Breed and Burn: Faceless

chapter 25- heaven, is that you?

When Axel heard a sweet song running his mind like a shiver, he thought he was dreaming. The voice rolled over the air in solemn waves yet light shone through it like frost in moonlight. Upon waking, Axel realised that it was Seven who was singing softly beneath its breath. Often before, he had heard it hum but now he realised he had been singing close to silence. Each word was distinct and soon Axel realised that it was crooning about white heavenly birds and wind dappled seas and lights that painted skin with warmth and wind carrying the tunes of nature but in a tone that one might expect from the loss of a friend.

Long unpleasant dreams hovered at the edge of his memory, tinging him with disorientation but he pushed them aside. Memories were mixed within his dreams into a tangled mass that he could not unravel.

For a moment, Axel felt himself relax and he closed his eyes whilst listening to Seven's singing. It emitted gold in Axel's heart and for the first time in a long time, he was not utterly consumed with something fiery. Snatches of competing sounds from the bathroom and lurching coughs mixed with the sound of gold.

The gloom of the day crept into him like the damp into bare timber once the singing began to dissolve into a stretch of wavering silence. Conversations floated around the thick static that resonated in Axel's head. Eventually, the static disappeared and he began to make out what they were talking about. Admittedly, Axel felt strange being surrounded by so many people even though the main carriage was they should reside. It seemed that everyone crept silently around him like blackened shapes only cast at night or when they did speak it was clipped and short.

"Where the hell is it? Who took it?" Thorne's voice was sharp and floated in the air like chunks of ice. He took a breath as if recollecting himself before continuing, "just hold on. There's a world to live for outside of this prison. Something that's worth waiting for." How inadequate the words sounded, especially when they were filled with the smell of rotting flesh.

Once realising Thorne was talking about the gun, Axel felt his insides go cold. Then the cold went a shade heavier once Axel remembered how he would never see the outside world. Earth. A ripple of anger ran through his body but it vanished when Axel realised that he could no longer feel the gun in his waistband. There was a sense of uncertainty. Only one person could have taken it out without him realising. Someone like him.

A shroud of blackness throttled him. It was morose but made his eyelids feel heavy. With his mind falling into a dreamless sleep, Axel couldn't have felt more grateful. Although he had just woken up, he was exhausted. Energy was constantly draining from him at an increasingly rapid pace. No longer did he feel strong or powerful. No longer did he feel like he was living. This kind of living was just surviving, whilst your heart beats half-heartedly before its final staples shut when you're no longer of use.

A whining, scratchy sound woke him up this time. Through the veil of sleep, Axel was still able to hear rustles of voices, light footfalls from those who dared to walk near him and serrated coughs. This sound forced his awake although his eyes remained shut. It displaced the air and sounded unnatural.

He was not ready to face this day. Not again. Axel wished he could send it back.

In a futile effort of forcing the day away, Axel feigned sleep but strained his senses so he could make sense of his surroundings and find the root of the sound. Much to his own gratefulness, they were trying to escape using a different route. Maybe they were worth saving. Maybe it was out inclination. Maybe they wanted to flee quicker and not have to deal with guilt. Still, something like a watery golden light warmed his insides. Desperation had led them to think that escaping through the hatch the Facesmiths transferred food down was a possibility. Axel felt like laughing. It was never that easy...