Drawn to You

The Empty

LOCATION: OUTERWOLD RELME

The moon can no longer be seen in the sky and every bit of beauty has been stripped from the Garden. This is normally Selene’s favourite place to visit, it is almost her most beautiful creation however that is only the case when a chosen enters the Garden. On days like this it is evident that this space is not occupied by a chosen. The once beautiful Garden grows dark, all of the grass, flowers and trees are gone, only tightly packed dirt and dead grass remain. A young wolf lays unconscious at the centre, she must be the Goddess’s reason for coming here but she is so young, what could she have possibly done to be here so soon after gaining her wolf. Normally wolves that enter the Garden because they deserve punishment or even torment are much older and have made hundreds of mistakes that lead them to the Garden and most turn the garden into something classically simple and obvious. They turn it into their fears like heights or clowns, some turn it into a resemblance of hell, sometimes a wolf so dastardly and evil enters that they pull Hades from Hell and he watches along with the Goddess, however that doesn’t happen often, only in extreme cases and generally they never leave, their body eventually dies, and their soul dies along with it. This little wolf however has made it completely empty and dark, and yet she fears neither. Her punishment will be an interesting one to watch for the Goddess, she must find out why this little wolf is here, but only the little wolf will be able to understand why she is here.

SELENE’S P.O.V

I really don’t know what I expected. I guess the first was for her to be wake already but she is unconscious, her punishment hasn’t started yet however the Garden is already formed itself for her. I have never seen my beautiful garden this way and it makes me sick, even though I have seen people turned it in to literal hell, fire, brimstone, hades himself gets to join in sometimes. No one’s punishment has ever been quite so disturbing, as I goddess I can see the hole garden, I see that her mind has set up three trials for her, but something feels wrong. I know I am supposed to introduce myself straight away and explain why she is here, but I feel like I shouldn’t, like I should watch and wait, I want to see why she is in this place when she didn’t kill herself or deserve to be here. She was attacked so why is she worthy of punishment. I haven’t paid much attention to this little wolf since she was about fifteen, I wonder what happened since then. I decide to stay and watch her, so I sit silently waiting for her to wake up and if I am honest, I want her out of here sooner rather than later. Her destiny is not supposed to lead her here, something has gone wrong somewhere, I just have to watch and find out.

AURORA'S P.O.V  

A dull aching pain at the back of my head wakes me from an unusually deep slumber, my eyes gently flutter open to reveal complete darkness surrounding me, the only sound echoing through this place is my own heartbeat amongst the deafening silence. I have woken in a place I do not recognize, everywhere I turn is dark and empty, my only light source is a soft glow coming off the dress I am wearing, I am able to barely make out the sight of hardly packed dirt with dead grass in front of me. I see no one in the distance but I feel eyes watching every movement I make.

Unsure of the direction I should go, I know I should try and find my way out, I am not ready, I am terrified of moving, the unsettling feeling creeping into my mind that the further travel the more lost I will become. My hands tremble and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, the once warm and gentle breeze that flowed through this place turns cold and harsh as it slowly begins to circle my body. The wind builds and I can feel myself lift off the ground, the now howling wind covers my body completely, its grip slowly tightening, my chest is heavy and the pressure building inside me constricts the airflow to my lungs, I struggle to take a breath, I cry out for help but cannot make a sound. Pure terror takes hold as the feeling of water surrounds my feet and slowly rises as my body begins to sink, the more I focus on it the worse it gets, I try to ignore everything happening, but it is useless, I am useless. Soon the water has risen past my legs, over my stomach, around my chest and is continuing slowly up my neck, in no time my head is completely covered by water, trying to scream and fight my way to the surface but I only sink deeper into the unknown while the water flows into my lungs. It faded away as quickly as it came, the water retreats and my breathing returns to normal. Somehow, I am still standing and completely dry, no evidence of water around me, like there has been any water for here for decades.

Something compels me to walk forwards, I am being guided through the darkness by an unknown force. Focusing on putting one foot after the other slowly dredging to an unknown location, the invisible pull is either helping or hindering me, I am not sure which yet. Hours or maybe days have past and the exhaustion in my body is clear, my legs feel heavy and close to collapse, determined continue no matter how tired. The silence in this everlasting emptiness is playing tricks on my mind, I hear the faint wails of a child sobbing. To refocus I close my eyes tightly and reopen them searching the horizon, I spot a figure and I begin to run towards her as fast as my legs will take me. The closer I get the more my legs begin to ache, my throat grows dry, and I feel bruising all over my body, the overwhelming feeling of needing a shower gaining intensity the closer I get. I finally reach the figure in the distance.

I crouch down next to little girl with long golden hair, she is wearing a dress remarkably similar to my own. She is sitting on the hard ground with her legs tucked tightly to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. I clear my throat as softly as I can, I do not want to scare the poor thing. She looks up at me and her tear-stained face looks eerily familiar.

“Who are you?” The young child questions. I think for a moment, but nothing comes to me, only memories of this place.

“I’m really not sure, do you know who you are?” She shakes her head. I sit on the floor with her cross legged and put a hand to a shoulder, she flinches away in pain. “Child what happened to you?

She looks up at me confused, she releases her arms from her legs and copies my sitting position. A look at myself and no matter the injuries I feel, nothing is wrong with me, I inspect the girl and I can see everywhere I have pain she has a bruise or a cut. Peace invades my mind that hopefully I can bare all the pain for her. If she cannot feel it, I will except the pain with a smile on my face.

I study her closely, suddenly becoming sick to my stomach this little girl who could not be more than fourteen years old has bruising around her neck and wrists, from her knees and up the inside of her thighs are black and blue and covered completely in blood, If I am feeling her pain, I now know why I felt so violated, disgusted and in need of a shower. 

“What happened to you?” I try to keep my voice soft and soothing, but my voice cracks and tears threaten to fall down my cheeks.”

“I am not sure. I cannot remember much. All I know is a bad man hurt me and said I was his forever. I hate him, I want him dead, but I can’t remember who he is.” The loathing in her eyes is clear as day and, in that moment, I know she means every word. Her eyes grow dark and empty just like this place.

“Little one, I understand your hate. Hate will consume you; you need to accept what happened and seek justice, not revenge.” My expression remains calm and my voice matches, she is quiet for a while, but she looks at me as if she is considering my words.

“Okay.” Her little voice echoes in the distance and just like that she disappears right in front of my eyes. My see black spots in front of me and my eyes cloud over, everything falls dark and silent and cold once again, I sleep. 

“Pssst. Psssst! Hey! Open your eyes!” a small demanding voice stirs deep within me. 

I am hesitant to comply, but decide to anyway, attempting to open my eyes is futile, it feels almost as if the weight of the universe is bearing down upon me, forcing my eyes shut, making my body week. My body and soul aches to the core and the urge to give up is overpowering my will to live.

“Oh! Drama queen, come on, just open them! Weak human.” the clearly disgruntled voice spat. 

The small voice is willing me to continue in my quest, providing me with some much-needed encouragement even though it is a negative tough love approach, it worked. My hands grip the dirt and dead grass underneath my body, I push upwards with all my might to stand solidly on my feet, I scrunch my face up and put all my strength into opening my eyes and finally, by some miracle my body listens to me and they fly open. I stare into complete darkness, nothing is here, only me again, I miss that little girl, at least I was not alone when she was here. All the pain I felt before is now gone, yet another sign that I am all alone. After sitting for a while I decide I should find a way out, panic sets in, I realise I am unable to move, stuck firmly in this spot I try to look around for any clue that might give me an indication of where I am now, once again it is pointless all I see is my body surrounded by darkness, my only light source once again the soft glow radiating from the white gown loosely hanging off my body, flowing gently in the breeze. Concentrating on my breathing, I imagine my body drifting through the air, even though my body is weighed down, my mind is weightless, finally at peace. The longer I remain calm the lighter my body feels as the panicked feeling fades, soon I can take a step, but I have no idea which way to go this time I feel no imaginary pull towards a direction.  

“You are starting get stressed again and that will not get you anywhere, meditation might help” the voice suggests.

Sitting cross legged on the ground with my eye closed I steady my breathing trying to think back in time hoping that memories have been unlocked and will guide me. My eyes fly open, and my hand covers my mouth as a whimper threatens to escape my lips, my soul in unrest at the sudden realisation that the only memories I have are of this place. not only do I not know where I am and why I am here, I do not even know who I am. No memories come to the surface no matter how hard I try to recall them.

The cold feeling returns, and the dark abyss welcomes me calling me to an unforeseen destination. I fight the urge to scream and run with everything I have left, I fight to stay perfectly still, perfectly safe, just for that moment before finding what will greet me in the next stage of my journey through the empty. My strength fades, like fighting a losing battle as my heart beats out of my chest, a lump forming in my throat. I take my first step in the direction I am being pulled to, one foot after the other I walk into the unknown, feeling hopelessly lost but right on track at the same time. The deafening silence taunting me, urging me to scream out for help. My mind conflicted by my heart. My mind plagued by undeniable fear pummelling me as waves of discomfort tare through my body and my heart in total and complete peace, feeling one with the darkness letting it wash over me and through my soul and back out again. My legs begin to ache and after walking for what felt like hours unable to see any obstacles coming my way, having to rely on my other senses to guide me, I see another figure in the distance, this one seems to be laying down.

I quicken my pace and my slow steps become a desperate jog, the closer I get the despair of hopelessness and worthlessness take over my body, my heart feels broken into two, my limbs grow numb, and my brain feels foggy as every ounce of my energy is drained. A sharp pain shoots up both my wrists and I finally reach the figure laying down on the hand ground. A gasp escapes my lips when I see it is the same little girl as before, maybe slightly other now. She seems peaceful and content in a well-deserved sleep, but I can’t help but notice the blood pooling just below two deep cuts down each of her wrists.

I crouch down and shake her shoulders slightly, jolting her awake her arms fly towards me as she grips onto my shoulders tightly. Her eyes convey a sense of despair and a longing to die, I know, in this moment I must help her anyway I can. I must lesson her pain like I did before.

“Sweetie” I keep my voice soft and calm, I gently brush away the strands of hair covering her beautiful face. “What happened little one?”

“He doesn’t want me, he said I was destined to be his, but he rejected me” soft cries and whimpers fill the space around us before she continues. “Am I not good enough?’

I pull her into a deep hug, patting her back lightly to try and calm her down. Something I did not expect was her sadness turning to rage so quickly. Her eyes grow black, and her voice sounds harsher, like the innocent little girl before me has died and been replaced with another.

“I want him dead!” she slowly gets up and stands tall, filled with so much rage but confidence as well. “I want to see him burn and bleed like I have.”

“Vengeance and rage will not cure you. I know the pain of rejection and heartbreak will haunt you for some time, the only chance you have at getting through that pain is to accept it and learn from it.” I reach over to her face and gently wipe the tears away that have fallen. “I know you are heartbroken but use that feeling to show him everything he will miss out on, under no circumstances are you to go crawling back to him.” She stays quiet for a while; her eyes change from golden to black a couple of times before a content look spreads across her face.

“Alright” her soft voice echoes through the distance just like before and in the blink of an eye, she is gone. All the pain leaves my body and the feeling of sleep speeds towards me, all my energy is drained but I feel at peace, my emotions are finally clear. The empty remains silence, but the warm breeze has returned, I lay my head down on the hard ground and hope to be taken to the land of dreams, where light shines and people laugh and run through the forest, I urgently need a break from this place.

“Come on! You despicable Human.”

I know that voice anywhere, always calling to me, always guiding me even when I do not want her to. I know exactly what she wants this time. She wants me to open my eyes and continue my journey through the empty. Secretly I hope to open my eyes and be rid of the empty and be somewhere warm and sunny, I hate it here but also at the same time I do not. The grim reality of the situation is that I am most definitely still in the empty, whether I want to be here or not, I am. My memories are still gone but thankfully one has come back to me, the memory of this little voice.  I open my eyes to be met with the empty again, but I must do something before I continue.

“Dawn?” I call to her in my mind, I am not sure what she is or who she is, but I know her voice has been with me for as long as I remember.

“Human, finally you treat me with well-deserved respect and call me by my name.” Dawn sounds elated at my recognition of her, but she also seems dissatisfied as well.

“Dawn, if it is a matter of respect, why don’t you call me by my name, you only call to me as human?” the sounds of her chuckles grow sinister, and an odd feeling settles in my heart.

“Because Human, you do not deserve respect.”

Her words pierce my heart, and I can feel myself crumbling lower, I sink into the ground and cry my heart out. Eventually my tears stop falling and my gentle sobs quiet down. I decide to continue no matter what, I must get out and then I will find a way to rid myself of Dawn forever.

“you may hate me right now, just as I hate you but unfortunately, we are stuck together.”

“Shut up! Leave me alone. Do not talk and do not interfere. I will get out of here without you!”

I stand up and patiently wait for a calling. I did not have to wait for long before my body was pulled in another direction. Slowly I made my way there no longer in a rush like last time, somehow, I feel more at peace in this place the longer I stay here. I miss those little girls now but now I might meet another. The peace doesn’t last long, the more I walk the worse I feel, my stomach is in knots and I feel bile at the back of my throat, I feel like I am going to be sick. My heart feels like it was shattered, and I become fearful what I might see next. Just as the thought crosses my mind, I see a figure in the distance, laying down in the foetal position with her arms around her stomach. Her loud cries echo through the empty. I feel the need to rush to her.

The need to eliminate the pain and help her like I did for the others is overbearing. Despite the urge to rush I decide to I keep my walk steady to lessen the pain I feel but alas the closer I get the more pain I absorb. The emotions from her radiate in mighty waves, the temptation to buckle, forgo my strength and let them destroy me is intense. Finally, I reach her, and her loud uncontrollable sobs turn into shallow whimpers. I take a deep breath and shake her shoulders lightly.

“Excuse me, are you alright?” she looks up at me and she is similar to the other girls maybe they are all sisters, but she is much older than the other two probably about 18. Her tear-stained face is completely heartbreaking her eyes are puffy and dull, and she looks completely dead inside.

“No, If I am being honest, I am not okay.” she speaks softly to hide her pain however her voice still breaks in between her words.

“What’s happened, maybe I can help you?” I try to hide the sadness I feel from her, I get the sense that the last thing she needs from me right now is pity.

“I destroyed him, I took his heart and shattered it, I loved him so much, but I betrayed him. I want to die, leave me be.”

“Maybe I can help, talking sometimes helps me? You might need this to find peace” I lie, I have no idea what makes me feel better.

“I hurt him, I hurt my mate. He is the one I am supposed to love, cherish and protect, the only one I am to be with, forever faithful.” Her sobs break through every two words or so, but I understand what she means.

“How did you hurt him?” I don’t really need to know but I think she needs this, needs to speak out loud her confession.

“I found comfort in the arms of another. He felt my betrayal through our bond and he’s heartbroken, I’m heartbroken, I don’t know what came over me, he deserves better, a second chance. I must leave this world to give that to him.”

“Does he still love you?” I am quite sure I am now making this worse, but I cannot stop myself from asking.

“Yes of course he does, that’s what makes it worse, he might forgive me but that doesn’t change the past. He was made for me and I broke him instead.”

“To change the past, you must forgive yourself but also request his forgiveness.” The voice I speak in is not my own, its Dawn’s voice coming through me, like I am possessed. I guess she ignored my warning of staying quiet and non-interference.

The girl’s eyes go white, and I hear her voice echo in the distance unable to make out the words she said. She disappears before me just like before and leaves me here. I sit on the ground for a while, but nothing happens, I don’t faint I don’t feel sick. Nothing is pulling me to a direction, but I feel eyes watching me.

Getting up and walking through the empty with no guidance, I search the horizon for things I cannot see, sounds of the living I am unable to hear, I think the girls are gone and there will be no more, now I am truly alone. Trying desperately to find something, anything that will make this place seem less empty I’ve been walking for what feels like days. This place has gotten darker If that’s possible, colder and the winds blow forcefully through with nothing to stop them. My legs are weary, I’m hungry and all I want to do is sleep. I am about to give up, but a sudden excruciating pain pulls me back to reality, instinctively my hands grip to my foot massaging my throbbing toe as serval profanities try to escape my mouth. I take a deep breath in, using my foot to feel around the object it connected with my eyes widen, I had reached a staircase in the middle of pure darkness barely visible to the naked eye, standing there not sure on what to do, shock causing my body to freeze until my brain finally figured it out.

“No sense in turning back now, you’ve come so far” Dawn whispers trying to give me the courage to continue.

Finally, I let go of the breath I have been holding in, everything I have experienced in here has taken its toll on my body and my mind, my instincts have served me well but the idea of walking up a staircase I can’t see seems suicidal. Dawn does have a point I have been walking for so long there is no point in turning around going back the way I came. I raise my foot trying desperately to see the step beneath me, completely aware that no matter how hard I try I still won’t be able to see it. Stepping onto the staircase I feel invigorated, the ache in my legs and the pain from my toe has disappeared. I don’t feel tired, I am still climbing the same staircase after goddess knows how long, I still feel like I’m not going anywhere, the scenery is the exact same, still black still nothing, just me slowly rising in the air as I walk up the staircase. Frustration is taking hold of me, hurling my head backwards in frustration my eyes pressed firmly closed, the fact that I have no idea what to do is driving me crazier by the minute, am I doomed to walk a never ending staircase for all of eternity. Surely no one is bad enough to deserve that, no matter how bad they are. Composing myself my eyes slowly flutter open, as I gaze upwards, I notice something I haven’t seen before, the soft hue of a warm white light far above, at what I can assume is the top of the staircase.

Moving my feet as fast as they can go practically running up the stairs at this point, a faint but annoying beeping sound echoes through this place, shaking my head trying to rid myself of the hallucination I continue. I ran up about 10 more steps and I heard the sound again, the faint beeping sound getting easier to distinguish the further up I go. I run at full speed as fast as my legs can carry me to reach the top, the beeping sound is now almost deafening, and I can hear it constantly I can barely put my thoughts together. Finally, when I reach the top of the staircase, I can no longer hear the noise, greeted by a familiar warmth I see a white light in the shape of a door floating in the middle of the air. Now that I am here, I don’t know what I should do, should I stay in this place or risk it all and see what the white light has in store for me.

“My Child why are you just standing there” a loud ethereal voice speaks with a questioning tone.

Pulling me back to reality, I accept that I’ve gone completely nuts first the Dawn the little voice inside my head, now this place is talking to me? Is that where I am in a mental hospital for the clinically deranged, my fears are turning into full blown paranoia now.

“My Child, I asked you a question, why are you just standing there? You are supposed to want to go into the welcoming light” the darkness chimes once again.

Rescuing me from my spiral, grateful as I am, I have had just about enough of this place.

“Firstly, who or rather what are you to judge me! Secondly why would I want to go through the light to a place I don’t know when I can stay here perfectly content and relatively safe” I lied I shout into the darkness, it takes a minute but finally the darkness responds,

“My Child, who or what I am holds no importance, you have people waiting for you, I understand your hesitation, but I promise everything will be okay” the darkness insists.

I have no reason to not listen, I take a deep breath in summoning all my strength, I step into the light.