Cocytus - River of Misery

[Damian]

Κωκυτος -Cocytus

You fall. There's nothing but falling. No sound, no sight, nothing. Just you and the falling. You try to count the days, but there's nothing indicating the time. It's liquid to you now. No time, no days, nothing. You continue to fall. You do not panic. It's already too late for that. It's all over now. All you can do is fall.

Nerves hit your stomach like a bad dinner and your heart quakes as you wait for your fall to end. The blank void surrounds you like a constricting blanket. No warmth, no comfort, nothing. You continue to fall, feeling nothing, but the emotions inside of you. The fear of the unknown, the terrible dream of endless pain, or maybe worse. The terror of there being nothing, just like the fall.

A slight whistle tunes into your head, breaking that formidable silence. Its high pitch scars your ears, but you welcome the sound, it's better than the silence. You crane to see what it is, but the gloom around you blocks your view for a second, before something cold slaps you in the face. Lungs burn as the freezing water claims you, capturing any life that clings on, making it wither until it's nothing but a ghost. You sink. You sink into the depths below as voices invite you in, whispering into your ears, singing sweet lullabies that almost sound like mom. Give up. Join us. Come to us little one. Come join us.

You listen as the soft voices lull you into complete bliss. Hands kiss against your skin as they pull you into their arms. Your golden eyes shine brightly against the dismal water before flicking out as though someone blew out a candle. The river holds you, surrounding your limp body, numbing your skin, killing off any sensation you once knew. Every nook and cranny of your body shuts down, the clogs inside slowly unwinding, your life, balances on a string as the cord slowly snaps.

Something tugs against you, making you choke as the water throttles your windpipe. Those hands scratch and bite, drawing deep lines of crimson into pale peach.  Their sweet voices dissolve into static screams, inching towards total madness. Incoherent words are thrown about as they sink their truths and wills into your mind. You scream and fight, but pressure builds inside of you, anchoring you into the river, driving a stake into the ground.  
The wailing gets louder and louder, screeching into your ears, crying into your soul. Die. Pathetic. Useless. It never stops. Stop! Stop! You beg for silence, beg for the damned to hold their tongues, but they don't, and they never will, and neither will you. You're one of them now. Stuck in the loop of misery. Forever.