Island of the Decayed - Part I

Part I – Deadly Dance:

Wake up...

Wake up...

Wake up...

My darling, wake up...

For the fifth time, I crashed to the ground.

 Even though I am tired, my legs ached, and I am thirsty, I can’t stop myself from running. How long has it been? Hours? Days? Why am I running in the first place? What is so important for me to chase?

 I squint as I look ahead. My feet pound on the ground, and autumn trees loomed over me like demons.

 All I could see was darkness, following my every step.

What is the point of this? I’m tired, cold, hungry, thirsty, and scared. Who is so important that I must push myself this far for?

 I found my feet slowing to a stop. I feel myself sink to the ground, my heart beating heavy, my breath short and gasping. I lay myself on the floor and gaze up at the sky. I couldn’t even feel anything. My body felt as if it were in one world, and my head in the next. I am about to close my eyes and give up until I hear her.

 Her laugh.

Soon enough, I smell her, a smell as sweet as roses. And then I taste her, bittersweet and addicting.

 Finally, I see her. A woman dressed in a white flowing gown. Her face was covered by a thin white veil. Everything about her seemed radiant at one point, but now to me it seemed oddly macabre.

 A slender hand unsheathed itself from her sleeve and pointed to me, beckoning for me to follow. I stood there for a moment, confused. It was only when she began to back away from me did I feel my feet start to follow once more.

 I didn’t have any sense of direction anymore. All I thought was to get to her. To feel her skin. To taste her just one more time.

I was willing to give everything, even my very own life. I was willing to give whatever it took to take this woman, this unknown, for a dance.

 A deadly dance.