King Vyxen

12.

Arisa stayed up that night, staring at the ceiling in her room, clutching the fluffy white comforter to her chest as the wind howled dangerously outside, she shivered, her room was freezing and she brought the fluffy white comforter towards her chin to vanquish the cold.

Her mind wandered to her mother . . the people she had so desperately tried to help . . her brother and the puzzle that was Vyxen Valkov, she didn't understand them and she was sure that if she tried to understand them it would probably be the most difficult thing she'd have to do.

She sighed, completely submerging herself under the thick comforter so the cold couldn't sting her cheeks, she worried for her mother, but at the same time wasn't sure how to go about helping her.

Her mother's withdrawal didn't happen overnight, it was gradual and Arisa now began to realize how simple it was for her –back then, to have over looked the signs.

First it started with shorter time spent together, that turned into days without mother-daughter interaction until eventually, they both were just two strangers living together, one filled with paranoia and the other a depressed teen, Arisa turned so that she was lying on her side, she was sure though that others had it worst, and as that thought appeared her mind immediately took her to the surviving women and children, she was worried, Jeremy had forced her inside once the ceremony was completed.

"You've done your duty and you've showed your loyalty, now rest, i'll handle it" he'd said those words so gently and even patted her head so when she refused she didn't expect him to practically lock her in her room.

She threw the covers off her in frustration and grabbed the second pillow from the far end of the bed, positioning it in front of her body so her legs and arms could wrap around it, she then grabbed the covers and hid her shivering body from the cold once more.

The ritual was dreadful, Arisa had vomited twice and eventually Jeremy had had to take her home, she could still smell the stench of their burning flesh and her stomach turned as she hugged the pillow tighter, she had felt guilty after her stomach had settled, guilty that they died, guilty that she wasn't there for them, guilty that she wasn't able to take responsibility.

She bit her lip and rocked back and forth feeling restless, am I doing the right thing? The question flitted through her mind for the hundredth time that night, they had spoken about an army, a disease? A spy? But she didn't understand what that had to do with helping them.

"do you think you're the only one who cares for those people?"

Those dark fierce eyes appeared before her again and she swallowed a lump in her throat she released her hold on the pillow, lying in bed, staring at the darkness above her because of the comforter, she released a breath.

She closed her eyes, trying to find sleep, but this time, the portrait of the man she found in the dusty semi-circular room filled her vision.

Arisa again wondered who he was 'possibly a long lost relative she thought to herself, but then shook her head, a long lost relative's portrait would not be left to rot like that, remembering the way Vyxen had responded to her presence made her heart race painfully in her chest, she hugged the pillow closer to her body squeezing her eyes shut.

Her head hurt.

The following day Arisa sat in the massive room staring at the men as they passed, she wondered what their life was like, if they were haunted by a past they couldn't run away form if they were happy, sad . . . content?, she folded her feet beneath her, rubbing her eyes furiously to get rid of their heaviness.