A New Beginning (A KHR Fanfic)

The Beginning of a New Beginning

Chapter 3

Everything was black. It was suffocating. The only sound she could hear was a hypnotic beat. A heartbeat. Justyne tried looking around but soon realized that she couldn't move, let alone see what she was doing. Panic began to rise within her. What if something went wrong and she was stuck here instead? Would she stay here forever? No, that couldn't happen. Oh god.

As if sensing her distress, something reached out and touched her. Justyne immediately flinched away. She couldn't see anything and the thought that something was there with her was unsettling. Nothing happened for a moment. Then the warmth crept closer, as if it were wary of her. Eventually, Justyne began to relax, not sensing any danger. Slowly, the warmth crept around her.

For the first time since Leo left, Justyne felt safe.

~.~.~

She had been stuck in this place for who knows how long. Her only company was the warmth and the hypnotic heartbeat, a soothing balm to her growing loneliness. The silence gave her time to process her situation and she what should've done instead of blindly accepting a creature's deal. The darkness was maddening and Justyne was scared that she would go insane, but at the same time... it was calming. It was peaceful. Something she'd never actually experienced before without Leo.

The thrum of the heart was soothing. It was like a soft lullaby, calming and peaceful. The constant warm presence made her feel comforted. It was like a metaphysical barrier that shielded her from the dark unknown.

Justyne knew that even if she couldn't see anything but black... even if she was never able to leave the void and go to where Leo was... she would've been fine with it. She'd come to think of the void as her personal safe haven.

~.~.~

It's been so long since Justyne had seen anything but black. There was no telling how time had passed within the void. On a whim, she had once tried to call out to the warmth, but it never answered back. She continued to call out to it in hopes of being answered. It never did, but that was fine with Justyne. The fact that the warm presence was still with her the entire time was good enough. She was content with what she had.

One day (did days even count here?), an bright orange flame burst into life, lighting up the black abyss around her. Justyne couldn't help but yelp in pain as her corneas were burned by the sudden brightness. Warily, Justyne reopened her eyes to look at the flame dancing before her. She stared at it as it hovered not too far away. It felt so familiar. Heartwarming. Thinking that she was hallucinating, Justyne pinched herself but it was still there.

Realizing that it was real, Justyne subconsciously reached out for it, like a moth drawn to a flame. Then... the oddest thing happened. Another flame appeared to the left of her. However, the flame was icy blue. The blue became a lighter shade as it got towards the center and there were small crystal-like particles floating in the middle. Each crystal had a different color of the rainbow and it was extremely intriguing.

Before Justyne had the chance to mindlessly touch it, the flame moved towards a white light she never noticed. Before Justyne knew what was happening, she was pulled towards the white light too. She tried reaching for the orange flame, but she was already halfway through the light. Justyne tried to scream, shout, and struggle away from whatever held her, but the grip was strong.

It was like something tightly wrapped around her stomach was dragging her body towards the small opening the white light made. Justyne cried out when it tried to pull her through. She was too big to fit through such a small opening. She tried pushing away, but it was relentless and harshly tugged her through. Pain overwhelmed her as her body was forced through something it could not fit into.