Kart's fantastical journey!

Freedom

There is a house. A big one. It's situated in London. But at the rim of it. The perfect place to do business without anyone ever noticing. The landscape around the building is plain grass filled with ennui. It has a nice view to the ocean, which isn't that far away from the yet so small city the house finds itself in. In other words, the mansion is resting at a tranquil area where all worries can be annihilated. A place where you can live without ever getting disturbed. The perfect locus to think about your past and cherish all the memories that you will probably never experience ever again.

I've been living here for as long as I remember.

Yesterday I observed a slim, black tomcat roaming around in our garden. As much as I love playing with animals, I decided to stay distant. My Corocottakinesis sometimes disturbs the soft vertebrates when I try to just pet them. It feels like I can just steer any animal on a marionette string as I'd please, but that's not what I intend to do. Additionally, it feels like I forgot something major about my life. I happen to only remember my life in the mansion in London. I wonder if I have amnesia. I asked my father multiple times, and he said I'm just tired. Weirdly enough, my brother has been having the same symptoms. Is something going on? I feel like a whole different person. I don't really feel like I fit in this family anymore. I also don't know where my mother is. My father told me she's in the promised land, but I can't seem to understand what he's trying to say. Besides, the housemaid is also staying serene about everything.
I'm currently lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling. I should be asleep, but I'm experiencing insomnia. Therefore, I stand up and look outside the window. The lunar is watching over us while the whole land in Great Britain is in their dreamworld, besides me. Never mind, I spotted the black cat sitting on the garden fence next to a snapdragon. He's drawn to the moon. I'm kind of worried about him. It's soon to be winter.  During this time of year, many animals have difficulty surviving. However, small mammals are five times more likely to die each month when active than when hibernating.
I've been thinking about asking my father to adopt the black cat outside. I've already given him a name. I decided to call him Mati. Since I can't sleep, I thought I might as well sneak out of my room to get a cup of cold milk, so I can close my eyes easier.
I slowly open my cranky door. I enter the dark hallway and close the door to my room. It all seems so scary at night. I can barely see anything. I think about lighting a candle, but decide not to. Instead I accustom myself to the dark and feel around to try and not bump into any objects. I sneak around the wall and unexpectedly when I reach the stairs, I spot light. Someone is still awake. I think about heading back to my room but end up moving closer to the light. My curiosity is the victor.
I stealthily walk to the stairway and head downstairs. I notice the light coming from the kitchen. While I'm sneaking to the bottom of the mansion, I scrutinize a painting of a river in London. It's the area right next to us. It has an antique, wooden bridge on it. I wonder how I missed this all the time. I continue walking until I notice another painting. It has a girl and a woman arguing outside in the background. It is as if the painting is more focused on the argument than the actual scenery.
I resume my walk and spot a family portrait. It has my father, my brother, my mother, and me on it. We all look happy. But for some reason I don't remember any of these pictures. And for some reason, the stairs feel like they are ongoing. I take the next step and notice a picture of a black cat next to a snapdragon. He's watching the moon.
I start sweating. This is the exact identical view I had in my room just a few minutes ago. I look down the stairs, the light is still there. It seems so far, but yet so close. I look back up, and notice that there is a wall behind me. What is happening? At this moment, I also notice me feeling nauseous. I suppose I have no choice but to move on. This has to stop eventually. I must be having a nightmare.
I keep up with the stairs and the next painting almost makes me trip and fall. The painting has me on it. I'm in my pajamas walking down the stairs. Right now.
This is the moment were I had enough. I started running down the stairs. I didn't care if I was being quick or slow, I just had to get out of this eternal staircase. I ran as fast as I could, but the stairs didn't stop. It went on forever. I'm stuck in some weird cycle. Abruptly, I stop my sprinting, and take a break to breathe. Anyhow, I realized I shouldn't have done that. Because now the next nightmare had already begun.
A women in a white dress and blonde hair is facing the end of the stairs. She's just standing there.
"You don't have to be afraid." she says without turning around.
It seems like she sensed my presence.
"This is just your imagination." she calmly pronounced.
I stay silent, I can't turn around because there happens to be a random wall blocking my only escape route.
"I'm here to make you remember who you truly are." she says, still not looking at me.
This is when I speak up, "What do you mean? I know who I am."
She giggles creepily, "Yes, so do I, Kitty."
My heart drops. How does she know my name?! Who is this woman?!
She goes back to being serious, "Do you believe in destiny? That even the powers of time can be altered for a single purpose? That the luckiest man who walks on this Earth is the one who finds...true love?"
She then turns around and I can see a tear on her right eye, "Kitty, please escape from this place, take Leo with you and find your freedom. Your father is brainwashing you two. It's not safe here."
I can see clearer now. The face of this woman belongs to the lady on the family portrait. She's my mother. My guardian who died seven years ago due to my father's abusive behavior. Eleanor Marsheye, a mother who valued her children's life more than her own.
One late night, she grabbed both my brother and I, and ran outside. She transported us to a safer place, away from my father. The safe haven she brought us to was Ambermoor. Unfortunately, she didn't know that the place Leo and I grew up in actually turned up to be quite dangerous. But I suppose we survived so it doesn't matter.
After Eleanor Marsheye returned, she confronted her husband, Rety Marsheye. My father grew extremely vicious at her for taking his children, us, away from him. Their argument turned out to become a physical battle. They fought and fought, and it ended badly, with Eleanor being beaten to death by him.
"The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you." my mother interrupts my thoughts. "You don't have to endure brokenness anymore, isn't that a relief?"
"Thank you, Mother." I nod and smile, and then I collapse.