Lost Soul

Chapter 1: Mellohi Has Trauma

"Hello, Stal," she murmured sweetly. "I overheard some villagers at the village I was at yesterday speaking of this thing called a flower pot. It's supposed to be able to hold a flower without killing it. The only problem is when I asked them how to make it, they ran away."

Mellohi heard a scoff in the back of her mind. "You know you're talking to a flower, right?" Dexter muttered.

"Of course I do, Dex," Mellohi said. "Stal is my best friend."

"Your best friend is a flower and not the only voices who try to keep you somewhat sane?" Lavender grumbled.

"Yes, Lav," Mellohi stated matter-of-factly. "Stal is something I can see. It doesn't run away from me like the humans do. You, Sebi, and Dex are just in my head. I can't see you guys. Also, you aren't the kindest sometimes."

Sebastian merely grunted.

Mellohi said goodnight to Stal and rose to her full height, stretching and yawning. Meandering over to her shack, she reached into one of the chests and pulled out a small piece of steak. She popped the piece of meat in her mouth and strutted over to her sleeping quarters.

Opening the trapdoor covering the entrance, Mellohi squeezed through the small gap between the roots. It was barely big enough for her to fit through.

"We'll have to find a new place to camp soon," she murmured, knowing there was no point in thinking anything anymore.

"You could just make the hole wider," Sebastian pointed out.

"But that would kill the tree, Sebi," Mellohi pouted. "If it was higher in the tree, I would, but the roots are too precious."

"Your bed literally has walls of the roots. I'm sure the tree would live," Lavender stated.

"Perhaps," Mellohi mumbled, clambering into the makeshift bed made from leaves, twigs, and wool from sheep she had found.

Yawning once more, the girl rolled on her side as nightmares plagued her mind.

:-:-:-:-:

Mellohi scrambled through the darkened streets of the End City, the ender rods casting eerie shadows along the walls of the buildings.

"Late, late, late!" she mumbled repeatedly. Skirting around a corner, she came to a sudden halt in front of her house.

Panting, she reached for the doorknob. Just before she grabbed it, the door flew open, and two tall, angry figures stood in the threshold.

Mellohi flinched under their glares. She suddenly became very interested in her feet.

They said nothing. They merely grabbed both of Mellohi's arms with a grip like a vice, and dragged her inside.

Mellohi heard Sebastian at the back of her head. "Teleport outta here, Mel!" he urged frantically.

"Please, little Mellohi!!" Lavender chimed in.

"Your guardians will surely kill you!" Dexter exclaimed.

Mellohi shook her head, but she didn't reply. The voices only grew more frantic as the black figures threw Mellohi into her 'room'. It was more like a cell.

One of the figures slammed the large iron door, locking it from the outside. But little Mellohi did not relax, for she knew her guardians would be back. And they would bring the water.

Mellohi didn't know how they got the water, but she knew why. She looked down at her hands, which were covered in burn scars, old and new. Ever since her guardians found out she could speak the humans' language, they grew a sudden hate for her.

The Endermen are an apathetic race. Sure, they love their children, but they also love their social status. If their child has a disability, or doesn't behave like a normal Enderman, the child will be disowned. Some children are spared the horrors by being sent into the Overworld. Others, like Mellohi, are not so lucky. They endure torture for weeks, months, even years, before getting sent to the Overworld. The Endermen in the Overworld hear tales of these dysfunctional children, and a lot of the times those kids face persecution by them, too.

The clank of the door startled Mellohi. It creaked open with an earsplitting screech. The light of the ender rods illuminated the faces in the doorway, the glow accenting their vicious purple eyes. In one of their hands was a bucket filled halfway with water.

Mellohi shuddered. Her first guardian spoke with that terrifying warped voice. "We're going to do things a little different this time."

Eyes wide with fear, Mellohi struggled as her other guardian teleported behind her, pinning her arms to her sides in a crushing hug-like grasp. Only this was not a nice hug.

Mellohi's voices proclaimed their fear, but she couldn't do anything. She was trapped. She was scared. She panicked.

Salty tears pricked her eyes as she forced herself not to cry. It would only make the pain worse.

As her guardians finished tying her down to her bed, Lavender tried one last time to get Mellohi to move.

"Please, little Mellohi!! You need to teleport away!!" she begged.

"I can't...," Mellohi whispered in defeat. "I only got to the edge of End City before they caught me last time."

"That's a lot farther than most of the other children would've gotten," Lavender reasoned.

"I won't get to the portal. They will find me," Mellohi mumbled sadly.

Suddenly, a clawed hand rakes itself across Mellohi's face.

"Shut up, freak," her guardians growled in unison.

Taking up the bucket of water, her guardians shared a look of pure evil, just before dumping the whole thing onto Mellohi's chest.

Before the water touched her rough Enderman skin, the nightmare faded.