Night Fires (28 page)

The last twenty four hours were a blur, a void in my memories. Where there should have been joyful memories of my twenty fifth birthday, a gaping hole of nothing now prevailed. Like an eraser had moved across my mind and scrubbed away yesterday as though it had never come and gone.

But I’d never forget the next twenty four hours. The terrifying rush of the next one thousand, four hundred and forty minutes. The swiftly fading eighty six thousand, four hundred seconds filled with the remaining twenty eight thousand breaths of my life.

Because that’s all he gave me.

Eighty six thousand and four hundred seconds to play his game.

Eighty six thousand and four hundred seconds to complete his five tasks before it would all blissfully end.

Each one took a piece of me until by the conclusion of his cruel self-made amusement only the slow, reluctant beat of my heart remained. Nothing else of me was left.

And then, finally, my finishing task.

Embrace death.

And embrace I did. Willingly.

Coming autumn 2016