Meldtale

Prologue

Suicide themes ahead! Do not read if sensitive to such content! Just go to chapter 1!

Fallen leaves crunched beneath my feet, echoing through the trees like soft music. The sound of wind was its only harmony, the occasional bird whistle reaching my ears from far off into the distance. A mere hollow sound, it was enough to let me know that I was here alone. That, and the fact that I stood on a mountain forgotten long ago, a mere side show to the hiking path that brought me here.

It was a famous walking path, supposedly used by some great explorer that I couldn't care to remember the name of, which was traveled daily. It crosses into the valley and over the much larger mountain which was miles away now, just a shadow against the retreating sun. I guess the explorer couldn't have been bothered to travel over the smaller mountain on his journey. He honestly, in my opinion, missed out. This place was beautiful.

The trees and flowers were untouched by human hands, growing wild and free, petals shaking quietly in the breeze. For so late into the season, I was surprised there were so many left. I could spot a rose bush, clumps of daisies, and sprouts of lavender all in full bloom just from where I stood, standing vividly against the green foliage around them. It brought a fleeting smile to my face to see them brace themselves against the claws of cold. If I was capable I'm sure I would have felt the determination coming off them in waves. Hey, maybe I could. I was just to numb to notice.

Shaking my head, I tugged the sleeves of my cardigan over my hands, the usual cold of my skin seemingly sinking ever deeper into my bones. I was used to it, sure, but I still didn't like the aches that came from it. Especially in my fingers. They were always so stiff. But anyway... I was getting close now, so I guess I didn't have to worry about it for much longer. It'd all be over soon.

The landscape was growing ever more familiar and as I passed by a massive oak the hole stretched out in front of me. Like a gaping mouth, dark and carnivorous, it beckoned me forward till I stood on the edge, staring down into the gloom. I could just make out the craggy walls and the vines that snaked down the cliff face and twisted amongst the rocks and dirt. I couldn't see the bottom at all.

Finally, standing here at the top, I stopped to really think. Did I really want this? I thought I'd be more... afraid or something, but instead I just felt tired. When you haven't slept in over a month, decently at least, and you woke up only to be worked and beaten to the bone every night... It does that to a person. Then you have the fact that this was the moment where somebody should have been telling me, "Stop, you have people who really care about you. They'll miss you."

I knew for a fact, though, that nobody would miss me. An orphan, whose foster parents only took her in so the husband would stop beating the wife. They didn't let me go to school, I was 'taught' at home, and there were no other kids around our house since we lived in the literal middle of nowhere. I had barely spoken to another individual, outside of my so-called 'family' since I was twelve. I had barely talked at all after I had turned fourteen. Now I was eighteen, alone, and when I was gone they'd probably just write me off as one out of a million runaways. Nothing more, and nothing less.

Sighing, I closed my eyes, forcing my thoughts away. They only tore at my insides anyways. I was hallowed enough as it was. Stepping forward slowly, I didn't have to look to know that there was nothing beneath my foot. It was like the void had a presence about it that grabbed me, an icy claw around my ankle, and suddenly I was falling, my hair and clothes whipping about in the wind. I did not scream. Not even when my shoulder connected with something hard and a crack reverberated in my ears.

I didn't even have time to process it really. My body crashed into the ground, fiery pain shooting through every muscle, every shattered bone, every torn piece of skin. And the last thing I saw was the sunlight, so far above me, blocked out by something I could not register.