UNKNOWN || NWONKNU

Gasping.

Choking.

Breathing.

He breathed in such a way you could almost mistake his lungs for shattered glass. Each burst of oxygen was accompanied by a pained gasp. His chest shuttered like a rickety old engine that barely had enough left for half a road trip.

Blankets twisted around his body like the vines on the ruins of an abandoned house. Dark curtains rippled with the slight breeze from the ceiling fan.

Cold.

Painful.

Smoke.

Smoke billowed around him, seeping underneath the door and filling the room in just a few instants, the low-quality ceiling fan was no match as it's small blades worked tirelessly to clear it. A few seconds later, it was lost to the mist, which had also swallowed up the sleeping body.

Tired.

Peaceful.

Unaware.

He was unaware of the gray smoke as he began to breathe it all in. It was once white, like a fluffy cloud that floated through the sky, but now it churned as a dark gray entity, beginning to turn to the color of charcoal. His pained gasps continued, faster now as he subconsciously began to realize that the smoke was there. He began to struggle, the breath gurgling out of him and the pain jolting him awake. White lightening burst through him, a strangled cry escaping him as he now recognized the pain.

His eyes open, stinging almost immediately from all the black smoke in the air. It burns so bad he can't even close his eyes for more than a few seconds before they get worse. He still gasps, shards of glass puncturing his insides.

The smoke began to replace his blankets, now snaking around him in various twists in turns and all he could do is just watch. Slowly, it crept  up his arms, slithering around them tightly as if they would tie him in place like a rope. Coincidently, he was frozen in place, mesmerized by the way it moved so gracefully, yet zigzagging across his bare skin like the way a tiger hunts for its prey in the jungle.

It's jaws snapped onto his neck.

Falling onto the bed, he looked so peaceful, graceful, his hand outstretched as the smoke pulled him down. His eyes were wide, his breath still coming in painful gasps as he hit the mattress, hand outstretched to his right, fingers twitched ever slightly as if what he wanted was just out of reach.

He began to choke.

The ceiling fan hummed as the room became quiet once again.