Although she was devastated about what happened to the rest of your family, she still pampered you with care like no other day.
The rest of the village was quite surprised by your story, and how you wriggled your way out of that dangerous situation. Days turned into weeks, and those weeks turned into months. Some who resided in the houses among the rest, gifted you certain toys and presents, though you were much too old for things like that.
As you sit in the living room with your pink rabbit stuffie, you hear your aunt calling out to you from outside.
"[y/n]!? I need you to come here please."
Before you can get up, your aunt arrives inside the house.
"[y/n]... you know how Kajitu died, right? We need you to tell someone." She poked her head into the house to look you in the eyes as you spoke. Her hearing wasn't so good, you this was required.
"Ehh, Auntie.. you know I can't talk about those things right now... besides, I still can't remember much." You scowl a bit. People should get the message by now, right? It's been months, why are they still pestering you about this?
Even though I try to forget, I can't help but remember the events of that disastrous night. It was a traumatizing experience, to say the least. No 19-year-old should have to witness something like that.
"[y/n]." You're auntie spat, with her signature voice. She took advantage of this tone when you refused her, and you understood what happened when you denied her.
"fine..." you groaned as you stood up and placed your rabbit back on the couch. You walked over to her tiredly.
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You shuffle back inside the house, after yet another stressful "interview". People were so stunned you made it out alive, that they demanded to hear more from you. More stories, what it was like before the massacre, all of that.. though you didn't forget about that man who saved you. You couldn't be more grateful.
As time passed, memories faded. The reflections of your mother's face, your sister's voice, and your beloved brother's smile gradually slipped away. The longing for them was unbearable, and the realization that it was all lost was like being impaled in the chest.
After all you went through, you were still going strong. Although your auntie was all you had left, you tried to ignore that fact, and live in denial, gaslighting yourself each and every day that you were just living away for a bit.. sometimes, you genuinely thought your family was still alive.
Throughout the days you stayed in the South, you began to hear more and more disappearances, which triggered the memories all over again. The more you heard about people "finding so-and-so torn to pieces in the woods" terrified you more than anything.
