Generis

4. The Day

A lot of things didn't go as planned today. Not like they ever did anyway, but today especially felt like all the bad luck in the world was summed up and placed on her shoulders.

And boy, if these chains on her wrists and her feet was all the bad luck in her life so far, it only made sense for them to be heavy.

That's what Aural told herself repeatedly, to keep her mind off the pain of having her arms being restrained by thick, iron chains. It was hard; she'd think about home with her eyes closed, because if she opened them, she wouldn't see the wall of her kitchen, she'd see a filthy, dark grey wall staring right back at her. It was bad enough that she was in this place already, when she hoped she wouldn't. To make matters worse, Cy was nowhere to be seen, which she expected, considering what she was now labelled as, but it still stung somehow.

Not too long ago, she wasn't sitting in a grey room, she was sitting with her head on the table, reminding herself not to panic or get mentally overworked, which is concerning for a ten year old to have to feel these kind of emotions, but it happens nonetheless. On the other side, her brother was patting her head, telling her that everything would be absolutely fine.

"Everything will go smoothly, and we'll come back and live our lives, hm?"

That's not what he's saying now.

Instead, Cy was here, actually, watching her from a corner, like she was the root of some infectious disease. Yet it wasn't like people didn't think that bleeding gold wasn't infectious— in fact, many people thought it was contagious and would hide themselves away for days or even weeks on end. But they did that was out of fear, something that was not in Cy's eyes. Instead, all Aural could see in his eyes was pure hatred when she woke up from whatever she was waking from, as if he didn't want her to have woken up at all. And, to be frank, when she realised where she was, she wished she wasn't awake either.

"So? You gonna speak, or does that.. curse.. make you go mute too..?"

Aural couldn't even meet his eyes. Today was the day when she was meant to finally be accepted as a normal person, and live the rest of her life freely. But she couldn't. She knew she couldn't from the second the wound sealed up before their very eyes after they made a small slit in her wrist to see if she bled red or not. She knew it from the absolute horror on Cy's face when he saw, almost sick to his stomach like it was her fault. And she felt like... somehow... it was her fault. And she knew it now, here, awake, and exhausted, since for her, living this nightmare was physically draining. Growing up with only her brother, as from what she remembered, made them become so close, and she thought they'd be inseparable. Now she felt a huge knot in her chest and she was heaving silently like she couldn't breathe.

"For fucks sake...I don't know why I'm doing this... I don't even want to speak with a.. thing... like you."

And there it was. All of a sudden she didn't know whether this man speaking was her elder brother anymore; the same brother she used to cry to when she had a nightmare, or when she was sick, or when she was upset. He'd hold her tight and rub her fuzzy hair.

Now she was upset, and he was there. Not holding her close like the brother he once was.

"But... if I... I'll be born again... purer this time... no..? That's... thats—"

Aural couldn't even finish her words, too filled with shame and hurt to even continue. At this point she just wanted a new life altogether, and, according to what she was told, that was the only other option—