The blessing of numbness had long worn off. Now every inch of my body was subjected to the savagery of the pile.

My suffering continued for longer than I could comprehend. Hours became days; days became weeks, weeks became months. Life continued, leaving all of us in the pit behind. But there were changes as time passed. Slowly vitality entered into me. I could move, barely, but it was movement nonetheless. I was able to fight back just like the other corpselings. I bit ripped and tore with any strength I could muster.

I had lost everything to the pit. Even my body was no longer my own as pieces of it were always missing and torn away before they could regenerate. Soon the pit even began to take my mind. My thoughts devolved and slowed. All I could think of was how to survive. I to keep myself intact. I began to lose myself to the battles to the constant fighting. Part of me wanted to accept this fate to become the beast that Lato took me for. To exist solely to fight in the pit.

Every time these thoughts welled up inside me, rage soon overtook them. I wasn’t going to stay here. I could not stay here. If I wanted to stay sane, to survive the pile, I needed a goal. It didn’t take long to decide on a goal. There was only one thing to do in my current situation.

Escape.

If I could get to the top of the pile, I might be able to see a way out of this horrible situation. From what I could remember, the only thing keeping us in were those pikes at the rim of the pit. But seeing as the pile never gathered against the walls, there had to be something else as well.

With my mind made up, I began the ascent to the top of the pile. It took a while. I’m not sure how long, weeks, months, years. Time didn’t matter anymore. All that mattered is that I had gained strength. It was slow, but I was able to move my way up—one by one, body after body. I tore through the surrounding corpselings using all my strength to reach the top.

Finally, I felt it.

My hand pieced through the pile into emptiness: nothing, no more bodies, no one.

The top.

With renewed vigor, I raced forward. Spending all my strength pulling myself up through the pile of bodies. Soon it was one arm, then another, then my head, then my entire upper body, until finally, I stood atop the pile.

I won. I reached the top. Now it was only a matter of time until my escape.

My eyes glided from wall to wall as I took in my surroundings. Aside from the bodies, there was little else in the pit. The pikes lined the top of the hole, and a black substance coated the walls. The essence flowed in an otherwordly manner, slowly falling only to defying gravity and flow up to complete the loop. I tried to make my way to the walls but was interrupted by a dull pain in my back. I looked down to see a large hole in my chest.

What?

Again, there was a dull pain, and my left leg gave out. I toppled down just in time to meet eyes with a centaur. Its bow drawn taut with no arrow. He released the string, and I felt the dull pain again as an overwhelming force tore my face apart. I fell limp; any strength ripped from me along with the chunks of my face. Hundreds of red leathery hands grabbed me and dragged me down. I didn’t bother resisting; I couldn’t muster the energy. Whether that was due to my wounds, I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t care less.

I felt hopeless, betrayed. I spent so much time fighting, working my way to the top, only to be struck down and sent back down to the bottom once again.

It was all for naught.

I spent a long time at the bottom of the pile. Being crushed by the weight and being torn apart. I sat there unmoving despite having the vitality to do so.

That was when it struck. The compulsions. The same thing that told me to trust Lato. At first, it started small. A foreign feeling, a notion, a random thought. But soon, it began to dominate me, hold me down, and whisper in my ear.

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'Give up,' it told me. 'No matter how hard you try, you will never escape.'

No

'It's ok to fear the top of the pile. You’ve suffered enough, your safe here. Here at the bottom of the pit, the weight a soothing blanket. The pain a lullaby. You can rest.'

No

'There is no reason to resist. Life beyond the pit is scary. There is no reason to leave.'

No

'Lato was right. You deserve this. This is your fate.'

NO!

Rage filled every pore of my body. I’ll kill them all! Lato, his Knights, the Scholars, Julia, Tom, Dad, every last one of them. I’ll tear Lato apart and force him into the pit. I WILL NOT STOP.

With renewed vigor, I climbed. I tore my way back up onto the top. Over and over again, I rose, each time those invisible arrows of force struck me down. Each time I would be tormented by the compulsions. Each time I would give in to my rage and climb again.

I learned much in my repeated climbs. The black substance on the walls was a burning hot tar making the walls near impossible to climb. On the outskirts of the pit, flaming dogs patrolled the borders. The hellhounds, as I named them, would only attack if you left the pile. I only had to make that mistake once before I learned to toss one of my fellow corpselings into their jaws before moving on. If you can get past both the arrows and the hounds, there is a thick metal barred gate. Near what I assumed the northern wall was.

The gate of hope. My only escape from the pit.

I don’t know what number attempt this was, but I knew this was the one. I would reach the gate. I tore my way to the northern edge of the pit. Despite my lackluster strength due to my decrepit body, I was able to make my way through the pile with only a few minor wounds. I didn’t reach the top. No, reaching the top would only get me hit by arrows. I used the bodies as a shield while I took the time to rip off the arm of a corpseling lying to my left. I don’t have the strength to toss a body; I can barely throw a limb a few feet at most. But what my strength lacks the hunger of the hellhounds more than makes up for.

I gave a light toss to the arm and moved my withered body as fast as I could. I crawled my way to the gate. My flesh tearing as my body sped across the ground, but I made it. I reached the gate.

As my right hand met the metal of the gate, my hopes were once again crushed. The gate didn’t budge. No matter how much I pushed or pulled, it didn’t move an inch. Shit! I looked behind me, hoping the hellhounds hadn’t found me. Luckily enough, they weren’t moving. Nothing was. Not the dogs, centaurs, pile, or wall tar all was frozen as if time itself had stopped.

An ethereal mist crept out from the bottom of the gate. Countless glowing runes shot out from behind the gate and flew around me. My body grew heavy as the gravity around me seemed to grow stronger. The runes circled me. At first, they slowly spun about fifteen feet from me, but every second they drew faster and closer. Soon they spun so quickly I couldn’t tell them apart, and they nearly pressed against my body.

Right before the runes touched my body, they stopped. All but one of the runes disappeared. The remaining rune began to glow a blood-curdling red as it tore its way into reality. What was once just fiction took physical form in front of me. I sat in awe, not knowing how to react. I subconsciously lifted my arm and touched the rune. An explosion of light took my eyes as my world collapsed upon itself. Yet, just as quickly as it had fallen, reality pieced itself back together.

I looked around at my surroundings, hoping time hadn’t resumed just yet. Only to find I was in a world made of the ethereal mist. I tried to lift myself, only for my senses to blur. My soul stretched as my consciousness flew from my body.

In a blinding light, I regained my awareness. Although this time, I was no longer in the pit. Nor was I a corpseling. This time I was sitting alone in the backseat of my family’s minivan in my old body.

I had never been so glad to see my familiar chubby stomach. To be sitting in the old beat-up minivan. To once again be back to my old life. I tried to sit up only to realize I was frozen in place. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move a muscle. I couldn't feel anything as if I was still lost in that ethereal blur. Completely numb. Before I could properly come to terms with my situation, my body moved. My body shuffled itself up against the window crossing its arms and closing its eyes—all without my command.

This is not good.

My mind raced. Thoughts flew past each other as I tried to come up with a reason why I wasn't in control of my body. Was I possessed? Am I watching someone else live my life? My manic spiral was interrupted by a vibration in my right pocket. My body roused itself and pulled a phone from its pocket—my old phone.

What? Why was I using that old thing? I must have replaced it a few months ago. My eyes drifted to the text on the screen, and my stomach dropped.

"Vess’s parents got back to us. They're willing to take a compromise agreement. You'll need to take a few classes, pay a fine, and apologize, but at least you'll avoid jail time."

A somber realization soon squashed any hope of having returned to my old world.

THIS WAS A DAY LONG PASSED. ONE OF THE THREE DAYS, I HAD DONE EVERYTHING I COULD TO FORGET