Day: 542
Days Left: 4938
Lives Saved: 2
Kai asked around for Corinna's whereabouts, but everyone merely shrugged or shook their heads. Groaning in frustration, Kai searched around the construction site and caught sight of someone with long golden blonde hair behind one of the buildings on the outskirts of the construction site. He turned the corner and stopped to see Corinna and Harmony talking to one another in hushed voices, their eyes gazing into the others'. Corinna's hand slowly rose up from her side and wrapped it around Harmony's waist, pulling her closer and-
"Kai!" Harmony yelped, retreating back a step as she noticed the man's presence. "We were just um..." Her voice trailed away, heat rushing to her cheeks.
Corinna, however, did not appear at all embarrassed but rather annoyed as she glared back at Kai, her hand still around Harmony's waist.
"Sorry," Kai laughed. "Didn't mean to interrupt."
Corinna's eyes narrowed, then widened, dropping her glare instantly as she gasped. "Wendy! I'm so sorry; it totally slipped my mind." She gave Harmony a quick peck on the cheek then dashed away. "I'll go now!"
"Thank you!" Kai called back. He turned to Harmony, who was fidgeting with her fingers and gazing down at the ground. "Did I come at a good moment?"
Harmony cleared her throat. "It's fine," she mumbled. "I think I've got a shelf that needs painting." And with that, she too left.
*
Klei stood on the sandy slope that led down to the grey beach. The black waves rose and fell, slowly devouring the debris of once was a tall tower of rocks that almost touched the ceiling of the sky but was now a pile of collapsed rubble. Above the remnants of that tower was where one of the portals to this realm would open; it was the portal that Klei and so many other prisoners had fallen through.
A shiver crept up Klei's spine, and he hugged his arms around his stomach, remembering how cold the water had been. Then there was the darkness, how pitch-black the ocean was, how he had to swim up not knowing when he would ever reach the surface. And those pair of eyes, the rotting hand reaching grabbing his ankle and-
He shook his head, attempting to evict that memory from his brain.
But Calixte... he used to be one of those creatures, the water nymphs, prisoners forever drowning in the Eternal Abyss.
"Mister Klei!" called out a voice.
Klei turned to see Salim strolling along the beach with the rottweiler Reggie at his side. Today Salim was wearing a cyan-blue sweater with matching trousers and his hair wrapped up in a cyan headscarf that had lines of silver that sparkled when it caught the light.
"Out for a walk, too?" asked the old man as he reached Klei.
"Of sorts," replied Klei. "Just... needed to think."
"Understandable. I imagine it has become quite difficult to find some peace and quiet with so many people around."
"Yeah." Klei nodded. "But there was another reason why I came here specifically." He gazed over to the ocean.
Salim looked to the rubble of the rock tower, then up at the sky. "Considering escaping, my boy?"
Klei snorted. "Not at all. Well, I wasn't considering escaping but rather helping someone else."
"Who?" Salim hesitated.
"I learned earlier that Calixte used to be a water nymph."
"And you wish to free him?"
Klei shook his head. "Not him." He motioned to the ocean. "The others."
"The other water nymphs?"
"I don't know how long they've all been down there, but perhaps if I bring them to shore, then they can start healing. They'll be able to live the rest of their prison sentence without suffering so much."
Salim sighed. "Tying rocks to prisoners so that they drown and become 'water nymphs' is an archaic form of punishment that is no longer around. I believe that the majority of them have already completed their prison sentence. "
"They have? Then why are they still here? They can't possibly want to stay!"
"When your sentence ends, they ask you to walk to the nearest portal opening."
"And the water nymphs can't do that..."
"They will also die immediately if they leave this realm. The Eternal Abyss is what is keeping them alive."
"Once they're out of the ocean and have healed, then they'll be able to leave, won't they?"
"Yes, I believe so."
Klei gazed back at the ocean. "Then that's what I'm going to do."
*
"Wendy?" called out a familiar voice as there was a knock on the door. "It's Corinna. Am I allowed to come in?"
"Yes!" The wendigo rushed up from lying on the floor, the chains around her ankles clunking and rattling, and sat on her bed, then gussied up her balding hair. "You may come in!"
Corinna opened the door and closed it behind her. She beamed at Wendy. "Hey, how are you settling in?"
Wendy swallowed. "The room is very pretty. I like the colour."
"Glad you like it. I believe Klei picked out the colour. But if you want it repainted or changed in any way, like more shelves, or a different layout, don't be afraid to ask. Whatever makes you feel like home."
"Home..." The wendigo gazed around at the pastel pink walls, the shelf of soft toys, and the painted white clouds on the ceiling.
"Well, as close as we can get to it imprisoned in the Abyss." Corinna laughed. "It's nice to have some sense of normalcy, so we don't all lose our minds and go crazy." She stepped closer into the room, hesitant, unsure if she should sit down on the bed next to Wendy or keep her distance as Klei had advised.
Wendy looked at her, then patted the bed with a soft smile.
Bowing her head low, Corinna sat down on the edge of the bed.
The wendigo scooched closer to the young woman, her thin and pale hand reaching out and stroking Corinna's long golden hair. "Such a pretty colour..." the wendigo sang.
Corinna flinched upon being touched and slightly recoiled back, putting on a smile in an attempt to not upset Wendy. "How has your day been?"
Wendy grinned, revealing her rotting and yellowed teeth, and skipped over to the shelf on the wall, picking up a soft toy giraffe. "I got this."
"Oh, cool!" said Corinna. "Have you given it a name yet?"
"No." Wendy shook her head. "You can't give them names; you have to ask them what theirs is." She put her ear close to the toy giraffe's head for a while, then sighed. "Nothing... they are not ready to tell me their name." Hugging the giraffe tightly to her chest, Wendy returned to sitting on her bed.
"I'm sure they will in time."
Wendy nodded. "When I'm free, I want to go see a real giraffe."
"Yeah, that sounds like fun. I went to the zoo a lot with my family-"
"No, not a zoo. I- I don't like them." Wendy looked back at Corinna. "Why are all the animals not allowed to go outside? They're probably unhappy there."
"Well, sometimes it's just safer for them to be in captivity. Some animals aren't born able to survive in the wild, so they need looking after in zoos. There are no other animals that will hunt them, and they always get food. So it's not like they're unhappy; they're well looked after."
Wendy hugged her toy giraffe even tighter. "Even still... they might be happy outside... with all of the other animals."
Corinna gazed down at the chains shackled around the wendigo's ankle, then followed the snake of metal up to the attachment to the wall, preventing Wendy from leaving.
"Do you think I could go outside, just for a little while, please?" mumbled the wendigo, her gaunt and ghostly pale face staring back at Corinna.
"The others say it's best that you stay in here, for the meantime," answered Corinna, her throat becoming dry as she slowly shuffled further from Wendy on the bed.
"Would you let me go outside, please, Corinna?" Wendy croaked, her hands wrapped around the toy giraffe's neck, suffocating it.
"It's not really my place to decide..."
"Why do Klei and Kai and Dex get to decide?"
"I don't..." Corinna swallowed. "This is really something that you need to discuss with those three." The young woman stood up and headed to the door. "But I have heard that you have been making great progress, Wendy."
"So, I'll be able to leave soon, right? Is that a promise?"
"I can't make any promises." Corinna sighed. "I'm sorry, Wendy. But what I can assure you is that you'll be happier and safer here than in that cave-"
"Would you stop me if I tried to leave?"
Corinna paused for a moment, her breath still, then a smile appeared on her lips. "Well, if you were to leave, then I wouldn't be able to visit you."
Wendy frowned in thought. "Yes, that's right." She looked back up at Corinna. "I'll stay here then... until the others say I can go outside."
"I promise I'll visit you again; I'll set a date."
"Okay." The Wendigo smiled. "Thank you."
*
"Calixte!" Kai called out to the amphibian, finally finding him by following the sound of a piano playing. The piano had been moved over to the construction site and kept underneath a gazebo in the centre of the community area.
Currently, Calixte was cleaning the instrument, brushing off any sand that had gotten trapped inside.
"Calixte!" Kai stopped and caught his breath, having run around the entire place in search of the amphibian.
"Good afternoon," greeted Calixte with a nod, his voice croaking and quivering. "How can I be of assistance?"
"I just..." Kai lowered his head. "I'm sorry about earlier; you know when I was asking you all of those questions about when you were...um..."
The amphibian stiffened his back and cleared his throat. "It is... quite alright, Mister Kai-"
"But it isn't, though." Kai sighed. "It must have been, well, 'horrible' probably doesn't quite cover it. And me asking all those questions likely brought it all back." He looked back up at the amphibian. "I'm sorry, Calixte."
Calixte glanced away, his webbed hands caressing the smooth white keys of the piano. "I... accept your apology." He let out a long and deep breath that gurgled from his damaged throat. "I would prefer not speaking about the subject again."
"Right, right." Kai swallowed, nodding in agreement. "I just... I think I've been here too long that I've sort of become desensitized to everything if you know what I mean?" The man scratched the back of his head and chuckled slightly. "All the horrible stuff that happens to people here, my mind just tries to normalise it, try to make jokes of it, make light of it, like when I was buried alive... I think that's why I stayed in my goblin form for so long. Since I was small as a goblin, I didn't feel as claustrophobic because every room seemed larger compared to when I was human."
"We all have our own coping mechanisms."
"And I'm sorry that mine hurt you." Kai put on a smile. "So, are we-"
"Calixte!" called out a voice.
Kai and the amphibian turned to see Klei heading over to them, his clothes heavy and drenched with water, leaving a trail of damp splatters on the ground behind him.
"Wow, what happened?" asked Kai.
"I thought I could do it all by myself, which was rather foolish of me," replied Klei; he then turned to Calixte. "I want to help the other water nymphs." He took a step closer to Calixte. "You can breathe underwater, right? You can-"
The amphibian broke into a wailing scream and cowered behind the piano, his body shaking and small. "Get away from me!" he screeched. "Get away!"
"Calixte?" Klei retreated back a step, his voice soft. "Calixte, what's wrong-"
"He doesn't want to go back there, Klei!" snapped Kai. "Why would he want to go back into the ocean after what he's been through?"
"I just thought that he might want to help rescue the other water nymphs..."
Having heard her friend in distress, Harmony rushed to Calixte's side. He clutched onto her, still shaking and sobbing. Harmony looked over to Kai and Klei and glared at them. "What happened?" she growled.
"I just..." Klei began, his voice trailing away as he looked around and saw the large group of onlookers.
The seven children peered around the corner, attempting to hide and watch in excitement for a potential fight. They weren't the only ones anticipating violence, or at the very least, a verbal argument. Relishing in the drama, Princess Alfreda and Riley whispered in amusement on the odds of who would win the fight.
"I'm sorry," continued Klei, bowing his head. "I was just asking for his help."
Harmony glanced up and down at Klei's drenched clothes, then sighed and nodded. "Calixte is hydrophobic."
Klei looked down at his soaked clothes and hair. "I see... that's understandable."
"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding," said Harmony.
"No, I'm sorry for scaring Calixte."
With the tension and conflict immediately disappearing, the onlookers left, Princess Alfreda and Riley especially disappointed with how easily and quickly everything had been resolved.
Late to the scene, Corinna rushed over to Calixte, the amphibian having calmed down a little but still shaken and blubbering. Harmony filled her in, then helped Calixte to go somewhere private with fewer people staring and away from anything water-based.
Corinna walked up to Kai and Klei.
"Is he going to be alright?" asked Klei.
"He should do in time," answered Corinna. "Just needs some peace and quiet."
Klei nodded. "I really am sorry."
"What was it that you need help with?"
Klei hesitated. "I wanted to free the water nymphs. Bring them back to shore so that they recover. I can't do it alone, and my monster form won't exactly be useful. I doubt being made of clay will give any advantage when trying to swim in the ocean."
Corinna glanced down at the ground in thought, then looked back up. "I want to help."
"You will?" Klei smiled. "I mean, are you not busy with building houses?"
"I can do both." Corinna shrugged. "Besides, most of the foundations have already been set. I want to help."
"Thank you," said Klei.
*
Hearing a knock on her door, Wendy bolted up from lying on the fluffy white rug in her room. "Who is it?" she called out.
"It's Dex," answered a voice. "Is it alright to come in?"
"Yes, it is!" Wendy beamed, sitting crossed legged and slightly swaying in giddiness.
"Hey, girl," sang Dex as he entered the room. "Got you some grub to eat!"
Wendy clapped her hands together. "I'm so hungry!"
Dex produced a bowl of steaming food and placed it on the floor before Wendy. "Careful, it's hot," he warned.
The wendigo's smile faded as she gazed down at the bowl of food. She leaned forward, inspecting the contents, her nose wriggling in disgust. "This isn't food."
"Yeah, it is." Dex laughed. He sat down in front of Wendy. "Now this..." The man closed in his eyes and breathed in and out with a sigh of delight. "This is proper food."
Wendy frowned and retreated back slightly away from the bowl. "No, what we had before was food."
"This is the same thing, only it's not cold but hot, and we're not eating out of the packet but instead out of a bowl like civilised people. Also, it's gonna taste a whole lot tastier than normal. You see, Oscar has found a way to make this stuff taste actually decent, and he can make it go further. We won't be going through our food supply as fast with his help."
"Who is... Oscar?"
"Oh, he's one of our new neighbours, one of our friends. He's been put in charge of meals. Heard he used to be a chef for the royal family before he got thrown down here. Wonder what he's imprisoned for?" Dex chuckled. "Overcooking the steak?"
"We seem to have a lot of new neighbours..." mumbled Wendy. She reached out and clutched onto her soft toy giraffe.
"Yeah, great, isn't it?"
"Can I go outside and meet them?"
"Uh..." Dex hesitated. "In time, sure."
"How much time?"
"Well- we shall have to play it by ear. Anyway, what's its name?" Dex motioned to the toy giraffe.
"They still haven't told me." Wendy sighed. "Where is Klei? He hasn't visited me today. He always does, at least three times each day."
"He hasn't?" Dex swallowed. "He's probably just busy at the moment. I'm sure he'll come by later-"
"What is he busy with?"
"Construction work, likely." Dex shrugged.
Wendy glanced down at the toy giraffe.
They both flinched as they heard loud voices from outside, one of them being Klei's.
"That must be him."
"Will you make sure that Klei visits?"
"It's a deal." Dex stood up and made his way to the door. "Make sure you eat your food, you hear me?"
Wendy nodded and watched as Dex left the room and closed the door behind him. She looked down at the bowl of steaming food and the fork that she had been given.
It wasn't the same.
Everything was changing.
Everything was different.
Why did it have to be different?
She sniffed the food. Her stomach rumbled and ached, begging to be fed.
Ignoring the cutlery provided, Wendy scooped the food out of the bowl and into her mouth until she scraped every single morsel possible.
But the hunger still lingered.
The wendigo then ate the bowl, her teeth tearing through the carved wood like it was air. Then she ate the metal fork.
The hunger was still there.
She was still empty.