Rising Memories

The cold drops hit my skin. Darkness surrounded me, but the icy coldness continued to blanket me. I attempted to claw at the darkness, but my arms were stiff. Unmoving.

Helplessness flooded me. The agony ran down my spine in throbbing shivers. My eyes flashed open. My soaking reflection stared straight at me. Those eyes... So melancholy. They could not be mine.

A feeling rose in my throat. Cold air rushed in my lungs. My open mouth could not make a sound. The tightness in my chest prolonged as the air froze the inside of me.

I pulled my hand up. The drops poured down into my exposed palm. The streaks of ice that ran up my arm stopped as my hand numbed.

Light shone in front of me.

Echos in my mind. I held my hands over my ears, as if that would help.

Ava! Ava...

I cringed and shook my head.

The face of the woman I had loved so much appeared.

Her simple black hair hung, damp. Her once peaceful green eyes were filled with fear and anguish.

Listen. Ava... please...

I let my breath out. My hands fell limp at my sides.

She let an icy breath in, but no words were formed. Air rushed past me. I tried to run, but every impending force held me down... Cold drops of pure hatred continued to beat on my skin...

A sudden feeling of warmth surrounded me. I kept my eyes sealed, and my hands clenched onto a piece of fabric.

Fabric!

I opened my eyes and loosened my grip gingerly.

I am in my room...

My breathing slackened as the realization of safety shot through me.

"Ava?" I heard a faint voice, who I immediately recognized to be Serenade, my amoveo. This time around she appeared to me in the form of a small monkey.

I rolled over to face the wall. "Leave me alone."

"Master says he heard your sobs."

I refused to speak.

The shift of weight in my bed changed slightly as Serenade hopped on.

"I am only here to help you."

Silence.

She hopped back down, and I heard the door scrape against the floor as it closed.

I sat up so my hands could reach the tips of my blanket. The threads ran under my fingertips carefully as I thought to myself. I could not help but read the carefully sewn inscription every time I leaned over.

Avalon Caverly

A shaky breath escaped my lips as I lay there. The thought of sleep became increasingly unwanted. I silently cursed my wandering mind as I sat up so my legs hung over the edge of the bed.

The same shaky breath filled my chest as I took a gander at the mirror. My hand subconsciously reached to top of my head to feel for any signs that it had been wet. The fact that I had ever been in the rain was simply a figment of my imagination, I discovered as my hand fell down again.

I squinted as I pulled my curtain back. Sunlight bathed- no, flooded the room, spreading an extra sense of warmth around me.

Outside. Now.

That innocent voice was pushing its way through my mind, until heard.

I am used to giving in, but it's my own thoughts, after all.

I dug through my closet, until the familiar fabric of my cloak I had felt for so long reached my fingertips. I tugged it loose, and wrapped it around me carefully. The loose, yet snug, feel made me feel a joyful sense of nostalgia. I couldn't place what the mood was exactly.

The cloak no longer swept the floor, but it fell around my knees still. I gripped it tighter around me. Though the halls were silent with desolation, I had intended to make sure no one knew where I was going. I was seen as an outcast enough already.

My wary eyes scanned each tile on the floor, but again it had been completely soundless. The gentle throbbing of my heartbeat echoed in my ears, as the silence enclosed me.

I finally met the tall, haunting doors that led to the outside world. The wood was aged and worn, and it gave the vicinity around me an ancient feeling.

The cloak billowed around me as my feet as my feet winded down the stone steps. A rush started to fill me as the wind blew past me nimbly.

I halted under the shade of a towering oak. I bit my lip as the coolness of the wind wrapped around, freezing me to the bone. I gave a quick shiver before hurrying off into the forest.

My eyes wandered upwards, but they only met the branches of faded, grey trees, as they seemed in the non-existent sunlight.

I flexed my fingers tentatively as I wandered into the darkening forest. The electric shock of a thrill ran up through me.

With my arm over my head, I rested my eyes and sat against the tree.

Mother, mother, spirit of trees, 

Guide me out of the mist, 

Make something of my desperate pleas...

It repeated in my head until I could bare it no more. A thrust grabbed me from the inside out, and I saw the fire blazing in my eyes.

A raspy breath rattled around me eerily. A throb arose in my temples from squeezing my eyes so tightly. 

The fear gripped me, and consumed every bit of my being. 

A burst of thought ran through me, and soon my legs were carrying me under the trees as hurriedly as possible. 

I found my hands meeting the aged wood that led me back to the peace. 

A rushing lack of memory is all I feel as I finally meet the consoling feel of my blankets. I didn't spend too much time mulling over how consoling it was, as the fear that had struck me was not willing to leave my mind. 

I hustled to the fireplace, and placed my fingers in the lingering ashes. I brushed the soot away when I had finally grasped what I was looking for. 

I sat with the last photo of my mother held fast against my chest. Anxiety was poured out of my unsteady breath itself. 

Without a knock, the door swung open. The scuffling of feet came towards me. I realized it was Tegan, my step-cousin, who is quite hostile to say the least.

I dropped the photo on to the streaky ashes, but it was still face-up.

"Well, where has little Ms. Crazy been?  Stalking in the forest?" 

My eyes flashed back to behind my shoulder where she was standing.  

She gracefully plucked the photo from its position on the ashes. She gave me a disapproving look.

"Face it. She's gone. Get over it, will you?"

My hands curled into fists as I let out a hollow breath. 

"Don't get snappy with me now." she said with an unnerving smile. 

I stood without letting a single sound escape my mouth. 

Tegan flicked to photo onto the ground, making a careful note to step directly onto it.

"Have fun being the little physco.." she added on her way out the door.

I gathered the photo from the floor before sitting on my bed once again, the photo tightly clasped against me. 

Ignore her, mom... ignore her...