Drowning beneath the swell of the tides

Struggling. She struggles and gasps for air and lashes out with her shaking limbs as the mass of water crashes down upon her, again...and again. She fights to breathe, her urgency increases, she cries out in desperation. Another blow. She is not as strong as before, and yet she writhes with feverish animation. Her hands slam down on to a hard wooden surface, it is hot and dry.

The harsh sunlight blinds her and scorches the left side of her face, she turns away and sucks in the smoky air around her in raspy gulps. She feels greedy and unstable, her fingers rake up through her silky hair and clench down tightly. She shuts her eyes and her tears burn her. She hopes that the others would quietly leave.

He sits across from her in the corner of the room, his table is covered with a frayed black cloth - frail like the wings of a dying butterfly...his pocket watch ticks noisily beside his folded hands. He watches with chilling Omniscience.

The door swings open, the bell jingles shrilly, her head jerks, his figure remains motionless, the wraith glides across the floor. He slowly stretches out his index finger, weighed down by a single brass ring and flicks the first piece in the line before him, they fall, treacherously close, they fall, stripped of life.

A heartbeat. The thudding races madly, rising above the ticking, the wraith swirls and lifts itself higher, her head slumps, the whip cracks and the waves close in.