| :. Thi§ Really §ucks .: | {STARE}
Feb 10, 2011 23:27:10 GMT -5
Post by Jasik on Feb 10, 2011 23:27:10 GMT -5
~ SNIP BYSHO ~Sounds flooded Snip's mind, competing with the images and memories that already dominated his conscience. The result was a confused mess cluttering the being of an albino boy, huddled next to a wall and as violent waves of shivering swept through his body. Despite the rising clamor in the dining hall as more and more people discovered the grisly sight that hung from a chandelier above their heads, all Snip heard was a loud, endless drone and an odd crackling. Then smoke reached his nostrils.
For a few moments, it was so subtle underneath all of the other conflicting sensations that Snip didn't even notice it. All he was aware of was an overwhelming fear and waterlogged corpses lined up on a filthy dock. But soon it became thicker, choking him and demanding his complete attention. Snip's crimson eyes opened a crack to see strange lights dancing on the walls, reflecting off of the carefully polished dishes that adorned the long banquet table. He began to cough, struggling to breath through the smoke that drifted from the other end of the hall. His head swung around and his heart nearly stopped. For a moment he was as frozen as he had been when he first saw the lifeless body that was still strung up above the table. But then someone screamed.
It was unlike the screams that had rung out through the dining hall before. Those had been shocked, knowing that the crime had been committed but they probably were not in any immediate danger. But the screams that filled the room now were terrified in the face of a life-threatening situation. These seemed to do the trick on the albino teenager, jarring him out of his silent reverie. These flames, however mesmerizing they were to the horrified, traumatized boy, were dangerous. And if he didn't do something, he would die a slow, painful death.
With a sudden burst of adrenaline brought on by fear, Snip scrambled to his feet and turned for the door before hesitating. Everyone would naturally want to head for the main exit. What if they got stuck? What if he was trapped in the flames? No, that would not work. But where else could he escape? He frantically snapped his head back and forth before his eyes landed on the line of windows displaying a beautiful sunlight on the ocean. Snip made his way to one of these and tried to force it open only to find that it had no lock, no sliding panels of glass. This window was not meant to be opened the traditional way. Without thinking, Snip cocked his fist back and swung with all his might, but it simply rebounded with a painful jolt. Rubbing his knuckles and swearing under his breath, he spotted a tray laden with thinly-stemmed wineglasses. Maybe it could help.
In one fell swoop he snatched it up, sending the wineglasses tumbling to the floor where they shattered in a blood-red puddle of alcohol. With all the strength he could muster, Snip hurled the tray at the window. It bounced off, but a hairline fracture had snaked its way along the glass. Snip was choking, gasping for air as the towering flames steadily inched toward him. Again he swung, and with a sigh of relief that was quickly cut off by another round of coughing, he shattered the window. The shards fell in a shower down to God knows where, but Snip didn't have time to decide if this was a safe route. Besides, the tray had fallen to the ground with the shattered glass, so he had nothing more to bludgeon windows with. He had no choice. Snip sprinted at the now-empty window frame and leapt.
Only a few seconds passed before he realized something was wrong. He should have hit the ground almost immediately after jumping, but he was still falling, his eyes squeezed shut tight. A second later he opened them -- and immediately wished he hadn't. A mere ten feet below with the gap rapidly closing, Snip was hurling towards water. He didn't even have time to scream before he hit the surface.
Being the traumatized aquaphobiac that he was, Snip had all but been exempted from the mandated swimming classes that all District Four children took. He was completely unprepared for the darkness that immediately surrounded him, nor the salty water that flooded his lungs when he reflexively inhaled. In a thoughtless, horrified state, the teenager thrashed about, struggling to reach the surface but only sinking farther down into the ocean's cruel depths. Only five words were clear in his head: I am going to die.
Despite his attempts to return to the surface, Snip just kept sinking, unable to thrash enough to propel his way to the air. His mouth was locked open in a drowned-out, dying shriek, growing weaker as he ran out of oxygen and was only left with the choking water. An absolute blackness began to close around his vision, darker than even the blackness of the water, and Snip finally accepted defeat. His limbs ended their panicked dance, his mouth relaxed but remained open, and his eyelids drooped as if he was simply tired after a particularly long day. All that was left of his sensations was the chilliness of the water and a distinct pressure in his chest... but then light pierced the darkness.
Some kind of human shape formed far away in the shadows, indistinguishable at a distance but steadily moving toward him. It became more distinct as it neared; it looked like a woman, and a familiar one. But rather than being fully human, she seemed divine, with light emanating from her perfectly smooth skin and trailing off in tendrils from her flowing white gown. And suddenly, Snip was sure he was seeing an angel.
Mom. The word escaped Snip's frozen blue lips in a bubble, rising up out of sight. It was a wonder he had been able to salvage enough breath to utter that final word. But he was so sure that this woman was his mother, that she had come to welcome him into whatever afterlife there was in store for him. She smiled and extended her hand to him. Snip eagerly reached forth, but his physical hands simply passed through her spiritual ones. Something whispered in the back of Snip's head, something so quiet it was impossible to make sense of it, but it had an air of reluctance about it. Deep inside, Snip's soul knew that it was not yet ready to depart.
Not yet, his mother confirmed, her beautiful, beautiful voice echoing around Snip's watery grave. And she smiled as the boy's numb feet touched the murky bottom of the sea.
His feet bumped into something harder and more stable -- probably a rock -- and he scrambled to set his feet onto it. He was not dead. Not yet. But this was his only hope of surviving this turmoil. But before he kicked off, he took one last look at his mother. She smiled again, a sad smile as she gazed upon her son for the last time. And then she was gone. No explosion of light, no portal, nothing. She just... vanished.
A heavy sense of loss and regret weighed down his heart, but it was still beating for the time being. Snip summoned up what was left of his strength -- really, there wasn't much left -- to kick off from the rock, sending himself rocketing up to the surface at an astounding speed. One second passed, then another, and he began to slow his ascension. Suddenly, Snip was afraid that he hadn't kicked hard enough, and that he would simply sink back to the bottom where he would finally die. But all at once, he was above the surface.
At first, he couldn't even breathe the sweet, precious air that now surrounded him. He flailed his arms about, struggling to remain afloat as he vomited up the saltwater before finding purchase on the floating tray that he had used to break the window. Using it as a primitive floatation device, Snip realized that he was in a cove with a small beach just a few yards away. He eagerly kicked forward with renewed energy, tumbling onto the damp sand where he completed the purging of his stomach. At the end, he had been reduced to a soaked, shaken, trembling boy who huddled next to the massive stone wall, tears streaming down his face and mixing with the saltwater. Despite the trauma he had just endured, however, he was alive. But based on how things had been going for him lately, his life could end anytime.
