The Huntress

Chapter 11

I opened my eyes to darkness and immediately panicked. I slowed my breathing down and curled into a ball. This can't be happening, not again!

"Hey, hey," a soothing voice said and I whipped my head up, that voice was my father's! I expected to see his face in front of mine, his arm around my smaller body in a comforting way. Or as he used to explain, so that he could keep all of Ilya together.

"It'll be okay, I'm here, grandfather is here, everything is okay," he said. Everything was pitch black, I couldn't see my father and his soft loving gaze as he calmed me down. My breathing sped back up and I stood, vision whirling as I ran through the darkness. Tears blocked my already non-existent vision and I tripped over something. Sitting up and turning back to look at whatever I tripped on I found a skull instead.

"Father?" I asked, my voice shaky and quiet. My hand reached out to the skull and it crumbled under my fingers, the dust white as it was swept away by a wind I didn't feel. And suddenly it was bright, the light blinding and I quickly covered my eyes, tears still leaking down my face.

Slowly, I brought my hands down, the light not as blinding. But I still wasn't sure where I was, the tall looming trees seemed like they weren't trees, they vaguely looked like antlers. I gulped, this was no ordinary nightmare.

"Everything is fine" I heard my father's voice again. I sat up properly, looking around. "I'm here," to the left! "Your grandfather is here," no behind me! "Everything is fine" suddenly his skeleton was in front of me, slowly gaining flesh and his clothes mending.

I sobbed, bringing my hands up to cover my mouth before I scream. "My father," I said, reaching a hand forward. I gasped and looked at it, watching as I became a skeleton while my father gained flesh. He turned away. No.

  No!

  Nononononoononononononono!!!

  "No! Father! Don't leave me alone! I'm not ready!" He turned back and smiled sadly, but still walked away.

  "FATHER!"

  Everything went black. Everything I saw were tones of grey, ever since that day. Everything I barely knew kept me alive, alive long enough to plunge off that waterfall, long enough to travel the nations that had never existed before that one fateful day. Long enough, to meet Kiba, to grow comfortable with life again.

  Long enough, to finally love living again.

  Long enough to make a mistake.

  The mistake of settling long enough to get the same nightmares.

  ~~~~~~~

  She turned over, her eyes opened and tears rolling down her cheeks. The grey light of dawn was just peaking through her window and she gave a heavy sigh.

  She never had nightmares when Kiba was over. She heaved another sigh as she sat up, bringing her knees to her chest as she pushed the heels of her palms into her eyes.

  After about fifteen minutes she sniffled and looked down at herself, she was wearing one of Kiba's shirts that he left there and a pair of long shorts. She brought the material of the shirt up to her face, smelling the scent of Kiba to calm herself down.

  Eventually she stood up and went to the bathroom, it was time to shower. She stripped and stepped into the near-scalding water. She stood there as the water flowed over her body for several minutes, then she took her cloth and scrubbed vigorously at her arms and legs. She had to get rid of the darkness that seemed to clutch tenaciously to her body, to her very soul... as if there was nothing she could do about it.