FIC: "Alone in the Crowd."
He couldn’t breathe.
Surrounded in the dying embers from the towers around him, his entire vision obscured in red, he found himself gasping for air, his lungs screaming for the oxygen that would not come. He was trembling visibly, face turning pale, as his parted lips drew in mouthfuls of oxygen in order to satisfy his starving body. It was not enough, though, fingers curling deeper into the grate he knelt before as sweat poured down his face. As tiny droplets, they either dripped off his chin or slid down his neck, the overwhelming heat not ceasing, and being unable to breathe, it was making him dizzy.
His nails sought the palm of his hand through the grated holes, digging into the skin as his trembling became more apparent. He wasn’t moving; he couldn’t move. His world was spinning around and anything he tried-sucking in gulps of air, keeping his head bowed and eyes closed while not moving-either made the feeling worse or didn’t help matters. A fear was tightening around his chest, his heart pounding loudly; how long would he be able to maintain himself? His normally spacious world was enclosing itself around him, smothering his very being. The only thing that kept him from being crushed was that grate that he hung so desperately onto, as it remained firm in this otherwise shrinking space.
His gasps were echoed, his murmurs just barely audible. A pained look slowly blossomed on his face as he felt the puncturing of skin right against his palm, the instant shock alerting his senses bringing him to release hold of that grate-his only support, which soon disappears as he’s suddenly pulled away from it. A solemnity washed over his face, as he truly found himself alone. His eyes narrowed as darkness surrounded him from all sides, his heart aching as he swallowed a choked sob. It all seemed like a final effort, as no one-but everyone could hear him as he whispered in a shaky voice, devoid of any and all hope, “Ai shiteru…”
And the tap of the drums would begin, as the guitars and bass followed, while the world stood by to listen to his cries.
Surrounded in the dying embers from the towers around him, his entire vision obscured in red, he found himself gasping for air, his lungs screaming for the oxygen that would not come. He was trembling visibly, face turning pale, as his parted lips drew in mouthfuls of oxygen in order to satisfy his starving body. It was not enough, though, fingers curling deeper into the grate he knelt before as sweat poured down his face. As tiny droplets, they either dripped off his chin or slid down his neck, the overwhelming heat not ceasing, and being unable to breathe, it was making him dizzy.
His nails sought the palm of his hand through the grated holes, digging into the skin as his trembling became more apparent. He wasn’t moving; he couldn’t move. His world was spinning around and anything he tried-sucking in gulps of air, keeping his head bowed and eyes closed while not moving-either made the feeling worse or didn’t help matters. A fear was tightening around his chest, his heart pounding loudly; how long would he be able to maintain himself? His normally spacious world was enclosing itself around him, smothering his very being. The only thing that kept him from being crushed was that grate that he hung so desperately onto, as it remained firm in this otherwise shrinking space.
His gasps were echoed, his murmurs just barely audible. A pained look slowly blossomed on his face as he felt the puncturing of skin right against his palm, the instant shock alerting his senses bringing him to release hold of that grate-his only support, which soon disappears as he’s suddenly pulled away from it. A solemnity washed over his face, as he truly found himself alone. His eyes narrowed as darkness surrounded him from all sides, his heart aching as he swallowed a choked sob. It all seemed like a final effort, as no one-but everyone could hear him as he whispered in a shaky voice, devoid of any and all hope, “Ai shiteru…”
And the tap of the drums would begin, as the guitars and bass followed, while the world stood by to listen to his cries.