I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar landscape but the harsh winter's wind forced them closed again.
"Where am I?" I muttered
Managing to stand up, I looked around to at least get a clue as to where I was, which immediately proved fruitless. There was darkness all around me, my throat felt clogged by the harsh winter air and I felt heavy. And other than the endless amount of snow everywhere, there was nothing but vast emptiness as far as I could see.
"How did I get here"
"Arthur"
"Huh" I quickly snapped my head to the direction I heard my name from, but..... there was nothing.
"What's going on?"
"Arthur" I heard it again, someone... No, something was calling for me. It sounded like it was whispering to me but there was nothing around me.
"Come to me" I quickly turned around and once more I was met nothing.
"Arthur!!!" It got louder
"ArthuR!!" closer
"ARTHUR!!!" angrier
I closed my ears with both hands in an attempt to stop the noise but it kept clawing at me, like it was in my head.
"Leave me alone... Pleaseeee" I pleaded with the voice
"THEN COME TO MEEE!!"
"Ahhhhhhh" I felt a sharp pain across my temple. It felt excruciating.
"Arthur....Arthur.... Arthur!!!"
"Gasp"
I opened my eyes, quickly glancing around me. My breathing was laboured and I was covered in a cold sweat.
'Thank heavens.....a dream'
"Did you have a nightmare again?"
"Yeah"
"It's been happening more often lately... I'm really worried"
"I'll be fine...Alice"
Sigh~ "If you say so. Mother's calling by the way"
"I'll be there soon"
"Okayyyy~ Don't keep her waiting too long"
I watched as she happily skipped through the door and exited the room before laying back down on my makeshift bed to catch my breath.
This wasn't the first time I've had this dream, so I didn't worry too much about it, but it has never felt this vivid before. I massaged my temple with my fingers before I got up.
"Argh"
I was soaked in sweat
'Can't meet Mother like this' I thought to myself before grabbing a change of clothes.
Even though I call her Mother, we weren't related my blood, infact none of us were.
There are 5 of us living together in this cottage, well 6 if I include the dog. And none of us are related in anyway.
Alice was the first to be adopted 10 years ago, so she's the closest to Mother. She's also the eldest among us, being 21. Then there's Harley, he was brought in 3 years after Alice and is currently 8 years old. Then there's Kayla, she's 14 and she was brought in 4 years ago.
And finally there's me.
I was laying unconscious outside the house 2 years ago and they decided to take me in, I was 17 at the time. Apparently I was covered in blood, dirt and was soaked in my own faeces when they found me. I was barely breathing, my right leg was broken and my covered with wounds. Basically I was left for dead.
When I woke up, I remembered nothing. How I got there, where I am from and what type of life I lived before they found me.
I couldn't remember.
The only thing that I knew was my name and age.
It took 14 months for me to completely recover and they all took care of me throughout that time.
At first I was fixated on trying to get my memory back, maybe it would help me find my way back to whenever I belonged. But soon I gave up, I fell in love with them, their kindness and the warmth I felt everyday made this my new home.
It also felt like I was the only one who seemed to care about my past, the rest of the family didn't seem to care.
Turns out, they all had a story. But it didn't matter anymore, the past was the last and we just needed to enjoy the present.
I'm more than grateful to them and I plan to dedicate this second chance I've gotten to repay them for their kindness.
Oh... And the final member of our family, Lucky. We found him stuck in one of our traps. We couldn't bring ourselves to harm him so we freed him but he ended up following us so we just kept him. He is definitely a hybrid of a wolf and something else. We don't really know and neither did we care.
He was an irregular just like us and he fit right in.
A smile crept up my face thinking about my new life and family, pushing the dread I felt from my dream to the back of my mind.
'Phew, wonder why she's calling me anyway'
With that I made my way to the living room.
The rest of the family was already gathered around Mother. Kayla and Harley were running around the room, playing with the dog. And Alice, she was sitting besides her while massaging her forehead with a damp cloth. She must be having a fever again.
I couldn't help but clench my hands into a fist when I saw her.
S-she was.... dying.
No matter how much she tried to make it seem like everything was fine, we all knew. It was just a matter of time.
Her health suddenly declined 5 months ago, we don't know why or what caused it. But it rendered her bedridden within 3 weeks and now she could barely eat anything unless it was pre chewed for her.
And even with all that, she was always the one to comfort us,
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You know how strong momma is don't ya".
She said those words to us time and time again with a smile on her face.
"I'm here Mother" I spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to myself
"It's big brother" Kayla said excitedly before rushing to my arms and hugging me.
A faint smile appeared on my lips as I patted her head.
"Ah Arthur, you're here"
"Yes, Mother"
I freed myself from Kayla's grasp and walked towards her, holding her hand. Her eyes were shut, they had to be. The sickness had taken away her sight. It was like it was hell-bent on ruining her very essence. The once agile and happy going woman was reduced to this. My heart ached just thinking about it.
Why did this have to happen to her, she doesn't deserve any of this.
"Arthur"
"Y-Yes?" Her voice snapping me out of my thoughts.
"You're troubled again, aren't you"
"I'm sorry, I can't help it... seeing you this way"
The atmosphere in room became gloomy after I said those words making me instantly regret them. I couldn't help but bring my face down in shame for ruining the mood.
" Ha ha ha.. I'm glad I have such caring and adorable children who worry about me. At least I've done something right in my life"
"Mother"
She always found a way to cheer us up.
"I'm going to be fine Arthur, you all underestimate me too much... Besides, I didn't call you here for this"
'Ah right, almost forgot'
"I need you to head into the town today, our stock is full and we need to buy somethings for the house "
" Will I be going alone again?"
"Unfortunately so, Alice has to take care of the younger ones while you're out"
"Alright Mother, I'll head out immediately"
"Thank you son" she replied with a smile on her face as she retreated to lay down once more. Even talking drained her energy.
I stood up and walked towards the door, ruffling Harley's hair as I left the room.
I walked towards the shed we used as a storage. It wasn't that big, just enough for 4 people to sleep in side by side. And it was located right behind our house.
Here we stored our traps and equipment we used to hunt, as well as the hides and organs of the beasts we hunted down.
Yeah, we weren't a normal family.
Mother thought all of us how to wield various weapons to hunt and fend for ourselves.
She also made us do all sorts of endurance and strength training everyday. A tradition we still uphold even if she can't instruct us anymore.
Makes me wonder what she did before adopting us.
I swung open the door of the shed and loaded everything in our wagon. It matched my height at 1.82 meters so it was not too difficult to pull, even with all the weight on it.
I also put on my coat and scarf before grabbing my axe, placing it in its holster on my right hip. And my knife in my boot.
'Sigh... fortunately it stopped snowing last night'
It was currently 3pm, so I would be back before 10pm. It usually took 6 hours to and from town. 7 if we decide to take a detour but I wasn't in the mood for that today.
Grabbing the handle of the wagon, I began pulling as I made my way to town.