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

Chapter One-Hundred: Part Two

________________________________

T h e H o l l o w s   O f
H I R A E    T    H
_________________________________

T h e E n d:
Denouement
Part Seven/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.

So I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you, and your friends and your family. I swear I didn't mean to. I'll repay you however I can, just, please, let me heal.

This is going to be hard, I know. But I have no choice. Everywhere I go I get hurt, and then someone else gets hurt in the crossfire, and then someone gets hurt because of that. It's a domino effect I can't stop. I hope that this solves all our problems. I don't care where I go next, at this point, I'm not too sure where my home is anymore.
Is this the true meaning of Hiraeth?

—Sky Forest, twenty-four hours post reality.

I blinked. "What?" I was frozen. If anyone had walked past they would have questioned if I was a statue or not.

"Walk with me." Jameson proposed and I simply followed behind him numbly as he strode off.

"They were talking about it when I walked in." Jameson begun, "The guardian council took you too early, and that caused more damage than good, so to fix it, they're just going to send you back." He explained.

I scoffed, "What am I? A broken iPhone? Do they want a refund with that too?" I continued my jokes until Jameson gave me a sharp look.

"It's cleverly thought out, if you–"

"Clever? How on earth is this clever?" I interrupted, sounding disbelieved.

"The enemy won't be expecting you to be out in the open. This plan is the biggest secret this academy will ever keep. Those five guardians aren't allowed to whisper a word of this," Jameson explained, and for someone who seemed to love my company, he appeared to be speaking highly of this plan.