(his eyes aren't brown but this was the closest I could get)

Sometimes I feel like the darkness is never-ending. Like any moment it could pounce and swallow me whole, and there would be nothing I could do about it. 

And sometimes I feel like I'm drowning. Like I'm reaching for the surface, kicking and squirming, but I can't move. I just sink down and down and down until I can't hold my breath anymore, and then everything goes black. 

And right now I feel like nothing will ever get better. My life keeps spiraling and spiraling, one bad thing after another, and I don't think I want to know what's at the end. 

I sink back into my body, the pain of my injuries returning with renewed force. I groan at the pain, and quickly silence the noise when I remember that the person who gave me these should be nearby. 

But when I open my eyes, all I see is the other person, sprawled out in the corner. They haven't moved, and they don't look like they're breathing. 

I can feel that I'm covered in something dark and sticky that I assume is blood, and I shut my eyes tight. I don't want to see how bad it is, even though I can feel it. 

There's a rustling from outside, and someone unlocks the door with a click.

I freeze, and then close my eyes and try to regulate my breathing, pretending that I'm asleep, but I can feel my pulse racing. 

The door opens silently, the bright light from the hallway shining into the room.

There's a sharp gasp. 

"Amethyst?" someone asks, and I open my eyes slightly to see a pale boy with blonde hair and hazel eyes sparkling with pity standing there. 

"Myles?" I rasp quietly, my throat feeling like it's been shredded. 

I try to sit up, but have to close my eyes tightly at the pain. I end up leaning against the wall, trying to work through the pain. 

Myles rushes over to me, his eyes landing on the blood. And then he looks at me, and just from his face I can tell how bad it must be. 

"Is it really that bad?" I whisper, worried about the answer. He doesn't look at me, and I take that as an answer in itself. 

I scowl. I can do this. I can get up, I know I can. 

I press myself against the wall and push up, rising myself to my feet. I bite back my scream and carefully wipe the tears from my eyes. 

Myles gives me a look and steps closer to me, making it easy for me to lean on him, which I don't. 

"Amethyst. Cmon, you can't walk with that." He's acting calm, but I can tell that his face is as pale as snow. 

I shake my head. "I'm fine." 

He raises his eyebrows but nods, and I take a step off from the wall, wincing. I look towards Myles. 

"See? I'm fine!" I take another step forward, but maybe I'm a bit too confident this time, because I'm suddenly reminded of the gaping wound in my leg and with a sharp intake of breath I fall onto Myles. 

"Sorry," I mutter, pushing myself back up but leaning on him again. He looks like he's trying not to laugh, and I glare at him. 

He leads me out of the cell, with a lot of wincing and keeping down my screams. But eventually we make it to the end of the hallway, where there's a heavily armored and locked door. I lean against the wall, trying to rest. I know how ashen my face must look right now, and it's how I feel, too. 

"You okay?" Myles asks, and I nod, swallowing hard. I know there'll be a whole lot more pain in the future, but I'm ready for it. 

He pulls a set of keys out of his pocket, unlocking the door. I close my eyes, bracing myself, and then start through the door. 

Behind it, there's a long set of staircases that I'm not excited to climb.

But I force myself up the long staircase, so so so so glad when they end at another door. 

Myles freezes, and I listen for a moment. 

Someone's inside there. I can hear them talking. 

I would ask Myles what we're going to do, but I don't want to alert them to our presence. 

I lean on the door, assuming it's locked. But it swings open, spilling me onto the floor. 

I make an undignified squeak from the agony shooting through my body, and feel a few of my wounds reopening, blood dripping onto the floor. 

All I want to do is stay where I am, and never get up. I could stay here forever. 

But I force myself to my feet, leaning on the wall and shutting my eyes tight, but open them again with a sharp gasp as I remember the guards all standing in the room. 

They're all staring at me, but their gaze shifts when Myles bursts into the room, stiffening when he sees them. 

I take a step towards Myles, standing next to him. We may have to fight our way out of here, but I know we can do it. 

I raise my arms as if I'd be able to attack them in any sort of combat, and groan from the headache demanding attention in my brain. Myles wraps an arm around me, holding me up. 

One of the guards is holding a gun, and it's pointing towards us. 

"Give me one reason not to fire. Now."

I freeze, thinking. I don't have anything good. We can't really just say that we escaped from their prison-

Myles's voice interrupts my thoughts. "We're just visiting, school assignment. One of the prisoners got out and attacked my... friend here." He gestures towards me, and I scrunch up my face, pretending to be in pain, which isn't very hard considering it's true. 

The guard looks me up and down as if he doesn't believe us. 

"It's true," I stammer, adjusting my stance and wincing for effect. The guard scoffs. 

"Like hell it is. I remember you, girl. You were the one we interrogated. And you've escaped, huh? Not for long." His finger floats over the trigger, and before I have time to react, he shoots.