( XIV. from the shadows
you call my name; part one )
a small girl sat in a chair inside the office of the school with her head lowered and hands fidgeting in her lap nervously. not a sound had been made from the girl since she first took her seat once directed by her mother.
the principal had called for a meeting with her parents and she was only allowed to sit inside the office, not allowed to leave the area or else she'd be in trouble, and that was enough to keep the quiet girl in her seat.
her blue bangs had covered her face from anyone who tried to peek at discreetly, failing instantly once they saw the bangs.
the girl wasn't even sure on why her parents had to be called in or why she couldn't return to class with her teacher who had dropped her off. her grey eyes gazed towards her school bag that occupied the chair to her left, noticing how the bag looked fuller than usual.
"-erity." the girl looked up almost instantly once she heard her name be called, noticing how her parents and principal stood there, looking down at her. "grab your bag, we're leaving."
her mother's tone was strict and the young girl knew that she wasn't in a good mood just her tone of voice and the look in her eyes.
erity quickly did as she was told and grabbed the bag with a silent huff escaping her lips, not expecting the sudden weight of the bag.
"thank you again for stopping by so quickly," the principal bowed her head at the parents of the young girl with a small smile, looking down at the girl again with a small wave. "goodbye miss kimura."
"let's get going." her father pushed against the bag that rested on erity's bag, giving her a slight shove. "follow your mother."
"why am i leaving school? i still have class?" the girl tilted her head innocently as she gripped the straps of the bag, just wanting to stop in place and run back inside the school.
her mother cleared her throat before turning to face her daughter, even crouching down to eye level so she could properly look at her daughter. "you're no longer going to this school. they kicked you out due to concerns for your... wellbeing."
erity was definitely confused by her words and what she had meant by wellbeing; but tears welled up in her eyes, nonetheless, once hearing that she had been kicked out. it was too much information for her small brain to possibly process and all at the age of 7.
"let's go now, erity."
erity sat alone inside her room surrounded by a small amount toys that created a mess inside the room, though she knew not to create messes she didn't bother to clean them up. her parents wouldn't be home until late at night anyways.
the girl kept herself busy by now drawing on a piece of paper with colored pencils her parents had bought her long ago. she wasn't sure on what she was drawing at the moment, it only looked to be a blob of nothing.
and the sound of whispers had reached her eyes and she found that strange as it seemed to go on forever, no one was nearby and she didn't see anything that could whisper into her ear like that. the voice of nothing was close to her ear, but she couldn't tell properly from which direction.
with any normal child, they would've been scared out of their mind... running out of the room and crying for their parents in the process; but erity just sat there and continued her drawing without a care in the world. only occasionally did she stop to let her hand have a break and to look around the bedroom.
"this way, erity." the whispering urged her to look in one direction, but she wasn't sure on where it was. "to your left."
and erity did as told and looked to her left to see what the whispering would show her, and she was confused at what she was looking at.
just a blank looking wall that was hidden away from the sunlight flooding into the room, though it looked unnatural how it seemed to avoid that wall so easily.
"what am i looking at...?" erity questioned aloud hoping to get some type of response back from the whispering voice. "all i see is a blank wall."
"look beyond the wall."
she shuddered slightly when the mysterious voice responded back almost instantly, as if it was waiting for her to say something back.
"...how do i do that?"
"come closer and i'll show you." she went against her gut feeling that told her to run away, instead she walked even closer than before. her eyes trained on the center of the wall where it seemed most dark at, a nervous look covered her face. "now reach out."
erity's hand reached out towards the wall once she was close enough to touch it. her arm was raised outwards as she stood there waiting for anymore instructions from the voice, she oddly felt safe during that moment. "what now?"
she didn't have to wait much longer after asking the voice, because she felt something grip lightly onto her hand. the girl's eyes greatly widened at the feeling of something touching her hand, something from the wall had grabbed onto her hand.
"...what is this?"
"erity," the girl waited eagerly for the next words to come. "do you have any friends?" the girl shook her head no. "do you wish for me to be your friend?"
a gasp left the mouth of the young girl and a single tear formed in her eye at the question, happiness began surging throughout the girl. "you'd really be my friend? my parents don't allow me to have any..."
"don't listen to your parents then."
"okay..." her gaze dropped towards the floor for a moment, "what are you? what's your name?"
she waited for a response patiently, dropping her arm back to her side once she felt nothing anymore. her eyes searched the wall for any type of sign that the thing was still there.
and she didn't know what to think or feel once she saw eyes beginning to form seemingly out of nowhere in the center of the dark wall. erity stumbled back a few steps at the bizarre sight with great confusion.
"i am zankoku, a devil.. though i'm... your... friend." the eyes stared back at her and watched as a grin grew on the girl's face, completely changing her previous mood and happiness practically radiated off of her.
"devil? no way! you can't be if your my friend now!" the girl exclaimed happily, a bright smile on her face. "can i call you... my angel instead?"
the devil sighed inwardly at the young girls childish thought and nonetheless agreed to her question, only to make erity smile.
"who are you talking to?" erity's mother nearly broke the door off the hinges when entering the room, staring at her daughter with a crazed look, clearly expecting an answer out of the eight year old girl.
the young girl eyes widened at the sound of her mother's voice and looked down, noticing how the shadows had disappeared from the wall and she was once again alone... alone with her mother who seemed to hate her.
"n..no one..." erity meekly responded to her mother with an obvious lie, trying to deceive the older woman. "just myself..."
"and what did i tell you about that? that's probably what got you kicked out of that damned school in the first place, making them think your crazy." she harshly spoke to the young girl, "well starting from now things are going to be different. we signed you into a different school, way more different than what you're used to."
"what do you mean...?"
"don't interrupt me." erity's mother huffed and dragged a suitcase into the room, putting it into view for erity to see. "anyways, get to packing. you'll be staying there for some time so pack what you need." and with that she turned and left the young girl behind, not bothering to shut the door.
erity waited a moment after her mother left to finally let out a breath that she unknowingly had been holding in. the girl turned back to look at the wall only to see that it was normal looking, so she assumed that he had gone away for the time being. she sighed but obeyed her mother's orders and began to pack.
the parents of erity had graciously given the young girl a few days to pack and get her stuff together for her new school, more of her father than mother. the older woman truly didn't care whether or not erity wanted to go, it wasn't her choice in the end. she had prematurely signed her up for the school even before she was kicked out.
the family of three stood outside of the plain looking two story building that was claimed to be a school. the chilly autumn breeze passed by them as they stared at the building, before the older woman nudged erity forward.
"let's get going," she walked ahead of her daughter and husband, her heels clicking on the cracked concrete. "no need to keep them waiting for you any longer."
it took only a couple of minutes for them to arrive inside the office of the school and another process of waiting inside of an office.
"mr. and mrs. kimura?" a man asked as he rounded the corner and looked at the family with a smile on his face. "please follow me to my office."
erity had lagged behind the man and her parents after feeling tug of the back of shirt, but once she turned around she saw nothing in sight.
her eyebrows furrowed at the empty corner behind her and continued to stare to see if anything would stand out, but to her disappointment nothing happened.
"erity. what are you still doing out here? come on." her mother grabbed onto her wrist and practically pulled her towards the office, leaving the girl to stumble over her feet and not say something about the pain.
"you are kimura erity, i assume?" the man who she guessed to be the principal asked as she took her seat in between her parents, smiling at the girl once she nodded. "nice to meet you, i'll be your principal and caretaker from now on."
the girl looked from the strange man to her parents, "how long will i be here for...?"
her mother put a hand on the shoulder that was closest to her, putting up a front. "until they feel as if you're well enough to come back home."
erity's hands began to fidget on top of her lap and she couldn't take her eyes off of them, not wanting to accept the reality that she'd be forced to stay in an unknown place.
she felt like she didn't even have a voice to say anything going against their wishes, it was never her choice. only ever theres.
and so she had no other choice but to nod her head and agree for what was to come, with reluctant open arms embracing it all.
ꗃ ──────────── ❥
jan. 4th, 2023
jan. 6th, 2023 (published)
CRAZY 3K...
also thinking about
making the chaps longer
but idk yet