...THEY ARE ALWAYS WATCHING...
~ KIERA ~
My lungs were drunk.
Trashed by the build-up of toxic gasses in my blood. I couldn't say how I ended up at the bottom of the lake. The lack of oxygen clouded my mind, and the how's and whys were lost to the urgency to survive.
Gross red tentacles were wrapped around my body, tightly embracing me as air kissed my lips their final goodbye. I struggled, kicked my legs, and tried to pry the creature's tightening appendages off me, but as teeth sank bone deep into my skin it became impossible to separate us.
The colossal monster's grotesque body was obscured in midnight, but its glowing red eyes recorded my fear; dead brown eyes, a gaping mouth filled with screams no one could hear, bloodied arms reaching for moonlight adrift on the surface, and a desperate wish for freedom.
Several people already suffered its wrath. They have been torn apart, limb from limb, and left to sink into the abyss. Forgotten. I knew the same fate awaited me as my muscles twitched and burned and eventually stopped moving altogether.
CLICK...
I thrashed awake, feeling tied down and restricted by the blanket sticking to my flailing limbs. Gulping down a big breath of air, I felt a bubble of nausea swell in my throat. My hand snapped to my mouth but could not stop my body's revolt as I lurched upright and folded over myself.
Nightmares were nothing new to me. I had them all the time. But never this bad – never this clear. And having them often didn't mean that I got used to them.
I wiped my lips with the back of my hand. Not that it helped. I still felt like crap, and I already made a mess. Sluggishly, I fixated on the thin blanket covering my legs, wet with warm bile.
My vision gave me a headache, wobbling and pounding at the edges, distorting whatever grainy images reached my retinas. I blinked. My eyes were dry, and blinking offered no moisture, only pain.
I reaffirmed my surroundings, glancing around my room nervously. I was in the middle of my bed, entangled in several different blankets I had thrown off my body. Dad must have thought me cold and covered me with more layers. But I woke up swamped in sweat. The back of my neck was dripping and my clothes stuck to my skin like glue.
The lights were out. Though my pink curtains were drawn, moonlight peeked inside and dimly illuminated my bedroom. I controlled my breathing and steadied my shaking body while training my eyes on my window. The thin fabric raised slightly and then pressed flat against the glass as the air was sucked out of my room.
'I'm awake...' I thought.
Pulling the dirtied white blanket, I leaned sideways, forcing my weight out of bed. I was barely dressed, wearing a frilly pastel pink sleeping short and a matching top.
I stepped closer to the window, yanking on the curtain to shut out the light. I was not too fond of the moon. I hated how it reminded me of what happened at the lake that night. As if the scars on my body weren't enough to torment me, I had to suffer the presence of haunting silver moonlight, forever reminding me of what I was desperately trying to forget.
'Go away,' I wished silently, even though I knew it was futile. 'Disappear.'
I turned around, feeling the breeze against my skin. I became more aware of the heat my body was radiating. It seemed I had a fever, and I was eager to rinse my mouth with something strong enough to clear out the bitter taste lingering on my tongue.
As I strode towards the door, the wooden floorboards creaked underneath my bare feet, further pulling me out of my slumber. I navigated easily. Knowing exactly how many steps to take around my bed, and which creaks belonged to which plank. Darkness meant nothing. I didn't need to see to walk around the house, knowing exactly how to get around.
"I said no, Kade!" I heard my mother's voice echo through the walls.
I was startled enough to stop my advancement towards the door. I dropped all thoughts of visiting the bathroom and glanced over my shoulder at my small white bedside table. Dimly lit digits hovered above a flat black disk, displaying the date and time in colourful pastel yellow and purple pixels; August 3, 2165, 23:18.
'Wait, what? Five? Have I seriously been asleep for five days? Crap. My meds! I need to take my medication!'
I abandoned the blanket and stepped out of my bedroom. My legs were shaking but I became more confident with every step. I hopped onto the railing and slowly slid down to the bottom. The stairs were too noisy and would alert my parents. Given that my mother was already screaming at my dad, I preferred to go around unnoticed and avoid getting caught up in their argument.
The medicine cabinet was located on the wall next to the open arch leading into our kitchen, to the right of the staircase. From the sound of it, my mother was ransacking every drawer looking for something.
"Kade, you piece of shit, how dare you sell our daughter to that monster!"
"You think I wanted to? What makes you think I had a choice, Aria?" Dad asked.
I opened the cabinet and reached for my pills. It was impolite to eavesdrop, but I wanted to know what they were talking about, so I shut the cabinet and leaned against the wooden wall next to the arch.
My parents argued about a lot of things, but only when they thought I couldn't hear them. Listening was the only way I could make sense of what was going on in our lives because my parents had a lot of secrets.
"What bloody right does he have to take her? She is our daughter, Kade. I will not allow some stranger to take her away from us. Not to that place..."
"You are the one taking her to a stranger," Dad counterargued.
I heard him move closer to the arch. I didn't want him to see me, so I quietly moved away from the entrance. His shadow appeared on the wall across the doorway.
His hands cupped his face and moved up into his hair. I knew Dad's mannerisms better than I knew my own. It was weird. I was fully aware of that. But I started paying close attention to his body language when I realized he kept something from me. Something big.
Whatever my parents were talking about, it had to be serious if my dad was starting to touch his hair. It was something he did when he was feeling anxious. And what was this about selling me? What were they talking about?
"You think Heraeus can save her? That man is too dangerous. We can't trust him. Not with Kiera. I know you refuse to send her to Lilah, but we have no choice, Aria. She must leave. The sooner the better."
"Of course, we have a choice, Kade. But clearly, you've made yours," my mother said bitterly. "Lilah will not save her. They will find her... and they will kill her. But Henry can help us. Help her."
CLICK... CLICK...
There was that noise again. I had assumed it to be my window, having seen it open. Dad kept it shut. He was worried the cold would make my condition worse. But I was wrong. Hearing it again made things clear. There wasn't a sound in this house I wasn't used to. And whatever it was, whatever it belonged to, was unfamiliar and pulled me out of a dream that normally trapped me for days.
My gaze tore away from Dad's shadow and gravitated to the top of the stairs. I leaned against the side of the wall, eyeing the darkness for any slight movement.
'Is someone up there? Who'd try to rob us when we have nothing of value? No, it's probably just an animal,' I reasoned with myself, thinking no one would come to the middle of nowhere to a rundown cabin in the woods far away from the city.
"You can't be serious. I didn't work this fucking hard to keep her hidden, just so you could hand her to the -"
"Cain won't save her either," my mother hissed.
Her shadow moved across the wall and joined Dad's. My eyes left the seemingly swelling darkness and rejoined their shades. Mother jabbed a finger at him and poked his chest. "You fucked up, Kade. Not me. I'm just trying to fix your mistake before it kills us. I am not having my daughter return to that place after what you did."
"What we did," Dad corrected her.
He stood stiff. Not even moving as he breathed. His spine was extended, to appear taller, his head slightly turned upwards, and his arms were by his sides. I found his contradicting posture odd. Earlier he had been anxious enough to touch his hair, and now he was standing with a threatening pose looking down at my mother. He was upset. But why? What context was I missing?
She didn't back down either. Her arms crossed and she leaned back on one leg, staring up at him. Her deep and silent stare, however, didn't break his statuesque stubbornness. He remained still. As did she. They kept staring at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time.
"Cain will protect her," Dad finally spoke. He was confident in what he was saying, truly believing every word.
"You don't know that! She won't be safe with him. He's too unpredictable! Do you think he'll spare her once he learns the truth?"
"Kiera had nothing to do with that."
"Since when is her involvement relevant? You know him better than anyone. Mercy is not in his vocabulary."
"Yes. I know him. Which is why I can say, with the utmost certainty, that he will not allow any harm to befall her. Not because he wants to protect her – but because there is value in keeping her alive. She's useless to him dead."
"I can't see her like this anymore, Kade. She needs help. What if she never wakes up? What if they come after her again?"
"Oh, they will. Everyone will. And they will never stop. Unless she's there. With him."
"But what if we –"
"No, Aria. He is tenacious. He has patience not even an ocean could drown. Determination nothing in this world could extinguish. And a thirst for revenge nothing but our deaths could quench. It could be now, could be tomorrow, ten years, or a hundred. It doesn't matter. He always gets what he wants."
CLICK... CLICK... CLICK...
My eyes flicked back to the stairs. With the lights out, the bulbous puff of expanding blackness could no longer be brushed off as imaginary. There was no mistaking the wispy figure soundlessly moving down the steps. My skin felt hot and cold at the same time. Not even I could traverse those uncompromising steps as silently as the intruder.
As if by instinct, I knew exactly what was approaching me. I shook violently. I think I did. Or was that the house shaking?
'My pills will make it go away,' I convinced myself. 'It's not real. It is just another nightmare. I should take my meds.'
Frantically, I popped off the lid and shook out a few pills. I threw them down my throat, trying to swallow them quickly.
I stared at the shade slinking closer and observed its silky black fur, what looked like two horns on top of its head, and a strange bone mask covering its face. It looked different from the others—bigger. Much bigger. And why did it have a mask? Better question: How did it get inside? Through my bedroom window?
Saliva dripped from its jaw and the thing clicked like the working mechanisms of an old clock. Quiet enough for my parents not to notice. I drowned out their argument, only hearing their muffled voices.
The thing in front of me demanded attention with its glowing red eyes. Three red eyes. I've never seen a Red up close. I often saw them in the corner of my eye, hiding in shadows or high up in the trees whenever I was outside, but they never approached me directly.
A paw raised to touch me. Slender toes with sharp claws somewhat resembled a hand. The Red cupped the side of my face and brushed a tear off my cheek with its thumb.
'Why aren't my meds working? Shouldn't it disappear?'
I shut my eyes and pressed myself against the wall. I focused on that feeling. The rough texture of the logs scratched my bare skin. Our cabin was in the Styx. Far away from the capital city. Despite that, we lived comfortably. I wasn't about to throw my life away for some illusion. Not again.
Somehow, I found the courage to move. I was already through the kitchen doorway before it could so much as breathe on me. My parents flinched when I appeared out of nowhere. Before anyone could exchange words, the beast tackled me to the ground and bit the right side of my neck.
"Aaargh!!!" I screeched as it sank its teeth deeper into my flesh. It felt like something was injected into my body, but that sensation was replaced with a burning numbness right before it tore out a chunk of my nape.
"Le'at gis os Myra dia drasr Daemun!" my father roared, kicking the Red off me. It rolled over and got back onto its feet in the same motion. My blood dripped from its lips and stained its teeth. It snarled at my father and began to click again.
CLICK-CLICK... CLICK-CLICK...
It's clicking overlapped with the sound of low growling. The Red was huge. It was bigger than any wolf I'd ever seen, and its claws were so big and sharp that they scraped grooves into the floorboards as it moved around – without ever making a sound.
My mother pulled a knife out of a drawer. She smacked the Red's face with the flat side of the blade. Then she tossed it to my father and turned back around to snatch up another for herself. Dad caught the blade mid-air and swung it down onto the creature's head. It snarled and slashed at my dad's legs, but he stepped back and avoided the beast's claws.
A deep growl escaped its throat, and it lunged at me, but Dad swung the weapon at its head again. Its bone mask split in half and fell off its face. A deep, but eerie noise filled the silence before the Red disintegrated into a pile of ash and disappeared.
'Did that thing just... laugh?'
"I told you, Aria, I didn't have a choice. He's already here. And that Daemun just marked our daughter," Dad said and tossed the knife into the sink. He pulled me to my feet and squeezed my shoulder. I winced when he applied pressure to the wound.
'Marked? What does that mean? And since when could they see it?'
I looked at him while my mother turned back to the drawers. For a moment, Dad's eyes met mine. His eyebrows met and formed a crease on his forehead. His chin lowered to his chest and the dry look in his eyes was scaring me. Then his gaze returned to my injury. His other hand rose to his hair. He was touching it again, this time brushing it back over his head and out of his face.
"What... was that thing?" I asked.
As usual, they ignored me. They always did when I asked about the Reds. They thought that it was better for me to remain ignorant. Better for me to just… drink the pills and make them go away.
"Don't ignore me. I know you saw it. You can't sweep this under the rug and pretend it never happened. Tell me!"
"Sorry, Kiera-Bear, but there isn't much time to explain."
"Enough secrets Dad. I'm not a little kid anymore. I'm fifteen. Why won't you –"
"Ah, there it is," my mother interrupted. She turned back around and tossed a small see-through fabric pouch at our feet. Inside were small coloured crystals barely the size of raisins. She glanced at Dad and gave him a stiff nod.
He returned her nod then leaned down and picked up the pouch. He wrapped his hand around my arm and pulled me towards the back door. My feet stumbled after him.
"We must leave, Kiera." We burst through the back door and hurried down the steps. We entered the forest, and Dad dragged me through the underbrush of a trail we barely used.
"Wait, what about mom?" I asked, glancing back. She wasn't following us.
"She'll catch up. I will take you to him. Only he can save you now. Maeve made sure of that."