“I’m sorry.”

Blackness crawled inside of him, dark tendrils invading his orifices and wrapping around his organs. It drove him mad with revulsion, but his body was no longer his own to command. Every wretched heartbeat caused his body to convulse, and he squirmed against his chains, wriggling like a worm in a pit of tar.

It was a hopeless endeavor.

He was going to fall.

He was going to lose.

He was going to drown.

But until then, he was going to struggle.

Blind as he was, weak as he was, he could still hear the cry of her voice, the splash of her tears, and for that reason alone, he’ll crawl out of this pit.

He’ll be fine as long as he could hear her.

As long as he knew where to go.

As long as…

A tearing sound interrupted his thoughts.

Vaporous appendages crawled into his ears and pierced his eardrums, robbing him of his ability to hear.

They snaked through the canals of his ears, found their way into his brain, and devoured the last of his fighting spirit.

There was only a silent emptiness now.

A black maw stood before his consciousness, an abyss that would grant him a death of the mind. Freedom from the future, from his relationships, from the laws of the world. He could still remember her words, her regrets, her lies, her secrets, and now, he could feel his heart break with each searing memory. It was stupid. Why was he even trying so hard?

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It would be easy to give up.

If he did, he would never feel this pain again.

But, as he stared into the trench, as the maw of corruption bit down into him, something brushed against his lips.

Red blossomed in his thoughts, and iron shook his stolen mind. It was hot and raw, a disgusting, addictive taste. It churned his stomach and made him yearn for more, even as a necrotic purple surged up his body.

A bloody kiss from someone he could no longer see, hear, or smell.

A bloody kiss that could only be tasted and felt.

Ah.

He was hungry.

Hungry for life, for a formless future.

Slowly, his own maw opened, teeth shining resplendently in an artificial night.

And then, he bit down.

He ate as he was eaten, tearing at the tentacles that tore at him.

He ate as he was eaten, drinking the fluids that drained him dry.

He ate as he was eaten, cracking bone between his teeth as his bones cracked.

Until the darkness was devoured, and the worm became a monster.