I've seen this place before…
"Aven," she smiles, "Aren't you excited?"
What? Why?
The words fail to come out of my mouth
"The wedding's only seven months away! Our lives will be changed forever!"
Wait… No. Don't do it!
Once again, no sound.
I blink.
Where am I now?
A door?
I open it.
"So this is my nephew, huh?"
Why do we keep moving forward?
Slow down; I don't wanna go any further.
Too late.
"What if I told you a secret?" Maelis whispers, her skin begging to morph.
'No!' I try to shout.
No more… please.
Once again, I can't be heard.
"You may kiss your bride: Elira…"
No… Don't say it.
I'm trembling.
"Velmera."
My body is launched from the ceremony and into a dark room.
"You idiotic bitch! Elira, why didn't you say?!"
Save me…
I'm thrown again.
"Aven… You've never met your father."
And again.
"Why is Mum wearing that?"
No… Aven.
Don't go in there!
I enter anyway.
The bat smashes on the air surrounding me.
"SoulCraft?!" The thug shouts.
I mount him, my fists slamming against his unconscious skull.
I close my eyes… Stop!
Stop showing me this!
"Happy birthday, Aven." She whispers into my ear.
I blink.
"My house… is rubble!"
I wake up.
The moonlight dimly illuminates the field I lay in.
Spiders, flies and centipedes fall from my hair as I raise my head off of the pile of branches I use as a portable pillow.
My aching stomach rumbles as I stretch. "Don't worry, you'll be fed soon," I lie.
How am I supposed to be acting two weeks after losing everything?
Should I be too depressed to move?
Grieve alone and work through my feelings?
Seek help from loved ones?
I don't have those luxuries.
My mother was proof: for a limited time, lies can sustain life.
I've told myself repeatedly, I'm not hungry, I can get through this, someone will save me tomorrow.
All lies.
I stare at the desolate field I've aimlessly wandered for the past two weeks, my legs shaking as I struggle to force myself to take a step forward.
Then… I see it.
My eyes glisten with the moonlight.
"Please don't be another hallucination." I beg.
In the distance, miles ahead. I see it: the outline of a large concrete tower looming through the mist. My stomach tingles as relief washes over me, mouth watering as I begin lurching toward the tower's direction.
Food consumes my every thought. Anything will do, I just don't want to eat anymore grass. I realised a few days after the destruction of my house I'm going to have to steal or beg for my next meal as what little money we had burned in the fire. I'm now a few steps away from the village the tower resides in, a moulded wooden signpost hangs above my head.
"Seryth Village, huh?" I mutter, stepping inside. "Hopefully the people here are kind."