𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇

i. its a start

She was never the hero in anyone's eyes, she knows this as she watches the ink pour onto the crinkled sheets of paper. The tremble in her hands caused the table to shake bitterly at her- once again- mild breakdown, the third one this week. She bites her lip and tipped her head back to regain the drooling tears from her eyes. She wasn't a hero she thought she'd be, she was the villain to everyone.

A desperate attempt to rationalise the thoughts coming out of her merry head, she took her chances and grabbed her coat and bag, before slamming the old wooden door behind her and booking it down the street. Before there were hanging lanterns with many beautiful candles hung inside with steady leafy vines wrapping around it. Before people were dancing till the peak of the night in the streets with no care in the world.

Before there was her.

She rubbed her face- even smacking it a bit- until she scrubbed and wiped every livid thought she had till there was nothing. Her breath was a foggy sigh and continued walking before stopping at the local cafe. She liked their coffees here and always ordered the same thing, a tall mocha with two sugars and less milk than needed and a muffin on the side.

"Hi there, welcome to Fergs' cafe! What would you like to order-" A lady with a simple red apron and a fluffy white dress questioned as she made her way into the empty line. She never lifted her gaze to meet the woman's though, and instead, she focused on finding a muffin to try (but having to already been here countless times on the same occasion, it was rare to find a muffin she hadn't tried before).

"I want a blueberry and white chocolate muffin." She'd mutter to the lady working and then quickly averted her eyes towards the coffee board hovering above her like a halo, trying to find her coffee number even though she had it memorised and ingrained into her brain. "And a tall 23 with less milk and two sugars." She added on with a cold-hearted tone, but the lady just let out a hearty giggle and scribbled her order down (she had to try to ignore the fact that out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tiny heart scribbles beside her order).

"That was a tall Mocha with less milk and two sugars, with a blueberry and white chocolate muffin?" The lady replied and she uttered a short 'yes' before dropping the exact coins needed and shuffling off to one of the window seats. She's done this whole routine before but this time it feels just a little off.

"Here's your muffin Meredith, I heated it in the oven so I hope it isn't too hot." She heard a voice from behind her and, oh.

It's her.

Her body tensed and her hands began to faintly tremble as she stared deeply into the other protruding eyes. She had to look away but she couldn't bear to when all she could see was the world staring back at her, she could see constellations and supernovas exploding into symphonies in the dark infinite abyss. The planets and stars seemed to align perfectly in her eyes, and where darkness sprouted there was light.

"A-are you alright Meredith? You seem so shaken and terrified?" She announced as she softly put the plate down in front of her and retreating a step, giving Meredith her space. "I'll go get your coffee now." The cashier hesitated before moving back around the beige counter with her eyes following her every move, entranced, captivated, in awe.

But then she remembers- too much- what happened in the past and seeing her like this is... Meredith feels her heart begin to shatter into oblivion pieces amongst the tiled floor. It's too much for her to handle as her leg begins to bounce irritatedly and her eyes dart from one corner to the other, her vision became blurry as she tried to focus her attention on the muffin. 'Just eat it!' 'Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it.'

'So many died that night.'

'Eat the muffin, Meredith'.

She gulped unsteadily and shouldered the threatening tears as she broke apart the muffin with a fork, halving a slice and slowly picking it up. 'Eat it, Meredith, you'll feel better' She told herself sadly and bit into her pitiful slice and pondered the night of the fallen hero.

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word count; 754

hi guys! thanks so much for checking out my first book and I hoped you enjoyed this short chapter! I'll be posting weekly (hopefully) so please stick around! if you liked this then maybe vote or follow me for more so you won't miss out on anything! until then, see you in the next chapter!