breath as you deserve

prologue: to breathe

To breathe, I ran away from that place, thought I will have no regret.

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Going out of the house to the toilet in the dark was one of the scary things I was used to in this remote place. Today, the world had only three fears. And I was only scared of two fears. Death and...

The Changed.

The Changed was a group of people. No, that's wrong. The Change was a term for humans who lost their hearts and corrupted the withering Earth.

Earth was dying. But that's the story for another time. Walking through the muddy road filled with small rocks and grasses, I took a deep breath to calm my restless heart. A droplet of water rolled down a leaf of a tree and fell on my neck. My hand instantly reached to the back of my neck.

Shit.

I cursed under my breath. The flashlight started to flicker as the light began to dim. Never forget to charge electronic devices. In 2199, my phone would be worth keeping in the museum. Who used a phone these days when you could have a dimensional watch?

The last green lives were on my property. The vast amount of land my ancestors purchased will be forever memorable. If only humanity exists. All the lands were used for farming and harvesting.

In the name of evolution and the scientific world, humans destroyed the forest. Now they were travelling in spaces to find alternatives.

An orange dim light came into my view. The light in the toilet was on. Of course, I turned it on before leaving the house. Call it old fashion or whatever. As the last remnant of the Bryle family, I need to uphold the tradition of our family. The oath taken by my great-great-grandparents was truly inspiring.

But they were too hopeful.

It was good that they didn't live long to witness their friends forgetting the promise and living in luxuries and pleasures. Yet I wonder what they would have done if they saw it? Would they had continued the oath still?

With a click sound, the door opened. I sighed for no reason. The fear of them lingered in the back of my mind.

Finishing my business, as I tried to open the door I realized...

It's stuck again.

Sure I said I only fear two things. But it's what I was fearing earlier. Once the door was stuck, I wasted a lot of time. At night, The Changed were more active. Someday I feared I would open the door to come face-to-face with them.

Twisting the doorknob, I leaned against the door, pushing it with all of my strength. Suddenly it bursted open, I hardly balance myself and survive the fall.

"Phew."

The air was not fresh but millions of times better than in any other place. When I was fourteen, I used to live in the capital, a living hell. Then one day, I found a key, old and worn out. Along with the key was a message...

To the one who found it, my descent, follow the path you were guided by your parents, fulfil the promise.

It was weird. It was funny. The path my parents guided was to ruins - or at least that's what I used to believe. But as a teenage girl with nothing much to do I was, I came here for fun. And that's how my life changed.

Whilst I came here out of curiosity, they thought I was protesting. They came hunting for me and since then I'm stuck here. But with time, I had grown attached to the rules of the house.

A gleam of light catched my attention. I'm sure I had closed the door back home. Then where was the light coming from? It's too close to be considered the lights from the city.

In the distance, there alwere howling sounds from unknown sources. Under heavy footsteps, dried leaves crunched, warning me of the upcoming danger.

Good heavens.

I began to run. I needed to hide. It's not the first time. I didn't even remember how many times they came here and returned fruitlessly.

The ground in front of me lowered in a dully. Sliding down the path, I barely touched the ground to balance.

Black masks. Covered in thick, leather black clothes from head to toe. Laser guns in their hands. A group of four. Seems like they were more prepared than ever. They flew while I ran.

As we got deeper into my land, the light from outside vanished in the distance and the darkness surrounded me. The only way I knew where they were is by the swishing sound of the leaves as they passed by.

Faster, faster, hurry.

I chanted in my head continuously. The bubbles of questions began to form in my head but popped instantly. The source of howling, the fear of death, the fear of the beasts after me made my mind wander. A robotic voice echoed as one of them speaks, "Six hours until sunrise."

A reminder for all. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Six hours. That's terrible. Usually, I go through a nightmare if it's only thirty minutes. When the sun was up in the sky, I was safe. They had other important things to do at those times. But as the sun left the sky for the day, a threat surfaced in the sky of my life.

I skipped some steps as I leaped over the uneven path set of rocks. Suddenly eyes surrounded me. Fiery white dozens of pair of eyes glow. The growls were nearer. That's when I remember...

Ten years ago, when I was only fifteen, I used to watch all the DVDs in the house. Some were working and some were not. But among them, the working DVDs were heavier in number. It took me three years to finish watching them.

In a few of them, animal documentaries dating back to when other animals were still walking on the surface of the Earth, swimming at the depth of the sea and flying in the open sky. Among them, there was one about wolves. And it was wolves surrounding me.

A low, dry chuckle escaped me. I felt my knees becoming weak while the wolves and The Changed covered the distance between us easily.

It was a wrong decision to come here. I was mesmerized by the beauty. I didn't need my mask to breathe. I thought I won't have any regret. Even the goods had a bad side. But over the years, regreted start foaming in my stomach every time I faced near-death experiences.

But again, what would I had done outside? Live like another beast.

The city and this place were two different worlds fighting against each other. Whilst I was a puppet in loose strings fighting the war. I was simply just a doll in the play of Fate. Nothing more, nothing less.