@Lucius
1,217 words
I'm holding my breath for you
It was all so hazy. The scene in front of her eyes was a strange one. There was nothing in it but color. The name of the color wasn’t coming to her at the moment, some sort of washed out brown. Sandstone, if she had to compare it to something it reminded her of. Though even that color couldn’t compare to its strange lightness. Perhaps the color of milky tea. But then of course there was the problem that not everyone would agree exactly what milky tea looked like since the amount of milk in a person’s tea to be considered milky would vary from person to person due to personal preference.
… She was getting distracted again.
The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in her room. The day had been a long one, but not exactly too draining, but just enough for her to fall into a luxurious sleep the exact moment her head made contact with her pillow. It mostly consisted of shopping, a usual habit of hers. Though when you consider she lived with a teenage boy it would make sense. Boys around Lucius’s age must have bottomless pits where their stomachs were. One day their cupboards would be filled to the brim with store bought goods, the next it was empty. Though one of the main culprits of this everyday occurance her brother shouldn’t have all the blame placed on him. Kaisto was just as, if not more guilty of overeating. Much to her younger brother’s displeasure the dragon slayer has seemed to take a liking to them, may it be her and Lucius both or just Astrid herself. He always ended up bumping into them, almost everyday. Their paths always crossed one way or another, be it luck or misfortune that they did so. Though Astrid, unlike Lucius, rather enjoyed his company. Yes, he can be a bit overwhelming and slightly over the top, it was not something Astrid disliked too much. It was always nice to have some positivity.
But much like her brother Kai liked food… Even more so than Lucius. If Lucius had a bottomless pit for a stomach than Kaisto had an entire endless vortex. Everything sucked in was doomed to never see the light of day ever again. He once shoved an entire roast down his gullet in less than thirty seconds. She counted. The violinist wasn’t sure of it was a dragon slayer thing, or just Kaisto as a person. She wished she could know how he did it so she could eat as many of those delicious sweets she cherished so much as she wanted without wanting up throw it all up afterwards. Though it’d be nice she would also have to take in the account of the size of her wallet. With rent and other things to pay eating everything in the house wasn’t as good as it sounded. In order to live that lifestyle they would have to take on more quests, and though she loved helping people taking on quests 24/7 wasn’t the kind of life she wanted, it sounded exhausting. She was no Elyx by any means.
For now, at least, she would enjoy every single bite of her food, may it be a snack or an entire meal.
“Asty~” a playful, cheery call intruded her reflecting. The call was sudden, yet, it had not caused Astrid any surprise. If anything it caused her to melt back into her thoughts instantly. The voice was so familiar. Sweet, as if her words had been encased in golden honey.
But why? Why was it so familiar? And what did it have to do with her? This was a dream, fairly obvious by her last memory being her falling into her bed. But why was she having this dream? And what exactly was happening?
“... No hi? Hmph, seems like you’ve still forgotten me…”
It spoke again. Astrid wanted to look around, as if being able to to move her gaze would help her spot whoever was talking and resolved this burning curiosity within her. However she couldn’t move her head, or anything really. It was as if her body didn’t exist in this weird dream realm. Her gaze was fixed on the colored space in front of her and that was all.
“In that case guess i’ll just have to make you remember me~” It ended with a small laugh, echoing off the nothingness around her.
Then there was silence. A loud silence. It consumed the area, swallowing it whole. It was unnerving, to go from such a loud sound to sudden quiet. She waited, and waited, but no sound was ever made again. The voice didn’t come back. As much as she didn’t like the voice and all that it brung, having the voice was still better than just… Nothing. It reminded her of what it was like to not be able to hear, to not know what was going on around her. She wanted it to stop. Make a sound. Something. Anything. Make some sort of noise. Just not this. She couldn’t deal with silence again.
As if her wish had been answered, a growl sounded in the distance. It was like that of a dog’s growl, it rumbled deeply, bubbly and rough. It tore through the silence easily.
Again, after the first growl faded away it returned, longer and more close. What was this? What was happening? Astrid wanted to run, flinch, do something. But the more she tried the more she remembered she was nothing but an observer in this dream. She couldn’t do anything but stare at the murky color in front of her, helpless to what was going to happen.
As if cut from the color itself a pair of white, sharpened dog teeth and glowing red eyes snapped its jaw at her so close the warm breath of it could be felt.
Then black.
A scream.
A thud.
Astrid fell out of her bed and onto the floor with a loud bump. Her white blanket intertwined with her lashing body as her screaming continued. She could move again now that she had awoken, though instead of her usual getting out of bed and stretching she had ended up writhing on the wooden floor like some invisible creature was attacking her, twisting her body as if in pain. Her heart throbbed, her throat hurt, sweat started to form upon her forehead as her movement became more rapid.
Red. All she saw was red again. Just like that night in the alley. Her body hurt, the places where she had been hit started to sting and ache again. She was being attacked. The demon was back. She knew it. She knew it would come back to finish the job.
The blood inside her veins burned, causing her to flinch her arms across her chest, digging her nails into her pale skin roughly, to the point where crimson blood started to drip down them and drop onto the floor.
She screamed louder, blue eyes open widely and they flickered about as tears swelled up within them, running down her face. She wanted it to go away. It was hurting her.
“S-Stop! No! Get away from me!” She screamed loudly, her throat scratching as her breathing turned ragged.
… She was getting distracted again.
The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in her room. The day had been a long one, but not exactly too draining, but just enough for her to fall into a luxurious sleep the exact moment her head made contact with her pillow. It mostly consisted of shopping, a usual habit of hers. Though when you consider she lived with a teenage boy it would make sense. Boys around Lucius’s age must have bottomless pits where their stomachs were. One day their cupboards would be filled to the brim with store bought goods, the next it was empty. Though one of the main culprits of this everyday occurance her brother shouldn’t have all the blame placed on him. Kaisto was just as, if not more guilty of overeating. Much to her younger brother’s displeasure the dragon slayer has seemed to take a liking to them, may it be her and Lucius both or just Astrid herself. He always ended up bumping into them, almost everyday. Their paths always crossed one way or another, be it luck or misfortune that they did so. Though Astrid, unlike Lucius, rather enjoyed his company. Yes, he can be a bit overwhelming and slightly over the top, it was not something Astrid disliked too much. It was always nice to have some positivity.
But much like her brother Kai liked food… Even more so than Lucius. If Lucius had a bottomless pit for a stomach than Kaisto had an entire endless vortex. Everything sucked in was doomed to never see the light of day ever again. He once shoved an entire roast down his gullet in less than thirty seconds. She counted. The violinist wasn’t sure of it was a dragon slayer thing, or just Kaisto as a person. She wished she could know how he did it so she could eat as many of those delicious sweets she cherished so much as she wanted without wanting up throw it all up afterwards. Though it’d be nice she would also have to take in the account of the size of her wallet. With rent and other things to pay eating everything in the house wasn’t as good as it sounded. In order to live that lifestyle they would have to take on more quests, and though she loved helping people taking on quests 24/7 wasn’t the kind of life she wanted, it sounded exhausting. She was no Elyx by any means.
For now, at least, she would enjoy every single bite of her food, may it be a snack or an entire meal.
“Asty~” a playful, cheery call intruded her reflecting. The call was sudden, yet, it had not caused Astrid any surprise. If anything it caused her to melt back into her thoughts instantly. The voice was so familiar. Sweet, as if her words had been encased in golden honey.
But why? Why was it so familiar? And what did it have to do with her? This was a dream, fairly obvious by her last memory being her falling into her bed. But why was she having this dream? And what exactly was happening?
“... No hi? Hmph, seems like you’ve still forgotten me…”
It spoke again. Astrid wanted to look around, as if being able to to move her gaze would help her spot whoever was talking and resolved this burning curiosity within her. However she couldn’t move her head, or anything really. It was as if her body didn’t exist in this weird dream realm. Her gaze was fixed on the colored space in front of her and that was all.
“In that case guess i’ll just have to make you remember me~” It ended with a small laugh, echoing off the nothingness around her.
Then there was silence. A loud silence. It consumed the area, swallowing it whole. It was unnerving, to go from such a loud sound to sudden quiet. She waited, and waited, but no sound was ever made again. The voice didn’t come back. As much as she didn’t like the voice and all that it brung, having the voice was still better than just… Nothing. It reminded her of what it was like to not be able to hear, to not know what was going on around her. She wanted it to stop. Make a sound. Something. Anything. Make some sort of noise. Just not this. She couldn’t deal with silence again.
As if her wish had been answered, a growl sounded in the distance. It was like that of a dog’s growl, it rumbled deeply, bubbly and rough. It tore through the silence easily.
Again, after the first growl faded away it returned, longer and more close. What was this? What was happening? Astrid wanted to run, flinch, do something. But the more she tried the more she remembered she was nothing but an observer in this dream. She couldn’t do anything but stare at the murky color in front of her, helpless to what was going to happen.
As if cut from the color itself a pair of white, sharpened dog teeth and glowing red eyes snapped its jaw at her so close the warm breath of it could be felt.
Then black.
A scream.
A thud.
Astrid fell out of her bed and onto the floor with a loud bump. Her white blanket intertwined with her lashing body as her screaming continued. She could move again now that she had awoken, though instead of her usual getting out of bed and stretching she had ended up writhing on the wooden floor like some invisible creature was attacking her, twisting her body as if in pain. Her heart throbbed, her throat hurt, sweat started to form upon her forehead as her movement became more rapid.
Red. All she saw was red again. Just like that night in the alley. Her body hurt, the places where she had been hit started to sting and ache again. She was being attacked. The demon was back. She knew it. She knew it would come back to finish the job.
The blood inside her veins burned, causing her to flinch her arms across her chest, digging her nails into her pale skin roughly, to the point where crimson blood started to drip down them and drop onto the floor.
She screamed louder, blue eyes open widely and they flickered about as tears swelled up within them, running down her face. She wanted it to go away. It was hurting her.
“S-Stop! No! Get away from me!” She screamed loudly, her throat scratching as her breathing turned ragged.
Notes
