I sit in the corner and wait for the darkness to flow in and merge into the shadow that I have come to know so well. My heart beats harder as I feel the chill of your arrival. I freeze as I feel your force slam me to the wall. Taste my blood as my senses bleed shades of red. Drag my body through shards leaving a trail of blood on the floor. I wince at the warm spray that burns my wounds. Your nail slices my scalp as you peel my skin, leave my flesh naked. I feel your fingers curl around my throat, feel my pulse in your hands, hear my breath as you stab into my gut and pull it slowly, twine my entrails around my neck and over the desecrated bough of the forlorn tree. Your foul breath envelops my scream that escaped through sewn lips. I feel myself rise, levitate slowly, my feet failing to find the distant ground. I look into your face in the fading light of life and recognize a face I have known all my life - mine.



