Lykaon

Chapter 2: Wild Heart

My eyes fluttered open.

I instantly stood up, knocking over the chair I had fallen asleep in in the process. Surprisingly the noise did not wake Adam who was still fast asleep in the cot.

I'm back in reality, I thought to myself as relief flooded through my mind. That dream had been all too real. It's affects on me would hopefully wear off as the day progressed. Yet something about it had seemed hauntingly familiar.

Then I looked down, Kell was gone.

I ran out the door to Adam's home, nearly slamming my head into the top of the door frame as I did.

The sun was still rising, casting a pinkish-orangish glow over the small village. The mucky streets were mostly empty, save for the few other early risers of Genisios. I heard the faint sound of dogs barking in the distance.

"Kell?" I yelled, cupping my hands to my mouth.

I got no response, just a few strange looks from the villagers who were actually awake at this hour, which was not many.

I began running around the immediate vicinity searching for the boy. But it was to no avail. Kell had vanished, leaving me without an answer to my question. Did he know who I was?

An elderly woman who sat in a rocking chair outside of her shack nearby motioned for me to come over to her. She looked as if she had seen far more years than most. I quickly ran over to her; thinking maybe she could at least tell me which direction he had gone.

She looked up at me, her eyes were gray as if storm clouds were setting within them. Her faded hair fell nearly to the ground. She spoke softly as she continued to rock back and forth in her chair, "Are you looking for someone?"

"A boy named Kell," I pointed toward Adam's residence, "He left there some time ago, I'm not sure when.. But have you seen him? Did you see which way he went?" A somewhat frantic tone echoed in my voice.

The old woman stared at me for a moment before asking, "What is your name, child?"

I was beginning to get agitated as I replied, "Dakoda. Why do you ask?"

She slowly tilted her head slightly to the right, but her facial expression remained the same; stone. "Oh, Atlas sent you?"

Instantly another flashback entered my mind. A series of images flashed by but far too fast for me to comprehend.

Then I heard my voice echo within my head, "Who's giving these orders? Atlas? And for what purpose? Do you expect me to blindly obey?"

"Where did you hear that name?" They had asked me, "Where did you hear that name?!" Their voices growing more threatening, as if I had spoken something which should never be uttered.

"I heard it in passing.. Is that who's sending me? Who is he? I need to know before I carry this out or I refuse."

"Never again speak that name; erase it from your memory.. You will do as we ask and you will do it blindly. If you do not, then you will never find the answers you seek. This is your only option; no one else knows the truth. Choose to walk away now and you will forever be blind; eternally lost in the dark."

I collapsed onto my knees and put both hands to my head, as if to rip the memories from my brain. My head ached terribly from the overload of information, as what seemed like thousands more images flashed before my eyes. I couldn't process what any of them meant; only blurs. Hundreds of voices seemed to all speak at once, causing my mind to feel as if I was in a overcrowded room.

All of a sudden one voice screamed out above the rest, it was filled with rage. It rang out almost growling like a beast, "You killed them! Murdered them in a blind madness! You belong in a cage in the deepest pit of hell." I felt an invisible force propel me backwards into the mud, as the voice yelled, "You're a monster!" I could feel the hot breath of the speaker on my face, but there was no one before me.