The Conductor

It was dark.

I was lying on something cold, wet, and uneven.

Where am I?

I opened my eyes to the various limbs of trees towering over me; the sky was clouded over with grey, peeking through the limbs.

I slowly sat up, feeling the rocks, leaves and twigs underneath my hands.
I took in my surrounds once more, growing more confused with time.

How did I end up here?

I lifted my hands off of the ground, feeling something stick to my fingers; I wish I hadn’t looked down at them.

Both of my hands were covered in a thick amount of blood.

I stood up quickly and looked around, hoping to find the source – I spotted a dark trail of crimson nearby, carefully stepping towards it.

Why am I going towards it?

I need to get away from this place; I’m feeling more uneasy with each passing second.

I shook my head.

I need to know what happened – what caused me to be here? Why am I here with blood covering my hands?

I followed the trail, the blood drying into a disgusting coating on my hands, until I came to its end, almost retching at the sight and scent.

Large, chunks of flesh…A stomach…A pile of intestines…A liver…

All soaked in blood with flies buzzing erratically around them.

I stumbled back, falling onto the ground and emptied the contents of my stomach.
I looked back, my body shivering non-stop.

What the hell?! What happened?!

Did…did I do this?

I brought my hands to my hair, gripping tightly as shook my head over and over.

I wouldn’t have done this…!
I couldn’t have done this…!

I felt the tears prick at my eyes as I remembered Elizabeth.

Her throat, slit and torn open, revealing her spinal cord, blood dripping down her exposed chest.
Her insides, fresh with blood, ripped out and strewn across the bed and the floor.

Our unborn child, hanging from the umbilical cord, the underdeveloped head ripped off from the body.

The stains. The ropes digging into her wrists and ankles, binding her arms and legs to the bed posts, apart from each other.
The knife lodged into her vagina.

I retched onto the ground once more, shamefully wiping the tears from my eyes and the bile from my mouth.

I stood up again and shoved my hands into the pockets of my pants, slowly inching my way through the forest, hoping to find my way back home.

| x | x | x |

The town was quiet, the grey atmosphere matching that of the sky.
Church bells sounded in the distance, calling for a town meeting.

I slowly made my way back home, stumbling through the front door and collapsing onto the floor.

“Michael?! Is that you?!”

I heard rushed footsteps down the stairs and the shutting of the door before I felt a hand on my back.

“Michael…?"

I rolled over onto my side, trying my best to look at Tyler through the tears that were falling again.

“What happened? Where did you go?”
He pulled me into his arms, brushing the tears from my face.

“E-Elizabeth…murderer…intestines…blood…so much blood…”

I couldn’t speak anymore after that. Only sobs left my mouth.
Tyler shushed me and gently ran his hand through my hair as he placed a kiss to my forehead.

It was foreign being in someone’s arms after two, long years…
…However, it was comforting.

I closed my eyes and let my sobs die down, and then I was asleep again.

| x | x | x |

I woke up with a startle, sitting straight up in bed, hyperventilating.
I looked around frantically; I was in bed. My hands were free of dirt and blood.

No forest. No blood-soaked skin or organs.

“Michael? Are you awake?”

The door slowly opened before Tyler peeked his head into the room.

“I’m…I’m awake…”

He smiled and stepped in, quickly rushing to my side.

“I made you some soup if you are hungry.”
I slowly looked at him and nodded.

He wasted no time running downstairs and coming back with a bowl and spoon in his hands, and he didn’t question feeding me, for fatigue had quickly taken over me.

Thirty minutes of silence passed until I finally spoke up.

“Tyler…”
“Hm?”

I bit down on my lip, trying to lift a shaky hand towards him.
He gently pushed it back down.

I turned my head away from him, towards the window.

“The forest…the blood…the human remains…”

A hand gently turned my head back towards Tyler; he pressed his lips against mine, brushing my cheek with his thumb.

One kiss led to another, which led to a battle of our tongues.
He slowly unbuttoned my shirt, but I didn’t protest.

We finally stopped – Tyler was straddling my hips at this point, placing his hands on my chest to support himself –, inhaling and exhaling the air that we desperately needed.

He shamefully looked down at his hands as his erection brushed against my hipbone.

“I’m sorry…”

He quickly moved off of me and walked towards the door, opening it.
Before he left, he turned back to me and gave me a sad smile.

“It was a nightmare, Michael. It was all a terrible nightmare.”

He shut the door behind him.

My hands started to tremble, my heart rate increased, and I wanted to call out for him to come back, but I couldn’t.

I was paralyzed.
I was terrified.

Because I knew that what Tyler had told me just now was a lie.