"Death is the only inescapable, unavoidable, sure thing. We are sentenced to die the day we're born."
-Gary Mark Gilmore
"Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once."
-William Shakespeare, "Julius Caesar, Act II, Sc. 2, line 32."
Secret weakly opened her eyes. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. She could feel the cold sand underneath her. Looking down at her hands, she could make out tiny scratches. She sat up but immediately regretted it, holding her head. Dizzyness overtook the frail creature and she leaned back on her hands, feeling the sharpness of the sand digging into what was apparently fresh wounds.
�Who have I been fighting?� she whispered, her voice hoarse.
�Me,� a weak voice answered. Secret spun her head, feeling the repercussion only seconds later.
�Who�s there?� she asked shakily out to the darkness. She was answered with the loneliness that she felt. She stared down on her hands again, as well as her legs. She could make out wounds everywhere. She ran her hands up her cold, shivering body and felt wetness at her stomach. Bringing her hand up to her eyes, she could see a dripping darkness on her palm. She touched her stomach with her other hand, bringing it up to the moonlight with the same result. She licked a small bit and tasted the familiar taste of blood.
�Oh my god,� Secret whispered, starting to panic. Upon realizing the blood, she felt the sharp pain that was coming from her stomach.
�Help me!� she yelled, pulling herself to her feet. She could already start to feel her knees buckling.
�I wish I could, but I�need help myself�� the voice trailed off again. Secret wobbled her way toward the voice.
�Please help me,� she started to cry, �I think I�m dying.�
�Then I think I�ll see you there,� the voice said back. Secret could feel wetness against her bare foot. She knelt down, gingerly, her stomach erupting in pain. She touched the wet hair that was on her foot.
�Prominence?�
�Secret?�
�Oh my god, what happened?� Secret saw the blood covering the once beautiful Prominence.
�You were manipulated, is my only guess, and you fought to surface,� she laughed, but quickly grew silent.
�Did the Conqueror do this?� Secret could feel herself growing weak.
�I think so. I thought we were too good to let him beat us,� Prominence�s voice trailed off.
�I thought he really cared about us, and me, for who I was,� Secret could feel tears brimming her eyelashes.
�Me too.�
�Why do I have the effect of people really caring about me one minute, and then not feeling anything the next?� Secret asked aloud, letting the tears fall to her chest. Prominence did not respond and Secret was only answered by the silence and moonlight.
~looking back on the things I�ve done, I was trying to be someone. Play my part.~
Secret could feel her mind spinning in a million directions at once.
�I just wanted to feel loved. I just wanted to feel safe and warm, like I once did. I just wanted the sadness and fear out of my life. I thought he could give me all the answers,� Secret sobbed silently, still too afraid to let the world know that she was hurting.
�Who did this to me?� she asked Prominence. There was no answer, Prominence lay still with her eyes closed and her once lively face deathly pale.
�Did I do this to me? Or did he? Who inflicted this fatal wound?� Secret cried to herself. �Who killed me? Who lured me out and killed me?�
The pain started to throb less.
�Oh God, was it wrong to want to be loved and cared about?� Secret pleaded to the mystical man who had thrown her a bad pair of dice. She closed her eyes and took Prominence�s hand.
�Please, don�t leave us to die here. Where is Hope?� she pleaded quietly, finally leaning back on the sand next to still Prominence.
�This can�t be the end.�
Right before Secret lost consciousness she envisioned a sunset, a beautiful sunset and laughing. A little redheaded girl had both hands held by tall, smiling figures. She was looking from one to the other with glee and bliss. The peacefulness of the moment was amplified with the happiness and love everyone shared. And as quickly as it came, it disappeared with Secret into the darkness.
Somewhere Hope weakly opened her eyes, hearing the pained cries so far away.
J
