Threads of the Soul

Chapter 489 - 489: Identity Crisis

Seth writhed on the floor, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as his entire body spasmed like it was trying to tear itself apart. He quickly turned over, starting to scratch at the ground with his hands.All of a sudden he had been filled with the urge to dig, to be surrounded by warm comfortable dirt and to find some nice, juicy worms to munch on. But just as that thought entered his mind, he writhed again and let out an agonising scream.

His body wriggled on the ground as his arms stopped digging and instead flopped uselessly around him, as he couldn't figure out how to use them. They just didn't make sense, he had never had arms before. Worms didn't have arms! How did he even know what arms were?

Over and over his behaviour shifted, cycling between hundreds of different strange, illogical and contradictory actions as he behaved like he was all sorts of animals. At least he did for a few minutes, before standing up out of nowhere and looking around confused.

"Where am I? Oh god, what time is it?! Gosh darnet, I'm late for work again!"

When he spoke, his voice was most definitely not his own. Not only did it have an American accent, but it was jovial and bouncy, like you would hear from an old 50's radio play.

But that strangely didn't concern Seth as he turned on his heels, sprinting towards the entrance to the tunnel. One hand was on his head, holding a hat he didn't have in place, while the other one was holding up a non-existent briefcase.

"If it wasn't for that darned motorcar almost hitting me I wouldn't be so late for Wo-AAAGHHHH!"

In the middle of his speech, Seth stumbled in his run and collapsed to the floor again, clutching at his head with both hands as he dropped to his knees. Pain shot through him briefly, before sense returned to his eyes and he threw himself against the wall, taking cover against it.

"GET DOWN SOLDIERS! God, that was a close one. Thought that gerry almost popped my clock, huh Jenkins?" He said with a laugh, speaking this time in a thick Boston accent, as he turned around and looked behind him. However when he saw that no-one was there, his face fell into confusion and panic, before pain erupted through him again.

This time, he slid down the length of the wall, sitting with his knees against his chest. When a light returned to his eyes, he stayed like that, wrapping his arms around his legs and pulling them closer.

Curled up in a ball, Seth whimpered in a soft, childish voice whilst tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Mommy? Mommy where are you? I... I don't remember what happened. Mommy please, I didn't mean to play with Daddy's matches. I'll be good, I swear, just come back... Mommy!"

Rocking back and forth, Seth's childish voice called out into the depths of the cave, echoing throughout the empty tunnels, as he called out to a mother he no longer had, in more ways than he realised.

After a few minutes of crying in the darkness, a figure manifested in front of Seth. The same figure that led him here, clad in the same crisp black suit with pure silver eyes that gleamed in the darkness.

As Seth looked up at him with tear stricken eyes, the man in black gave him a sad smile.

"Your Mommy will be back soon little one. Rest now. Let me talk to this reckless brother of mine."

The man slowly leaned down, placing a hand on Seth's head and ruffling his hair. Seth sniffled, trying to get his tears under control, before suddenly screaming out in pain and writhing on the floor again.

The stranger in black simply stood by, watching on without an attempt to stop it and with only a look of pity in his eyes.

When Seth finally came to again, he remained on the ground for a few seconds, panting heavily. His eyes were filled with confusion, but not the same that they had shown previously.

There was more intelligence and awareness in his eyes, as he tilted his head towards the stranger in black and asked plainly, in his own voice,

"What's happening to me?"

The man gazed at him for a few seconds, a strange sadness in his eyes, before he let out a deep sigh.

"You're dying."

Seth frowned softly at the words, before laughing gently and shaking his head. He ran his hands through his hair, before pushing himself off the ground so that he was sitting and leaning against the wall.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't it be the box, of all things, that finally does me in. It couldn't be the giant bird, or the hammer wielding god, or any of the other horrific things that I faced. It had to be the fucking box...

I thought I was supposed to have my life flash before my eyes when I die. Why am I seeing so many other people's lives and... was I a worm at one point? Oh god..."

The stranger laughed, nodding his head as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cigarette case. He offered one to Seth, which he quickly rejected, but the stranger simply shrugged and took one of his own.

The tip of the cigarette lit as soon as he placed it to his lips and he took a long drag.

"You are taking it surprisingly well. But then again, You have come close to dying before, haven't you brother?"

"Brother?" Seth frowned deeply. He had many siblings, but this guy definitely wasn't one of them. His head was still an absolute mess, as he could still hear the other thoughts screaming inside his mind. They were locked away, but they were still there, trying to get out.

He quickly searched his own memories, which had become disjointed and chaotic with so many other memories clashing against them. But then he found the one's involving this man.

The figment of his imagination that had lead him here in the first place. But that wasn't all. There was that dream he had with his mother in it, and He had also seen him the last time he had been on the brink of death, although that was because of blood loss...

Realisation slowly dawned across Seth's face as he raised his head to look at the smoking man. A lump formed in his throat and his mouth became incredibly dry as he muttered,

"You're not a figment of my imagination, are you?"

The Stranger chuckled, taking another drag of his cigarette and puffing out a cloud of purple smoke that looked like an entire nebula.

"Now why would you think such a ridiculous thing? I am Death."