[Universe]

Seconds

*No line limit, as agreed upon

"You’re not a monster. You’re a mirror." - Bryan Lee O' Malley

......

The Waiting Room

I woke up to the clock beeping... It showed a billion and one
Counting heartbeats, down here we're tethered to those living just above
The soul is attached to the body, chained to a still little corpse
I have no needs, I eat what you eat like an unseen umbilical cord
In 31 years I haven't been born; the overhead lamp is a makeshift moon
I'm feeling compartmentalized... And down here is the ultimate waiting room
I'm always beneath in hot pursuit, like I'm haunting your dreams
A zombie in deep, I can feel your heartbeat and I want that for me
We all have a ghost self, one that is constantly attached
Awaiting our death so it can take over our body once it passed
Like kidney stones through intestinal tracts... No wonder I'm involved
You don't know when your heart stops, but I do - it's a number on my wall
I jump when my First falls, nice to say but it's not quite the case
Life's underway, and Seconds are tucked away from the light of day
Only night remains in this tiny maze; We get along but none can tell
A heart can physically rest in your chest but belong to someone else
Won't be long 'til I want the helm; Pushing up daisies with seeds and flowers
You got your eyes to the sky... I'm the anchor that keeps you grounded
I'm sleeps allowance, holding you in high standing while sitting calm
Listening to a song from your lovely voice humming over the intercom
Having it confiscated didn't raise alarms, but a switch of seasons sure did
We are all shackled to a cadaver with our endings pre-determined
Seems we live and breathe only to be eaten alive by the earth
There is no wasted energy - Everything is recycled and turned
Persons above lie under the sun... It's just hide n' seek to us
My mind believes you must feel temperatures rise beneath the mud
Therein lies the rub... I'm asking why give up? Time is retracting
Won't impose my will, whatever pose you're in I will mime it exactly
A vivid reminder of past seams... We will be together forever
Until death do us part, this invisible tether will never be severed
It's short sighted as ever, yet far reaching in hindsight
I hypothesized there's almost 2.5 billion heartbeats per lifetime
At age 31, we've used a billion or so on the way there
Which means our lifespan's almost 78 years - No complaints here
Everyone's born with a built in fail safe, I just happened to be it
I'm happy to admit I'm one of the few still latching to the lid
I don't have to live in your place in truth, full of violence and sadness
I needn't apply mathematics to prove whites detest my black skin
A gray area akin to purgatory; I know up above it's quite a day
Cuz my room just faded, the lights above emitting ultraviolet rays
When it rains sprinkler systems spray... but that's another story
Keys in the lock - I watched as the door to my room swung in toward me...


The Intruder

A man with a clown mask stood before me, his eyes inside just question me
He said, "I'm sorry, there seems to be a change to your First's life expectancy"
"These events are out of our control... Again, my apologies"
He closed the door - I dropped to my knees as the intercom just screamed
My First's voice sobbed and weeped, I hardly believed I heard my tether
Suddenly the digital clock turned off, going black for the first time ever
Then numbers returned... It displayed one hundred and some change
But went down to ninety nine, ninety eight... This must be a mistake!
I looked in the mirror - It appeared broken, actually like it seized
Odd to believe it's counting down to zero faster than I can see
The alarms sound - Red lights floated around this erratic atmosphere
You had so much time left... What the hell is happening up there?
I heard a man's voice over the intercom - I wondered where it might be
He seethed, "Dark meat is my favorite..." then came a terrified scream
Followed by desperate moaning that speeds up before getting slower
I heard my own voice saying "Jesus... Jesus" over and over
Heard it despite the choking sounds; My chest on the right just got tight
Valves switch on... oxygen swapped with carbon monoxide in the pipes
My pupils uplift as I suffocate, no prayers left God can deliver
Then I blacked out as my First stared into the eyes of her killer...


The Space Between

No time for second thoughts - My First's murderer is still at large
I'm feeling charged, I opened my eyes to a night sky filled with stars
Half of me is missing; I'm no longer complete inside it seems
My eyes blinked - the man with the clown mask took a seat beside of me
"Call me Ivan if you want to put a name to the face" he said with a laugh
"What's going on?" I mumbled; Ivan responded, "I thought you'd never ask..."
"What am I?" I gasped; He said, "You're a human being of course"
"We all deserve a second chance in life... You happen to be yours"
"But there's no third... The choice to go above doesn't require introspection"
He said, "I'm saying you're the Second..." I questioned, "Are you talking resurrection?"
"I'm talking a do over - Regeneration would have lingering effects"
"You only live twice... We all think we're First when picturing the end"
"Seconds don't have a mirror's reflection..." I'm a mere spirit in dreams
"You share memories," he said, "and this is how we prepare you to leave"
I remembered to breathe... Time only heals if you don't open the wound
I said "I want to avenge my First's death..." He nodded, "Yeah, most of us do..."
"Who killed me?" I wondered aloud, I was formulating a fight and flight plan
He gazed up at the sky and said, "From what I understand it was a white man"
"That aside feel satisfied... Your First had a soldier's will to survive"
"You're lucky, you know... to be able to go above, still in your prime..."
"Most are over the hill by the time they show up... Best get involved and get closure"
"You have over half a life to live... and Seconds aren't always leftovers..."


The Clearing

Opened my two eyes to a blue sky, not believing I was actually here
Lying in familiar grass of a field - I woke up gasping for air
Traction repaired my thoughts, but waking up in dirt is a drag
That's when I saw men in ski masks packing away my First in a bag
Got my coordinates - The cord that ended my First's life was nearby
When the men left the clearing, a GPS turned up right by my side
I picked up the device to follow the line, no retracing from afar
A blinking red dot on the screen showed the location of a bar...
There was a picture of a blonde man with blue eyes, about middle aged
I doubt I'll relate, I found that my hate had me drowning in rage
The straight blue line told me where to go... an ink blot with no pen
Was once tethered to my First, now I'm tethered to a red dot at the end
I got up and left, the device took me through a city's winding caverns
I tracked down the bar with the GPS... It was labelled, 'Ivan's Tavern'...


The Dive

I sat at the darkest end, with a good view of a blonde haired barkeeper
He didn't spot me when I walked in, but he didn't look very hard either
Part of me wanted to retreat, but I already knew the fate of this man
Throughout the night I turned down advances with a wave of my hand
In fact I barely glanced at my drink, just bided my time 'til after hours
I broke the glass on the counter, pocketing a shard to slash this coward
I acted it out in my mind... I guess I get fairly moody this late
I approached the barkeeper as he was putting chairs and stools away
He turned around and stuttered, "Y-You're dead... I w-watched you die"
"You watched half of me die..." I said, then he let out an awful cry
A piece of broken glass lodged in his thigh, it drew a pattern in his flesh
"White meat is my favorite..." I said, as I stabbed him in the neck
Never had any scruples in the depths, but I knew I had a screw loose
I bound his hands and pulled off his pants, sodomizing him with a pool cue
It came out bloody... I broke it in half and entered him again
He begged for his end... so I slit his throat and dismembered his head
Resembled a Jackson Pollock as he bled; I looked for his cash and wallet
That's when I found the clown mask tucked in his jacket pocket
The room started to spin... I knew it was Ivan, the clown with no face
He began to shake and raised up, his Second now in his place
Like reverse abductions from outer space, but he's around for it after
Men in ski masks bagged up Ivan's First and rushed him out of the Tavern
Ivan's Second said, "I knew I could count on you..." with a bottle in his grasp
He flipped it around and swung it fast - That's when it all went black...


The Clearing

I woke up beneath the sun, leg up, arms behind my head, relaxing
I am actually humming a familiar song as I digest what just happened
This is where my First died exactly... I realized nothing curves time
Cuz I'm still alive, that's the good news - but I wasn't sure why
Ivan entered my line of sight, clown mask on, smelling of beer
"Now I get to experience what my First did," He shrugged, "I wanted to start here"
That smile was more a sneer... He said, "You deserve truth in spades"
"I made you kill your First so you would send MY First to the grave"
"Call it suicide, if you want. But I wasn't trying to wait..."
"To be an old man when I finally got to the other side of the gates..."
"The grass is greener here..." he exclaimed, "You gotta know rape is in the script"
He pulled a knife, "Funny how a piece of grass is called a blade though, isn't it?"
He grazed my neck with the murder weapon, I saw him strained with sweat
He said, "This is all so much sweeter without a safety net..."
I placed a hand on my stomach, protective as birds with their babies nests
That's when Ivan said... "I didn't know YOU knew you were pregnant yet..."
Suddenly I was filled with more than regret; Something living was inside of me
Ivan put the knife to my throat, unzipped his pants and entered me violently
I tried fighting but it was no use, he might as well of tied me up
I bite my tongue, hearing myself yelping "Jesus" every time he thrusts
He finally comes... and here I am naked as naked gets
I wondered, could there be a Third below me, waiting in the depths?
He said, "You'll answer the greatest question yet..." I struggled to regain my breath
Then heard, "After you blow your second chance, what happens after the main event?"


4 Hours Later...

The Crime Scene

A dead female, 31 - She doesn't seem to be an actual victim
No one thing attracting suspicion, except that she's posed in a "relaxing" position
Then rustling of the weeds came, just listen... crunching plants and some footprints
Two Detectives entered the field of play - One man and one woman
Detectives Mike Willow and Annie Garza were tandem forensic experts
They got within a meter, yellow caution tape spanning the perimeter
"There she is..." Willow said; They inspected their findings closer
Garza kneeled over the corpse wincing, she said, "Yikes, he posed her..."
They both knew it was done postmortem when rigor mortis set in
Photos were snapped by the media - Willow reacted, "Don't let any more of them in"
Garza let the body tell the story - Nowadays there's none more common
She rubbed the head, "Victim has skull fractures caused by blunt force trauma"
She was surprised the head wasn't caved in, it shouldn't have withstood the pressure
"This is the definition of overkill... She was strangled as well, for good measure"
Garza didn't need to check her, the victim was sexually assaulted of course
Penetrated vaginally and rectally with a wooden object of sorts
"There's splinters in both cavities." Willow said, fixing his tie and adjusting his suit
Garza wasn't one to assume so she asked, "Any ideas what he used?"
"Could be anything. A shovel maybe? Wooden. That's my guess"
"Maybe it was flipped around... Who knows, nothing has been recovered as of yet"
"Now the main event..." he points - "Victim was cut horizontally to the womb"
"Below the belly button. She was 3 months pregnant - The unborn baby was removed"
"She wouldn't be showing much at 3 months..." Garza mentioned, "How did they know?"
"Someone knew the victim..." Willow said, Garza nodded, "Yeah, someone pretty close"
"I wonder what she thought in those final moments, knowing no one will come to help..."
"Victims tend to compartmentalize trauma, pushing it below to somewhere else"
Sounds like Hell on earth, Garza thought... Although she stayed way above it
She heard, "They hide it deep inside so they can disassociate themselves from it"
"She got what she didn't deserve," Garza said, "This was a start, this wasn't an end"
"Well one thing's for sure... We got to catch this guy before he does it again"
"Let's get her to the coroner, the cadaver is starting to stink up the dirt"
Willow asked, "You think it's his first?" Garza shook her head, "I think it's a HER..."
"A stolen baby is a woman's M.O... so is leaving the body in pose"
"But at 3 months? It's full development is... not even close"
We're in the same boat, Garza thought, floating amidst unusual bloodstreams
She said, "Well the first rule of police work is: Assume you know nothing"
Bugs buzzed in the shrubs, dense enough to not let sunlight through
"Our job is to stop patterns before they happen, keep them as one-off flukes"
Chain of evidence - Whatever today solidifies, yesterday breaks
Nothing is labelled as the first until the second takes place...
"First thing's first..." Willow said, "we don't have much manpower to blow"
"Plus I'd say the first 48 started less than a few hours ago..."
Willow looked down, "Eyewitnesses near the road heard separate sounds"
"But unless they were around, we can't proceed with just any weapon found"
Detective Garza scanned her surroundings, looking for any exit now
Willow checked the watch on his wrist, clock's a ticking...

And every second counts...


To Be Continued...