Survival of the Least Likely

So the formatting's all messed up, I don't know why....hopefully it's still readable...
XXXXX

I've been here for nine months. They threw me into a pit, left me to rot. Every now and then they bring down food. The air here is unclean, diluted with some sort of gas that my captor's can't stand to breathe. I don't know when I got used to it. I've been down here so long I just learned not to mind.

In all honesty, I don't know why I'm alive. Their leader could've killed me. He had the chance, to get even with me for killing his one of his brethren. Instead, he locked me down here. "No revenge," he said, when he looked into my eyes. "When a creature is put into a life or death situation, it will do anything it can to survive. I understand you, child. Your struggle has been rough, so I will end it for you."

I will end it for you. Six lies. But I guess it was the truth. I'm not fighting for survival. I'm barely living, but the fighting's over. I don't have to fight.

But everything has to change sometime.

XxXxX

They're planning something. I know it from the day that their leader pays me a visit. His wrinkled hand brushes over my blood covered skin as he tells me about the Arrival. The Moon Priest has finally come. Our struggling is over, he says. But I don't know if I can believe him.

When he leaves, locking the iron door of my cell behind him, and I hear the footsteps retreating down the hall, I almost wish I could trust him.

But everyday, I fear more and more for my life.

XxXxX

I watched today as the Oni slaughtered yet another prisoner. The blood was everywhere, and it dripped into the water until the liquid flowed red. I have never been so happy to be locked inside this cage. When it keeps me away from the demons, I've learned I shouldn't mind it.

I don't think I've stopped shaking since I watched the Oni devour his body. My breathing becomes shallow and labored. Will I be next? Their leader tells me I'm safe, but he is a liar. He say's they're thinking about letting me Ascend, but it can't be true. It's just another sweet nothing, whispered to the stone of the catacombs. After all, there's no way I could ever be released.

XxXxX

The days drag forth. On several nights, the Oni take another one of us, and I can only wonder when it will be me. Blood and bones litter the floor outside my cell. I hear screams, screams that echo through the walls and resound in the tiny cell. Sometimes I wonder if our captors can hear the screams from in the fortress. I doubt they can.

They make visits sometimes. And sometimes, it's all I can do not to scream at them when they do. The leader has been absent for a long time. They say he's preparing for the Ritual...not that I know what the Ritual is, or what it does.

They're planning to leave this place, after the Priest Ascends. I know better than to ask if they're going to take us with them. Of course they wont. I'll probably die her in this cell, still fearing the Oni, as starvation claims me.

XxXxX

In the tenth month, I finally snap. My screams fill the catacombs. My wrists are bloody and raw from pulling at my restraints. The Oni often slam themselves against the barred door of my cell. The hinges seem to be loosening a little more each day. I won't survive for long.

I think it was the smell, that awful, gut-wrenching smell, that finally got to me. The smell of blood and entrails and toxic gas. And ten months in, when the smell gets to me, my sanity begins to slip.

The captors glare at me when they make their rounds. No longer does the leader visit. They say he's busy, helping the Priest to Acsend. And then they leave, and I know what they mean. They are at the top of the mountain, while we are underground. We are the untouchables, and there are so few of us left.

Days fly by without a sound. All the screaming has stopped, except for my own. I begin to wonder if I am the only survivor. The irony of that possibility almost causes me to laugh.

The newcomers are brought in a day later, and nobody asks how they got here, they're here and that's all that matters.

The captors do not give any of us to the Oni within the next few days, and I'm not sure why. All I know is that I'm going to die here- alone, broken, and screaming.

But at least I'll be free.

XxXxX

I wake to the sound of guards marching through the catacombs. My eyes widen immediately, and I struggle to lift my head. They must be here to kill me. There is no other reason for them to be here.

The lock on my cell clicks, and the door swings inward with a creak, banging against the wall. I drop my head to face the floor, only startling when a hand brushes the side of my face, smearing around the blood and dirt.

"What is your name?" A voice asks commandingly, and I shake my head. The hand tilts my head upwards, and I find myself staring into the eyes of a young man. "What is your name?" He asks again.

"Phalanx Baelin." I say, surprised at how level my unused voice is.

He nods, and looks away. "Phalanx. Do you wish to Ascend?" And I don't know what to say. I don't- I can't- what is...

Then I say it, the word that will change everything. I stare the Moon Priest in the eye, and slowly reply, "No."

XxXxX

They drag me from the cell by my tied arms, slamming the door behind me. I feel one of my captors kick me in the back of the leg, hear a sickening crunch as I fall to my knees, pain blossoming in my shin. They drop my arms, and I fall to the floor, as they rush to get away.

It takes me a few minutes to realize what's going on. And then I yell. I yell, and can't stop, won't stop. I struggle, trying to stand on my weak, broken legs. I hear the sound of metal scraping against stone.

When I manage to stand, I don't bother to look. I just run. I run without knowing where I'm headed, the only thought in my head being I've got to get out of here. I swerve, dashing for a tunnel, but begin tripping over my own feet, so close to falling. The angry cry of the Oni sounds behind me, but I don't stop. I don't stop until I fall forward into a large river. The putrid scent of blood hits my nose. I can barely make out a path in the dark, but the footsteps are drawing closer, and so I push myself through the bloody water, trying to ignore the sounds behind me.

I'm so close to being out I can feel it.

A hand grabs my legs, and I scream as my head is forced underwater. The Oni pulls my upward by my broken appendage, throwing me around effortlessly. Water is running down the walls, dripping onto my face as my head hits the stone. I kick out, my foot hitting the creature as I struggle, struggle to get away. So close...maybe...? I can't- Is there anyway out?

I feel the Oni grab for my shoulder, but I'm still pushing forward, and then I'm falling. I stare down the ground, bracing myself as I hit the thick rock with a thud. I try to move, but my body won't let me. Everything's so blurry...and then it's black, and I know nothing.

XXXEND CHAPTER 1XXX