Chirpy the anti-hero: Prologue

The first thing he remembered was the smell. The cloying scent of copper fresh in his mouth and nose. He remembered fighting to sit up; where he had been sprawled on his side, upon the cold and hard ground. He spat out the blood covering his mouth, gagging on the taste. His vision scattered as he tried to orient himself. He saw nothing but trees illuminated by the full moon above. There was no discernible trail, only shrubs and tall grass, yellowed from death. Fear and panic had clouded his senses. 'Where was he?'. He couldn't remember! He tried to think back, but he could only catch glimpses of memories and echoes of feelings. He remembered grabbing his head, trying to remember where he was and how he ended up there. There was nothing, only emptiness.

He had shakily gotten to his feet, vision swimming. His breaths had come out in harsh pants, as he spun around trying to find out where he should go. A rustle in the bushes caused him to spin around on the spot. His heart in his throat. He remembered staring wildly into the darkness, waiting the for the thing to show itself. There was silence for a moment or two, before he allowed himself to relax. 'Perhaps it was nothing.' He had thought as he turned and started walking in a random direction. He had only taken a couple steps when his foot hit something on the ground. Looking down he had barely made out a colorful shape.

He remembered leaning down and the exact moment his fingers touched the object. He remembered feeling a slight shock, but put it off as only static. 'It's a mask'. He had thought as he examined the oval shape. Holding it up to the moonlight he could see that there was a ring feathers surrounding the entire outline of the mask. Under the darkness it was almost impossible to make out the colors, but he had been sure that some were yellow, red and blue. The design of the pale yellow mask itself was simple, there was a thin line to represent a smile, with two vertical lines carved into the thin wood. The eye on the left had a ragged gouge in the wood running down the face, revealing the darkened wood under the paint. Thinking that it would be useful to figure out what happened to him, he had taken it with him.

He should have just left 'it'. Perhaps he wouldn't have gone through the horrors he encountered. Perhaps he would have been dead, before his life could be consumed in darkness. He wished he could be dead, he wished he had died in that forest. No whispers, no pain, no burning need for revenge. He couldn't stop, not now. He needed to finish 'it'. 'It' and all others like 'it' needed to die! Only then, will the whispers finally stop! Only then, will he finally find peace and join 'them' in the afterlife.

For now, he will hunt 'them' all down relentlessly.