Voices

Chapter One

 I softly sigh, rubbing my hands together in hopes to warm them up. The harsh cold that the winter brings is uncomfortably numbing. Snow falls around me at a steady pace, and I'm still here, without a shelter or fire.

I brush some of my long, faded cyan hair out of my face and start heading towards a camp in the north. There's not many people there, to my liking. It's comfortably empty.

I find footprints as I approach the camp and discover there's already a fire smoldering in the pit. Wearily, I cover myself in a blanket from the tent. I glance around before brushing the now off of a log and sitting next to the fire. I don't let myself relax, my instincts telling me not to.

Snow gently crunches behind me, and I feel a surge of paranoia rise in me. It's usually a sound I would ignore, but something tells me it's not just some rabbit looking around for food. I quickly stood and looked towards the source of a sound. A tall figure covered by a black cloak stood there. Before I could even pull out my pocket knife, they're hugging me. "What the fuck," I mumble against them. A familiar laugh sounds from them as they let go.

They take off their hood, and I see a familiar young woman. Black hair frames her face, some of it falling into her sapphire colored eyes. "Man... This is the most unoriginal thing I do, and you still get startled? Mizu, come on."

I roll my eyes. "Well you don't just sneak up on a person that's already paranoid and expect them to not, Alice."

She softly laughs again before her eyes have a concerned look. "Are you alright? That's a lot of blood for a nosebleed." I didn't even notice the warm trickle coming from my nose until she pointed it out. I wipe away some of the crimson blood and look at it. That's the seventh one in the past two days. I'm starting to think it's more than just the cold.

After half an hour of talking, Alice goes to rest. I waste my time my exploring the nearby forest, still draped in the blanket I found. A gunshot sounds in the silence, and I nearly fall. I strain my ears to try to hear anything else. No other sound occurs, not even a gentle puff of snow. As soon as I attempt to brush it off, a voice comes from my left. "You always have been quite jumpy. Perhaps we should work on that." I quickly look in the general direction to see no one there.

I dismiss it and take a deep, shaky breath. I continue walking at a quickened pace. "It's rude to ignore." "Isn't that all she's ever been? Rude?" "She wonders why people don't like her." "It's not a mystery, Mizu. Pull yourself together." I keep trying to ignore it as I begin running back to the camp. "Why are you scared of me?" "Stop. Stop running." The persistent voices surround me. No matter where I look, I can't find a source. I hate this. I hate everything that caused this to begin with.

When I return to camp, it's quiet and still, just how I left it. It's more unsettling now than it was before. I hear distant thunder as the wind begins to pick up. Remembering that Alice has already left, I head to a small house that's in walking distance from here. It's a small climb up the mountains, which can be a burden in snow, but the shelter should be worth it.