Unblinded Faithful

Chapter 5: Reality

"...Hello?" the boy's voice scatters through the dark void.
"Where am I...?" an unfamiliar space, one cold and empty, surrounds him completely.
A dream.
Flickers of light start breaking through the dark exterior. It's the voice of another, trying to reach his ears.
Hoping for a response, Aide calls to the light, "Is anyone there?"
A few moments of silence pass before the light intensifies into a blinding beacon for a few moments, and then dissipates, leaving the silhouette of a person standing.
"...Oh, you're here," the silhouette produces a sound closely resembling a young man's voice with an uncaring tone. Sparks flying in intervals from something in their hands, what appears to be a pocket watch and some sort of utensil.
Their hair is glowing a brilliant blue, and their attire a robe with jewels embedded in parts of the sleeve and chest.
"How bothersome... To think you would show up when I was around," the agitated individual says before clicking his tongue in displeasure.
When Aide tries to speak again, what comes out of his mouth are words that aren't his own.
"...Hey, mister..."
"What do you want?"
"...That lady in the clearing... Was she really blind?"
"...?"
"Did I leave someone that needed help alone... and left them to die, when I could have prevented it?"
"Did I do something bad?"
"Am I horrible for leaving like I did?"
"But how was I supposed to know..."
"What if it's my fault?"
"I'm scared..."
The boy is unable to stop talking in a self-destructive spiral.
"...It seems the more darker thoughts are leaking through. I would rather not deal with another one of you, especially not when you're prattling off, so I'll send you back where you belong," he says, then lifting the hand holding the watch higher, he presses a button on its side.
*Click*
The visage of the man fades into the surrounding darkness in an instant, and Aide feels as if he's being pushed away with great force-
*Gasp*
He opens his eyes in a hurry, and raises his body, feeling as if he had pulled his head from underwater.
He rests on his hand for a moment before a sharp pain in his wrist along with a piece of fabric wrapped around it remind him of his injury.
After looking at his surroundings he realises he is in his father's room.
"What in the world was that dream...? Wait, no, before that, father!"
Frantically looking around, Aide stumbles out of bed and drops to the wooden floor with a loud thud.
He hears stomping for a few seconds and the door swings open.
"Aide!" he quickly helps him up from the ground as he says, and places him back on the bed.
"Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?"
"...My wrist..."
"I've already called the doctor over, he had a look while you were unconscious and said it'll be okay long as you rest. You had me worried sick!"
"I'm sorry... But wait! What about that lady?!"
"..."
"Father, what happened?"
He places a hand in his pocket and pulls something out.
"There was... nobody in the forest," a single piece of black cloth is what comes forth, light traces of dry blood still covering it.
Aide's face turns pale. A chill runs down his spine as he recalls all the strange sightings he had witnessed before, and his father's words send him into an even deeper pit of confusion.
He explains, "I looked everywhere in and around that clearing, but all I could find was this cloth wedged in a field of dead grass. I'm going to gather some men to search the area again, so you just stay put here until we're back."
"...Yes, father..." the boy lays on his side facing away, and his father leaves after patting his shoulder, placing the blood covered cloth on a nearby desk before departing.
The boy tries to fall asleep, the strange dream he had and the current circumstances still on his mind.
Struggling for a few hours before finally falling asleep again, time passes by until nightfall.
Uneasy sleep now fading and leaving a sense of empty exhaustion washing over him, he sits upright on the bed in the dark room.
The window is open to let in the faint moonlight, and with its guidance Aide gets up from bed and steps towards the desk.
He opens the drawer and takes a fire steel and some tinder, and shakily striking it with his injured wrist, he sets alight a candlestick hanging from a hook besides the door.
The glow of the fire makes him squint his weary eyes, and the chilly air makes him shiver slightly.
He just wants to go back to sleep. As hard as it is to do so right now, he would like nothing more than to rest for just a while longer.
His eyes drift towards the empty desktop.
...
"Where did that cloth go...?"
He checks to see if it had been knocked down from the desk somehow, but it's too dark to see.
He takes the candlestick off the wall and gets down to look on the wooden floor.
A cold breeze from the open window hits his back.
"If I leave that open it might blow out the candle..."
He gets up from the floor facing away, but before he turns around towards the window he freezes in place.
...The wind sounds too loud.
This familiarity is unmistakable. With his heartbeat rumbling in his ears, he turns around and aims the light towards the window with haste, and just then, she was there...
The black fabric of her cloak fluttering in the wind, white eyes piercing through the dark... and the glint of a tear falling from her eye.
The boy stands frozen in place, his hands shaking as he tries not to drop his light.
On the edge of tears and just before he starts screaming for someone, anyone, to come, the crying woman drops back towards the window and falls out, and a loud bang follows.
Still quivering, Aide quickly musters all the courage he has left and runs over to the window to look out, but there is nothing there. He's only on the second floor, but for someone to slip away this quickly while taking a fall...
Aide drops to his knees, heavy breathing that was attacking his eardrums now dissipating into a regular rhythm.
"I've... had enough of this..."
His hands barely don't let the candlestick fall on the floor as they drop down, and he lays to the side of the window before passing out once again...