𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 | 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 [MINOR EDITING]

𝟏 | 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝

I grimace, the cold reality of it all colliding with the side of my head.

I've landed on a dirt path, having fallen a good ten feet from the air and onto my side. For several moments, I can't bring myself to move, let alone lift my face out of the dirt, winded from the impact. My breathing only stirs up the sand and moves the gravel beneath my cheek and chin against them, making things even more uncomfortable.

I'd been completely unconscious when it happened, and yet... I remember everything. I'd remembered this... this creature, with a body as black as the shadowy pit it emerged from, with a face whiter than the sun, itself, having appeared to us in the evening, before attacking us. My younger sister, killed, right before my eyes, along with our tutor.

I blame myself. For all of it. My selfishness, my blatant disregard for others, even my own family. Maybe I could have helped her escape if I weren't such a lousy elder sibling.

Since I must assume that this is the afterlife, I can only hope that my sister, and eventually, my brother, are never unfortunate enough to find me here.

With this new seed of doom and gloom planted in my head, I force myself to stand, dressed not in the garb I remember myself to be clothed in, but in a faded white katabira. I'm weak. I'm sore. And, I'm angry. 

I'm so very, very angry.

The dirt road appears to go on for miles, this I convince myself of. The only change in terrain is the large hill that comes into view to the left of the dirt road. And standing on top of it... is a man.

Curious, I start running toward the hill. In this foreign place, where for the past two hours I've yet to come across a single person, anyone's company is appreciated.

I stop at the base of the hill and look toward the top. It's too steep for me to climb, which makes me wonder just how that man had managed to make it to the top. Unfortunately, from where I stand, I can't see who it is.

"Hello there?!" I shout up to him, hands cupped around my mouth. He doesn't budge. He doesn't budge. He doesn't reply. He doesn't even acknowledge me standing only twenty feet below him. "Hello?!"

He finally does, tilting his head down toward me. What I can distinguish of his appearance through the fog and the distance between us is a head of dark brown hair and sharp... maroon... eyes...