Biting winds and freezing cold snow swirled and brushed up against my skin. My hair whipped around, and I pushed it aside to see in front of me. Snow. Snow for as far as the eye could see. Cheeks burning from the sudden drop in temperature.
Everywhere around me was snow.
"Penguin?"
Nothing and no one for miles around answered me. "Eric? Harley! Kissae?!"
Still no response. Hot tears clung to my eyelashes and formed icicles that fractured every time I blinked. Dressed in only an oversized blue shirt that Kissae had lent me to wear…I was stranded in the middle of nowhere. My body temperature dropped, and my ears popped.
"Anyone? Mom…" I sobbed as I collapsed to my knees. I was alone. Completely alone. No one was here. No one. What am I going to do?
"What are you going to do~"
I held my breath and refused to turn around as her haunting mockery filled my ears.
"What will you do now that no one's here to tolerate your little tantrums~"
She chuckled and hissed in my other ear after a second. "God...it must have killed you. Just killed you...Not even knowing what you did wrong? Do you know now? Do you understand why we're so...illfated? You. It's you."
"..."
"It's always been you."
She stalks around me, and I can hear her laughter no matter how much I try to block it out. "All you had to do was keep your mouth shut. That's it. He would've gotten over it eventually...but no. You. You needed the validation..."
She growls low and deep in my ear. "The attention."
"You need it all. You need someone less empty to fill up your plastic heart because you're nothing."
"Stop it."
"Weak."
"No."
"Pathetic."
She grabs me by my hair and forces me to look into her eyes that were dripping with contempt. The amount of sheer hatred she had for me as she looked headlong into her reflection. She was one eye twitch from breaking my neck, and she made sure I felt it.
"You. Ruin. Everything."
"Stop it, please."
"No. You're going to hear me, you spoiled little brat. You're a fucking idiot with an ego the size of the eiffel tower. Nothing you do will ever erase that you're a moron. You're an infant with a handgun, blindly shooting at the people around you and getting surprised when they turn around and give you their backs. You pushed everyone who could have helped us away."
"What?"
"You killed us. You let us die."
"No. No, I didn't. I-I just wanted to get picked up from school!"
"You waited for him for hours. Until it was too dark." She coos to me the details leading up...until my death. "Waiting for your big brother to pick you up from school for the first time! You were over the moon~ You waited even when the doors closed."
"Stop it."
"You waited even when the buses and their drivers all went home~"
"No."
"You waited until it was dark. And cold. And you were all~alone. For you to finally pull your head out of the sand! He was never coming! They never were. Why would they?"
Breathless wails consumed me as I curled up into a ball in the snow. My tears melted and turned into ice. Mouth open in a silent scream as she rained it down on me. All of my failures. Insecurities. Wants. Needs. Mistakes.
She screamed at me until her voice was hoarse. I stayed there. Curled up in a ball, just waiting for it to be over.
"Why didn't you run away? Why didn't you fight back?! SAY IT!"
"I'm too weak!"
She grinned victoriously as I repeated all of it. Every horrible truth fell from my eyes and mouth like freshly fallen snow.
I don't know when she left. I just know she did.
And what made me sick was...
I missed her. I missed not being alone. She's right.
I am a leech.
My fingers lost feeling as I lay in the snow. Hair thrown around by the wind, but surrounding me in a halo.
There was nothing left to do but lie there. Lay there and wait for someone to come and get me. Save me or destroy me.
"Are you done?"
My eyes widened, and I looked up. Sitting criss-cross apple sauce style before me was my very own number one hater. Her black hair was a stark contrast to the world of white around us.
Smooth tan skin pulled taut as she stared down at the parasite beneath her.
"You're back?"
She curls her lip in disgust. "Back? I can't leave."
That revelation had me feeling warmer already. She can't leave?
"Who are you?"
"Take a guess."
"But that's not possible. I'm-I'm me. There isn't. There can't be another."
"Whatever. Are we done now? Next life?"
"Next, what? No. This. This is it. Right?"
"There is no end. There isn't a this is it. We always survive. So get up and stop feeling sorry for yourself." She vanished after that, and I was stunned into a stupor. Which may have just been hypothermia, but I guess we'll never know.
I pushed up onto my hands and knees. Fresh snow fell on me and I didn't shiver anymore. A valley filled to the brim with snow as far as the eye can see, like a giant's basin.
Familiar and unfamiliar. Cold seeped into my bones and made a home there.
In a last-ditch effort, I called out. "Aja? Mel? Boo—"
A small black cat poofed in front of me and I stopped breathing. Adorably confused, it yawned and stretched out its paws in the snow. Big black eyes followed my movements and Boo…He ran over to me and licked my cheeks.
Hot tears and a dry tongue were my only comfort. I scooped him up and gave him a good squish. Cats. A girl's best and possibly only friend.
"If you're here…Then I'm not completely alone." Somewhat hopefully, I called out.
"Status?"
My status screen appeared in front of me, and I sobbed gratefully. Oh my god. Oh my god.
[Miseria Noxcissa Duccanes.]
[Level: 20]
[Class: Control Witch]
[Race: Vampiric Elf, ???]
[Age: 1]
[Health: 1950/1950]
[Mental Energy: 800/800]
[Strength: 10]
[Vitality: 13]
[Intelligence: 20]
[Agility: 10]
[SP: 75]
[Skill : Telekinesis]
[Skill: Psychic Perception]
[Skill: Cognitive Overload]
[Skill: Aura Manipulation]
[Skill: Psychic Barrier]
[Skill: Pet Space]
[Skill: Culinary Novice]
[Skill: Novice Gardener]
[Equipment: None]
[Balance : 0 GD]
[Due to a penalty, certain [System Functions] and the previously existing [Balance] have been confiscated temporarily. Currently, you have access to the following. [Inspection] [Task Board] [Status] [Inventory] [The Craft Function]. Please complete the Dungeon within thirty days or risk being erased. Good luck.]
I sat back on my haunches. A Dungeon? They want me to complete this? Meaning fight monsters and whatever else is in here? I can't do that. I can't do anything. Self-defense classes at my local mall are nothing compared to what's in here. I can't do this. I'm going to die. Maybe I can just let it…
Boo yawned and meowed again. "..."