This Gothic World: A Horror Fantasy ✔

CHAPTER 1

IRENE

Run.

Wind caressed her skin as she crawled through the tunnel. Her skin was grazed by the mucky wastes of the sewers. Her nose wrinkled with the scent of feces and urine.

She urged with her hand even when her feet repeatedly got stuck on the floor desperately trying to move. Her body dripped with sweat. 

Come on, Halona.

She urged again this time trying to see if her sister was still following her or not. Had she gotten lost? But she was still holding her cloak. It couldn't have come off, not the way she had wrapped it around her.

Halona. 

Impatient, Irene looked behind while her foot unconsciously tapped the ground. She was used to this feeling of dread by now. After all, what they had witnessed...

Don't think about it.

Behind her she heard muffled sounds assuring her. Halona was fine. She was just tired as usual. Irene felt impatience cloud her vision hazy. Just because she was used to it hadn't meant she liked the feeling. It was high time the child had grown up.

"Hal, come on." She whispered urgently while tugging at her cloak. She heard a sigh followed by sloshing footsteps. 

Good. Let's move on.

Halona was again on her feet and feeling well—a very interesting choice of word Irene thought. As if their situation wasn't interesting enough. She needed a newer cause of interest.

Irene managed to not bite on her words as she sloshed her way down the sewer and its depths. They were almost at the end of it. The way to the forest, the closest man hole that drained at Calelan River was just around the corner. They just had to endure this stench for just a bit more.

Maybe, even longer...

Irene thought sarcastically while her feet angrily trudged through with Halona slowing them down yet again. Her universe was shattered. Her family gone. 

Yet here she was just strolling through the muck of the world feeling nothing except a compulsion to leave.

Don't think about it. Please don't think about it.

She tried but the memories wouldn't stop haunting her eyes. With a sharp intake of air, Irene remembered their faces once more...

The woman laughed, her hands drenched ruby red...

The gall...after she sliced through the necks of her family. Even now their blood rained down on the parched ground. 

Drip...drip...drip...

Irene's head spun while she took in the scene. The air was heavy with summoning magic. It made bile rise up her throat. 

"Whakatika mai i te pungarehu..."

Sickly lime green aura colored the grey skies. Lightning strokes came down from nowhere painting the woman's face in dangerous rays...

"Whakatika..."

It was then the life draining away from those evergreen moss eyes meant more than ever...

Irene felt a tug on her robe and her reverie broke. She was sure she had done it this time. Torturing herself was another one of those quirks she was having new acquaintance with. Hilarious wasn't it?

With a silent sigh Irene walked up to loosen the tug at her robe. Halona looked up at her with those beguiling mossy eyes and her resolve again faltered. She remembered the same emerald green eyes looking up at her set on the face of an angel—

"Reen?"

"Yeah, I'm coming, sis." Irene said quickly when some muck flew to her face. Ewww—

"Reen!"

Her voice was high pitched and it sent a flare of adrenaline through Irene's stomach. She quickened her pace while blinking away the bright rays of dawn. Halona was standing in front of a massive opening where all the sewage were sluggishly moving along to meet their end.

"Ewww..."

Irene sighed while Halona continued to stare at the outside world. The water was a mucky hyacinth green and it was clouded with all sorts of odd trinkets along with the occasional feces and urine. Irene spit out a curse making Halona giggled.

Even in this situation, Halona had the lightness to giggle. If only Irene could preserve it forever...

You don't have time to waste.

The river was as horrid as ever with the wastes of the city and the factories draining into it. There wasn't any choice now as Irene stood admiring the dark green and icky waters of Calelan.

"Ready?"

Irene looked to her sister's angel face. Those extraordinary emerald gems were looking back at her endless despair with the sweetest of determination. 

If only we could go back...

Halona nodded and Irene smiled faintly before taking a deep breath and jumping off into the depths of the murky water.

If only this situation was a dream...

Two splashes sounded in her ear while she struggled to get up for air. Luckily, Halona was a great swimmer and before Irene could drown, she pulled her out of the depths and finally Irene took a fresh breath of relief.

"Thanks—Hal—

Irene gasped while greedily gulping in the distinct stink of Calelan. Her body was soaked to the core as was Halona's but they were both...alive.

"Come on."

With Halona's tug, they swam through the murky waters and seaweed infestations to reach the jungle shore. It wasn't difficult for her but for Irene...it was more than hard. 

What with her night blue hair dotted with turquoise highlights, obsidian gaze and inky brown skin? Of course, she was an outsider. The black sheep of her family. Trying to blend in was a disaster in and of itself and Irene knew it.

"Reen?"

Coming in touch with reality Irene felt a tear strain away at her cheeks while she hurriedly climbed up the shore. Halona sat down beneath an old tree to rest. The girl was breathing in huffs and puffs. Irene sighed. 

Only for a moment, she mused. After all, they weren't impervious to wear and tear. With some trepidation, she wrung out the water in her dress. The muck was stuck to everything and it smelled more awful by the minute.

At least, it got partially cleaned by Calelan's depths which were but a small comfort. If only the watery depths could clean out her heart of those painful emotions. Unfortunate for her, she could never forget what she had seen that fateful night.

Even if they used magic...

"Reen!"

A muffled scream and Irene looked behind her to find herself face to face with two men. Their hands were clamping down on Halona's face. 

Too late, Assholes!

Irene took off like an arrow. Her hands would've punched Halona's captors but some other accomplice was holding her before she could do damage. With a thud, the world blanked out from her eyes. The last thing she saw before closing them was a kolovrat symbol in gold and Halona's limp body. 

If only this weren't the truth...

Only...wishes never are.