Psychopath #opussweeklychallenge I call myself the blood bottler. I love slaughtering people. I mow them down with blades and bullets and gaze in wonder at the blood that sprays everywhere. People rush to stop me, they bear arms of their own, but their movements are slow and obvious. I despatch them calmly, and laugh as they lay dead. I didn't always do this, but now it is like a drug to me. I can't get enough. I'm feared worldwide, nobody is good enough to stop me. I've killed all of my friends. I want to kill my family too, but they won't play with me. I hate when my mum calls me down for dinner and I have to turn the computer off, but as soon as I've eaten my fish fingers and chips I race back upstairs. I love this game.

Addicted #opussweeklychallenge I am completely and hopelessly addicted to this horrible substance. I want it all the time. I feel sick without it. I need it in order to function properly. I don't even want to say its name. It starts with C and rhymes with Joke. Joke is a good word. It's a joke that I've become so dependent on this stuff. I get withdrawal symptoms if I don't have my fix at least a few times a day. I know that putting more of that white stuff inside my body is bad for me, but I just keep doing it. It's a strange feeling after each intake. I feel instantly better, but there is guilt too. Why am I so weak? I can't even look at one of those adverts with the white writing on the big red background. It heightens my craving instantly. I feel like I have to go and get one straight away. I need help. I bet those smiling and laughing actors don't have cavities. Maybe if they used actors with terrible teeth, I never would have made drinking this stuff a habit.

Despair Yacob sat in the pitch black, not sure if he was awake or asleep. He had been in here for so long that he no longer knew when was day and when was night. He could not even tell if he had his eyes open or closed sometimes for all the difference it made. The scheduling of his pitiful meals gave him no indication to the hour. There was no regularity to it, and sometimes he went days without anything. They were not generous with water either. The only thing they were generous with were the beatings they gave him. He was so weak he could barely move. He did not mind. Beatings were preferable to the knives. The knives terrified him. So far they had taken two fingers and both of his ears. His manhood was next, they had said. He knew he was going to die, but the idea of losing any more body parts, especially that, horrified him. 'Makes no sense,' he thought to himself. 'I'll be dead in less than a week, I'll have no use for my body then, and no use for it before then either. I’m dead already.' He saw people in the darkness, people who were also dead. The ones he should have protected came to him the most. Arnielle, his wife appeared in the darkness. She stood watching him, tears silently rolling down her cheeks. Their children were there too, dark curls echoing Arnielle’s cascading locks. He cried uncontrollably, it was too much. He turned away and closed his eyes, but he saw them there too. They were all dead now, and he would soon be joining them. That brought him some comfort. He would not be granted a quick and painless reunion with his family, however. His death would be prolonged. He could only hope that they had at least been granted that mercy. He saw other dead people too, not family or close friends, but people who were very dear to him still. People who had followed him, people whom he had given hope. They marched beneath his banners, following their righteous king to glory. All swept up in the romantic notion of reclaiming their ancient homeland. All surely dead now. A wailing of rusty iron hinges announced the approach of his captors and tormentors. The dancing flame of torches cast eerie shadows in the gloom of the dungeon. Three hooded and dark cloaked figures entered. Before, it had only been two. The same two were part of this trio, Yacob recognised them despite the cloaks and hoods. Two enormous men who had spent hours beating and torturing him. They were sadistic and piteously stupid. Perfect fits for their chosen profession. The third man was smaller, of average height and build, yet he almost looked like a child beside the two giants. This man approached the bars of Yacob’s cell and peered through the bars. Before Yacob’s defiance had been broken he might have tried poking at his face through the bars, or slinging some shit at him. He had tried that with the other two and had immediately regretted it. They had made sure he wouldn’t forget. ‘Hello Yacob Wolfsinger, Bringer of Hope, Lord of the Sky, Protector of the Mountain Realm,’ the man sneered. The torchlight played across his face for a split second and Yacob started. It had only been a glimpse, but he immediately suspected who this visitor was. ‘Have you nothing to say? You who roused your people and marched them into foreign lands to conquer, pillage and take what was not yours? You poisoned a ‘nation’ against their superiors. A nation that we allowed to exist out of mercy. Perhaps now we will be less accommodating to those who refuse to bend the knee.’ There was a long pause. The man was apparently waiting for Yacob to say something. The silence stretched on. ‘Have you nothing to say? No defence? No lame excuses? No apology?’ He lowered his hood and Yacob’s suspicions were confirmed. ‘Nothing to say to your rightful king?’ ‘If you expect me to prostrate myself before you and swear my allegiance you will be waiting an eternity. I have no king. I am the king.’ Fury touched Mellar’s face then, his eyes burned and his mouth curled into a snarl. He visibly controlled his anger before responsing. ‘Defiant to the very end, I see. The very end,’ He said that with conviction, finality. ‘There is a teeming mass of people gathered in the city above who can’t wait to see the man who calls himself their king. We have something quite special arranged for you.’ A faint smile touched the corners of his mouth. ‘You never could keep a cool head.’

Long Memories #sundayrepost Have you ever been in one of those situations where things could have easily gone differently? You know, those times when looking back on it you were really lucky to survive? Let me tell you, once it happens to you a few times you start looking at #life a lot differently. When it happens the first time it doesn't affect you so much. You're young, carefree like the wind. It gives you a fright, but you move on from it pretty quickly. The second time it happens you get shaken up a bit, but you still move on quick enough. The third or fourth time is pretty bad. You're older, it takes a while to get over it. Eventually, you get a grip on yourself and you go back to whatever you do with a promise to yourself to be more careful. When it keeps happening to you, your outlook on #life begins to change. You start to wonder if other people go through this too. You wonder if there's some reason that you keep surviving. It starts to get even more dangerous. You keep finding yourself in these situations, but now you almost expect to survive. That's when it finally catches up with most people. I must have cheated death about fifteen times by now. I used to think I was lucky. I don't think so anymore. If I was lucky, I wouldn't be in here. I would be out there, still cheating death. If I was lucky, I would probably have stacks of gold by now, no enemies, and she would still be with me. You have a lot of time to think about things in here. Sometimes I think I have lost the last seven years of my #life. I always used to think that way. Recently, I've started to flip it another way. What if I just gained the rest of my #life? How do I know there would have been seven years out there? I like that thought. It's not a bad trade, really. All I know now is, when I get out of here I'm starting again. Fresh page, new leaf. I'll go somewhere else, somewhere pretty far from here and see what happens. There's some old bastards with long memories out there, and I don't want to get dragged into all that shit again. Tomorrow is the last you'll ever see of me.

An Addictive Past Time Scarlett burst through the opening of the temple into the sunlight, throwing a glance over her shoulder. The beast gave a roar. It was still in pursuit, and was gaining on her. She darted along the temple walls, scooping up what gold she could as she ran. The walls of this ancient fortress were highly treacherous. They crumbled beneath her pounding feet in places, at some points barely wider than the span of her shoulders. Parts of the walls had low hanging awnings and brickwork that she had to slide beneath. The beast still followed, showing remarkable speed and agility for its size. Clenching her teeth determinedly, with her eyes set ahead, she continued to run. Every so often she would reach the end of a wall and would have to turn sharply to the left or right to avoid running straight off the edge. Sometimes she had to duck under a stream of flames which spanned the wall, spurting out from a hole on one side. Treasure was strewn everywhere in this temple. Gold coins were scattered all along the ramparts, and as she ran further she began to find rubies and sapphires too. There was not always a chance to snatch them from the walls as she tried to stay ahead of the bloodthirsty monster still giving chase. She had to stay focused and make sure she did not trip over any of the vines that crawled over the walls. Sometimes the outside edges of the ramparts had collapsed in on themselves, leaving a pile of rubble that she had to dart around or hop over. In other parts the wall fell away completely, requiring her to leap across or fall to her death. Sometimes these gaps had ropes to aid her by letting her swing across. One time she leaped slightly too early and only just made the other side. She stumbled as she landed, her knee buckling, and the beast gained a few yards on her. She could feel it behind her, she could hear the pattering and slapping of its massive feet. She could feel its hot breath as it puffed and snarled while chasing her. She could almost see it there in her peripheral vision as she continued her mad dash along the roofs and walls of the temple. Sweat broke out across her forehead and the gold and jewels were completely forgotten as the importance of outrunning this blood-crazed monster became paramount. Every step became crucial, every jump and side-shuffle was #life and death. She ran for her #life and felt a power building up in her, reaching a crescendo. She found and extra burst of speed and steadily she began to pull away from the hairy beast again. she could still hear it but could no longer feel the warmth of its heavy panting. Up ahead was an archway leading into a dark cavern and a mine cart which sat at the top of a steep incline. Panicking slightly, she assessed her options. She was approaching rapidly, there was no where else to go. She jumped into the mine cart and began rolling forward, down the slope. She picked up speed fast. The beast followed, undeterred. The mine cart flew round corners and rocked to either side in a terrifying manner. Several forks in the track existed, and she had to use her body weight to steer the cart to either side so as not to travel down any dead ends. Her heart almost stopped when half of the track fell away and she had to throw her weight to the left to prevent the cart from tumbling off the right hand side of the track. There were some low beams too which threatened to take her head off if she didn't duck under them as the cart hurtled onwards. Blessedly, she reached the end of the track and she could leap out. She had managed to put a bit of distance between herself and the beast. She burst out of the gloomy mine onto a forest path, and continued to run. She had to avoid tree roots, low branches and fallen trees. She leapt across a stream and hurtled onwards when inexplicably she jumped up towards a fallen tree lying across the path. Everything seemed to slow down as she flew towards the massive trunk. She had meant to slide under it, it was much too big to jump over. Why had she attempted such a thing? She smacked into it head first and fell back down to the forest floor with a crash. The beast jumped on her, clawing and pawing in delight. 'Do you want to run again?' flashed before her eyes. 'Just once more,' she thought.