Issue #176 : Skeletal

 

It was beyond pain.

To Danny, the word “pain” implied something temporary, something that could be dealt with, handled.

This was one of the worst experiences of his life.

It was as if the internal mechanisms of his body had become conscious and were fighting against every movement. If he lifted his arm, it would slam back down, as if pulled by unseen tethers. When he tried looking at something, it felt like something grabbed his eyes from the inside and forced them back to center.

What could he have possibly done to deserve this kind of a special hell?

He was supposed to be at work in less than ten minutes but all he could do was lie there, curled up on the bathroom floor, crying. Even his tears felt mildly acidic as they rolled down his face. He had tried to reach the phone to call for help but anytime he tried reaching for it, his spine flexed in the opposite direction, pulling him back down to the floor.

As he lay there, he felt pressure, coming from the inside of his skull. His head lifted and slammed back down on the floor. After several impacts, his head twisted violently to the side, allowing him to see the blood smeared on the floor that he knew was his. With agonizing pain, he raised up his arms and saw that they were swelling, as if something from within was pushing out and he screamed, feeling the veins bursting out from his neck and forehead from the effort.

Something gripped his ankles and twisted violently. Or rather, the bones spun around inside his own skin, causing him to roll over onto his stomach. His legs bent back until his feet were almost touching his head. From the insides of his legs, he felt something twist and snap, like wood cracking. As he began to shriek, he felt his legs flop down to the floor, knees broken and in that moment, he finally felt the onrush of unconsciousness.

When Danny woke, he was lying with his back to the wall, looking into the bathroom where his severed legs had been left behind. The bones protruding from the stumps writhed and twisted of their own accord, as if trying to break loose from his body. He cried out as his arms pulled to the sides, palms facing up as if in prayer. Danny looked from side to side, trying to see what was happening when his arms suddenly bent backwards at the elbows. He screamed again, needing some kind of an outlet to express this pain. The pressure eased for just a moment before snapping his arms, breaking them at the elbows.

Danny passed out again.

He woke up to a hazy reflection of the world around him. Light flashed somewhere nearby but he couldn’t see from where. There was no sensation of any part of his body and the only thought he could articulate was that he needed for this to end. He felt pressure in his chest as it became impossible to breathe and he saw spots of darkness before passing out for the third time.

The first thing he saw upon waking was A jagged line of bones. It was several drawn out moments before he realized they were protruding from his own chest, like a line of posts on a barren field. 

His own ribs. Snapped, bent upwards and filed down at the ends to a sharp point.

Danny didn’t have time to scream, to beg or ask why his own body had been turned against him like this. The bones in his neck drew him back and his head thrust forward with chilling rapidity.

The last thing he saw was his own ribs, rushing up at him as he was folded in on himself.