Frozen mountains, deep In the dead of night. Snow falls on my shoulders in thick, suffocating waves. The wind howls like a living thing. My father stumbles through the blizzard, holding my small frame tightly in his arms.
Dozens of howls in the distance, I hear.
My father ran, fast, desperate.
I can feel the hammering of his heartbeat beneath his ribs, his ragged breath, and the way his grip tightened with every agonizing step.
The snow was deep, and the climb steep. His boots crunched and skidded on frozen rocks, but he didn't stop. He couldn't.
I clung to him, my arms wrapped around his neck, my face buried against his shoulder. He was warm. So warm…
But that hellish night was anything but.
We were being hunted.
Hunted like animals.
The wolves' howls could be heard in the distance, and my father's steps became more frantic.
He stroked my long hair in a comforting way, he could sense my growing panic and despite his own, he tried to calm me down.
"It will be alright, Evelynne," He says, in that kind voice of his—yet it was strained this time.
It was a lie.
*Growl*
That sound was all it took for fear to take my heart in its clutches.
It was too close, my father lurched forward, nearly falling. His arms tightened around me.
"Don't look, Evelynne!"
I obeyed, all I could see was the darkness of my own eyelids.
But that gave way for my other senses to create a new scene in my mind.
The sound of crunching, my father's pained grunts that he tried to suppress, the vibrations in the snow as his body fell to the floor with a thud.
My father was dying.
And I knew, yet—I did nothing.
I obeyed my father, I kept my eyes closed.
"Evel-…You mus-…-member…"
I could hear the faint whispers of my father, as the wolves tore into his flesh.
"The Red Cloud,"
Those were the last words I ever heard from him.
*Step* *Step*
I heard the sound of boots in the snow coming closer. The wolves finally stop tearing into my father.
"I think you should run, little girl," a woman said, amused. I could hear the grin.
I opened my eyes, and when I had—I wished I kept them shut.
I saw my father, but he looked nothing like he did.
The snow around his body was dark, stained deep red. His coat was torn open, the fabric shredded, his flesh carved away by gnashing teeth. His arms were outstretched, fingers stiff, half-buried in the snow.
His face—
I sucked in a sharp breath. The cold air stung my lungs, sharp as a knife, but not as a sharp as the sight before me.
My father's face was barely his. The wolves had shredded it, taken it to pieces, left hollow places where there should have been warmth. His eyes—those eyes that always looked at her softly—were gone. Empty sockets stared at the sky, frozen tears of blood ran down his face. The wind howled through them like a whisper, a ghost of his last breath.
My stomach twisted. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't.
I took a shuddering step forward. My boot crunched against the ice, the sound felt too loud, too real. No matter how much I wanted it to be fake, a lie, an illusion.
I knelt beside him, snowflakes landed on his ruined face. My fingers hovered over his chest, for a second—a foolish, fleeting second—I imagine I could still feel warmth there. That if I pressed hard enough, I would find a heartbeat beneath it all.
But there was nothing.
Just silence. Just stillness.
My throat tightened. The world blurred.
I looked at the woman, the wolves that killed my father fell into her shadow.
I burned her face into my soul.
Cold green eyes like filthy pools of poison, pale skin like that of a vampire, black hair that seemed to never end.
This was a woman I knew. Someone my family trusted.
Feng Yanmei.
The woman seemed to like the look on my face, perhaps it amused her.
But it didn't matter, her life was already over.
I knew, even then—
One day, I would kill her.
I didn't know how long it would take, I didn't even know whether or not it would happen in that lifetime.
I would end her. Her life, her legacy, her history.
Everything and everyone she ever touched.
Whether she fought, ran, screamed, or begged, it wouldn't change anything.
Her name would be forgotten forever.
And so, the words flowed out of my mouth easily.
"I will kill you,"
She smiled, but it didn't matter.
I ran.
Not because she chased me. I knew she wouldn't.
She loves the hunt.
I didn't look back, I ran to the top of the mountain.
I ran as if death was on my shoulder.
My legs burned, every muscle screaming, but I forced myself forward. The snow dragged at my ankles, slowing me down, but I didn't stop. I couldn't.
I reached the top of the mountain and that was when I saw—
***
*Gasp*
Evelynne jolted upright in bed, sweat slick on her back—her breath ragged.
She clutched the sheets in tight fists, chest heaving.
The dream slipped away in fragments, already fading.
But her heart remembered.
It thundered in her chest like a war drum.
She forced herself to breathe.
'Deep in…Deep out,'
The breathing exercises she learned online helped. Slowly, she calmed her beating heart.
*Beep* *Beep*
The sound of her connector saved her mind from spiralling again.
She reached over and grabbed it—a silver-and-gold bracelet on her nightstand—and slipped it on.
Holographic screens bloomed to life, illuminating her dim room.
Notifications flooded her view. All of them reminders.
Tomorrow.
Dozens of calendar apps. All for one day.
She couldn't afford another nightmare like that.
Not tomorrow.
In a strange way, she was thankful it happened today.
Dismissing the notifications. Evelynne swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood.
Today was final preparations, tomorrow was the real deal.
***
Evelynne sat at her desk, and a steaming cup of black coffee sat untouched beside her.
Her connector was no longer flashing with notifications. She had dismissed them all.
Now, only one window hovered in front of her—a blank document, cursor blinking at the top. It was titled:
[Timeline Log: Cycle 2]
Her fingers hovered over the keys, in thought.
She found her memories getting foggier as the days passed.
But there were certain things she could never forget, no matter how much she wished she could.
The blood. The betrayal. The calamities she had witnessed. The countless ways realities had shattered.
And her father…
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
Tap Tap Tap
Her fingers began to move.
[December 31st 2224]
-Regression successful. Physical condition: stable. Mental state: Functional. No sign of soul corruption. Slight memory decay—recollection orb required.]
-Mavena appears today, making a good first impression will be valuable. The great betrayer appears soon. Further investigation is required.
-The Paragon Council shouldn't make any major moves for a while. However, it is unknown if they have detected any deviations from the timeline with my regression. I am not yet safe from The Judicator Corps.
Evelynne paused.
Her lips trembled.
-Giuseppe doesn't know me yet…
She leaned back into her chair, exhaling slowly. The sunlight peeked through her window blinds.
Evelynne looked towards the window, though she didn't see the beautiful city beyond.
She saw flames. Screams. A fractured sky as giant fissures forced reality to break.
She saw the shadow of a man, standing in the centre of it all, a pool of blood and death below his feet. His arms spread wide as if this was a grand show.
His dark red silhouette smiled, the only distinguishable feature being his sharp white teeth that were already starting to be marred in red.
The smile had a touch of joy, a touch of madness, a whole lot of violence. But it was mainly the smile of someone who had waited more than an eternity to reach this moment. A smile carved from freedom.
The bodies around him were not just dead—they were silenced. As though their stories, names, their existence had been erased.
A crown of fire hovered above his head. Not forged of gold but of Wrath.
Evelynne blinked.
The vision shattered like glass, the city skyline returning in its place.
But the silence in her mind remained.
She knew.
He was coming.
The image of a woman flashed in her mind once again.
"Feng Yanmei…I am looking forward to killing you," A smile slithered across Evelynne's soft face. Slow, unnatural, like it had been carved there with a scalpel. Her eyes turned to crescents as they gleamed with promise.
________________________
A/N ;)