Hello world! So this isn't exactly my first actual fanfic, but its my first actual published fanfic. Etsuko is an original character, but everything else belongs to their respective owners. And a quick note, I apologize if the prologue is really confusing...I promise I will not always write that way. It was for dramatic effect...ish.
Well, without further ado, ENJOI!
The man is attacking. He wants to kill us. Heat surrounds me, fire cracks the wood of our house. Yet I cannot see a thing. I do not know what this 'fire' looks like. I do not know where this fire is. I am helpless. I scream.
"Daddy!" I shout. Tears run down my face. I fall to the floor. The floor is also hot. My knees start to burn. I cannot get up. I cannot breathe. Something foul and suffocating surrounds my nose. They call it smoke. I do not know what smoke is nor do I know what it looks like. But I cannot breathe. I scream for my father again. I cough instead.
"Etsuko!" I hear my father's voice. He is calling for me. He is running. He panics. The evil man lunges toward my father, striking him down with brute strength.
"You cannot save her," The evil man says. Darkness drips off his fangs. My father growls.
"You will be silent," Father hisses. He pushes the evil man away, striking him with his claws. Father continues forward, searching.
The evil man stands. Blood now seeps out of the man's chest armor. The man covers his wound with his hand. He frowns. But then he shrugs. He does not care that Father got away from him. He laughs instead. It will all work out in his favor anyway.
My mother, who had been struck in the head, regains her consciousness. She sits up. But then she realizes she is imprisoned in chains. The evil man holds these chains. Mother cannot get away. She has lost her freedom.
"You bastard!" She screams. The evil man laughs. Mother is now helpless. She cries.
Father cries as well. He cannot save Mother from her imprisonment. He cannot save me either. He clings to a false hope.
I cry as well. I cannot breathe. The air is so hot. Fire makes the wood crack. Above me, something gives way. My home falls. I am inside. I am crushed.
Mother screams. The evil man binds her and carries her away. Father roars. His family is now destroyed. His heart shatters. He pulls up the fallen wood, tossing it aside. It burns his hands, but he does not care. Father finds me. My eyes are closed, my bones are broken. I am dead.
Father picks me up, examining my injuries. He pulls out his sword. I am dead.
"You could not stop him. You could not save her," Father grits his teeth. He throws the sword, "You piece of shit!" the sword is thrown and falls to the ground. Father stands, cradling me in his arms. I am dead.
Father rummages through the ash and finds the remains of my blanket—it is barely big enough to cover my body. Father lays me in the grass by the cliff side. He places the blanket over me. Father cries. It is the first and last time that he will ever shed a tear. His heart will petrify. I am dead. He picks up his sword. Reluctant. He walks away and never returns.
But I am not dead.
"You're all alone," The evil man says. His voice is inside my head. I am surrounded by darkness, "They are all dead. It's your fault."
It's my fault. I am not dead. I should be. I open my eyes. It is still dark. I sit up. I still cannot see. I could never see. Smoke lingers in the air. The fire is gone. My house is gone. My parents are gone. I am alone. I am alive. I should not be alive.
I awaken with a start, sitting up. A shriek escapes my mouth. Gasping for air, I check my surroundings. My vision was as dark as ever, but nothing dangerous was near me. I sigh heavily, beads of sweat cover my forehead. It was only a nightmare.
No. It was not just a nightmare. It was worse. It was a memory, a nightmare that I had lived through, and relived each night in my sleeps as if it were a plague.
I lean forward, cupping my hand over my face and silently cried. I would always relive the nightmare.
I am the cursed child.