Paranoia

   I just stood there. Blood streaming down my face from the wound on my forehead.  My hands hung limply by my side, and my whole being felt heavy and cumbersome. I was breathing raggedy, my straining lungs causing my whole torso to heave, up and down, again and again. My eyes felt misty and tired, and my eyelids continued to defy me. But my brain was racing, hot blood swarming inside my head as I tried, desperately, to think of a way to escape with my life.  I told myself to walk forward, but my aching legs refused to move. I told myself to speak, to say anything, but my lips were dry and my tongue mute. Voices crowded into my ears, filling my head with their senseless talk and grating laughter. I couldn’t concentrate, I couldn’t think. The veil was down, I was in darkness, and I couldn’t escape. The fog hung like lead in my brain as the blaring lights streamed in through my eyes. But it wasn’t enough. It was never enough to erase the darkness.
   “Pathetic!” The voice was slapping me, verbally striking me. I tried to find its source, but there was no one. I was alone. Always alone. “You are weak! You can’t even complete a simple assignment! You put on this mask but inside you’re just a failure. You’ll always be a failure!”
  “No...” I growled, still searching in my naivety for my mystery attacker.
  “You can’t deny it. Everyone around you agrees.  You see it in their eyes every time they look at you. Admit it, you were born a failure!” The voice laughed, and I could feel my heart dying. The words stabbed, killing me as they drew precious blood to escape into the wind. Still I fought it, my instinct to survive outweighing my longing to quit.
   “Why do you hate me?” I pleaded, forcing the words from my cracked mouth. The voice cackled.
   “Who said I hated you? That...would be suicide!”
   “What?” I struggled to stay awake, to stay alive, as I questioned the statement. It made no sense in my clouded mind. A dark figure appeared in my line of vision, approaching me through the gloom. It was coming closer, ever closer, and I could just about see the glint of its teeth as it’s thin lips broke into a malicious smirk. It bent towards me and its voice rasped into my ear as the darkness closed in around me...
   “Haven’t you figured it out yet? I...am You!”