This Gothic World
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 was wrinkled with the scent of feces and urine.

She urged with her hand as 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. Was she 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 as 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 words assuring her. Halona was fine. She was just tired as usual. Irene felt impatience cloud her vision hazy. 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 the 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 as she angrily trudged through with her sister slowing her down yet again. Her world was shattered and here she was just strolling through the muck of the world feeling nothing except a compulsion to leave.

Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

She tried to tell herself but she failed and remembered their faces again.

The woman laughed. She had the gall of laughter after such horrifying deed. She sliced their necks and their blood rained down on the parched ground as Irene watched in horror from the top of a building. Her head spun as she saw it all. The air felt heavy with magic as she tasted the bile in her mouth.

Irene felt a tug on her robe as 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. How funny was that?

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

“Reen?”

“Yeah, I’m coming, sis.”

Irene said quickly as some muck flew to her face. Ewww—

“Reen!”

Her voice was high pitched and it sent a flare of adrenaline through Irene’s stomach. Irene quickened her pace as she faced the faint light of dawn. Halona was standing in front of a massive opening where all the muck and everything were sluggishly moving along.

“Ewww…”

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

Even in this situation, Halona had the gall to giggle but Irene hadn’t time to dwell. The river was as horrid as ever with the wastes of the city and the factories draining into it. There wasn’t much else choice now as Irene stood admiring the dark green and icky waters of Calelan.

“Ready?”

Irene looked to her sister’s angel face. Yes, the same angel eyes were looking back at hers. She nodded and Irene smiled faintly before taking a deep breath and jumping off into the depths of the murky water.

Two splashes sounded in her ear as 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 air.

“Thanks—Hal—

Irene gasped as she greedily gulped in the fresh stink of Calelan. Her body was soaked to the core as was Halona’s but they were both…alive.

“Come on.”

Irene tugged Halona as they continued to swim through the murky waters and seaweed infestations to reach a part of the jungle. It wasn’t difficult. It was just—well—sad.

Irene remembered their eyes again and remembered hers never had matched theirs. What with her green hair and dark brown eyes and her inky brown skin—she was more than just an outsider. She was the black sheep in her family. Trying to blend in was a disaster in and of itself and she knew it.

“Reen?”

Coming in touch with reality Irene felt a tear strain away at her cheeks as she hurriedly swam towards the shore. It was almost too easy, she thought but she had to have something easy in the difficult life of being unwanted.

Finally her feet touched the wet soil and she was exhausted. Only there was no rest for the traveler. She had to move on. Halona sat down near an old tree and rested while Irene 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 Calelan’s waters could clean out her heart which was now devoid of positive emotions. Sad but true was that she could never forget what she had seen that fateful night and it would never leave her conscience.

If only—

“Reen!”

A muffled scream and Irene looked behind her to find herself face to face with two men trying to take Halona. One was clamping her mouth shut but too late.

Irene took off like an arrow and started to claw at the men but alas someone else was holding her before long. Halona kept screaming but Irene couldn’t hear. Someone had hit her head suddenly and darkness was cutting off every sense in her body.

The last thing she saw before closing them was a kolovrat symbol in gold and all was darkness thereafter.

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