The Ever Beating Heart

[Teilo Hopkins]

Note From Author: This thread is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell Tale Heart. As you can tell, I got a little muse happy with it (I love Poe stories) and it ended up being a monster post. Quite literally a monster. I took aspects from the story and used them to make it my own. Also, it is unknown if Teilo actually killed Daniel (due to the fact that it was during a firing squad). And this happened during the time he was in the military. Enjoy, my fellows.

The weather seemed far stranger than what it normally would have been. Before, the night skies were clear and now, everything seemed to have changed. Rain fell down from the heavens. Lightning flashed and thunder roared across the lands. Yet, as much as the weather seemed to have changed, the reasoning behind it could not be explained. There was nothing to sense that the weather was going to change. No birds stopped their singing, only to hide within the trees from getting wet. No, instead they continued their singing, causing the wizard to wonder the situation at hand. It was strange and yet, there was a little idea that maybe, maybe this was God's warning to everyone around them. Maybe he was doing this due to the death of a deserter û he was mourning and yet, he was angry. Teilo could not explain that situation at hand and yet, he would just have to deal with it at the moment. It was something in which he couldn't help but to wonder at the moment. Maybe that was the reason why the storm seemed to have been blowing in. It was something in which he couldn't help to wonder about. God was angry for him, was angry for the sin in which he had done and yet, he couldn't help it. He felt forced, far more than what he normally was û he felt extremely forced. And yet, it was something in which he knew that he had to forgive himself for, as much as he didn't know if he could or not. He needed to forgive himself of everything that could have been happening to him, even if it was just for a bit.

He needed to forgive.

Lying in bed seemed to have been like torture for the man. As much as he tried his best in order to not think about the situation at hand, it seemed as though he couldn't help himself. Everything was a curse. A sigh escaped his lip, just listening to the rain and thunder that had occurred from inside of the building. He wanted to say something û wanted to actually allow his apologies to no one to be accepted though right now, that wasn't going to happen, at least not at the moment. So he just listened, listened to the rain. After laying there for what seemed about an hour, he could feel his eyelids get heavy, could feel the sensation of sleep overcoming him. Perhaps, this was a good sign? A smile lingered upon his lips, as he closed his eyes, allowing himself to drift away and yet, it was not what he expected. Nightmares seemed to have lingered within his mind, each of them providing him with something in which caused him to quiver within his sleep. He wanted it all to escape him and yet, he knew better than to fall into the trap of his mind. It wasn't real and yet, it seemed far more real than what he could have ever imagined. How he tossed and turned during the night, how he allowed his mind to be taken over in such splendor and yet, this wasn't even the beginning of his troubles. It was only while he was having t hose nightmares that a sound burst through his ears, an awfully familiar sound to him. He never would have expected to hear it and yet, it seemed apparent that someone, someone around here, was tormenting him.

Thump. Thump." The beating of a heart lingered within his mind as he laid there, letting a groan escape his throat as he turned himself towards the side, trying his best in order to ignore the sound. And yet, it went again. Thump. Thump. This time, he seemed to have been alerted to the sound. His eyes shot up as he bolted up, his attention looking about the small barracks which were considered as their own. It was somewhere around here. It had to be somewhere within this room. Thump. Thump. It puzzled him, causing him to throw off his blankets and allowing them to the ground. Feet were pressed up against the cold wood of the floor as he stood, his eyes glancing about the area that was around him. The heart within his chest was beating a mile a minute, unable to control the sensation that was running through him. He was here û he must have been here. Never would he have imagined such a thing as this. His friend must have been alive once more, must have been somewhere. Taking a step or two, his shadow followed closely behind him, clinging to his lower limbs. He had expected to hear more feet but it was only him and that horrible beating of a heart. Thump. Thump. "Whose there? WHO IS THERE?!" His voice roared out, hoarse from the tiredness that lingered within his soul. Who could it have possible been? "Daniel? Is that you?" As much as he wished that it was his friend, there was no response that had come to his hears. Instead, there was that all too familiar sound.

Thump. Thump.

Each thump of the heart had caused him to flinch. Had caused his mind to be driven mad with the events that were occurring to him at the moment. Could no one else hear this? He turned his attention to look at the others who were in the same room as him but all of his comrades seemed to have been sound asleep. No, this couldn't have been true. Getting upon his knees, he lowered himself to the ground and slid his trunk out from underneath his bed. It was then in which he popped it open. Before he could possibly think, he grabbed at items, throwing them across the room while his eyes tried to find the thing in which he was looking for û for that damned heart were forever kept on beating. With each article that went flying from the trunk, came the blurred colors of what one could possible assume was a war going on between the man and his mind. It was driving him mad û far more so than anything else. A growl escaped his lips as he dug into it quicker and quicker, nearly forcing himself into it as though believing that it would help with the source of the sound in which he was looking for. Yet, he hit rock bottom, his nails scrapping against the bottom of the trunk as he tried his best in order to dig for more items, to dig for anything that could have potentially been naked to the human eyes. His fingered ached with pain and yet, he ignored it completely, he needed to find this item. When nothing was found, he sat back, vexed with the events that was happening and yet, the beating continued.

Thump. Thump. It had to have been somewhere around here. Standing up quickly, he allowed a quivering breath in order to take hold of his body, his eyes looking at the bed that was before him. It had to have been in there. Without second guessing what he was doing, he took out a sharp knife, plunging it into the mattress and allowing it to slit the fabric into two. It was then in which he dug his hands in it, throwing the pieces of straw that lingered in there, littering the floor with the yellow grass. The more he heard the beating of the heart, the faster he began to pull out the material and throw it away. It was here. It had to have been here. And yet, within fifteen minutes or so of pulling at the straw and throwing it, coating whatever was around, there was nothing inside of it, nothing but the fabric itself. What is this? His mind slowly tried his best in order to calm him, tried its best in order to ensure that the man had yet to have gone mad at the moment and yet, it was hard in order to do anything about it at the moment. It had to be somewhere and yet, every time in which he looked in the area he thought it was, it was never there. It was never there. Throw the now useless mattress fabric off his bed, he turned his head downwards, looking to see if it was underneath it. There was nothing there. Nothing but his boots as well as a couple of other items which were deemed useless for him at the moment. It had to have been somewhere around here and yet, he didn't know where it could have possibly been. That was until he heard it once again.

That all too familiar sound.

Thump. Thump. This time, unlike before, he could actually pinpoint its location. Turning himself around, he allowed his eyes to land upon the desk that rested at the end of the room, away from the door. It was in there, he could sense it. Hurrying forth, there were a couple of times in which he had stumbled, nearly falling to the ground and yet, he caught his balance and continued to move within its direction, determined in order to find the damn heart. It had to have been somewhere. When he reached the desk, there was a smile that formed upon his face, different compared to what was normally shown. It was full of glee, full of the delight of finding something in which he had been searching for. A cackle escaped his lips as he stopped at the desk, rubbing his hands together as he looked at the draws. It was then in which he pulled open each drawer one by one, throwing the items inside onto the floor. And yet, there was still no heart to be found after the first second or third drawer that had been opened. No, he needed that heart! With only three more drawers left, he debated which one to open before grabbing the handle of one and whipping it open, throwing out the contents that were inside of it. And yet, what he found inside of it was not what he had been expecting at all. This was not something in which he would have thought he would fine.

It was a heart.

Before he could control himself, a high pitched yell escaped his lips as he threw himself back up against the wall and away from the desk that was before it. It was then in which the others seemed to have been awaken, seeing the mess that was caused by Teilo himself. Yet, as they approached him, as they approached the man, they couldn't help but to see something that was completely different about him. Unlike what he normally was, he had forced himself into a corner, as close as possible to it. He was sitting upon the ground, his whole body shaking and eyes wide with fear. All the color that was upon his skin had disappeared, causing the man to look like death itself, pale and sickly. His lips shook too, as though trying to say something yet no words could be spoken at the moment. What was he supposed to say at the moment? What words could have been said? There was nothing which could have caused the others in order to understand the events that were occurring unless. Did they know about the heart too? Could they hear it like he could? It was a possibility and yet, he was uncertain about it at the moment. Yet, it was something in which he really couldn't help but to wonder. Raising his shaking hand, he pointed to the desk, pointed to the one open drawer in which he had searched for that heart. They must have knew, must have known that it was in there. It was something in which he would only expect from them. With a quivering breath inwards, he spoke, letting them know about it.

"It is in there! IT IS IN THERE! HIS HEART.. HIS HEART IS IN THERE!" His voice increased in volume with each word and the lightning flashed across the sky, as if by cue. His comrades looked at each other confused by the emotions in which the man was feeling at the moment. His heart? What heart was he talking about? All of them looked at each other, trying their best in order to figure out what the man meant and yet, they could not figure out what he wanted nor did any of them want to look. Something was wrong with him. With all of them looking at each other, trying their best in order to figure out who should look, one man stepped forwards, deciding to take on the deep. With a deep breath inwards, he moved towards the desk, slowly as though expecting to see something that he didn't want to see at all. It was only when he reached the desk that he stopped, looking back at his fellows. They encouraged him, convincing him to go even further. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep a deep breath, his heart pounding inside of his chest, enough for anyone in order to hear. It was only when he did open his eyes and peer inside that he saw something in which he never thought that he would see before. Confused, he raised his head to look at Teilo who was cowering in the corner, his shaking finger still pointed at the open drawer of the desk.

Inside there was nothing û no beating heart resided within it.