I arrived to an empty house. Figuring that the rest of my family was with Mianite and Ianite, I went to sleep. I shouldn't have. I should've gone after my parents and sister, and insisted that they go to sleep and deal with it in the morning. But how was I to know just how crazy Dianite's death had made Ianite?

I awoke in the middle of the night to someone shaking me awake. The person was sobbing, and screaming for me to get up. I sat up and blinked, and saw that it was Martha. I ran out of the house, following her. As we were nearing the edge of the town, she turned around and put her hands on my shoulders.

"Listen to me," she said between sobs. "Your mother and sister made a mistake in trying to help Ianite. She couldn't be helped. She had no control over herself. The Taint... was too strong for them to bear. They... they're dead."

The words echoed in my ears, but I found them hard to take seriously. I was still half-asleep, and the idea of Alva and Freya, who had always been there, being gone, was too much. "Wha... what are we going to do?"

Her eyes were full of regret. "I... I can't stay. I can't bear it anymore. I have to leave this town and this family. I'm not sure if I'll ever see you again." She glanced behind her, to make sure that nobody was listening. "I'm sorry that you're left with your father. He's not going to treat you well. Just remember to think for yourself, okay? Things... things may get better."

I was still having trouble processing all of this. "So... who will I have left? Ianite's gone, Spark's gone, Dianite's gone, Freya's gone, Alyssa's gone, Alva's gone, and you're gone..." Everything finally hit me, and I started crying too. I couldn't hold it back. Everything was gone.

She was at a loss for words. "I... well... Steve's staying. Just go to him if you need help, okay? He may be grumpy but he'll help you. He cares, I promise. But I have to go. Goodbye, nephew."

She turned and fled. I stood there for a moment, taking in everything. Then, I ran toward the Taint. Ianite was sat in the middle of it, crying purple goo. Helgrind was screaming and tears were spilling out of his eyes. In the middle of the Taint lay the most horrible sight I had ever seen. Purple taintacles had risen from the ground and wrapped themselves around their bodies, entering their mouth and eyes. They lay in a pool of Taint and their own blood, a Taint Swarm circling them.

"You're banished!" Helgrind yelled. "You're not my goddess, you're not my mother! I am a Mianite worshipper. He is the only one who hasn't disgraced this family. Nobody else exists! Be gone!"

I didn't have any energy left to scream, or to say anything at all. I sank to my knees in the purple grass as Martha ran, Helgrind yelled, and Ianite vanished into a purple cloud. Freya and Alva's bodies sank into the Taint. Gone. Gone like my family. Gone like my happy, carefree life.

I was only eleven years old.