[Seven-Minute Semblance] GENIUSFORSALE & VORSTELLUNGEN

VORSTELLUNGEN || Chapter 5 - Loose Ends

Fraulein Snow.

24. March.
Friday, 7:00 a.m.
Mýrdalshreppur, Iceland.

I woke up with a massive hangover. Masamang ideya ang pag-inom ng beer kasama nina Thor.

I felt tingly and sick. Gustong humiwalay ng kaluluwa ko mula sa katawan ko. Nakararamdam ako ng sakit mula ulo hanggang paa. It felt like someone threw me into a grave and I crawled back from the dead.

I can't fully remember what happened last night after the party and the wedding...

Shit, the wedding.

Where am I?

In a hotel. A hotel in Vik, Iceland. I'm alone in a hotel room.

I stood up, made sure I have clothes on, and walked around, fighting the unpleasant consequences of last night's bad decisions.

Yesterday, I was surrounded by Vorstellungen, in a foreign land. I felt uncomfortable, intimidated, and scared. Everything was new and unknown, and anxiety crept up from my stomach to my arms to my head.

I knew nobody except there for William. He's the only familiar feeling in a sea of something new.

When he left me alone to mingle with the strangers, I started dissociating. To keep my cool, I decided to run to the clutches of alcohol.

Bad idea, bad idea.

"All William's fault, though," I told myself, looking for him.

The hotel had a different feeling, different smell, and different view. I felt like a different person. It felt like I was wrapped in a blanket of thick existential dread.

Stop dissociating, I screamed internally. Stop dissociating before you forget who and where you are.

I held onto my metal bracelet. Tightly.

As long as it's with me, on my left wrist, I'm alright.

I plodded forward, found a slightly opened door, and peeked inside. I saw Sir... Sir Henry Fortes, talking on the phone. I can't hear their conversation.

There's a buzz in my ears and my vision kept somersaulting here and there. Everything felt thick.

"Hindi si Nicholas si Fraulein Snow," was the clearest I've heard.

That's me.

I'm Fraulein Snow.

Anong kalokohan na naman ba ang nagawa ko?

Napaupo ako sa labas ng pinto at napahawak sa bibig ko. Kailangan kong pigilan ang pagsuka.

"Why's he looking for Fraulein Snow?" tanong ng isa pang boses na hindi ko matunugan kung sino.

"Nagpunta raw sila sa puntod ni Norcross, nakita 'yong sulat ni Snow na nagso-sorry dahil pinatay niya si Norcross. Gusto niyang ibigay sa SMS 'yong sulat."