Death 1.1

[Requirement]

[Caution]

[Reassurance][Requirement]

[... Agreement]

Thump. Thump. Thump. The sound of my heart starting again was the sweetest sound I ever heard. It also led to the worst moment of my life because I was STILL TRAPPED IN THE FUCKING LOCKER. Strength renewed by the close brush with death, I started screeching for help again, gagging as the smell of... everything registered once more.

I beat my hands bloody on the Locker, desperately smashing through the rusted metal and staggering out into the hallway, before collapsing into a heap. A small, pathetic mound of misery. I crawled to the wall opposite the Locker and stared numbly, blearily around. My heart rate was beginning to slow down already as the panic gave away to shock except... Should I be thinking this clearly? And why was my heart still slowing down?

Thump. Thump. Thump. The sound of my heart starting again was the sweetest sound I ever heard. It also led to the worst moment of my life because I was STILL TRAPPED IN THE FUCKING LOCKER. Strength renewed by the close brush with death, I started screeching for help again, gagging as the smell of... everything registered once more.

I stopped. This just happened. Horror flooded my veins and I stopped screeching, shivering in the dark. Tears streamed down my face as I felt my heart-rate slow again. The edges of my vision went blurry, and then faded to black. The last thing I heard was my own wretched sobbing.

(Some time later)

Thump. Thump. Thump. No. Nonononono. I breathed frantically, hyperventilating in order to induce panic. I beat my chest, trying to keep my heart beating. The filth around me was just another feature of this inescapable h- Don't get distracted Taylor. You have to keep your heart beating or it'll all start again. Useless.

My arms become sore and tired. I grow dizzy as what little oxygen is in the Locker, my personal corner of hell, is used up faster than it can be replenished. My heart slows. Less than a minute later, it stops, my vision fades and the last thing I hear is my own death rattle, as tears slowly, ever so slowly, slide down my face.

Thump. No. Thump. NO. Thump. NO. Thump. [REJECTION!]. My limbs became numb, and I suddenly felt exhausted, the manic, panic-induced strength leaving me.

I fell asleep, in the Locker. I'd been in it long enough for it to become warm. I'd suffered enough, become numb enough that it didn't bother me anymore. Sleep... Not death. I never wanted to find out how often I had died in there, how many times my heart gave out.

When I woke up, I wasn't in the Locker anymore. I could tell because the warmth, rising from that rotting, fetid mass was gone. I couldn't hear the buzzing of the flies, nor could I feel the wriggling of the maggots as they ate my rotted flesh, crept into my mouth, slid down my rancid throat- A few calming breaths later and the crisis was averted. I opened my eyes, staring out into the darkness. I tried stretching, only to find walls of cool metal in front of me. Similar walls were at my sides. What?

The cold finally hit me then. Sure, the East coast was chilly, and could be freezing cold in the winter, but if I didn't know any better I would've thought I was in a fridge... The pieces clicked into the place then.

A morgue. I was in a shelf, in a morgue. I slowly managed to turn myself onto my front. I felt my way around until I found the telltale gap of the door. And then I punched it. The metal held. So I hit it again. This wasn't the Locker. So I should be able to leave. I wasn't in Hell anymore, and I was never going back. Another punch. The door fell off, rusted metal shattering on the ground.

"Huh" Was all I managed to say, weakly, before wriggling out and collapsing to the morgue floor. That should have hurt more. I slowly struggled to my feet and looked around. I muttered despondently. "Definitely a morgue. What the fuck."

I leaned against a wall and slid down again. My heart was blessedly silent, which meant I wasn't in danger of going back into the Locker. On the other hand, I slept like the dead. I giggled a little at that, hopelessly. My eyes were filled with tears again.

Eventually, someone found me. Which, naturally caused them to freak out, and run away screaming. A security guard poked his head around the corner some time later. He coughed awkwardly. "Uh... Are you..." He trailed off, before composing himself. "Do you need help?" He asks. I nodded, uncertainly at first then more vigourously.

The room lights didn't turn on when he flipped the switch, but he just shrugged and started picking his way across until he reached me. When I stood, with his help, a wave of dizziness swept over me and I staggered slightly. "Let's get you to a doctor." He said gently.

Things went rapidly downhill after that again, but just for a moment, all was well. Someone cared.