I
am chained to a black leather sofa. My wrists are behind me, my ankles to the
bottom of the sofa. A collar is around my throat. It's so tight that breathing
is a strain but if I sit still and don't try to talk I can just barely get
enough air to survive. Far away, downstairs, I can hear the sounds of your
party. One of the elegant affairs you enjoy holding for your friends.I hear the tapping of your heels as you approach, I smell your perfume and then feel the touch of your skin as you sit beside me and slip your arm around my shoulders, reaching up to idly stroke my hair. If I had anything left, I would gladly give it all to be able to see you. I know that you're wearing a stunning gown. I know that your jewels cost more than I earned in a year. Of course, I'll never see you again. Months ago, when you decided on a whim that it would entertain you to have me sent away to pull a plow on a distant corner of your estate, you had me blinded. It would help me focus on my work, you assured me with a smirk. You are smoking a cigar and, as an amusement, you puff the smoke in my face. It's difficult enough to breathe as it is, now it is far worse as the smoke makes me cough.
"Having trouble?" you taunt me and laugh.
It's over, you tell me, and this is your way of saying goodbye. A few moments of personal torment. Despite all you've done to me, the agonies, you know that I would wish for nothing more than a final interview with you before my departure. Within moments, however, I bore you and it is time for you to return to your guests. You put your lips to mine in our first and our final kiss. You exhale cigar smoke into my lungs as you do so, as if you were breathing life into me. Before I can exhale, your hand behind my neck tightens the collar completely, sealing the smoke within my lungs. You extinguish your cigar against my chest and leave me to die alone... In darkness.