Hell's Pendulum



I feel trapped. I am unable to use any of my limbs, my long dark hair blocks my vision as I attempt to blow it out of the way to see a clear picture of my enviroment. Every now and then I get a glimpse of what is around me, I do not make out much but I am starting to get some sight of my surroundings. All I understand is that I am in an eerie dark room faintly lightened by an odd shade of green. I do understand how or why I have gotten here but at the same time, I feel that I was supposed to be here. I am clamped around my legs, wrists, and neck.

I do not know how long I have been out either, nor do I know how long I have simply been here! Every now and then as I attempt to shake my body free of this odd grip that is holding me still, I feel a scratchy texture at my right arm. I get the idea to whip my head left then immediatly turn right to remove this damned hair from my face, so I did. The faint eeirie lighting, my eyes have not adapted yet but I just make out a dark room... no doors, simply an empty room with scattered pages all over the floor, although I am not able to make out what they state. Underneath my body I feel a weird dry-wet texture, I realise it is blood as I see blood to my side from my peripheral vision. I know it is not mine,but I also know that it cannot be too old.

I yell out for help, but no success. Noone can hear me, or so I thought. I yell again thrusting my upper body upwards, and as I come back down I feel that damn texture again, I get frusterated and I try to shift it into my sight. At first sight I had no idea what it was... then I realised, Sandpaper! I begin to think, what the hell can I do with a sheet of sandpaper? I have an idea that I am afraid to attempt it but I decide to try it, I start to shift the sheet to my right wrist, one of the points that I am clamped in, and I begin rubbing the clamps with the sandpaper...

The sandpaper is now rubbing against the metal, quickely turning itself into grinding... And that grinding is also making the sandpaper grind against my skin, then my flesh. I then channel that hellish pain into aggression.... Only powering the grinding harder, and harder! I feel the restraint becoming weak, and the blinding pain from my wrist is starting to calm me down. I begin to shift the sandpaper to my other wrist in hope of success there, and I get it to the clamped wrist... and I begin grinding with pain again.

It is working, but not completely... my wrists are now burning and I am too weak now to break the chains with the power of strength. I tilt my head upwards and scream in misery, I something though, a pendulum. By now I am panicking and that pendulum does not seem to moving anywhere anytime soon. I just close my eyes, I hope to just die of starvation.

Suddenly, I am awoken... the side of my body is feeling a type of pain I wasn't before, like little mouths ripping me apart. I suppose it was true, I look down to see a filthy rat...looks like he has friends too. My first view was, "Well, looks like I'm going to die as dinner...". After that I thought, that since they are ripping of flesh then eating it, I can make them rip of my flesh and make them nibble through the metal, as I realise I have made it weak enough! Genious! I put my plan to action, I try to nudge the little pests up to my neck, where I plan to make them cut through that so I can get better views. I may have to wait through excruciating pain, but I will get myself freedom.

The rats are...almost...there... Ah! I thrust my head upwards, knocking back some rats and forcing them to move of somewhere else, coincidentally up my arms, to my wrists! The force of my head broke my neck free and teared the metal's final bits. I open my jaw to feel around my neck, I can feel the raw flesh torn open by the rats... I have never felt like this before, this is outrageous! I must deal with it for my own life though. I am thinking so hard I forgot about the pain at my wrists, I start really feeling it as the rats start nibbling away at my already-torn wrists. This should go by a lot faster as I have already weakened the metal quite a bit.

I look back at the pendulum, it is actually swinging! How!!! It was not moving an inch before! I look further and find a painting.. facing downwards at me, It was a man... with long hair and a bone-chilling evil grin. I hated it so much, I could not stand to look at it. I start yelling at the rats to eat... "Feast you scums... FEAST ON ME!!!" Then I stop, this is driving my sanity out of control. I should just stay on focused on escaping, still confused on it because I remember that there are no doors. I use my neck now, looking around... Oh, it feels so good to use it again. Still no doors though, no roof nor floor hatches. I am totally closed in with this device of torture and...that picture.

The pendulum seems to be speeding up now! Holy crap! What the hell am I supposed to do!?!? My life depends on these rats to break me free, hurry up.... eat, eat....eeaat. I am screaming upwards in the pain, I can now start to see bone, then I saw something that just drained the life out of me... The picture blinked, I swear to god it blinked... and the crooked smile, it grew. I am now staring into it... forget the pain, forget the pendulum... what is that picture.

I now see more of the picture, The eyelids... are burnt off. The clothes he is wearing, seem to be stitched onto his skin as well as the corners of his mouth. The grin is so.... It is undescriptive. Simply staring into it could shove a man into suicide, Then i snap to reality... the clamps, are now simple weak bits! The pendulum is near, I am on the edge of freedom, I thrust my wrecked arms outwards through the metal and they are out! I'm free!

I can not sit up as the pendulum is now too near to sit up or I would get sliced out at my head and upper body. So I try to roll out of the contraption, but... I cannot move still. What is wrong?! Why can I not leave! MY LEGS!! They are still stuck, but the rats are now feasting on my chest and body area... no way I could shove them down there without death! I realise, I am dead, life i done. I get a moment of peace, It was very good... I see visions of my kids, my wife, and all of us posing in front of our house when we first got it... then I look closer, in the window... is that man... smiling... at the camera, like I was supposed to notice it now.

I cut my visions back to reality, I look at the picture... still facing downwards at me, and I say, "Go to hell, Bitch!" Now, I see it clearly... it blinked and its smile grew bigger, yet creepier. It still does not talk as it stares straight into my eyes, I look away but the visions are still in my head. I then look at the pendulum, then the man.. and I begin to count... 1.... The pendulum is almost at my bare skin, 2.... the picture is no fake at all, I look that man dead in the eyes and smile the greatest smile I have ever had... 3.... See you in hell assh-