Part 18
Once Katy was back in her room, and after declining yet another offer of food, she was left to her thoughts. They mostly consisted of her arguing with the ever increasingly present voice in the back of her mind about whether she should do anything to stop Al Mualim. She remembered the immediate hatred she had for the character when she played the game, his constant contradictions and flowery way of talking irritated her to no end.
And yet, he held some sort of power. An obvious source of power... Ugh. Everything else aside, Katy knew she was weak, there was nothing she could do without getting herself killed in the process. While she had no desire to go on, despite what she had said earlier, if she was to die, it would (not) be by the hands of Al Mualim.
Katy dreamed again that night, she dreamed of a warm room and a comfortable bed. She dreamed of her family. They surrounded her and murmured gentle encouragement, words of belief and courage. She felt cocooned in a net of safety and love, when Katy woke the next morning with a smile on her face, she knew something had changed.
The garden was a beautiful place. The morning light scattered through the trees leaving dappled shadows on the soft grass. Katy leaned on the balcony taking in the landscape of soaring mountains, a stark, cold grey against the endless blue sky. She sighed contentedly, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This fresh air was wonderful, it was clean and fresh as opposed to the dust on the road and the dankness in any building.
This was as close to happy Katy was ever going to feel, there was no elation, no great revelation. Back home, she watched her family and friends smile, laugh and live, that was something she felt detached from. Positive emotions were always a struggle, of course, Katy had felt happiness when something good happened, but it felt muted. It never surged to the point where it manifested as squealing or clapping. Katy had resigned herself to the fact she would never feel true joy, for some reason, with that came a peaceful calm.
Negative emotions, on the other hand, came so easily. She could get angry, scream and shout, she could cry and hit things. Katy soon realised her outbursts were something she had to hide. They scared her. They scared people around her. So she hid them behind a carefully crafted mask. Katy pretended. She pretended well. Until she was transported here, she had almost begun to believe her own lie.
A/N: The rest of the chapters are going to be quite short, except for the epilogue. The breaks will work better for pacing, I think.
Thank you all once again for your continuous support! Please, review! :)