Necessary Villain

2 - Confusion

My mind is in tatters. Fragmented visions of events that never happened flash through my brain.

I think I'm in some forest, but I don't know or care how I got here. Furthermore, I can't focus on anything due to a hot pain that courses through my body inhibiting me from creating any sort of rationalization.

Willed by the pain, I roll over to get a better look at my arm, seemingly the source, only to find it caked in blood. On instinct, I rip off my shirt and begin wiping it down while barely holding back screams.

People I've never seen before stand around watching this spectacle, but none seem willing to help me. Through bouts of pain, I stare up at them with pleading eyes only to get a look of fear and disgust returned at me. I don't know why they have such looks, but they do. Out of all the stares placed on me, one stands out. The stare of a man who doesn't have a look of fear, confusion, or disdain; he seems to have a look of pity.

All I can do is grimace as he takes a few steps towards me, then takes off the jacket he was wearing and kneels down. He reaches for my arm and removes the shirt I'd been covering my wound with, which has now become entirely soaked in blood.

"Your wound needs to be cleaned up, but first we must find the tools to do so," he says as he presses the jacket to my wound. "Sadly, I have no idea where we are and it seems nobody else does either. For now, keep this over it and apply pressure." He firmly wraps the jacket over my arm and ties it there using its sleeves all while only glancing at my eyes once.

"Thank you," I mutter weakly while desperately holding back tears.

"..." He ignores me then stands up and looks around as if I'd never even existed.

Seeing that this is the extent of his kindness, I smile that at least someone helped me at all. Through adrenaline and becoming somewhat acclimated to the pain, my mind clears up a bit. I try to push my wound out of my mind and begin trying to figure out where I am.

Although I don't have the willpower to get up, I can still look at my surroundings. I cock my head to the left and see the boundary of a tree line. When I look to my right I see another treeline somewhat far off. I'm surrounded by a forest in every direction. It seems I'm in some sort of clearing, but I have no idea how I got here. Let alone who are all these people standing around who look even more confused than me. Few still gawk at me and others begin screaming and questioning each other. Closing my eyes in an attempt to block out the noise and pain, I focus on what led to this.

The last thing I remember is driving home from work after...

This is odd. I have hyperthymesia, yet now I can't even picture what food I had earlier today. So, this is how it feels to forget, huh? However, I remember the day before yesterday and every day before. I remember the day I found my goldfish dead in grade school, the day I spilled coffee on my dog and had to rush him to the vet while I cried for hours, the first day I was summoned to the trials, the day I almost accidentally cut Lucas' head off while fighting a blood wolf.

Wait, what the hell is a blood wolf, and what the hell are 'the trials'? My jumbled memories throw my mind in such a mess that the pain I'd been only convincing myself I'd blocked out, truly began to wane. I remember some things, but I know for a fact that I have forgotten many others.

My pure daze only grows with the appearance of a being clad in white descending from the sky. Instantly, after witnessing this being, my head goes blank, filled with only thoughts of this being.

It's a beautiful girl with long silver hair who has two sets of gigantic white wings adorning her back. Upon her head is a shining Halo which emanates heat I can feel from what appears to be around thirty meters below her. The robes she wears are white as snow save for a golden streak that lines the edges.