"You can't breathe" he whispered and I feel my lungs constricting after his words resounded in my ears. I pull my lips apart hoping to gulp enough air but it feels like a battle and they won't fill my lungs. My nostrils feel useless because they don't even work no matter how much I urge them.

"You can't move" He taunts and my body suddenly feels limp like a thousand weights are crushing me to the ground. I want to yell and tell him it's a lie but my mouth won't cooperate and my heart's so scared it won't stop racing

" I'm not dead" I manage to wheeze out completely terrified but he cackles such that the sound resonates and shakes the earth.

"Get up then if you're not! Really move if you're not dead!" He spat with venom as he walked away.

I can literally feel myself slipping away but somehow the voice in my head won't give up.

"Try to move just one finger, it's not much but it's a start"

The tears escape my eyes when I fail the second time at this simple task but she says "you're doing great" and I wonder if she is being sarcastic. My fingers won't move but my eyes can let lose their waterworks and I'm doing great?

"Just a finger " She urges once more

"What's the use? I can't fight with a finger? He's going to come back and finish me off anyways"

"So why didn't he when he had the chance? "

I tried so hard to figure why he hadn't finished me off but nothing came to my mind. "Maybe he's waiting for the right time, some people make their coup d grace memorable for their victims "

I couldn't see her but I could feel the disappointment in her tiny voice as though she had expected more.

"Maybe he will win after-all, he's got you where he wants you"

"W..where?" I ask this time even more terrified than I had been earlier

"Lost in his maze of lies, It's easier for him to conquer you when you give up. Why do you think you can't move?"

"He said I can't and when I tried, I couldn't, he's powerful"

"Is he ? Think dear "

" So why can't I move? If you think he's powerless"

"I should be asking you, you know him so well" She retorted harshly as exasperation dug further and further into my mind.

"I don't know him" I replied weakly

"But you listened to him"

" I didn't listen to him, it just happened"

"Move" She whispered before an eerie silence enveloped me

"How!"

"How!"

She's gone

The tears won't stop and I wished they would. Maybe If I wasn't pathetic,weak, stupid and clueless I would have left.

"But why am I not dead If I can't breathe? Why is my mind active and about? "

I manage to garner all the strength I had left  and somehow pleaded with my fingers to cooperate. I gave if not my all in another in my trial but my middle finger only managed a tremor . It shook and went limp again

"See how right I was? You can't move " I heard his voice once more taunting but this time I felt enraged.

"I'm not dead! And my finger shook! "

Stunned he staggered a bit , held his head like I had pounded my fist on his dark skull.

I could sense it somehow, his fear, but how?

" You're still lying in the ground and I know the earth will close in" He declared with a renewed rage, still his eyes didn't seem convincing enough. They weren't as empty and terrifying as before

" I'll not just move my fingers this time but my whole hand and when I've done that, I'll walk out of here"

" Y..you can't " The quiver in his voice made him sound almost feminine but I was determined to walk so I focused my energy on the task, keeping my lids shut. Even I was surprised my lips had obeyed

"You can't move ! I know it I know you!"

It was all becoming so confusing, why was he sounding like me?

"Distractions" the other voice whispered and I felt pleased she had come back.

" I can breathe, I can move, I'm not dead and most importantly I don't listen to strangers that I don't know. Especially the ones who lie"

I sat up with a force unimaginable and she all but whimpered scurrying away like a broken dog.

"You're a liar " I called after her still baffled by the transformation that went on with her.

She turned to look at me one last time and the gasp I let out was from the semblance she bore to me.

I didn't flex my legs and arms even though I wanted to , it would reflect doubt I suppose.

"Who was that?" I asked the helpful voice

"Depression " She replied tartly

"He..well she looked like me"

"A mirage " She whispered

"Well what do you look like?" I asked almost immediately as curiosity overwhelmed my sense of reason. She was simply a voice in my head, wasn't she?

" Hope"

"You're not a Mirage? "

"Maybe I am, maybe I am not. It all depends on what you want to see"

"You were right, maybe I did know her"

I could hear her chuckle even as her voice faded away.

"She's lived in your head for ages , you do know her"

"What about you? Where have you been?"

"In your mind and right now you need to wake up"

"I am not asleep besides I haven't seen you "

"Maybe you should quit being stubborn and open your eyes"

"Will I see you?" I asked her as I shut my eyes as she had instructed to open my eyes even though they had been open the whole time .

"When you look in the mirror "

And I did open my eyes to stare at the blood stained broken mirror with my face on it. I stared at my fingers to see the cuts engendered on them with blood dripping to the floor and then I realised I had been lost in the sleep of denial the whole time.

A piece Inspired by Rationale's song Deliverance. LauraNaba recommended this song and it came.

I hope you enjoy ❤️