writer's note
This is the first draft.
When I finish this, I will be going through it and editing it. Moving things around. So there will be changes in the future.
thanks - jo
───── ❝ playlist ❞ ─────
Runaway || AURORA
Hallucinating || Elohim
Toxicity || System of a Down
Intolerance || TOOL
Conspiracy || Paramore
Everything is Temporary || Cavetown
Stockholm Syndrome || Muse
I Disagree || Poppy
Hidden in the Sand || Tally Hall
Closer || Mudvayne
Madness || Ruelle
505 || Arctic Monkeys
Killdozer || Kim Dracula
Saint Bernard || Lincoln
Calvarie || Code:Pandorum
Bloodstream || Stateless
Mommy's Little Monsters || Creature Feature
you should see me in a crown || Billie Eilish
Blood / Water || grandson
The Cat's Pajamas || iwrestledabearonce
Reptilia || The Strokes
When I am Queen || Jack off Jill
Savior || Rise Against
Oh Ms Believer || Twenty One Pilots
In the Woods Somewhere || Hozier
Coming Undone || Korn
There wasn't even so much as the sound of crickets, though something must have woken her up.
Her eyes opened to see a forest covered in a pale hue overhead. Staying still, she let her eyes adjust to what she was seeing. Branches that struggled to hold onto their leaves. Wrapped more closely to the base of some of these branches were ropes. Dangling at the end of these ropes were the carcasses of crows. This unsettled her, but she did not know why. She understood that these crows were dead and that it seemed a bit weird for them to be hanging from so many of these branches, but that was where the uneasiness ended.
There weren't many thoughts going through this one's head. She only recognized that she was awake and what she was taking in with her senses. No memories there to trigger thought. Only a black void that seemed to stretch, on and on, in the back of her mind. She thought about the feelings this brought forth. New thoughts. She felt empty, lost.
Stolen.
A sudden shift in the air and the rustle of leaves made her start; causing her to bolt right up in a sitting position. All of her previous speculations were pushed away as a new feeling of action-filled her being. She scanned the foliage around herself wildly, not seeing anything through the brush. She raised up, now crouching low. The sounds grew closer still. Some primal urge to run now, yet something glued her there.
Before she could muster the strength to run, a wild-looking man appeared. Really, he looked more beast than man. He grunted, sniffing the air around the outsider aggressively. She squeezed her eyes shut, cringing away at how close the creature had gotten. Everything he was doing- from the way he was loudly bounding about her, to the sharp intake of his nostrils- screamed danger at her.
The beast stopped moving, but the girl dared not open her eyes. She could only hear his ragged breathing now. Was he thinking about how to kill her? Was he thinking about how he was going to take away her life that felt only minutes long?
Apparently, he had finally reached a decision, since he suddenly roared- a ghastly, saliva-ridden roar- into the outsider's face and she heard what she guessed was him leaping away into the forest.
After a few seconds, she finally opened her eyes one at a time. What was that about? It had triggered nothing, in fact, it made her even more confused. Why was he so aggressive? Why did he look so abnormal? What made him leave her here?
Where was she in the first place?
Recovering took a few minutes, plus she had to wipe off the saliva that the beast-like man had hacked on her face. Now she was walking along a path she had found in the forest, hoping to find something familiar. Something that might help her find out where she was. Who she was.
The earlier thoughts of feeling empty returned now with the still of the dimly lit night. Having these new, fresh experiences made her try and think of anything else she could know about herself.
She knew she had a female body, though she didn't resonate fully with it. Her hair was long, black, and straight. It moved slightly against her arms loosely. Her hands and arms were pale, with tints of a reddish-pink here and there. She wore only a white tank top (that was rather dirty), and black pants (also, quite dirty). Black boots adorned her feet. She couldn't remember her face and had no way to be able to look at herself at the moment anyhow.
This is all she could think of. She couldn't even place her name. How ridiculous that she was able to identify what she was seeing, but was not able to even remember her own name.
She wasn't able to travel long until she heard the sound of metal somewhere in the distance. Her frustration with her lack of memory was quickly overshadowed by a guttural feeling of fear, as the noises were now fast approaching.
She stood there- deer stuck in headlights once again- as scrap pieces of metal flew from between the trees to wrap around her arms, torso, and legs. This rendered her immobile. Now having the option of running taken from her made her want to run.
A different wild man came out of the trees, though this one was more man than beast this time and slightly cleaner. There was a large metal hammer in his left hand. It was swung precariously over his shoulder, swaying as he sauntered his way towards her. His prey.
"Well, well, an Outsider? I'm glad I was told about you," his tone was teasing as he bent down to get a better look at her. "Do you have a name?" he asked gruffly.
Though he was still a few feet away when he spoke, she felt a shiver go up her spine when she heard him speak. She tried to speak now, to tell him she did not know her name, but no words came out. When her mouth opened only a raspy whisper could be heard.
"Hmm," he huffed, straightening up. "Can't speak, huh?" He had a curious lilt to his voice when he spoke this time.
He walked closer now, looking over the round glasses that hid his unique eyes. She looked into them, trying to plead with him to let her go. That she had no idea why she was even here. But the makeshift metal chains remained in place, and the man continued his slow circle around her, lifting locks of her hair as he went. Then he froze, only lifting more of her hair up. Encapsulated by some new discovery, his hammer flew from his fingertips, and he took her face in his hands and moved her head down to the side slightly.
This motion was not too rough, but it was not so gentle, either. Her head had no choice but to obey the physical command. They stood there like that for a moment, his hands both beneath her chin and on the side of her face. She felt his fingers brushing the base of her neck, moving her hair to the side. This made a shiver run through her spine. He seemed to be inspecting something very closely on the back of her neck, and she even heard a slow intake through his nose. Was he sniffing her, too? Was everything going to be sniffing her here?
Then in a flash, all of the metal holding her in place vanished. New restraints took her as the man picked her up and slung her over his broad shoulder, nearly the same way he was holding his hammer before.
"I don't know why you're here, or who you are, but you got a familiar mark in you. Gotta take you to Mother Miranda," he stated whimsically, yet almost begrudgingly.
She went over options in her head. She could thrash about, but this man was clearly stronger than her. She could try and call out, but she was barely able to make a sound before; plus she had no idea what else could be lurking in the forest. Finally realizing there was no use, she let him carry her through the trees.
He spoke every now and again in a low gruff voice as they walked, telling her that he had no idea what was in store for her, but that he hoped to have some fun with her. This sent another shiver down her spine. This was seemingly amusing to the man, his chuckle rumbling through him.
This went on for a while until she could hear the sound of voices getting closer. The lighting changed, and she looked down to see that they had passed some sort of threshold.
"What tortured creature is this, brother?" A rich feminine voice asked from in front of the man. Unfortunately, the woman couldn't see anything but the back of this man's coat. He took this burden away by dropping her on the hard floor, right on her behind. She ignored the shock and spun around to take in her surroundings.
"None of your fuckin' business yet," the man seethed.
The brother said this as the prisoner let her eyes fall on a regal and very large woman who was sitting in a chair not four feet away from her. Her white dress trailed the floor, and she bore a black, slant brimmed hat in the left side of her head. She held a long cigarette holder with one lit between the first two fingers in one hand. She was looking over the outsider with mild curiosity, then frowned at her brother.
"You want a new pet?" the tall woman asked anyway.
"I said, she's none of your fucking business, bitch," he was yelling at her now, his hammer appearing from nowhere and into his hands as if it were already there in the first place.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!" a demented voice shrilled. At that precise moment, a girl doll skittered into view, pumping its tiny fists in the air. This doll couldn't be any more than a foot tall and was followed by a slender figure cloaked in black.
Something about the doll moving on its own made the girl shiver.
"Shut up, you little shin kicker!" the man roared, turning towards the doll now, waving his arms wildly.
"Enough."
The voice that came from behind the girl was slick. She froze instantly. This was a command. An order.
Then many small things happened at once.
There wasn't so much as the sound of fabric as a dark entity walked from behind her and right through the ones who were just arguing. She stopped at the forefront, standing in front of a podium. Some sort of grotesque creature followed suit, but stopped on the right a ways past the man with the black glasses. It smelled like fish. It plopped into something that looked like a broken pew.
The figure cloaked in black sat down in a chair to the left, the doll (who had squealed when the woman had spoken her order) hopping in its lap. The tall, regal woman had never gotten up from her chair, so she simply averted her gaze to the feathered one in the middle.
The man softly growled, "Yes, Mother Miranda," but stayed standing. He placed the end of his hammer on the ground and was leaning forward on the end of the handle as he regarded the one he had just addressed. But did he.. Was he...?
Was he glancing at her ever so slightly through the side of his glasses?
"We have a few matters to discuss, don't we?" the one called Mother Miranda said. Her head turned as if she were looking at everyone, but the girl saw no eyes.
"Our dear brother seems to have imprinted on this thing," the regal one said, waving her hand at the girl. This caused the man to growl her way, but Mother Miranda held up her hand.
"Heisenberg, what is this?" she demanded. This was the moment she began to walk forward to actually take a closer look.
The man perked up suddenly as if a switch had been flipped. Leaving his hammer at his pew, he swooped behind the girl with his arms spread out in grandeur. "A present!"
She couldn't help but shiver, once again. It was becoming a familiar thing to her now. She simply stared at the ground as Heisenberg took her head in his hands a second time, forcing it forward and moving her hair at the base of her neck. She looked up through her lashes.
Mother Miranda, a feathered being with some sort of ethereal crown and strange face covering, came closer holding out her porcelain white hands. Then the girl saw mostly feathers as Mother Miranda's icy touch replaced Heisenberg's rough one. The girl stopped trembling as she was in his hands, now frozen like a statue in hers. Her eyes fixated on a feather that looked like it was about to fall off.
"Ah. I see," Mother Miranda mused. She sounded pleased, almost in wonder. The tips of her fingers grazed the back of the girl's neck. She did not shiver this time.
"Found her stumbling around," was Heisenberg bragging? "She doesn't even know how to speak."
"How curious," this feathered one, with so much power in her presence, moved back now. Her hand shot into view now as she way too gently lifted the girl's face up from the bottom of her chin. "Do you have a name, child?" she asked.
The girl did not know what she was looking at, but she answered as best she could. By shaking her head, despair in her frozen eyes.
"Oh dear," Mother Miranda cooed sweetly. "We shall have to come up with one then?"
"Ooooooo! Lemme name her! Lemme!" the doll screeched.
"Wait, I'm the one who found her! I should get to name her!" Heisenberg protested from behind.
"Oh please, you'll probably name the poor thing something like Scrap," the regal one teased, getting up now to get a good look at the girl over Mother Miranda.
"That's a good one!"
"I'm more creative than that, you bitch!"
"Silence!" Mother Miranda's authoritative force filled the room, as eight wings- four on each side- unfolded from her back. This caused an immediate cease of the arguing. The tall Lady returned to her chair.
Mother Miranda seemed to soften then, her wings gradually retreating. No, they were enveloping her. "We are scaring the child," she spoke quietly now. Gracefully kneeling before the girl, her hand moved to caress her cheek. Again she did not tremble. "I think we should let her name herself. What do you think?"
She was now addressing the girl, who had no idea how to respond. However, since this was something she would finally be able to control in her short remembered life, she nodded briskly, mouth slightly open.
"Good," Mother Miranda's face shifted now, revealing the bottom half of her face more clearly. She was smiling. "For now, we will call you Zero. Be sure to let us know when you decide on your name."
Zero only nodded in response.
"Now," Mother Miranda stood now, turning to reclaim her spot on the elevated part of the room. "What to do with you, Zero." This was simply a verbal contemplation, but everyone took this as a time to voice their own opinions.
"Give her to me!"
"I found her! Finders keepers!"
"I still don't see anything all too special about the thing," the regal one said.
"Lady Dimitrescu, she has the mark of the umbrella," Mother Miranda said plainly.
This made the regal one, the one finally revealed as Lady Dimitrescu, much more interested in Zero than she was before. "Do you know anything about this, child?" she demanded.
Zero shook her head, only just now taking this information into her consciousness.
"Lemme have her!"
"You little rat-"
"I will have to think about this situation further before I make my decision!" Mother Miranda projected, resulting in another silence. Her voice returned to its normal pitch. "For now, since Heisenberg was the one who found her, she will go with him."
"Mother Miranda, I must protest!" Lady Dimitrescu was up from her chair once more, her hand on her chest in pleading. "She will be a waste on my brother, he doesn't know what he's doing!"
"Shut your fucking hole, bitch!" Heisenberg was moving from behind Zero now, stopping in front of the Lady to glower up. His hammer flew into his hand. "And don't be such a sore loser!" his voice echoes off the walls.
"Fight! Fi-"
"My word is final!" Mother Miranda boomed. " Remember from whence you came. Heisenberg. Make sure she is comfortable." And with that, she turned around and disappeared into the darkness behind her.
Lady Dimitrescu huffed in annoyance and stalked off, leaving all the others except Heisenberg to scatter away as well.
Zero looked up at his triumphant face. So smug. She couldn't help but let loose a scowl.
Heisenberg chuckled lowly, kneeling in front of her. "Aw, don't look at me like that, Zero," His hand copied Mother Miranda's earlier caresses of her cheek, but this time felt different. The pads of his fingers were much rougher, warmer. The scowl melted, eyes wide, and she shivered at the touch. This made him chuckle even more.
"Don't worry. I'm gonna take good care of you."