Duskwood Legends [English Version]

Memento Mori.

*⚠️WARNING⚠️*
This chapter contains explicit language,
not suitable for a more sensitive audience of readers.

I fall to the ground. I don't feel the pain of my knees hitting the floor.
I don't hear anything.

The noise outside reaches my ears muffled, as if a mine had exploded a few steps away. All I can feel is a fear I have never felt in my entire life, which twists my insides into a knot and leaves me paralysed on the ground.

I can't take my eyes off that damn package.
I'm gasping for air in my lungs.

I try to breathe, gasping, as if my head is above water, as I struggle to stay afloat against an invisible force that tries to drag me down.

I want to scream, but nothing comes out of my lips. I drag myself, almost on all fours, towards the wrapped box.

I don't have the strength to open it. I am terrified of finding out what is inside.
I know exactly who this gift came from.

It's an unwished gift.

What I will find in there is a reminder of our helplessness against him. What I will find in there will undeniably leave me with a deep, unhealable wound that I will carry with me forever.

I inhale.
I summon all the strength I have to untie the bow and lift the lid. I scream at the top of my lungs.
Grabbing the package i run into the house, slamming the door behind me with a resounding thud. 

SLAM.

I stay with my back against the wall and suddenly let myself slide to the floor.
The package clutched in my arms falls to the floor with me.
I start to cry, a hysterical, uncontrolled cry.
I open the package again using both hands, shaken by a feverish tremor.

Inside there are three things: a rolled-up letter, a bloody grey T-shirt with the Rogers garage logo... and a severed finger.

The smell of blood reaches my nostrils.
The resulting nauseous feeling causes involuntary spasms in my stomach.
I throw up all the lunch I had eaten earlier.

I feel suffocated.
I wipe my face with my wrist, while shivers run through my whole body, making me tremble convulsively. My skin is slick with sweat.
My heart explodes in my chest.

I realise I am in the middle of a panic attack. The feeling of asphyxiation increases, as does the fear of dying itself. I close my eyes and try to regulate my breathing into hyperventilation.
I inhale deeply and exhale, counting to three.

1, 2, 3.
1, 2, 3.
1, 2, 3.

I think of Jake, his voice, the voice I heard today for the first time.
Soothing, comforting, deep... and extremely sweet.
The image of Jake in my mind and the concentration in my breathing slowly manage to calm me down and slowly make me regain clarity.
I think of Jessy's laughter, Dan's sarcasm, Cleo's kindness, Thomas's self-sacrificing love for Hannah, Lilly's genuineness.

Together we will succeed.
We will save Hannah and everything will be fine.

1, 2, 3.
1, 2, 3.
1, 2, 3.

I take a last breath, letting all the air out of my lungs.
I place my right hand on my chest, above where my heart is.
The heartbeat has returned to normal, as has the breathing.

I throw the pack of horrors to the side, sliding it across the floor. It stops exactly in the corner of the room, out of my sight. I cannot open it again to examine the letter, not at this moment.

I struggle to get up on my legs, helping myself with my arms.With uncertain and staggering steps I walk away from the entrance. I should tell the others about the package, but I can't do it.
I need to metabolise, if I ever will.