The space is dark, and I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder. I touch it with a hand, and find a hole spewing crimson down my arm. A grotesque voice calls out, as I see two gleaming red dots in the distance,

“Come, little sheep, back to the arms where you were nurtured. 

Come, little sheep, back to the dark where I was born. 

Come, little sheep, back to the barn so you may be slaughtered.” 

I force myself to stand, grunting as I do. Shaky legs can barely hold me, as I clutch my shoulder and flee the other way. The grotesque voice laughs, as I hear it shift and give chase,

“Run, little lamb, from the truth you bear not accept. 

Run, little lamb, lest you be caught by your pursuer.

Run, little lamb, for prey tastes better when marinated in fear.”

I move slowly due to my injuries, but still I desperately limp through the darkness. I open my mouth to call out, but find I have no voice here. Instead the voice speaks from behind me,

“Quiver, little sparrow, your wings are all but clipped. 

Quiver, little sparrow, your sorrow sharpens my senses. 

Quiver, little sparrow, for this time it will be long and painful.”

Frustrated, I swing around, lashing out blindly. My arm finds empty air, as there is no one there behind me. The voice now comes from above, as I look up to find two eyes staring back at me, 

“Are you here this time, alone? 

Where are the rest? 

Where are these allies, you were so certain would come to aid?”

Taunted by his words, I turned back to continue my flight. I open my mouth to call out, but this time it is a voice that is not my own. I speak with the voice of my hunter, as he taunts me,

“O, but they were there.

There, when I first broke you.

They are gone now, but I assure you: they were there.”

A sinking feeling fights its way up from my chest, as I dismiss it with my fear. The hole in my shoulder forced new waves of pain across my frenzied mind. But I could not stop the voice that spoke with my lips: 

“They witnessed you burn. Right before their eyes.

They stared you down, as I ripped you into shreds. 

They watched me butcher and flay your flesh from your bones.

And they did nothing. 

They stood there, just out of reach, and did nothing.” 

I shake my head as I limp forward, hoping to at least tame my rising thoughts. These words could not be true, I was certain of it. And as if the voice could hear me, it continues, 

“For so long, it seemed, you had suppressed me. 

Silenced me, in your mind. 

Cast me from my home.

Replace me with these people.” 

Suddenly, a dark creature springs from out the shadows, crashing into me. It lands with so much force, the air is ripped from my lungs. Shrouded in black, with two red eyes, it pins me to the ground with a foot. Leaning closely, it hisses, 

“They watched me break you, before they turned their backs on you.”

Angrily, I growl back, placing a hand on its foot to pry myself free. Amused by my efforts, the creature reaches a hand down towards my face. Sharp claws dig through into my forehead, as blood spills down into my eyes, blinding me,

“But this, was something I heeded you to, long ago. 

This, was a prophecy, you insisted was my delusion. 

I foresaw this coming, yet you insisted it would not pass.”

The creature rips its claws out of my forehead, as it grabs my throat. It raises me into the air, as my hands move to grab its arm. I choke on a mixture of my blood and tears, as the creature delightfully whispers,

“You swore I could never get to you again. 

And so you taunted me behind their silhouettes.

But look how easily they stepped aside for me.

Look how easily I broke through. “

I begin to suffocate, as my blood gushes down my throat. My vision turns hazy, as I notice figures standing in the distance. Bystanders, watching, as the creature choruses,

“Where is the strength you defied me with? 

Where are the people you recruited to do it?

Where are the ones, you swore could help you?

Aid you.

Keep you, from me?”

My hands slump from the creature’s arm, falling lifelessly by my side. I slip into the darkness, the last thing I feel is the creature slamming me to the ground. With a foot, it forces my head into the wet abyss,

“But here you lie, bleeding between my feet.

Still you cry, though we have done this a thousand times. 

How else am I to clarify?

That no one can save you, should I ever choose for you to die.”