I'm running.
I felt the prickling energy behind my spine itching to reach deeper inside me for me to cave in, but I kept running and running. At some point I said to myself, "Give up, give up in order to rest for a moment because you have done everything you could for him. Give up, give up, give up."
For a moment I let that thought linger in my mind. That was my very first mistake. Because then pain seared through my skull, and I lunged forward with my gut. I felt like someone seared through my head with a hot poker. It hurts so much, and I cannot scream because it takes too much for me to stay still and not curl into a ball.
So many voices screaming at the top of their lungs inside my head that I cannot differentiate between them.
Agony, this is agony.
One voice stands out between the others: it's Duncan. He's taking my hand and trying to make me move with him, but I want to cave in and die on this forest floor. Let me die, let me die. This is what they're all saying. This is what they're all in need of. Tears prick my eyes, burning through my resolve. "Please," I beg. I do not know who, Duncan or the ghosts. "Please stop."
I think my voice is not my own because when I open my mouth, it's not my words. "We want peace," they say in unison. "Leave us. Do not return."
The searing pressure inside my head leaves me, and so does this mist, and I lose consciousness when the relief hits me.