Slow Release

Fzzzt. Fzzzt.

What is that noise?

Fzzt. Fzzt. Fzzt.

Sharper, rending my brain.

Fzt. Fzt. Wake Up.

A voice? Who...
Who could have such a voice...
That dark, penetrating voice...
One that promises terror yet holds the key to life...

Wake up... I would like to play a game.

A game? What game?

Look at the TV and see what I mean.

My eyelids are so heavy
My senses come out of their drugged stupor
Something is there that wasn't there...
Something besides the headache tearing through my eardrums
I manage to lift my eyes to the dark screen.
Shit... A psycho in a clown mask
Just what I need to make my week complete...

You will notice two large bulges in your limbs he says
I flex the muscles in my neck and legs so that my vision can join the two
Wires...
Wires coming from both legs
Wires coming from both arms
Conjoined to the box in the corner
I can tell before I even focus my still-glossy vision
What the box means
No need to question how
Or why
It just means
I'm going to die...

I have a lesson for you to learn
Those muscles
Enhanced by sterrhoids
Instead of years of training
Your vanity is your downfall
Rip your flesh
Tear the skin
Dig through pools of blood
And locate the explosives attatched to your bones
With them you find a key
The final key unlocks the door to freedom
Be warned, you have 20 minutes...
Make yourself scream
Which is more important?
Image or life?
You choose...
Live... or Die?

I incline my head and see the rusty scalpel
The psycho was serious
I'm going to have to bring myself within an inch of death
In order to escape it
What's the point?
My body will be ruined
The years of striving for perfection, wasted
But no... something tells me to get out
Basic instinct
A newfound will for life?
I dont care... my body is awake again
I can feel the explosives on my bones
The pain is immense
What could more do to me?

I take up the blade in my right hand
And drive it deep into my left arm
I see my blood flow
I feel nothing
The adrenaline is intoxicating
I slice the skin
I cut the muscle
I rip apart my life's work
Red metal sprays into my eyes
And still I hack away at my own salvation
I feed my fingers into the gaping wound
I feel the small pack
I tear it off
The key is attatched
The blood is nauseating
The pain is overwhelming
I take the key and unshackle one of my bound legs

I repeat the process
My own life force spills onto the floor
I can see my mortality
I know that my life hangs in the balance
It drives me to force the blade deeper
I pull out the second small package
It glistens red...
I feel faint
The adrenaline is wearing off
The pain floods back
Like my blood floods the dark room
I take up the scalpel one last time
And release my final limb

I finish
My forhead sweating
The smell of iron lingers in the air
The final key
Bigger than the rest
I half crawl
Half drag myself
To the edge of the room
And insert the key into the lock
It clicks open
I breathe in fresh air
The white haired man
Smiling down at me
As I bleed on his shoes
My eyes roll back
I choke on oxygen
I feel nothing...
Did I kill myself
To escape death?
All I wanted was my own life...
And this is my reward.
No more pain
No more fear
No more scary-ass clowns
With their twisted games...

The light is blinding me
My body is aching
I can't move
And there he is again
The white-haired man
Smiling down at me
But I no longer bleed
I'm no longer in fresh air
Anti-sceptic clogs my windpipe
And I realise
I will be okay
This white-haired stranger
My saviour
I owe him my life...

Back to sleep
No longer a drugged sleep
But a restless, painful sleep
I will feel this way for some time
But it reminds me that I am alive
That I still breathe
And furthermore
That I will reclaim perfection
But this time
I will claim it un-enhanced.

Goodnight cruel world...