Lies of the Raven (COMPLETED)

Lies of the Raven

I fled from our house, from my cruel relatives, and from those who were scornful. I ran and ran, allowing my feet to take me somewhere else. I traveled to a new location and ran across people I didn't know till I arrived at a cemetery beside an ancient and dilapidated church. 

I tripped and fell in the muck. When I looked over my shoulder to see what caused it, I saw a vine sprouting from the ground connected to an old tree. I didn't feel the sting from the wound I just obtained, nor the discomfort from the bruises and gashes I received from my relatives for the agony of my heart was dominating.

I grieved as if I was releasing my hatred for other people, as well as the anguish and misery I'd been feeling for a long time. I stopped crying when I felt a presence in front of me. 

It was Emily, my dearest friend. She helped me in standing and seated me on an old stone bench. She began to apply medicine to the wound on my knee and wiped the sludge from my face and arms since I was completely caked in mud. 

"What should I do? I wanted to leave them and start a new life," I said. 

"Would you like to come with me? I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time with our friends," Emily replied. 

I smiled as I envisaged a simple life full of happiness and tranquility with Emily and our other friends who lived elsewhere. "I'd love to!" But my grin faded when I realized it wasn't realistic since my relatives were forcing me to avoid Emily at all costs. 

"But my aunt would undoubtedly disapprove, and they'd hurt me again if they found out I'm meeting with you secretly," I bemoaned. 

Emily had finished cleaning the muck from my face and had already applied a bandage on my wound. "Don't worry, let me handle them. They will never hurt you again," Emily remarked as a sweet smile made its way on her face.

We kept talking about what we would do in the future, and she also told me a story about people of our age that she would like me to meet. 

It was a long narrative, so I didn't realize I'd fallen asleep until it was late at night when I awoke. Emily had already left, so I decided to walk home, fearing my relatives would torture me again if they discovered that I had met with Emily in secret.

As I walked towards our house, I noticed a crowd outside, including an ambulance and police cars. I started to worry for my relatives, so I pushed my way through the crowd until I arrived at our house to find out what had happened. I observed as the medical personnel carried the corpses of my Aunt, Uncle, and my cousins towards the ambulance. I approached the cops and informed them of my relationship with the people who lived in that residence. 

They were astonished to see me and said something I couldn't comprehend because I was distracted by Emily's voice from somewhere, repeatedly shouting, "Amaris, Amaris... Come play with us!" 

But I didn't know where she was. 

"Come with me, Amaris." 

I attempted to find her but I couldn't, then I started to feel nauseous and collapsed on the cold floor.

The doctors in front of me exchanged glances when I informed them that it was the last thing I remembered before passing out. 

"I believe we should inform her of what truly happened that night, and based on the tests we performed, she has already recovered to a significant extent," Dr. Laurens explained whilst gazing at the document on his clipboard. 

Dr. Olsen nodded at him before looking at me and saying, "I know this is difficult to accept, Amaris. But Emily and the other friends you mentioned aren't real. Emily isn't the one who killed your relatives, and they never hurt you even once. Aren't you curious why the cops gave you a strange look that night?" 

I got scared because of what he had stated. 

"You were covered in blood that night, and your fingerprints matched the traces left at the scene of the crime, particularly on the weapon used to kill them. Amaris, I—," he paused what he was saying when I stood up. 

"That's not true! Emily told me she'd take care of my Aunt, so it's impossible for me to murder them, and it's true that they're always hurting me," I asserted as I showed them the wounds and bruises on my body. 

"They aren't the ones hurting you, Amaris," Dr. Olsen stated nonchalantly. 

I sobbed as I remembered what had transpired that night, how I had brutally slaughtered my Aunt and Uncle, my cousins, and even their newborn infant. My head began to ache when I realized that whenever I went to the cemetery, I was only talking to myself and that there was no Emily or the other people I had mentioned to the psychiatrists. But I don't want to believe that because I know they're lying to manipulate me. I only know one thing—

Emily is real!

I held my head because of the severe agony I am experiencing, and it also felt like something was pounding inside my head. When the doctors noticed that I was in pain, they rushed out of the room to get medicine, while Dr. Olsen and Dr. Laurens stayed behind to console me. 

Then, I noticed Emily standing in the corner of the plain white room where we are right now. "They wanted to separate us, Amaris. And what should we do if something like this happens?" she asked, with a sharp and cold look in her eyes.

As my headache disappeared, I let my hands down while staring oddly at the corner of the room, so the two doctors gazed at me puzzledly. "I could never abandon my best friend," I gently responded as I fixed my gaze on the two doctors. "I need her, and she needs me. I'm not ready to say goodbye to her, for our beginning is the end of someone else's beginning, so I'll have to destroy everything that was attempting to keep us apart." 

I approached the two psychiatrists with a mischievous smile, holding a pen that I had secretly obtained while we were conversing a few minutes ago.

References/Sources: (Chapter's photo)
- 5erg. (n.d.). Raven art [Painting]. Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/listing/715813928/raven-art-ink-on-8x11-ina4-21x30cm-black?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details