Do you know what it feels like to be firmly enveloped in a never-ending sense of dark, venomous, Stygian numbness? Or a delirium hysteria etched so deeply into your soul that you lost knowledge of where it even belongs? Or the agonizing ache you ex...
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It's been months since I had a proper meal or caught anything worthy. What I brought home was mostly birds and occasionally some small mole. Edmond was resentful and enraged with me and with the fact that I wasn't supplying enough food for him alone. He was becoming more violent each day, and I was becoming weaker.
It was early in the morning and the dull sun had only just risen. I was already walking towards the gates which were wide open, the metal spikes gleaming proudly in the bitter sunlight. It was colder than usual, the brutal wind biting violently on my ungloved hands.
"Kadyn, can I come with you? Helen's out of the village today,"
It was only now that I was aware of Patricia's presence, and as I look back, she's already staring at me with pleading eyes, knowing that I would reject her offer.
"No,"
My tone was final and authoritative. I didn't need to think, there was no way I would take her with me. I hunted in an already forbidden and dangerous area. I didn't want to put another life at risk. Also, I always returned late, and I was scared that if Patricia went with me she wouldn't be able to keep up with the pace and would end up injured. I didn't want to fuel Helen's anger further, either. It was hard enough to catch anything myself, so imagine having a 14-year-old trailing behind you, singing songs and disturbing the peaceful atmosphere around, more importantly, scaring all the prey away.
I speed up my pace, until I'm almost running, hoping to send the concrete message that she was definitely not going with me. I rub my hands together, hoping to get some kind of friction to successfully warm them up.
I haven't had any shillings for a long time, as most of my catch went to provide the food and Edmond didn't want to give me any of his earns. My clothes were already ripped partly in some areas, due to the climbing and rough hunting.
I was walking towards the Pryacre woods as usual until a certain path caught my eyes.
