Chapter Text
the only sound to grace the basement in decades is a wretched, painful to listen to cough
those that hear it cannot help but wince and rub their chest
it's a wet cough, but nothing ever seems to come out, not even spit
the guard become paranoid
"but what if we get sick?" they cry
the one who hired them cares not, throwing money at the problem
now those who descend now wear state of the art gas masks
and state of the art earplugs
what used to be filled with quiet chatter is filled only
with the sound of blood rushing in ears
and the rapid
boom boom boom
of one's heart
and still it did not assuage the fears
no amount of staring away could keep the eyes of the guards from the pale figure
curled in the bottom of the sealed glass
body shaking from the bonewracking coughs that echo just beyond the human hearing range
one of those who go home and fall asleep dream of a pale figure watching as they themselves begin to cough
and unlike the figure, they cough blood
blood that splatters and spits until finally that which is making it's way up the thoat is not a liquid
it is a solid, solid heart, still beating away
boom boom boom
faster and faster now as it's exposed to fresh air
they quit within the week
another dreams of sitting, paralyzed as viscera pours from the pale figure's mouth
filling up the glass until it is a flat globe of red
that begins to creak, and crack
until it shatters and lets loose a torrent that seeks only to drown
it is finally decided that the guards would no longer station within the basement
instead at the top of the stairs
the dreams stop
the guards are able to sleep once more
and the pale figure is alone
with only the repeated echo of the cough
that rips itself into the silence