There was a great pain that roused Kail from his eternity of slumber. It was a white agony that burned his face, the searing heat and pain causing him to scream until his throat tore with blood. The sound echoed around the room relentlessly, bouncing off the walls which such intensity that it was not until he had to gasp for breath that he realized he was not the only one screaming. He heard the boy, his voice young and shrill, howling with fervid intensity. It was a scream that pierced Kail’s ears and heart, filled with wrenching torment.

Kail spent an eternity in the pain before he realized something was different. It was a sharp pain in his eyes, hot whiteness that sent lances of agony racing to his brain. So strong was the torment that he could not think, merely yell and wail and wait for it to pass. It was an eternity before he realized that the light was not fading. It was an eternity of hopeful agony before he realized that the blinding light was familiar.

From pure white, it changed, growing tinges of orange and yellow. The light moved, changing hues and depth as it flickered. Kail felt his heart in his throat, hoping against hope that it was as he thought. Slowly, it grew clearer, tongues of flame flickering before him, dancing. His heart stopped as the realization struck him, washing away the aching in an instant. He could see again.

Breathtaking euphoria filled his body in a rush of adrenaline as he realized the truth. Darkness, the darkness that had surrounded him for eons, lifted from his soul. The light shone through, mesmerizingly beautiful, and it took his breath away. The torches on the wall with their orange flames. The black shadows that flashed in mimicry. The grey stone and the very floor beneath his feet. His heart broke as a wellspring of emotions burst out from inside of him. He could see again.

Slowly, his vision returned, pieces of the light becoming clearer, vibrant shades becoming distinct. He saw the room of stone, torches burning on the walls. He saw the caked blood at his feet, a dirty rag and bucket filled with water already deep red from use. And before him, as his newfound eyes adjusted, he saw the creature that had haunted his dreams for ages past. His heart, just lifted out of the despondence that it had grown accustomed to, sank once more.

She had called it Hope, the grotesque butcher that had carved open Kail’s body time and time again. Once more, it stood before him, toothy smile showing with the flesh sheared off half its face. In its scarred hands was a short knife, blade comically small in proportion to the being that wielded it. Blood dripped from the tip of the blade, covering its hand and pooling onto the floor. With a long black tongue, it lapped up the blood, closing its eyes as it savored the flavor.

Apparently just noticing Kail’s awakening, it gave a malicious grin, dark glint in its eyes as its tongue snaked its way back into its mouth. With a voice like sandpaper, it rasped, “So you’re awake, boy. I hope you’ll like my present. Your friend over here just insisted that I give them to you.” With a clawed hand, it grabbed Kail’s head, twisting it to the side as it forced him to stare into a shard of glass held by an outstretched palm. Kail saw his face, bloody and haggard, the hair long and shaggy, wounds and scars crisscrossing the skin. But most importantly, he saw his eyes. They were pure white.

There was no iris, no pupil. A clear, milky white filled the skinless sockets, edges of the bone still visible. It looked unnatural, as if the eyes had simply been tossed into the socket without care for direction. Wispy white vapor curled out of the edges, evidence that the magic used was still fresh.

Grabbing Kail’s head forcefully, Hope leaned in close, broken nails scraping against the ridge of bone underneath his eye. “Look’s like everything went in all nice. Why don’t you go and say hello to the donor? It’s rude to ignore him for all this time, you know.”

With yet another grin, it turned before giving a vicious kick to a figure in the corner. In the shadow of the torches, Kail had not even noticed the figure until it moaned after being struck. Grabbing it by the arm, Hope dragged it before Kail, throwing it face down in front of him. Grabbing the person by the hair, it lifted up the face to give Kail a proper look. What he saw made his stomach heave.

A young boy’s face, skin tanned but smooth, contorted in pain. His eyes had been torn out, blood pouring from black, empty sockets with ruined cords in the back still visible. A trail of blood and tears flowed down his face, dripping off his chin and onto the ground.

Slapping him across the face, Hope barked into his ear, “Don’t be a mute, boy. Say something. Go talk to your hero.”

The boy’s head lolled, hoarse from screaming, throat working but no sound coming out. It moved vaguely to try and search for Kail before giving up, head downcast as he sobbed.

“H-help me.”

Kail’s heart broke; he felt the last vestiges of his strength slip away. The boy that he had loved with all his heart, who had been kind and innocent. The boy that had been the star of his life amidst a boundless sea of agony, now torn to pieces before his very eyes. A bitter taste filled his mouth as he realized the irony that his salvation would only ever come if someone else paid the price.

Hope let go of the boy, letting him crumble to the floor sobbing. The blood dripped into a pile around his face, hands clawing feedly at torn skin. Hope sneered, grabbing Kail by the throat before leaning in. “Aren’t you thankful, boy? Thankful for your vision? Thankful for your health?” He let go of his grip and Kail fell back, coughing up spittle and blood as tears blurred his eyes. “I know that your little friend is hurt, but don’t worry. I’ve a ticket for a vacation in Hell. But I’ll need you, boy, to help me decide.”

It slammed open the metal door and walked out before returning with a small girl that it held by the hair. She was young, perhaps four or five years of age, with golden hair and smooth skin. Tears streamed down her face from pain as it dropped her onto the floor, giving the boy a kick in the ribs before dragging him over next to her.

It leered at Kail, yellowed teeth showing as it rasped, “You see, this little gem caught my eye. That boy over there didn’t want me to meet her, but hoarding’s no fun. People have to share. And I’m thinking of making this my present to her.” Hope struck her square in the nose, blood gushing out like a fountain as she screamed in pain. Despair filled Kail’s heart as he realized that she was the boy’s sister, the one that he so adored. His thoughts were racing, but everything was going by too fast to think.

“So then now, boy. Make up your mind. Which one of them dies? The boy?” It cuffed the boy across the jaw, the loud crack of broken bone echoing off the walls. “Or the girl?” It gave a savage kick to her stomach. She spasmed, retching bile onto the floor as she coughed. It howled with laughter as it kicked her again, reveling in her pain. Turning to look at Kail, it grinned. “Well then boy? Make up your mind.”

“Tick. Tock. Time’s slipping away.” It grabbed the two by their throat, hoisting them up its shoulders as they choked and struggled. “Which one lives?” That ruined smile on Hope’s face was like a set of blades, menacing and chillingly cold.

Kail was filled with shock, his heart stopping as his mind froze. Which one would live? Which one would die? How could he possibly choose? This—this is not my choice to make, he thought, his heart racing. He hesitated, uncertain and confused. His mouth formed words but no sound came out, his throat working but hopelessly dry.

The boy struggled to talk with his broken jaw, spitting out a wad of blood and broken teeth before croaking out, “...Ishtuh….Sabe ma ishtuh…” Eyes gouged out, jaw broken, body dying, and still the boy insisted that Kail save his sister. It broke Kail to see the boy in pain, to see him this way. He wanted to see the sky. He wanted to see the sun. How could you take that from him?

Kail’s heart was torn, broken between saving the boy that was his light and giving him his last wish. The weight burned heavy on his shoulders, sin waiting regardless of either choice. He wanted to scream out to save the boy, to let him live, but he could not. His throat froze, tears in his eyes as he sobbed. He could not do it, could not find it in him to break the boy’s heart as well.

“Time’s slipping away, boy. Which one do you choose?” Hope asked, eyes gleaming as he watched Kail struggle. “Which one? Will you satisfy your own desires and save the boy you hold so dear? Will you see him break before you as you take his sister away, knowing that you were the one that did it?

“Will you save his sister, and watch him die before you? The child that did nothing but help you? Watch as he healed you and cared for you and died for you? Watch as all that love you dies for you?”

“Which do you choose, boy? Time’s running out.” It howled with laughter, watching the tears stream down Kail’s face as he failed to decide.

The boy’s hand grasped at the air, gripping Kail’s foot feebly. He could not see Kail, but still he tried futilely to look for him with eyeless sockets, broken jaw quivering, blood covering his body. “...ease….ease ail….sabe mah ishtuh.” the boy gasped out before collapsing onto the floor, chest heaving as his muscles twitched involuntarily. His breathing hiccuped, his body spasming on the tiled stone.

Tears streamed down Kail’s face, his voice hiccuping as he weeped. He could not do it. He could not leave the boy to die. He loved the boy, loved the boy more than he loved himself. If the boy hated him for it, so be it. Forgive me. If not, I am too tired in any case. With a broken heart and sin in his chest, he bawled out, “Save the boy! Save him, please!” His head hung with the effort as he heard the girl and boy cry out.

Hope smiled—a cold, cruel smile that stretched across its face like a knife.

The candlelight glimmered with a dark gleam in its eyes as it spoke. “Too late, boy. Your time is up.”

Grabbing the girl’s head, it crushed her face into the floor, blood splattering as bone crunched into stone. Gore and pulp dripped across the tiles; not even a single sound had escaped her mouth before she had died. Lifting her up, Hope rammed her head once more, twisting her head violently before crushing its palm, skull shattering under its grip. It grabbed her throat and tore it out, pink flesh in its hand as blood gushed out like a river. Laughing wildly, it turned to face the boy, who lay in the corner crying as he heard his sister die.

Claws raking open his chest, it carved out a hole in his gut before pulling out his intestines, a heartrending scream of terror and agony escaping the boy’s mouth as his entrails were torn out with a snap. “What a beautiful look.” Hope whispered, both hands cupping the boy’s cheeks as it smiled. With a grunt of effort, it pulled up in a savage motion, snapping the boy’s neck before ripping his head clean off his body. Blood sprayed like a geyser from the severed neck, bone and skin tearing under the monster’s raw strength.

Kail’s heart froze as he could do nothing but watch as the children died before his eyes. He felt violently ill, the ground swooning before his eyes. He heaved, retching out yellow bile onto the ground as he looked away from the boy’s face that was tossed at him. The boy that he had failed. The boy that he had let die. He could not take it anymore, could not handle any further. Hanging on a rope, on a thread. And now he finally slipped.

He felt the darkness come for him and he closed his eyes, wanting to run away, wanting to hide. He fled from the scene, fled from the horror that lay in front of him. He wailed as felt his spirit break, felt the feeble light that had burned in his heart be snuffed out so completely. As he fled to the darkness, as he tried to avoid the bloody image that was burned into his mind for eternity, he heard its voice whisper in his ear, whisper with glee.

“And it was all your fault.”