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Chapter One: Emergence

I cannot remember a day that I smiled.

In fact, I cannot remember a day.

All I know is darkness.

...

Where I live, there is no sun, only dark-gray clouds that fester over the world angrily.

Where I live, there is no peace, only violent conflicts, warring factions, and gruesome, demonic creatures that walk the earth.

Where I live, there is one supreme ruler that wreaks havoc and chaos wherever he visits.

Where I live, there are no aspirations, no dreams or ambitions, nothing to hold dear.

...

I cannot remember feeling safe. Anything and everything is out to kill me, to rip out my guts and splatter them against the ground, to make me watch them feast upon it as if it was their last meal. It would be my final sight before I was given the mercy of being rid of this horrific place.

I cannot remember truly living. Everything I've done so far was to survive. By the bare bones.

I cannot remember having a family, besides my sister, who clings to me as if I am the only light in her dark, dim world. If only I had that same light to cling to.

...

Why am I still here?

...

Is this a bad dream?

Or is it punishment for my evil deeds? Though I cannot even bother to fathom what I would have done wrong in my past life to deserve this.

This depraved world.

This depraved fucking world.

…

…

...

I'm so sick of it. It's a nightmare that won't end. At this point, it would be an unspeakable mercy to put a swift end to my life.

But of course, as if the universe, so cruel and unforgiving, was a comedian with only the darkest, most sickening sense of humor, ensured that I was too cowardly that I could not take my own life.

Believe me when I say that I have thought about it countless times. Cutting my own throat, hanging myself, shooting myself in the head. I've thought of it all, but…

In the end, I just can't do it.

...

Why am I alive?

...

Why am I alive?!

...

WHY AM I ALIVE?!

…

…

...

If I am forced to suffer in this hellish world,

Then so be it.

"Dippie, Dippie, look! I found a raccoon!"

I looked up to see Mabel, blood staining her tattered clothes and face. She was holding an eviscerated raccoon in one hand, a long, pointed carving knife in the other. She smiled at me with such glee, posing as if she had just won a teddy bear. If only that were the case.

She skipped over, laying down the knife on the log I was sitting on and presenting the dead raccoon to me. I looked down at it, noticing that its last expression, terror, was stuck that way. I felt nauseous.

"I can't believe it, Dippie! I mean, it struggled quite a bit when I had stabbed it, because it didn't die right away. So, you know, I just had to stab it a couple more times, and eventually it stopped moving. But now we can eat!"

I switched my gaze, looking up at her. She was so close, I could see the blood stains on her teeth. She was kneeling before me as if I was a deity. She probably did worship me.

I was sickened. I didn't know what to say.

"I...I…"

Her smile faded, and her lower lip began quivering.

"Do you...not like it?"

Her eyes were twitching, her pupils unnaturally dilated. Ever since I could remember, her eyes had that same unstable look, as if she would snap at any moment and kill everyone she could get her hands on. I decided it would be the safest just to give in to her twisted fantasy.

I cracked a smile.

"N-no...I'm very...glad that you...got us dinner."

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree, and a wide grin broke out on her face.

"Oh, god, I'm so glad, Dippie! Did I make you proud?!"

"Y...Yes…"

"Oh, god…"

Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed in joy, lowering her head.

"Oh, god, oh god, i'm so glad I made you proud! I'm so glad I could die!"

She looked back up, and once again I had to stare into those unstable, dilated pupils.

"I will always, ALWAYS protect you, Dippie! I love you with all my heart, and I swear that NOTHING will come near you! It'll be just you and me, truckin' along and having fun!"

She began to giggle. It was so unnatural, so out-of-place in this desolate world that I just couldn't bear it.

"Hey, l-let's get, um, a fire going, so we can...can cook that raccoon, okay?"

Mabel's mouth widened into a terrifying grin, nodding intensely as she hung onto my every word. She put the raccoon on the log and grabbed the carving knife, then pointed to the backpack I was wearing.

"Please don't get mad at me, Dippie, but I need, need that backpack for just one second so I can, you know, take out the hatchet and go cut down one of those trees. I just-it'll just take a second."

She waited for me to respond.

"A...alright."

I unslung the bright pink backpack, reaching in and taking out the hatchet. There were a couple of other tools that we had inside the pack for other uses, but it wasn't hard to get the axe, as the top almost protruded through the bag. I pulled it out and handed it to Mabel. She shuddered as my hand made contact with hers.

"Oh ...thank you, Dippie. I'll go do it right now!"

With that, she rushed off behind me, heading a couple yards away to start hacking at one of the smaller trees she could reach. She did it with such vigor and ferocity that, if I didn't know the reasoning behind such determination, I might have been impressed.

Her fixation on me was another thing I couldn't understand. I can only remember the last week, but I had found many clues during that time that suggested she was my sister. One included a picture I had found inside of the backpack. It was her and I, posing and smiling with a couple of people I didn't recognize.

When I saw that picture, that was when I determined that there must have been a time before this...this hellhole manifested. Whenever I had the chance, I stared at that picture, for hours on end, wondering what happened that had caused me to end up here.

In this abyss of horrors.

"So, do you like it, Dippie?"

It tasted odd. She had overcooked it for a bit too long, but since I hadn't eaten for days, I was chowing it down.

"It's...very good. Thank you, Mabel."

I heard a moan to my right. I turned my head to see her gazing at me, moaning softly as her cheeks turned scarlet.

"Y-you said my name. It's been so long since you said it before!"

"It was only a day."

She didn't seem to be listening to me, though. She was mumbling to herself as her hands twitched. She occasionally took bites from the raccoon meat she held in one hand, ripping into it whenever she did so. At this point, I gave up on trying to hold any conversation with her whatsoever. Whatever I talked about, she would just nod her head intensely, agreeing with whatever I said. If I asked her a question, she probably would just respond with 'Does it matter? I'm with you, that's all that matters'.

As I bit into one particularly tough part of the meat, I found it rather difficult. I reached for the carving knife to cut off the tough bit, but as soon as I blinked, it was gone. I looked over to see Mabel holding it against her chest, shaking as she looked at me.

"Wha-what did you want to do with the knife, Dippie?"

"I...was planning to cut off this tough bit here-"

"Oh! I'll do it, then. Don't worry!"

She nimbly took the meat out of my hands and went to work. I sighed inwardly. The very girl who fawned over me so fanatically wouldn't even trust me with a knife. Then again, I could see why.

In case I tried to end my life with it.

I knew that if I died, she wouldn't be able to function anymore. Maybe she would shut down, or go on a killing spree until she died, or something else entirely. But all I know now is that she would rather put herself in serious danger before I ever got a drop of that same risk. In fact, that's how I've been able to survive this long.

Since the week had passed, at every turn of danger, Mabel had taken up the carving knife we'd found and ferociously killed or scared off whatever hostile enemies we had encountered.

But alas, she would not allow me any sort of dangerous material, in case I happened to accidentally or intentionally hurt/kill myself. Funnily enough, she allowed me to keep things like the hatchet, most likely because she knew I was a coward, and if I somehow did have the mindset to end my life, it wouldn't be with something as brutal as an axe. The knife, I could slit my wrists with, but there was no silent and non-painful way to take my own life with a hatchet.

The fact that she had thought of all this made me even more sure than before that I couldn't run from her.

Rustle.

I turned my head towards the forest. Something was stalking us, I could feel it. A chill crawled up my spine as the rustling of the bushes continued. Already, Mabel was prepared with the carving knife, standing in front of me and growling ferociously at whatever danger was prowling in those bushes.

Then, they came out.

Four small, hairless creatures the size of a dog, with milky white skin, came out of the bushes and crept towards us. They walked on their hind legs, but their torso was situated below their knees, so that they looked like they were in a constant squatting position. Their front two claws idly scratched at the air as they continued creeping towards us. When they were about twenty feet away, I could see their eyes. Completely black, as if they were possessed. Their mouths were lined with needle-sharp teeth. I could even see blood stains on the tips of them.

They must have had a meal recently. That thought only served to sicken me.

One of them took a step forward and growled at us. It sounded like a cross between a dog and a human.

It took another step forward.

"Mabel-"

"Yes, Dippie?"

She said this without breaking her gaze from the pack.

"We need to run and find somewhere to hide. We cannot take on four of these things."

"Nonsense, Dippie. I can and will kill anything that tries to come near you."

"Mabel, think about it! Are you confident that four of these things won't be able to get to me, or at least one of them?"

Finally hearing reason, Mabel hesitated. Her hand shook as she considered what to do.
"Okay, Dippie. What do you suggest?"

I looked around frantically, finding somewhere, anywhere that could serve as a wall between us and those demons.

"There!"

I pointed to a rickety shack that I could just barely make out beyond a mass of pine trees. Mabel took a quick glance to where I was pointing at, then looked back at the pack, continuing her unwavering gaze.

"Alright, Dippie. But those things look to be much faster than us. How do you propose we avoid them?"

I took a moment to consider this. I remember, a couple days back, we had faced these things once before. There was something specific they feared….

"Fire! They hate fire. Okay, you can pick up one of those logs and throw it at the pack. It should disorient them long enough that we can make it to the cabin. Are you ready?"

Mabel took a moment before responding.

"Yes, Dippie."

"Alright. When I say 'go', you'll pick up the log, throw it, and then we book it for the shack. Ready?"

"Ready, Dippie."

I waited a couple moments for the creatures to come a bit closer.

"Go!"

I immediately began to sprint for the cabin, not daring to look behind me. I heard commotion, the surprised growl of the creatures as a fiery log was thrown at them, then the rapid sound of footsteps following close behind.

The shack was close, ten meters away.

Then, I heard the creatures further behind us. They were closing in fast.

Five meters.

The padding of their footsteps, coupled with their growling, terrified me, and a new burst of energy came from within. I used this energy to propel myself even faster.

Two meters.

I ran into the door of the shack, waiting for Mabel to run in. As she came barreling in, I threw the door shut, pressing against it tightly.

SLAM!

I almost lost hold of the door as one of the creatures threw themselves at it. They began to put pressure on it. I panicked, realizing they would get in any second now if we didn't do something.

"Dippie, I'll hold the door! You look for something to barricade it with!"

"Oh yeah, good idea!"

There was a split second where I let go of the door just as Mabel took my place, and then I looked around frantically. I spotted a bookcase with a couple dusty books on the shelf.

Perfect.

I ran over, then began to push against the bookshelf in the direction of the door. It was extremely heavy, but the sheer amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins made the pushing a lot faster. Eventually, I came within reach. I pushed upwards on the bookshelf, making it fall over on its side towards the door.

"Mabel, get out of the way!"

Immediately, Mabel dove backwards, just in time as the heavy bookshelf slammed against the floor. It was sufficiently blocking the way of the front door, withstanding the pressure of the creatures outside pushing against it. After a few minutes, the creatures gave up. Their garbled howling rang in my ears, followed by quick retreating of steps. I sighed in relief.

"Thank god that's done with."

I was so damn tired from that pushing. Thank god we had found refuge now-

Click.

"What in the fuck are you kids doing in my house?"

Author's Notes

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