The Hollows Of Hiraeth (✔️) | 'Hollows' Book I

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Part Two

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T h e   H o l l o w s O f
H    I    R    A    E T H
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T h e E n d:
Denouement
Part Five/Seven

And so fall away from happiness is what I did. But it turned out this bitter way: that was never the reality. This is the reality. This is my God forsaken life. All of this danger, this bloodshed, this pain—this is the reality.

And, in this reality, I can't escape my routes—what people before me have had to deal with. Just because of a stupid tale. These are the times where you realise, there is nothing humane about some of us humans. I resent them for what they've done to me. I resent them for what they've done to my life.

My blood denies me the reality I thought I had. I don't belong where I thought I did. With a reality worse than a nightmare, I wonder when I'll wake up. I can't breathe. All these uncovered lies are suffocating.

But the worst of all are all the problems built up in my life over the past five months. All the natural teenage drama, all those bumps in the road that made all the drops seem that much scarier. Carter was my best friend. He loved me. And I couldn't return that. I knew I couldn't. And now, I'm just as bad as those other monsters, creating downfalls after hazardous bumps in the road. What have I done?

I've hurt more people than I've helped. Every time I've been saved, someone else has suffered the damage. I'll warn you, please keep your distance. I am an explosive. I am a ticking time bomb. And the next time I explode, it won't just be one or two people falling, it'll be the whole city.

—Sky Forest, twenty-four hours post reality.

Once submerged into our safe room, I became aware of how awkward the atmosphere was now that everyone had heard Carter and I fighting. Jameson had met me by the door, looking concerned as his eyes met mine, but I saw the rage as he looked behind me and into the room. I ignored him, and everyone else, and paced restlessly in front of the curtained window.

I could feel that something was coming for us, and as I gnawed on my fingernails, I felt the pressure of our forthcoming vulnerability. I could sense that everyone's mental states were beginning to languish from the tiresome wait.

And then the storm erupted. A tumultuous thunder tore through the tunnels, echoing through the halls and the rooms, crashing into us and shattering our thin sheeted shield of protection.

I lost both Jameson and Carter in the chaos that followed, and, having no one to hide behind, I followed the crowd, accepting a gun that was thrust into my hands. It seems these days I'm tethered to danger.

And so we ran, fleeing from flocks of monsters. Tunnels and tunnels away, there was a bright light, that is what I am sure of. Whether that bright light is a safe haven, or a raging explosion, is something we won't know until we reach it.

I wasn't really sure of who was who as I sprinted, but I suspected that they were guardians who I just hadn't met yet. Kai and Harry were nowhere to be seen, and I had given up on searching for both Carter and Jameson; I could barely make out my right foot from my left when I looked down.

My group dispersed into the night and I slowed down, unaware of where to turn. I gripped my gun tightly, my hands clammy and my breath shaky. What do I do? Try to not get myself killed. But how do I do that? I have no bloody clue.