Alive: Part II

This is a continuation of my previous post, Alive

 

I am considering expanding this idea for a novel, once I finish my current projects- The Visitor and Hazard

##

 

I could only see four walls,

Three were brick, one was glass,

The guards, scientists and politicians were on the other side,

I would be giving them a sight to remember,

 

I couldn’t see the moon,

I could feel it,

No distance, no wall could prevent its strength from seeping into me,

It crashed through my body,

In one intoxicating wave after another,

The straps were holding me still, but I could feel my limbs swelling with blood,

It wasn’t just my muscles that were growing,

My organs, my veins, my blood itself was multiplying to accommodate a new body,

A new body that was rapidly emerging as the moon reached its peak in the sky,

 

The straps were meant to stretch,

But not this much,

They began to tear across my chest, my arms, my legs as my body kept growing,

The power never came without pain,

My skin tore and peeled as my body shed its old suit,

I could see exposed nerves and blood-drenched muscles,

I screamed as I felt my spine elongating, being pulled so tight I felt like it would snap,

I gasped as I felt my lungs and heart expand,

My chest burned as more air and blood suddenly made their way in,

I could feel the blood gushing through me, and as always, I felt like I was drowning from the inside,

I knew the feeling would pass,

 

Once it did, my new skin would grow,

Then the final part of the transformation would take place,

The one that all the people on the other side of the glass truly feared.

 

 

 

Alive

I could still move my fingers,

It was the only sign that the restraints weren’t cutting off my blood flow,

The guards made sure to make them tighter after the last time,

The leather straps dug into my skin, branding my flesh,

Their tightness felt intrusive, foreign

But I knew I’d get used to it soon,

After an hour, I would barely notice them

In two hours, they would be the only things holding me back,

 

I couldn’t remember what I did the last time the straps failed,

I only heard from other people,

Fearfully, angrily telling me what I had done to their cattle, their pets, their loved ones,

I didn’t believe anyone the first time,

So I volunteered for my current situation,

Putting myself in a position to end the fear and anger,

 

I couldn’t deny what happened the second time,

It was preserved on film and nearly proved to be my death sentence,

There were no torches and pitchforks, but there were fists, knives and guns,

To keep my life, I had to lose my freedom,

 

Experiments, torture, whatever they deemed necessary to understand my curse,

Sometimes I wonder if it is worth living this way,

I was no longer a man to them, I wasn’t even an animal, I was an abomination,

A sign of something wrong, unholy, unwanted

I couldn’t help but wonder what they really wanted from me,

Why keep me alive?

Unless there was something about me they deemed necessary, or maybe even useful.