Rapture

Punishment

I feel energetic, but restless.

What's taking him so long? Doesn't he eat?

I pace around the room a little before going up to the door, pushing it open.

I scan the forest outside. Dawn shines faintly through the thicket of gnarled trees; all the barks dark and grey except the one I call home now.

I can't see him anywhere. But I can hear something. A sharp wheeze repeating against the wind.

I am hesitant to go out to the forest again. My ventures alone here were anything but pleasant. But the sound keeps repeating, and it doesn't sound far.

I get out of the house, and circle around the tree. The sound gets clearer and nearer. A quick swish and a ringing slap. Over and over again.

Swish and whack.

My heart beats fast. A bead of cold sweat rolls down my forehead. My feet go on. Silent step after another.

Swish and whack.

I lift my eyes and I see him.  

He stands straight on his knees at the top of a clearing. His chin lifted towards the sun, his back facing me. It gleams with his blood; leaking from the long cuts stretching besides his spine.

Swish. His arm swings skywards, a whip of thorns trailing in its arc.

Whack. The whip curls over his head and lands across his back, all the way from bare shoulders to waist.

I wince when he yanks the whip up again; blood spraying from his back as the thorns tear out of his skin. Swish.

Stop it.

The words echo in my head, but I can't find my voice. Whack.

Blood stains the grass, fresh droplets gleaming crimson in the sunlight. The wind scatters his silver hair. 

Swish.

I can't look, but I can't look away. He doesn't make a sound. He doesn't slow. He doesn't hesitate. Whack.

Dozens of the fresh cuts are stretched across his back. The sheen of new blood completely covers the burnt scar tissues. Which I now realize how he got.

Swish.

"Stop!" A shout erupts from me, my feet starting to run towards him.

Whack.

Before he whips again, I drop onto his back, wrapping my arms tight around him.