The Castle on the Edge of Night

Chapter 72. Broken Memories

We wait,
we hope,
we feel,
for time to pass us by.

A distinct feeling of dread washed over me. I didn't know where to turn. At every direction I could see their hollow black eyes, almost glistening, each of their mouths slowly turning into a toothy grin. Two of them took a slow tentative step forward towards me.

I took a step back. All the hairs on my arms were standing up. I shivered with fear.

What should I do? What should I do? Where can I go? I have to get out, I have to leave now...

Unfortunately I had forgotten about the one besides me, near the door.

I felt its breath on my neck. But before I could turn around, before I could even scream, I felt its finger on the skin of the back of my neck.

It had a cold finger. Colder than ice. I had not experienced anything like it. I felt the coldness spread from its finger onto my neck. I felt it plunging into my skin. It crawled into my veins. It felt as though my veins were freezing. A pain shot up through my bloodstream and though it hurt, it also plunged me straight into blackness, straight into unconsciousness.

I felt a cracking in my mind.

It was a long time ago. A very long time ago. A memory that I should not have remembered. A memory that I should not have forgotten. I remember the fire. I remember it rained from above, falling down on mother and I... and a man... my father... inches away, unable to help... he was held down, there were others, the fire did not hurt them...

I remember being wet, plunged into a river. I remember being left there... I remember drowning... I remember being saved...

I remembered another memory, so long ago... I remember being wet... I was in the river... I was learning how to swim... I remembered a silver haired boy laughing underwater... bubbles from his mouth rising to the surface to meet the night sky.

What was... what's... who ... what?

Then my world fell into blackness. A pitch blackness. I was alone, I was alone in my mind. I felt something on the edges of my consciousness. That thing was trying to probe and poke into my mind, searching for sustenance... I could feel its hunger... but it could not break through... It was blocked.

The king... he did something the last time... the last time I was attacked...

I felt grateful, but I was still stuck in my little cocoon of blackness.

I could feel the thing probing, trying to find its way in... attacking at my defences, screaming for food. Screaming in hunger. Screaming in pain. I could feel the pain reach in, I felt it as though it was my own.

I tried to block the pain from coming in. I tried to concentrate. I cleared my mind, I tried not to think about the darkness that surrounded me within my head. I tried to focus on what was outside of it. I could feel my body, outside of this prison. I could wiggle my feet, move my hands, but I was bound in place by the monsters holding me.

Not for long...

I attempted to move my hands more. At first it could only wiggle an inch. Then I slowly managed to pull them upwards. It felt as though a current of water held my hands down. I struggled and struggled and felt it slowly approach my mouth. Then I closed it into a fist, and whispered to it "fire".

I felt my hands burn hot.