《The Monsters Inside Me》Chapter 11 - Heir
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=Varith=
The moon was the first thing I saw upon opening my eyes. A beautiful sight with its pale light shining down on me, made even better by the night sky that framed it. Something I would have happily gazed at for hour on end, had I not caught wind of of the stench that surrounds me.
An unfamiliar smell, metallic and rusty, like how my dads tools would smell when he left them outside during a storm by accident, I can feel it knocking at the back of my mind, as if locked behind something.
*What is that?*
Reluctantly I tear my eyes away from the picturesque view of the moon and attempt to rise. But I can’t, my arms are unmoving besides me, despite my unconscious commands. My legs spread out, limp and loose, unable to even promote a twitch of my listless body.
*Oh......ah.....hi...ha.....*
Panic starts to cloud my mind, warping the once bewitching night into something more sinister. The itch in my mind now turns into a scratching, pain flares in my temples, breaking apart what few thoughts I had.
My body itches, as if ants are crawling under my skin, thousands of them pricking me like a needle with every step. I struggle, trying to move my still inert body, to think through the haze of pain. Trying to clench my teeth to distract me from all that assails my body and mind, but even that is not within my reach.
The smell still lingers, catching my attention besides everything else that assails me.
Like a sirens call it beckons me, waiting through the air, asking me to answer.
*What is it?*
The knock turns to a hammers, urging me to answer. The ants under my skin start to burrow, digging tunnels of agony throughout my body.
*What is it?*
With each beat my teeth rattle,incessantly, as if demanding that I answer the question.
*What is it?*
Blood
It all stops. In it’s place a flood of memories, thoughts, feelings, emotions, all flowing at once, creating a turbid mix.
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My mother singing me a lullaby.
The time I awakened from my slumber.
The first time me and father had spared.
When I had been named.
When I’d gone with father into town.
My first hunt.
They fill me, intertwining, breaking apart and fusing again. Creating an unintelligible mess of self within me.
“Who am I?”
=Thirve's Wraith=
‘“aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh”
I couldn’t help but groan as I set my weary body down on the bed, tossing my cloak onto the wooden floor so standard for inns. I blow out the candle that one of the workers likely lit, letting the dark of the night engulf my room.
“You do realize we’ve only been traveling for a day right? We didn’t even have to spend the night in the woods.”
“Shut it Thirve, they said that we can get a couple hours of rest before setting out and thats what I’m going to do.”
He hovered above me, a glow in the dark, exasperated, but with a hint of something else.
*Anxiety?* I shift on my bed, trying to find a comfortable position.
“......How......”
“Hhhhm?”
“How are you not scared? Or even nervous?”
“Why would I be?” His spectral body flares, a sign of anger.
“You know damn well why! Tell me, how many times have you ever heard of a Revenant being sensed from half a days ride away!?”
“Hmm maybe that one ti-”
“NO YOU HAVEN’T! That's unprecedented, at least in our long lifetime.” I’m sure if he had any teeth he’d be clenching them.
“Even if their are four of us.......” He hesitates.
“So tell me........ why aren’t you worried”
"Theirs four of us Thirve. We got ahh...uhhhh that tall guy with us and aaaah the slightly shorter guy.......”
“You didn’t even bother to learn their names did you?”
“My point is, Thirve, is that sure the Revenant may be one of the most powerful in the last couple hundred of years, but theirs four of us!”
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“I’m sorry but what is your “point” exactly?”
I’m sure we’ll all be fine tomorrow. Now just let me go to sleep.”
“.............I just hope no one dies.”
=???????=
Now able to move I sit myself up, not even bothering to glance at my surroundings, I already know where I am. I breath deeply, trying to clam the maelstrom of memories within my head.
*Think, focus on the most recent memories.*
My confession to my parents and the following pain.
*After that....*
My escape and desperate gamble to heal...... myself?
*No..... I-I don’t know.* I bury my face in my hands.
*I can’t tell the difference anymore, is this the side effect of the healing? Am I Cor? Varith?*
*.....Neither....?*
I turn my face upwards, gazing again at the moon, still bathing me in its pale radiance.
*Maybe, or I’m just a warped version of Varith or Cor.*
I sigh, exasperated.
*Would that even count as one of them? This isn’t some physical change or one in personality, this is a complete change in self. When you mix red and blue you don’t think of it as red-blue, no you think of it as purple, a completely different color, something else.*
I can’t help but give a short bark of laughter, a grating thing even to myself.
*So what am I? Red-blue, or purple? I have both their memories but I don’t think like either of them........ who am I though to judge tha-*
*.....Wait......*
*Why does it matter? Cor was only a day old, a small child, and Varith.... I think his old life’s over now. He’s wanted in town, and his parents...... I don’t think they’ll accept him now that he’s completely merged with Cor.*
*Is that it? Wouldn’t it just be easier to say I’m a whole new person and be done with it? Less painful to start anew then to recognize their losses as my own?*
*Maybe.......... maybe thats best, it doesn’t matter who I was what I had because..... I-I’m some one new, a completely different being.............right......?*
I shake my head vigorously, trying to throw off that final thought.
*It dosen’t matter anymore. I need to get out of here, the farther the better.*
I start to stand, taking my eyes off the night sky only to pause.
*...........to where exactly? I need information, more then Varith or Cor both have. Where can i get it? Town? No, I’m wanted there, I don’t even have a cloak to hide my features anymore, not that that would help hide me from the Wraith.*
I grimaced.
*Neither of their memories contain anything about other towns that I could go to. Could I steal from travelers? Certainly they would at least have a map. If I target those traveling to town then they won’t be on the lookout for me or the Revenant. Which would certainly make it easier to sneak in.*
*I should do this quick, before it becomes day. After all, I don’t know how long I have until Varith’s parents start to pursue. I can only help they go to the town and ask for help instead of coming directly after me.*
Now fully standing I look around and sniff the air, checking to make sure the coast is clear. Naturally my attention wanders to the corpses and gore that litters the clearing, making me feel somewhat quesy. Knowing their there is one thing, seeing is another.
*I guess I can thank Cor’s influence that I’m not freaking out. I feel queasy though, so that’s Varith’s. Is all of me a mix between the two? Some at the very least, this is proof of that. Those are thoughts for later, I need to do this before daybreak.*
I lighten myself, bounding off at full speed.
*The road that runs by my house doesn’t have much traffic, almost none from what I’ve seen in Varith’s memories. Probably wouldn’t be my best bet at finding travelers. If I go to town and circle around I should be able to find another.*
==
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