Mavis' pov
"Honey wake up." Feeling someone shaking me lightly, I opened my eyes to be met with the ones from my beloved father. His warm brown eyes squinting slightly as he smiled at me. I dove my hands under my plushies that surrounded me in my comfortable bed. I breathed in slowly and closed my eyes so I could fall back to sleep again.
"Your mother is waiting." My father said in a final voice, patting my head.
"Dad?" I reluctantly pulled my hands out under my plushies, pushing myself up to a seating position.
"You fell asleep, lunch is ready."
I stared at him for a moment. Something inside my head screamed at me to remember something, but I had no idea what it was. I am feeling out of place, as if I do not belong in here. I looked around and immediately forgot about whatever I was just thinking about.
Jolting up out of joy from my bed, I sprinted towards the kitchen and was engulfed by the rich smell of my favorite food.
Smiling at that, I jumped eagerly up and down.
"Yay, mommy made curry!"
A feeling settled inside of me but I couldn't sort it out. It was a feeling that was a mixture of relief and sadness, wich made me stop smiling like an idiot.
I walked towards our dining table and took a seat at my usual spot. Waiting for my mother to give me my plate. Curry is a simple dish, but my mom makes it so delicious that it tops every dish I ever put in my mouth.
My mom had a small smile on her face as she placed the dish on the tabel. I waited for my parents to come and join me, reaching out for my plastic cup to drink some water.
It felt so familiar, as if everything right now was a memory. I furrowed my brows slightly at the weird feeling. Maybe I just feel that way because my mom is the one that always cooks? I have only seen my father cook once. At least he tried to.
It was a special day for my parents that day. They said it was their anniversary? Something like that.
But at the end, my dad ruined my mom's favorite pan and knife.
As we ate, I suddenly remembered something I wanted to ask my parents.
"Mom? Dad?"
Dad gave out a 'hmm?' and mom tilted her head. "Is something honey?"
I placed my spoon down and started kicking my feet under the table nervously.
"You know, in school all the girls got this one doll and I wanted to ask if you could get me one of them, too?" I asked, looking towards my mom with big eyes.
"Of course, but it will have to wait till tomorrow. We wanted to visit the new neighbors, remember?" My mother smiled at me gently, then continued with her meal.
I pouted, my heart falling into my stomach. "But I want it today! The girls and I wanted to play with it tomorrow. I promised them."
My dad let out a sigh, reaching out to scratch his days old scruff. "You shouldn't have promised something you cannot keep. You didn't even know if we would buy you that doll when you made that promise."
I stopped breathing to make myself cry. Or pass out. Whatever would happen first. Tears slipped down my face and I stared at my father. I always get what I want when I act sad, so I just have to act pathetic. Even if it means disappointing him.
"Never promise something if you think you would most likely not keep it." Dad said with a stern tone.
I nodded as more tears slipped down my chubby cheeks, finally taking a slow breath in. "I am sorry, but can we get that doll now? I will never do it again!" I promised. Probably also something I would not stand true to, but he doesn't have to know. It's not like he can look into the future.
My mom reached for my dad's hand and looked him in the eyes reassuringly. "How about we go after lunch to the mall. After that we can go visit the neighbors."
His shoulders relaxed a bit and he let out a slow sigh. I smiled to myself immediately and picked up my spoon.
Dad could never say no to mom.
~
We were just looking for the doll that I wanted when we heard gunshots. Screams erupted from civilians and they were running towards the exit of the Mall. My father pushed my mom and me behind him, looking towards the exit of the doll store we were in. I couldn't see much considering I was standing behind my parents. A woman tripped and fell down in front of the store. But no one helped her get back up. Everyone was still screaming. Still running. Even trampling over her to get out of the Mall.
My father took my mother's hand, and she took mine. "Don't let go." He warned us, walking to the shop's exit. I could feel my heart pounding as we neared the chaos outside the store. Couldn't we just stay inside? Surely the heroes would take care of this before something serious could happen.
The moment we entered the storm of people, I had to run fast to keep up with my parents, or else my mom would have to drag me like a doll through these people. They were pushing and stepping on my feet, and the only thing I could do is grit my teeth through the pain.
We stopped running when a man in front of the exit pulled out a gun and fired 3 shots into the roof.
My mom clung at me and my dad stood in front of us, in a stance that I always saw heroes in the news do when they were about to fight, shielding us from that one man with the gun at the exit.
"Don't move, scream or try to call the police! If you do, we will not hesitate to shoot you!" The man at the exit threatened.
"Mom, what's going on?" My brain couldn't quite process the whole scene. After all, I never witnessed guns in action. Or someone blocking our way. Or my mom crying over something so simple. It was simple, wasn't it?
"It's okay honey. Everything will me alright."
It sounded like as if she said that to herself. Tried to believe it herself. She said that over and over again, and I slowly grew tired of the chanting. My feet still hurt and the grip my mother had on my arms started to numb my hands. I felt burdened but hugged my mom so that she would stop quivering.
She was yanked away from me all of a sudden and i fell to the ground because of the force.
"MOM" I tried to reach for her hand, standing up halfway, but I was held back by an elder woman.
"Child, stay by my side." She whispered to me. To which I felt the urge to sneer at her. I wanted to say something rude to that woman, but remembered that we should always be respectful to our elders.
I turned around, looking at the spot where my dad was, but he wasn't there. He wouldn't just leave us alone, where is he? They just took mommy out of my arms and she is crying.
I could hear my mom's silent cries and begs to let her go, that she has a child who needs her, but the man ignored it, holding his sharp sword like hand to her throat. I was confused. She needed me more than I needed her now. I am sure the heroes are coming and I can watch them in action. I felt excited.
A villain. That's what they call them, isn't it? But they seem like any other human being. They look disheveled for some reason. And dirty. Do they not have a bathroom or something?
"Let her go!" I heard my dad shout from the right side, stepping out from behind civilians. He wanted to attack the man that held mom, rush to her, then I heard a gunshot. My dad fell limb to the ground. I was in utter shock. My body froze as I couldn't do anything more than look at my dad's limp body.
Blood flooded out in a matter of seconds.
The heroes would come now for sure. They just...
"NO!" My mom cried out, she tried to break free of the hold from the man that held her. I know enough about death that if someone gets shot in the head, it was over for them. Looking slowly away from my dad with tears in my eyes, I looked at my mom. And in that moment, I saw how her throat got slid up as she screamed my name-
~
Jolting up from my dream because of a scream, I looked frantically at my surroundings. Who the fuck would scream that loud in the middle of the night?
"Hey kid, it's okay." A man said from my right side and I tensed up. I reached for my dagger under my pillow but it wasn't there.
Looking up to the bed that was a couple of feet away from mine, I saw my teacher, his skull bandaged up.
Only then did I realize that I was in a hospital. I tried to play everything off.
"Hmm?" Letting out a confused hum I looked at the thing that let out this beeping noises.
My pulse went from 240 down to 190.
"You screamed when you were sleeping, did you have a nightmare?" He asked with a hint of worry in his voice.
'Oh, it was my scream that I heard.'
"Oh, it was nothing." I said, scratching my neck only to wince.
Doctors stormed in and looked relieved when they saw me.
After a couple of checks, a doctor said, "You gave us quite a shock, Ms. Mavis, we thought something bad happened to you at how high your pulse was."
"It was just a dream."
'A memory in my case, but whatever.'
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