Step!

  Once again, her plan is for the simple side and the execution for such, the same way and yet, the moment her barefoot stepped on the polished wood floor and she tried to get up, she instantly felt weakness on her entire body, forcing her to sit down in the bed with it. She might actually be worse than both of us imagined, however, even feeling like this, she slowly and carefully got up and went to the kitchen first. She was waving side to side as she was walking, as she was supporting her heavy body on the nearby walls and objects. She bounced back and forward as her body screams at her to lay down but, with all of her will power she’s able to keep her balance so that she can keep on moving. The walk to the kitchen took her a solid minute rather than the normal 10 or so seconds. From there she slowly walked up to a cabinet, opening it the moment she got close enough, taking out the medicine she needs to take right after. Nothing too complicated or anything like that, just a simple potion-Wait, a potion!?

  And she’s drinking it…

  Well, that’s the first that I’ve seen someone using a potion to cure what seems to be body fatigue and a fever… Maybe it was specially crafted for such? Either way, after this she brews a little bit of tea, a specific one for this case, Peppermint tea to be precise. This takes no longer than 10 minutes for her to brew the tea; however, since the tea it’s quite hot she decides to let it cool down for a few minutes or in other words, now it’s a good time to take said shower. She walks up to the bathroom just like she did when she walked to the kitchen, bouncing backwards and forwards, waving side to side as she supports herself on whatever she can get a hold onto. Once the shower is done, she once again goes through the same process but this time, back to the kitchen again, grabbing the tea and pouring it into a cup, slowly drinking it afterwards. Once that was done, she goes to bed and since close to 35 minutes have gone by, the potion she took has started to take effect, while she’s nowhere near 100%, she no longer needs to support herself on whatever is close to her.

  “Sigh... From all the times for this to happen… Why today?”

  That is indeed a good question, what did you do or happened to you for this to happen? You have good health, you actually take care of your body regularly, by exercising it but also by the food you consume or in other words, she has a healthy diet. Maybe it was that fat lady? Maybe she had some type of virus on her and it passed onto our beautiful Kiana? Argh, if that is the case, I can somewhat believe after all, just like she said several times, she comes from a village in the middle of nowhere, the type of diseases and viruses that are present there are nowhere near the same ones as in a city, let alone in a big city. I actually think it was a matter of time that she caught something that her body never had and it’s not used to because of it. Either way, I also don’t think it’s something that will leave her sick for a long period of time, for now she just needs to rest and let the medicine take its full effect.

  She slowly closes her eyes, while she did change her pyjamas, she didn’t change the sheets on her bed, ones that still are wet.

  ……..

  ……

  …

  And yet, the moment she truly feels asleep, she wakes up right after.

  “Why am I here again?”

  The darkness once again consumes everything around her and the same coldness is still present. At the same time, the orb is also nowhere to be seen or felt.

  “What is happening?”

  Indeed, what is happening? I will pinpoint this on her being sick however, it really is odd for anyone to be able to come back to the same “dream” in a spam of an hour or so, is not normal at all and that is why I’m “blaming” her sickness for this irregular situation.

  “Argh, if I knew I was coming here again, I would’ve dressed more appropriately…”

  This girl… She did change her pyjamas as I said, however, she changed to ones that are basically the same as previously, the only difference is the design of them. She still is dressed with a simple dress, she still has no socks on her tender feet and no t-shirt underneath her dress, seriously, wasn’t she feeling cold? Maybe the hot shower she took made her feel hot, allowing her to dress normally per say. Well, you reap what you sow.

  “Humph! Nothing that a simple Pyro spell won’t fix!”

  Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just like previously, she extends her arm forward, facing the palm of her silklike hands upwards and in front of it, she gathers her magic energy and a red magic circle is formed.

  “No way…”

  Or it was supposed to form in case someone didn’t get this deduction from her way to happy expression. It seems she cannot use magic at all or in other words, there is nothing that she can do to mitigate the cold at the very least. With this unpleasant realization and the fact set and stuck in stone, she gets moving towards what seems forward, either in an attempt of finding something in this darkness or to warm herself up.

  ……..

  ……

  …

  For how long has she been walking for?

  Was it minutes? It seems longer than that.

  Was it hours? Once again, longer than that.

  Impossible then, it wasn’t for days, right?

  That’s for how long she seems to be walking, breathing heavily and slowly as it’s hard for her to breathe thanks to how cold it is. She’s shaking down to her very own core as the cold slowly but surely keeps on consuming her entire body and yet, while it’s beyond uncomfortable, painful even, it never gets cold enough for her to wake up.

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  For how long will she be like this?

  There is no point in asking this question as none of us have a clue on how to answer it. Will she be like this until her body wakes up in reality? Who knows? Does she have to do something here to wake up? Once again, who knows? This is beyond bizarre, neither of us have gone through something like this so, none of us can find a solution for it.

  To be honest, what happens next makes me wish she just kept on walking for an eternity.

  ……..

  ……

  …

  Kiana

  I don’t know where this voice came from. I don’t know who is calling her either. However, she knows well who it is. Kiana stops abruptly the moment she hears this far too familiar voice but one that she hasn’t heard in years. Her golden eyes are wide open filled with shock however, they are wavering as her mind comprehends whoever is calling her. Before, she was shaking thanks to the sheer coldness that her body was feeling but right now? That coldness is gone and her shaking is from hearing this voice, one that in other circumstances, it should do the complete and utterly opposite.

  “Mo-Mother?”

  As she expressed this with utmost horror on her face, the previous voice belonged to her mother and when she understood that, she quickly turned around to see where it’s coming from. However, the only thing that she can see is the pure darkness that consumes everything around her. Nothing has changed in that sense, maybe she’s hearing things? Her mind or should I say, the darkness is playing pranks on her?

  Oh, how both of us wish that was the case.

  I’m here my little girl, can’t you see me?

  This time, the voice came from her right side and with it, as fast as she currently can, she faced said direction and once again, nothing to be seen unless the darkness.

  “Wh-Where are you?”

  Her voice is trembling as she asks where her “mother” might be, she still has her golden eyes wide open however, they are now filled with despair and dread rather than shock. She’s breathing heavily and this time around is not because of the cold or even her sickness however, the cold has not disappeared quite the opposite as her breath is still quite visible and it lingers for brief moments.

  I’m right here, can’t you see me? That’s cruel my little girl…

  If she could see you, she wouldn’t be in this state, one that keeps on getting worse as this keeps on going. This time, the voice came from behind her and with it, as fast as she can, she faces backwards but she ends up seeing the same thing as before, complete and utter darkness.

  “Gasp! Huff!”

  She’s breathing even more heavily as the sheer panic starts to join the rest of her emotions. She no longer breathes slowly, no, as the rate of her heartbeat increases so does the need of oxygen that her heart needs, forcing her in turn to breathe faster. Her mind is going at the speed of light itself, she cannot comprehend what’s happening, why is she hearing her late mother and of course, why can’t she see her at all. Is she really here or is her mind playing tricks on her? She really has no clue however; this is far from being over.

  Sweetheart, what’s the problem? Why can’t you see your mother?

  “Papa!?”

  This voice came right in front of her but the same happens as all the previous times, only the pure darkness is seen by her desperate golden eyes. This voice is from a man, one that is also very familiar to her but also from someone that is no longer alive. Her voice was weak when she “shouted” by her father while at the same time, she also brought both of her pale tender hands to her chest, leaning slightly forward as she “shouts”. She cannot comprehend, understand why this is happening but, the fact that she cannot see them at all, it’s killing her from the inside.

  Ah, I know! She’s playing hide and seek with us, that’s why!

  Oh? When was the last time we played such a game? I’m on it!

  “No, wait! Please! I really can’t see you!”

  The voices are coming from two different directions this time around and because of it, she has no clue where to look, making her only beg them to not do such a thing while looking directly towards the vast darkness. She’s this close to fully breakdown as the sheer despair and panic are taking control of her, but even feeling like this, the need to want to see any of them one last time is making her look for them desperately.

  Over here!

  As fast as she can she looks for the direction where the sound is coming and this time around, further down the darkness she can see something bright, something shining. With everything she can, with all her strength mustered into her slender legs, she runs as fast as she can towards that shinny light, only to disappear a few moments later.

  Why are you going there? I’m over here!

  The moment that light disappeared, the voice from her father is heard behind her, making her frantically look behind and once again, there is another bright light in the middle of the darkness. As fast as she currently can, she runs towards it but again, mere moments later it disappears into nothing.

  Hehe!

  This time it was on her left side. There it is, closer than before, maybe now she can reach-and it disappeared…

  Not there my little girl!

  On her right-

  I’m here sweetheart!

  Wait, it’s on her left-

  Wrong again!

  In front of you!

  Close but no close either!

  Ah, this is far too cruel, why is this happening to her? The voices are coming from all directions, the bright lights appear and disappear in that same instant. She has no clue on what to do, each time she runs towards one of them, they disappear mere moments later and right after it, in what seems to be in a random direction, another voice is heard, forcing her to repeat the same cycle.

  “Gasp!”

  How can they be this cruel to her?

  Kiana is panicking, beyond that even. The anguish she’s feeling, the misery of not being able to at the very least come close to the voices, the sheer agony she’s feeling from not being able to do anything at all... The voices just keep on speaking, they keep on tormenting her, they keep on making fun of her until of course, they stopped doing so.

  We are right behind you sweetheart/my little girl.

  Their voices are calm and they say it in harmony however. While gasping for air as it seems to be scarce, she slowly turns around, afraid of what she might see, afraid of what she might not see… A contradiction and yet, that’s exactly how she’s feeling. How long has it been since she last saw them? Did they change anything at all? Or will they be like the very last time she remembers them to be like?

  Will they be proud of her?

  She has no clue and the fear of the answer that she might get for this question is painful, she’s afraid that they might not be happy for her, for who she has become, for what she has done, everything about who she is. But she has to face them, even with her golden eyes wide open filled with dread, even if they are wavering, even if they are this close to weeping, she still has to look behind and face them.

  With all of her courage mustered and with a loud and big breath in and out, she does so and what she sees is nothing more than the-

  Abyss staring at her

  Her mouth is wide open as she sees the darkness staring at her, as she fails to see what was supposed to be her parents or in this case, what’s left of them. What she was afraid of somehow, does not come close to what’s in front of her. Her worst fear somehow has become true and yet, just like the previous bright lights, they disappear once Kiana sets her eyes on them.

  “Why?”

  I don’t know.

  “Why am I seeing this?”

  I really don’t know.

  “Why are they doing this to me?”

  Because it’s your fault

  I don’t know what happened next, I really have no clue. Either I forgot about it or, I indeed didn’t see it, I just remember the “screen” going black and when it came back, it was when Kiana woke up in the morning.

  You have failed to see because only she knows about this, only she knows about the Demons haunting her.

  ……..

  ……

  …