Seven Infinities Away From Home

ONE - February 23, 2020

A brisk February's breeze brought snow dancing gracefully through the graveyard behind Blackwater's only church. The morning service was only just being prepared, but Hazel Von Brandt already stood at its doors wearing too many coats and a muff over her hands. She reached up to one of the knockers, announcing her arrival. One of the giant wooden doors creaked open inside, allowing her shelter from the unrelenting storm outside.

Hazel lifted the front of her dress just enough to allow her to dash all the way to the frontmost pew. It was her favorite one, and the one she needed most--- right before a statue of Christ on the cross. As she sat down, she placed her coats beneath the bench and fixed her wavy blonde hair.

Slow footsteps came up the center aisle before stopping beside Hazel. She did not look away from the statue.

"You're here early, Miss Von Brandt," he said, his voice cutting through the dry air like knives, "is there a reason?"

Hazel hesitated as he moved to rest the palm of his hand on the back of the pew.

"It's been three years and I'm still lost. I've tried everything you told me, I've prayed more, talked to people, everything," Hazel explained.

Her voice wavered with every word as if she were fighting a battle with a flood of tears. A solemn silence soon replaced her voice, haunting the hall with only the sound of wind howling against the stone walls.

"Why does it feel like... like I shouldn't be here? There's a sort of emptiness, I guess you could say, that I'm trapped in. And I can't escape, no matter what I do."

Reverend Johann sighed and gazed at the statue with his amber eyes, which shone with an otherworldly light that Hazel could just barely notice. She ignored it, instead focusing on her pastor, who stood deep in thought with his head in his hands.

A firm hand grasped Hazel's arm, making her yelp in shock. She looked up to see Reverend Johann looking down at her with those eerily orange eyes.

"You said you feel lost?" he asked quietly.

Hazel nodded, turning her head to the floor. Johann thought for another moment before giving his response.

"I think you need to take the time to find yourself. You can't expect to find your way out of this emptiness you describe if you don't even know what's on the other side," he spoke.

His tone was one of sudden regality and strength, one which lifted Hazel's spirits just a little even through that somber morning.

"Perhaps you should look to the heavens tonight. Ask the Lord for a sign, and I'm sure he'll give you something."

With that, he turned his back and left for the room behind the altar. Hazel was alone, with nothing but the statue's lifeless face piercing her soul. A shudder slithered down her spine like some horrid snake. Something was off, but she couldn't quite put it out. She put the thought beside her and continued to the very reason she came to the church in the first place.

Hazel piled her layers back on and opened the doors to the frigid cold. The near-whiteout conditions were practically blinding, only the darker colors visible against the icy storm. To her left, the path to the graveyard could still be seen through the newly fallen snow.

Her feet sunk into the snowy ground with every step she took, leaving deep footprints behind her. The bitter wind nipped at her ears, but she pushed through. It was three years to the day--- the twenty-third of February.

She barely even needed her sight to find that spot she dreaded so much. Her legs guided her without any thought to the two graves that had torn her life into pieces. Hazel knelt at the stone on the left, the one she needed to see that day; the grave of Victoria Elise Von Brandt.