I guess I should sleep a bit first..'

~…~…~…~…~…~

# Year XXXX - Irma, Inner-City - 7 : 43 a.m #

"Wake up little rat!" 

"Five more minutes…" Said in Diddle's terms, "A lethargic, good-for-nothing, foolish bum."

Regretfully, Pazu had not expected that this single action would cause his unexpected morning ass-whoopin' session.

A screeching could be heard all across the street of Saint-Lousenberg.

"Argh! Did you really have to hit me that hard! Shopkeeper!"

"That is Miss Diddle for you!"

"Okay, okay! 'Miss Diddle' what do I do now? Do I just stay a bit or leave now?"

"Well, you can stay.. But just for breakfast!"

Morning passes and I leave, wandering around the city blocks like a true connoisseur as I expertly traversed through.

'Obviously there must be a correlation since I got a scar from seemingly nothing afterwards. What-if the dream would come true?'

One thing I noticed is that both of my scars from my last life's death and my dream connect and create an 'S'-like shape, although it seems to be just a simple coincidence.

While thinking I had walked into an unknown area that gave me a sense of urgent dread.

Moving on forwards, I come across a pole, I can feel my heart aching only affirming my dreadful feeling.

I see a bit further a banner which read a few scribbles I think? Still couldn't exactly read well.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Execution, performed by the Dulfedeire clan.

Reason -

Treachery to God. Due to committing numerous acts against God's gift, they have been punished by stomach dissection, due to repetition the criminal has been amputated further.

Cursed Witchcraft. Due to their Witchcraft 'Science' we have punished them with execution by standard ritual cleansing.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

And behind that I could see a battered man with a stitched stomach on a platform and behind him are two black-cloaked men wielding spears.

"People! Why do things fall! It's because of gravity! Please believe me!" The man pleads.

After a chuckle the executioner as if having heard this a thousand-times then says.

"Then why does this spear pierce you're back? Because of you're repeated sins!" And with that said the man was pierced by two spears, choking on his blood he falls, his body disappearing to nothingness, blood is all that remains.

I felt a searing pain in my aching heart.

The floor was drenched in dried blood, even a thousand men couldn't produce that much!

I couldn't live here! I'd much rather live far away in a territory filled with wild beasts!

Human death is too painful. I can't stand it! 

Others hadn't even reacted! They've acted as if it were a magician's trick, only few had reacted and it were the people who had clearly recently died! Were all people who lived in the afterlife like this?

Breathing loudly, I run into an alley to clear my mind.

~…~…~…

End of Chapter