Summer, Year 205
Aelorean’s Crossing

Vivian

A single bush sits in the middle of what seems to a long pathway of grass, outlined on either side by continuous 4ft wooden poles connected by rope — each placed roughly 12ft apart with a red flag sitting atop of them. The quiet, serene bush gently rustles in the breeze — ever calm the breeze dies down and the bush begins to settle in place until…

WOOSH

The top of the bush is ripped forward as a swift foot grazes it, lands on the other side, and continues on at an alarming pace. Then another pair of feet dart along the side of the bush, then another, and another, and another! A crowd erupts in cheers from each side of the track as a group of kids to young adults race down the strip, each one desperate to take the lead. The only problem was that the one currently in front had a good lead on the majority, with the exception of three others.

Currently, in fourth place, is a boy in his mid teen years who goes by the name, Roland Fairchild. He’s a bit of a bully by practice and reputation — a complete contrast to his younger sibling of roughly 7 years, Ethan. It’s quite possible that Roland used some underhanded tactic to advance to the 4th position he was currently in.

Just ahead of him, a blonde halfling girl possibly no older than 13, wide eyed and face expressed with desperation — she seemed to actually be running away from Roland rather than actually trying to win the race, but regardless of her tactics, it had put her in the top three. She should be proud.

A few more paces ahead was a dwarven boy wearing glasses, probably in his very late teen years, but already sporting a long brown beard and short brown hair, which he wore slicked back. The dwarf was huffing, gasping for air. In all honesty, the audience was astonished that he was this far ahead. His reputation was far from athletic and even further from being a fast runner, but like the halfling girl, he had determination in his eyes. Something extraordinary was driving him forward, despite the fact that he looked as if he would vomit any second now. Currently, he showed no signs of giving up.

Huffing and gasping for air, the dwarf calls out to the current leader.

“YOU BETTER NOT gasp FORGET YOUR PROMISE! gasp IF I WIN, YOU HAVE TO GO ON A DATE WITH MEEEE!!!! i”

At the front of the pack is a human girl about 15 years of age. She turns her head back, seemingly confident that nothing could stop her lead even if she did take a moment to look over her shoulder. She breaks through the wind as it rushes past her, causing her medium length, black wavy hair, which normally falls just past her shoulders, to brush across her face as she looks back to the dwarf.

“OH I HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN, JORDAN! BUT YOU MIGHT JUST HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER WAY TO GET THAT DATE!!”

She gives a light-hearted laugh as she shifts her head forward again, focused on crossing the finish line first.

Hair now brushing back with the wind on each side of her face, the afternoon sunlight reveals a face of sheer, rare beauty. Actually, to even say that would be an understatement. Her skin smooth and almost pale white. Her eyes — dark brown and a bit bigger than average, but piercing at the same time. One could almost say they resemble the eyes of witches read about in books. Her jaw, squared, and ears, slightly bigger than average for a human, but they somehow seemed to be complimented by her short yet slightly upturned nose. Each feature on her face seemed to perfectly compliment the other from her perfectly shaped forehead, to her perfectly lined cheekbones, to her full lips. Oh, but it was her smile that brought about the most attraction.

Her beauty had continued to grow over the years and it had quickly become the talk of the town. Gossip had begun to spread of her smile and how it always seemed to make her glow like a goddess in story books. Not only that, but her confidence on its own seemed even more alluring. Boys and girls were constantly asking her out on a date just as parents were constantly trying to present their own sons and daughters as potential suitors. One thing was certain, almost everyone had heard of her in Aelorean’s Crossing.

A bit further back, Roland had been gaining on the tiring halfling girl. He seemed determined to use whatever tactics necessary to win. Just as he catches an even pace with the girl, he shifts closer, brings up an open palm, and stiff arms the poor girl causing her to collapse and tumble across the grass.

The audience bursts out in a mixture of cringing faces and cheers of excitement as the girl goes tumbling across the grass. That’s right, it was THAT kind of race.

“YOU’RE NEXT, JORDAN!” Roland shouts out as an intimidation tactic.

Jordan’s eyes widen with fear, gasping more frantically for air as more and more sweat begins to pour down his face. He then proceeds to let out a high pitch, panicked yelp — so high pitch in fact, that it catches the audience off guard. Nobody thought a dwarf his age was capable of such a pitch.

“AHHHHH! NO NO NO NO!!! gasp COME ON LEGS!! gasp MOVE FASTER!! gasp gasp”

They weren’t moving faster at all. In fact, Roland was now at his side, reaching an open palm out towards Jordan like a looming shadow after his soul.

Another frantic burst comes from Jordan.

“NNNUUYYAAAAHHHH!! OK OK YOU WIN!

Jordan places his own hand on the top of his head and forces it down as if to stiff arm himself. He imagines if he does it to himself, it’ll be less scary and maybe even hurt less — this was not the case. The push caused the momentum of his head to exceed his own speed, forcing him to face plant into the ground — legs flailing through the air, face skidding across the grass. After he comes to a halt, he looks up, face covered in dirt and skid marks as comical tears well in his eyes, and watches Roland and the girl speed on ahead.

“There goes… sniff my date…”

The girl glances back to see her friend, Jordan, hit the ground. She grunts to herself, seemingly a bit angry now as sweat beads down her forehead, getting caught in her brow.

Roland has been a thorn in her side for some time now, and boy, was she about to put him in his place. The girl ever so slightly slows her pace until Roland is now side by side with her. Her eyes glare as they slowly shift to the side, her head following suit. Now meeting Roland’s gaze as he begins to shout at her.

“OH, LEMME GUESS! YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO WIN AGAIN THIS YEAR HUH!?”

Roland’s words carry every bit of intent to put the girls’ confident, smug face in the ground. A moment passes before he rears away from her just a bit to gather momentum, and then carries all his weight to his left shoulder, ramming it into the girls’ right one. She’s knocked off balance slightly — the force causing her own momentum to pull to her left before gathering it up just as Roland had done, and ramming the force right back at him.

The two continue colliding shoulders as they run down the track. The audience roars louder and louder with each blow. A mixture of gasps and cheers burst across the track.

Now, the excitement from the audiences’ cheers grow at an alarming rate as they pass through the girls ears. Glancing ahead, she realizes why. The finish line is within sight and growing closer by the second!

WHAM

Her attention shifts to the finish line causing her guard to drop as Roland collides with great force into her entire body. The girls’ arms go flailing, desperately trying to keep her balance and momentum forward.

She’s now breathing heavier than she expected to be during this race. Though her body was toned and by all means sturdy, Roland was still bigger and his blows were causing much more damage than her own. Normally, she would just speed up to her previous, faster pace, but the constant back and forth blows had caused her to become exhausted. Her current, slower pace, was now her fastest. She had to think of another way, and quickly. The finish line was only paces away. She couldn’t rely on brute force anymore, but she had one last option.

She glanced towards Roland one last time and moved as if to ram him again, only this time she stopped short — a feint. Roland had already been readying himself for the hit, carrying his momentum towards her only — too late, Roland couldn’t stop himself. She had tricked him, she had already bested him.

His momentum now sliding in front of the girl, he desperately tries to grab onto anything that he can, but can only seem to grab at air. The flailing of his arms cause his momentum to shift a full 180, tripping himself up as he’s now in front of the girl, but slowly falling backwards.

At this point, the crowd is jumping up and down screaming with excitement as they wonder who will cross the finish line first. It seems that even if they were to fall, gravity might actually send one of their bodies tumbling across the line anyway.

With the finish line right on them, the girl jumps — body outstretched as if to fly across the finish line she soars over Roland as their eyes meet. Hers filled with confidence and will power, his crossed and full of confusion as if his eyes don’t know which way to look. Their bodies now parallel with each other, she on top and he underneath, the girl thrusts up an open palm, smashing it into Roland’s chin and bringing him instantly to the ground — all his momentum lost into the grass right beneath him.

The girl’s momentum continues as she curls up into a flip. It’s at that moment that she realizes, SHIT, she had no energy left to finish the flip upright. Her eyes widen and mouth opens as her whole expression goes from confident to surprised.

“SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIIIIIIIIITT” the desperate words wail through the girls mind.

BOOF

The girl now lies on her back. Her momentum carried her body into rotation, but was only enough to bring her legs over as she landed on her back. Chest now frantically rising and receding, the girl tries to catch her breath — tries to get the energy to sit up and cross the finish line. She lifts her head up and looks down at her feet which are… ONLY INCHES AWAY FROM THE LINE!

“Oh gods you’ve got to be kidding me!” The girl thinks to herself.

She slowly, very slowly manages to hoist herself up to cross the finish line when suddenly…

“HUFF HUFF HUFF GASSSSSPP”

A pair of stubby legs and arms motion past her. The worst part is, the legs weren’t even running, but more like… power walking!

The girl could only watch, jaw dropped and expression dumbfounded, as Jordan power walked across the finish line.

The girl turns to look behind her and sees more participants quickly approaching, but also sees multiple bodies on the ground, some in the process of standing back up. Apparently, the fall from the halfling girl and Jordan had caused all of the closer participants to trip, resulting in a pile up.

Instantly, the crowd erupts in cheers as Jordan falls to his knees from exhaustion.

“YESSSSSSSSSSSS!! I HAVE A DATE WITH AN ANGEL!!”

Jordan, though exhausted, beams with sheer happiness. This is mostly because he now has a date, but also because he was always teased for even entering the race when he obviously had no chance.

“I WON! I WON! HAHAHAHA TAKE THAT, HATERS!!”

The girl, now on her feet, steps over the finish line. She looks towards Jordan. She’s not particularly excited about losing, but it’s outweighed by the joy and happiness she feels for Jordan’s own happiness, as well as the fact that she got to put Roland in his place. The girl proceeds to let out a playful sigh before turning it into a warm-hearted smile.

“Finnnneeee. A promise IS a promise, after all. BUT, I get to pick the place!”

Jordan gives off a huge, sincere, grin as he beams with joy, until he realizes something. He’s never ran that hard in his life. Any moment now, he feels as if he could…

Jordan collapses from exhaustion, but proceeds to give a thumbs up as he lays face down on the ground. The crowd laughs and a wooden crown is placed on the back of his head.

The girl, who was laughing along with the crowd, is now catching her own breath as she stands straight, her hair now sweaty and stuck to her face. She scans the crowd as they gather around the finish line until she hears a high pitch, squeaky child’s voice call out.

“VIVIANNNNNNN!”

From the crowd, a little boy comes rushing up to her, arms outstretched and face beaming with excitement as he wraps his arms around her waist for a hug. She hugs him back and hoists him up on her shoulders as she gives of a warming smile.

“Tal!! There’s my hero in training! Ok, so I know I didn’t win, but did you see me deck that bully in the face?”

Talith, still beaming with excitement, extends his arms out, fingers flexed as if to say “That was awesome!”

“YEAH, UH-HUH I SURE DID! YOU GUYS WERE ALL LIKE — POW — AND THEN — WHAM — AND THEN YOU WERE ALL LIKE — BOOOOOMMMMM!!! DID YOU SEE IT, MOM???”

Talith looks towards his mom and dad, who are now coming in to hug his sister, Vivian.

Their mother, glowing with admiration for Vivian, wraps her arms around her daughter and kisses her on the cheek. She gives a sincere, motherly smile.

“I sure did, Talith. Vivian, we’re so so so proud of you. You might not have won, but you didn’t give up and you even outwitted that Fairchild boy.”

Their father whole heartily laughs as he gestures over to Jordan.

“And, from the sound of it, looks like you have a date!”

Vivian blushes as she scratches her cheek, unable to hold back a smile.

“Yeah yeah yeah geeze dad, you don’t have to be so loud about it.”

“I think he’s a fine young man,” Their mother says as their father puts an arm around her.

“Well, I think we’re gonna retire for the evening and clean up the house. Have fun with the rest of the festival and be back no later than sundown. We love you both sooooooo much.”

Their mother gives Vivian another kiss as Talith leans down from Vivian’s shoulders, getting a kiss on the cheek of his own.

“I love you too, mom, dad!” Vivian responds.

“YEAHHHH — WE LOVE YOU TOO MOMMMM AND DAAAAAD!!!” Talith yells from the top of his sister’s shoulders.

Throughout the rest of the day, Talith accompanies his sister as she wanders around, helping out with the festival where she can. At one point, Vivian visits a rundown alleyway. Just at the entrance, a hooded woman in rags, seemingly homeless sits there. Vivian sits and keeps the woman company for about an hour and leaves the woman with a few extra copper from Vivian’s own pocket. The woman offers Vivian a book, explaining it’s the least she could do. Vivian accepts and carries on her way with Talith.

The day comes to an end and later that night, Vivian sits in hers and Talith’s room, Talith fast asleep, and examines the book. To her surprise, it’s titled, “The Holy Knight.” Immediately, she’s absolutely thrilled. It seems like a book that’s full of adventure. She’s always wanted to one day leave and go out on an adventure of her own. She’s always wanted to make a name for herself and be a light for people lost in the dark. This book looked like it might hold in it a story that she’s always wanted to live.

Vivian turns back the cover and skims through the pages to get a feel of the story. To her confusion, she quickly realizes that it’s not a story at all, but more like a set of guidelines and rules. It’s not necessarily disappointing, but not quite what she was expecting either.

As she flips through more pages, she notices something odd. There’s a single blank wooden trinket sitting on top of an almost blank page. In fact, the only thing on the page is a small symbol in the top right corner.

“Odd…” Vivian whispers to herself — careful not to wake Talith.

For several hours into the night, she reads through the book. Some of it completely foreign to her at first, but as she continues to read, it begins to make more sense as a sense of self imposed duty begins to swell inside of her. It was a sense of duty that she had always believed in, but this book made it seem more realistic. It was as if it held everything she believed in as well as things she didn’t know she believed in until now.

By the next hour, Vivian was carving a symbol into the wooden trinket that she had found in the book. Wrinkles grew in her forehead as she concentrated, making sure to get the symbol absolutely perfect. Although the symbol itself was simple, each line had to be an exact length — at least, that’s what the instructions said.

Another 30 minutes passed by and at this time, the trinket has been completed. Hemp string ran through the top of it and around Vivian’s next. She placed a hand over it as she looked out her window into the dark, blackened night sky. Vivian’s eyes were filled with a new kind of determination. A kind of determination that made her think of her future and where it might take her. All of the adventurous possibilities rushed through her head as she couldn’t help but feel giddy inside.

Vivian, sitting in her bed and now feeling like she was suddenly on a path to being the protector she always wanted to be, glances over at her sleeping brother and smiles. Her eyes slowly divert out the window again towards the sky as she becomes lost in thought, reflecting on the words written in the book.

“If I follow these guidelines and rules just right, maybe I can become a holy knight.”

Oh, how she wanted, with all her heart, for this to become reality.

Her eyes now begin to beam with excitement as she contemplates what this new path might hold for her future. Although stars didn’t exist during this time, it was almost as if Vivian’s eyes were reflecting them anyway. Not quite literally, but they were shining brighter than any star that existed today. Hope coursed through her veins. She couldn’t help but believe — her future was bright.

Vivian finally lays down and closes her eyes. Her eyelids gently blocking out any bit of light as they slowly fall shut until she sees nothing but pitch black. Moments go by as the eyelids slowly begin to lift open, sunlight beaming through. It didn’t quite make sense though, how did the sun rise so quickly? Not only that, but it was now much colder than moments ago. It was as if the season had drastically changed to winter.

In that moment, there is a realization. Talith realizes… he woke up.

Talith

Winter, Year 212
Aelorean’s Crossing

Suffering

Sitting on that same stump, Talith appears motionless as well as exhausted. His hair was a mess and eyes were dreary as his gaze pulled towards the dancing flames of their camp. He thought it was rather fitting though, as his lips parted and began to describe a place called Hell.

7 Years Prior

At sunset, Talith, a boy of 8 years old holds the hand of his human sister, Vivian, as they walk up to the door of their home. Talith was still giggling over a silly joke she’d just told him as she suddenly halts at the door causing Talith to bump into her.

“Owwww,” Talith complains as he rubs his face.

His sister doesn’t move, but instead only stands there staring at the door as if she’d forgotten how to open it. Talith tilts his head, curiously.

“Umm Viviannnn did you forget how to open the —”

“Talith.” She interrupts as she kneels down to his level, warming smile across her face.

“Do ya wanna play Hero again?”

“Uhhh YEAH! That’s like, my favorite game!”

Vivian stands tall and salutes.

“Alright hero in training! It is your duty to escort me to safety through the monstrous caverns, but we must be sneaky so not to catch the attention of the monsters.”

She breaks character as she brings a hand up cuffing the side of her mouth, whispering,

“Mom and dad can be the monsters. Ahem ONCE we make it through and reach the kingdom of beds and pillows, you must secure the entrance so that no monsters may pass. Is that understood?”

Talith salutes back before giving a squeaky heroic, “YES M’AM”

The two enter the house with Talith taking the lead and Vivian placing her hand on his shoulder, discreetly guiding him. They sneak past the kitchen when they hear their mother’s voice.

“Vivian, is that you? Hurry up and put Talith to bed, sweetie.”

Vivian playfully clasps a hand over her heart before gasping

“Oh no, hero! They’ve spotted us! Hurry go go” she continuously nudges him towards their bedroom as Talith laughs.

Once they finally reach the room, she shuts the door behind them and proceeds to hug him. “That’s my hero in training.”

As she releases her embrace, Talith stares at his sister. “When can I start being a real hero? I’m 8 now, Vivian. I’m like, practically double digits over here! When can I be a hero like you? Someone who helps others in need?”

She kneels down and places a hand on either shoulder. Smiling sympathetically.

“Hmm… how about tomorrow when I go to help feed the elderly? Even the smallest deeds can make a world of difference.”

Talith’s eyes light up. “You mean it!?”

Vivian nods as she approaches the bedroom door.

“Now then, your big sister is gonna do some hero stuff and fight off the evil monsters. In the meantime, you must protect the kingdom. Make sure you lock the door until you hear our secret knock”

She shuts the door and Talith locks it behind her before leaping into his bed, anxiously awaiting his sister’s return so he could hurry up and go to sleep. The faster he got to sleep, the sooner he could be a real hero.

Over the next hour, Talith hears muffled screams along with loud thuds, as if a sack of potatoes kept being dropped on the floor. This wasn’t the first time Talith had heard these noises. It happened every time they would play hero. He and Vivian would finish their game and then she would go play monsters and heroes with mom and dad.

A few minutes pass by after the noises die down. There’s another moment of silence before Talith hears a weak series of knocks at the door. They were so weak in fact, they almost sounded like taps. Three taps hit the center of the door, then silence.

Talith stares at the door. This wasn’t their secret knock. It’s supposed to be three at the center and one at the bottom. Where was the last one?

THUD

The sudden loud knock startles Talith, but it was at the bottom. Now he could open it. He creeps up to the door and slowly pulls it ajar. As he does this, he’s able to catch a glimpse of Vivian quickly rising up to her feet. Had she fallen?

Vivian stumbles into the room, shutting the door behind her. Her hair sticks to her face in the darkened room, making it difficult to make out her expression. Talith can only blankly stare as she limps to her bed, putting little weight as possible on her feet as if the floor were lava — as if each step burned the soles of her feet. She had limped like this before, like a wounded hero returning from battle, but never had she put on this great of a performance.

Talith shifts his body and gets in his bed, the whole time watching curiously as Vivian limped to hers. She seemed more off than she usually is on hero nights.

Vivian climbs into her bed, pulls her knees in, rests her left cheek on her knees, and stares out the window into a pitch black sky. She begins to speak, but her voice is broken and weak.

“Talith… in seven days, I’m leaving Aelorean’s Crossing..”

Talith lays in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He’s too afraid to respond, too afraid that if he inquires about it, he’ll receive confirmation that this wasn’t some kind of joke or act. In his ears, Vivian’s broken voice continues,

“I’m going to leave… and become a real protector of the people..”

Talith now begins to hear sobbing break into her voice

“I promise, I’ll come back and save you…”

Talith’s 8 year old mind isn’t sure what to make of the situation. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Lost and confused, he began to feel like maybe he was just dreaming so he closes his eyes and pretends to be asleep until his pretending becomes reality.

Abruptly, Talith is jerked awake by a horrific high pitched scream. The sun has come up and Talith hears a commotion outside of their home.

“VIVIANNNNNNN!!!!” He hears that same scream again, it was his mother’s scream.

Talith rises up to look out of his window only to see his parents outside screaming for his sister as other residents begin to crowd around.

“WHERE IS MY LITTLE GIRL” his mother begins to sob in the street as his father holds her. Talith looked over to his sister’s bed, she was gone.

Search parties were organized to look for Vivian, but to no avail. After a month, the people began to come to terms with the fact that she had either strayed too far from Aelorean’s Crossing and dragged away by wolves or had been taken away by one of the many travelers that pass through — both spelled death. Talith’s parents came off as distraught for many months after.

About a week after Vivian had been declared dead, a visitor knocked on the door. It was Danica and her parents. They had apparently come to offer their condolences. As the grown ups talked, Danica and Talith were asked to go outside.

Once outside, Danica offered Talith a fruit basket and told him how sorry she was that this had happened. She proceeded to tell him that she had been going through problems of her own and offered him a hug. As soon as they embrace, there is a beat. The warm embrace triggers something in Talith. He breaks down in tears, finally coming terms with the fact that this is all real.

30 minutes pass and Danica and her parents leave. Talith is asked to come inside to have dinner. Once they finish they’re quiet meal, Talith expects that he’s going to be told to go to bed.

He gets up to head to his room as he hears:

“Talith, sweetie, it’s not bedtime yet,” his mom says in a warm, loving voice.

His father guides him back to his chair as the boy sits back down. A bit confused, he asks, “It’s not time for bed? But the sun is down.”

As his mother has his back to him, seemingly collecting some things out of a kitchen cabinet, his father circles behind his chair.

“We have a surprise for you, Talith!” his father says, cheerfully.

A surprise? The only thing that could cheer Talith up now was seeing Vivian.. Wait, was it Vivian?? Was she about to pop out of the bedroom door? Of course! That’s why he couldn’t go to his room; it would have ruined the surprise! This whole thing must’ve been an intense test to see if he could be brave like a hero and now Vivian was about to pop out and congratulate him!

Talith’s eyes now shined full of hope and excitement. He was so excited in fact, that he didn’t even notice the ropes being tied around each wrist to the arms of his chair.

“It’s Vivian, isn’t it!? I knew it! I knew she wasn’t gone! You can’t fool me, dad. I’m a hero!”

His mother approaches the table in front of him, laying out rocks, knives that had been made into makeshift daggers, needles, and all sorts of things. “That’s right sweetie, you’re a brave hero!”

Talith’s expression now becomes crossed between hope and confusion, mouth slightly opened as he looks up at his mother’s loving smile, tilting his head to the side.

WOOSH

A dagger stabs through the air before parting Talith’s lips and stopping in his mouth. His upper and lower lips begin to bleed as they rest on each edge of the blade.

Talith sits there, frozen stiff and in shock as he tries to understand what just happened. After a moment he feels a burning, stinging sensation on his lips. Tears well in his eyes as he instinctively begins to scream. He accidentally bites down, causing the blade to wedge between his teeth.

His mother continues to grip the blade, smile still on her face. “Shhhh… Talith, if you’re too loud, the blade will cut you. We don’t want that to happen, do we?”

Taliths eyes express utter fear as he subtly shakes his head.

“Oh Talith, you’re such a good boy.” His mother says as she slowly removes the blade.

As she places the blade on the table, she grabs a handful of sharp rocks before almost instantaneously wedging them into Talith’s gums. He rears his head back, shaking his head

“NOOO!!” The boy screams causing a rock to slip out from his gums and to the back of his tongue, almost choking him before coughing it out.

WHAM

An intense force collides into his stomach forcing his upper torso to kneel over almost level with his bound wrists.

Talith’s father stands in front of him, fists ready for Talith to mess up again.

A turning sensation seeps through Talith’s stomach as it begins to tighten. It felt as if he were about to cough up his insides; he felt sick. After a moment, he can’t hold it back. His eyes bulge from their sockets as his stomach and throat begin to convulse. Vomit forces itself up, covering Talith’s legs. Normally when he was sick, he would be shaking his head when vomit came up. This time, however, Talith just sat there, allowing it to run its course as it coated his legs.

Suddenly, Talith’s vision and axis spins as his world falls sideways.

THUD

His father had flipped his chair over onto the ground. Talith’s vision was now level with his father’s boots before…

WHAM

A boot impacts into his chin causing his head to recoil. The boy’s body goes stiff again as blood splatters across the floor in front of him.

“STOP IT!” His mother demands, “If you cause too much damage, we won’t be able to cover it up!”

His father hoists Talith’s chair up as well as Talith’s seemingly lifeless body with it. His father then proceeds to sit in another chair as if to watch the show before saying, “I’m sorry dear, I was just trying to help him learn early not to resist.”

His mother places her knuckle under Talith’s chin, lifting his face level with hers.

“Talith, you mustn’t resist, silly. Now let’s try this again.”

She forces the rocks back into his gums before gagging him with cloth, ensuring the rocks won’t fall out. Talith’s excruciating screams are muffled as the rocks dig into nerves he hadn’t yet even known to exist. The shock of this newly discovered pain brought more and more tears as he screamed in agony like a dying animal.

WHAT DID I DO WRONG?

“Talith, your fingernails are dirty. Let me clean them.”

A needle is wedged under his fingernails one by one. The needles continue to dig and dig, more pain that Talith hadn’t known possible. His fingertips filled with sharp pain before slowly feeling numb, blood dripping off each finger and colliding with the floor.

WHATEVER I DID, I WON’T DO IT AGAIN!

Continuous, muffled, horrific screams occasionally broken off by choking noises and coughing erupt from Talith as his eyes continue to bulge and his body convulsing.

A foot is hoisted up as he begins to feel sharp pain drawing across his sole. His mother was carving into his foot one slit after another. With each new slit, blood would creep out, slithering from one slit to the next until finding his mother’s off hand, which was used to hold Talith’s foot.

“Make sure to keep your feet covered.”

PLEASE HELP!

Talith felt betrayed and scared. Didn’t his parents love him? What were they doing?

He whimpers as he attempts to speak through coughs and choking blood held back by the cloth wedged in his mouth.

“What is it, sweetie?” His mother, with bloody hands, removes the red stained cloth. The rocks stay in position, held in place by the tissue which they seeped into.

Blood streams from Talith’s mouth as it drops from his gums to his tongue and down his already bruised chin, mixing in with the many tears streaming down his face. He coughs, blood spraying across his mother’s face. She seemed unfazed, maintaining a jolly expression. The boy barely manages to sound out one hyperventilated word.

“…Vivian?”

It was as if he expected her to come in at any moment now and save him from this nightmare. She hadn’t. Why hasn’t she? Is she even coming to save him?

SLAP

An open hand stings across Talith’s face, more blood spraying. His mother glares at him. Her jolly expression was gone. She now looked furious, face painted with Talith’s own blood. She looked like a monster.

“YOUR SISTER IS GONE! SHE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT THIS FAMILY SO SHE LEFT!”

Her voice softens. “She left you, Talith. She left us. Your father and I are the only family you have.”

She wedges the cloth back into his mouth causing another choking fit from him.

“We love you so so very much, Talith.”

F E A R

The torture continues for another twenty minutes or so before finally concluding. Talith’s body sits limp and unconscious in the chair as a red soaked cloth hangs off of his lips. Blood coursed down his body soaking his shirt. His feet, partially submerged in a puddle of blood, tears dried on his face. The boy had fallen unconscious from the sheer overwhelming torture.

He awakes the next morning to find most of his bruises cover by some type of makeup. The soles of his feet are bandaged with some type of cream to quicken the natural healing process. His mouth still hurts, however. Eating was going to be difficult for him.

Talith hears a knock on the door to their home and proceeds to over hear some neighbors asking about screams they’d heard the night before.

His mother sobs.

“Talith is having night terrors over the loss of our sweet Vivian. He’s trying so hard to cope, but he seems to think she left him behind intentionally. He says he’s angry with her and it’s absolutely breaking our hearts.”

But, that’s not true.

Later that morning Talith’s parents act as if the night never happened. They do however, remind him to keep his feet covered, be a good boy, and love his parents as he should. They tell him to shine as his sister did before she abandoned them. Lastly, they made sure to get the point across to NEVER speak ill of family for death would come to those that do.

These torturous nights continued once, sometimes twice a week. It all depended on how long his healing process would take. His parents were careful not to leave any visible lasting marks, though they did over time, come up with new techniques to inflict pain. Talith learned to wear his mask, to never reveal the pain behind it. If he did, everyone would know and he didn’t even want to think about what would happen if that happened.

Two Years Prior

At age 13, Talith along with his friend, Garbon are being chased by a dog until they managed to climb on top of a roof. With each step, Talith’s feet would sting more and more. As they sat on the roof, Garbon told Talith the story of his favorite book. Occasionally, Talith’s attention would waver.