They were all swallowed whole and never seen again. It started with a whisper in the breeze, a melody that beckoned the wandering souls, the unfortunate souls. The pine trees would shiver and your steps would echo the beat of the song. They all lost their footing, and it was the last steps they would ever make.
The next was the colors, of washed out blues and flickering flames. Of a blood red bold that demands you eyes. Start off small, your words trickle in the air, but all sounds echo and all movements ripple. Perhaps it started in hell, how could something so beautiful be crafted of such pain an torment? Now the curiosity will kill you. You are human, are you not? Perhaps not for long. So remember that itch in the skull, preserve the twitch in your hand, harness your trembling bones and walk away. They all perished, they are dead. Donโt listen to their wandering words.
They are starved. Theyโve searched for so long, insides churn and blood rushing to their cheeks. The soft smile is fake. A rotted thing that feeds the soil. There is a crave for new flesh. You too, would go mad from tasting the same dust for so many years. Some will allure, their teeth drip fake wit and charm. Others blunt as stone, their leathery skin still covered from their last victim. Yet, all the same they search and scramble the earth among the ash from whence they came. Theyโll take anyone, anything. You were told to keep silent.
Enter warily, all that lived is now dead. The sweetest honey wonโt quench the corpse. Did you read it? Did you sense it? Did you feel it? That was them. Shift your gaze and shake your head, but you only have yourself to blame. They warned you, but the comforting warmth will burn you all the same.
Can you hear them? A clicking of keys, a scarping of metal. A longing sigh that morphs to a scream? It nips at your cheeks, grips your ankles, and creeps under your eye. Blink and itโs still there. Itโs not an illusion, unfortunately. Itโs too late, the sensation is now all you know. What could replace it? What could rival it? It will tighten and twist and strangle. You canโt escape. You will not escape, because you do not want to leave. You dared to let the words escape, and then they came and swallowed you too.
They were swallowed and never seen again. Some were killed the moment they came, others left to tremble in fear for eternity. Their knees knock, and their bones shudder. The sound becomes the song. You cannot step out into the light, warmth will burn you all the same. And that it why you are starved like us.
Write the name and see what happens. Etch it into the mirror front, and see it labeled on your chest. Let it hang and drip and cling like a corpse. The breath you now breathe is your last, for any moment now it will come. We will come.
Itโs only a matter of when youโll accept your fate.