Devi's aunt was in front of her. "Devi? What's wrong?" Devi ran to her aunt and hugged her tightly while crying. "My p-parents… M-Mother… d-died" The eyes of the aunt only shone with a golden greedy light and didn't even hug her back.
The aunt pushed the 10 years old girl away and slapped her cheek so hard, it became red in seconds. "Oh shut up. Aren't YOU the one who killed them?" Devi shook her head while still crying and said weakly "No". The aunt grabbed the girl's shoulder and shook her violently. "You are the one who asked them for that trip! YOU ARE THE ONE WHO BEGGED THEM TO GO DIE!" Devi also began to scream. "No. NO. NO! Not my fault! Go away!" The aunt's smile got way bigger, it was reaching her ears. Devi kept screaming and trying to break free. The hands who grabbed her shoulder seemed to have melted and became as hard as metal.
Devi could kick her legs but she wouldn't move away from that spot. The aunt with that creepy smile talked again but with a distorted voice. "Let me help you join them~. Join them~. Join your parents, Devi~."
Rotten hands of corpses were coming out of the ground. They were grabbing Devi's legs, wrist, arms, anything. "L-let me go-" Another arm was put over her mouth, making her unable to scream. Her aunt's solidified arms began to burn. The fire spread on Devi's body and she let out a muffled scream. The skin looked red and dry. You could see it slowly burning away and the muscles could be seen. While the fire was burning, the rotten arms were grabbing her more and more strongly. She heard loud cracks once in a while and saw through tears her arm being turned in a really weird way.
She couldn't know what was more painful. She wanted to escape but couldn't. She was feeling hopeless. She wanted the pain to go away. She was tired of this. Devi heard her name faintly. It looked like... like her parents' voice? She was still letting herself be slowly tortured but now her body seemed to sink into the ground. It looked as dark as the abyss. "Devi… Devi…"
The voice kept calling to her but the rotten arms were pushing her even deeper into the abyss, only her head could be seen. Her aunt, without arms, laughed evilly."Die! Everything is mine!" Devi just wanted for these nightmares to stop. She had enough of them. Why do most of them feel so real? Why must it hurt so much?
She was suddenly surrounded by darkness. She no longer felt the pain but felt cold and empty. She tried to look around but everything was black. She didn't even know if her eyes were closed or opened. Not like she cared. She was finally… free… maybe she would once again wake up with a ranging heart or maybe not this time.
"DEVI!" Everything seems to shake and cracks appear in the darkness. The light coming from those cracks was so shining, it would hurt the eyes even if they were closed. She didn't want it to touch that light, she felt like she was finally at peace but that light just came and ruined it. She didn't want to wake up and come here again. She tried to shoo it away but she got sucked in instead. She still tried to run away from the light but it didn't work. The cracks in the darkness were becoming bigger and bigger till it shattered it and made her come in a word full of light. It felt like the light was touching her soul. Burning it. It was hurting her. Hurting so much. Why did this light come to her? She was feeling fine and cosy in the darkness. Even if she waited, she didn't know how much time it would take to get used to the pain... or even if she would... It felt like it was trying to rip her apart. Like slowly something was pulled away from her. Like she was breaking so she decided to fight this pain. To move, to run even if she wasn't even able to see her body but only white. To run and run until...
Devi suddenly opened her eyes like a dead person coming back to life. The first thing she saw was pink walls. They looked weird so she ignored the color and drifted her attention elsewhere. She could hear her heart loudly in her ears so she concentrated on that. Her hair was always covering her eyes no matter what and only the wind could make them show their nose but she also didn't notice that they no longer covered her eyes.
Devi kept listening to her heart and taking deep breaths. Weirdly, the air felt different and she already forgot a little about that nightmare.
She grabbed her blonde hair and stared at it. It looked like it was bleached, it no longer looked golden but almost white. Her body froze and her brain lagged. "What's… wrong with me? Where am I? Is this a dream? Did my aunt really kill me?"
She looked around and found out that even if the room was bigger than her small room. It was also more luxurious than her real one. She felt a pinch of jealousy. Where was she anyway? It couldn't be that she was in her aunt's mansion? It slightly looked like her room but it also wasn't hers cause it looked so different.
She didn't even have the time to get up before her door suddenly slammed open. A swarm of people entered her room. She jumped up with a small scream.
"Devi!" A woman called her name while approaching her with tears in her eyes and shaking hands. She had a familiar mature face, blonde curvy hair and greyish blue eyes.
Devi couldn't believe her eyes. "M-mother?" This person looked so much like her dead mother. The woman hugged her and Devi was still processing the fact that her mother was in front of her. She couldn't help but think that she was dreaming or died and joined her in the afterlife.
"Never climb trees again! I told you over and over again not to exhaust your body doing such dangerous things. What if next time you truly die?" "Hm?" This sounded weird. Her glad and happy expression suddenly became hesitant. She wasn't a weak girl. It sounded like... Did she take the place of the heroine? Did her wish came true? Does that mean she is the heroine? She was wondering if the life she saw without her parents was actually a dream and this was reality. Devi let out a dreamy smile.
She couldn't believe it, but wanted to so much. Devi pinched her arm and it hurt a lot more than she expected. She worriedly rubbed gently her arm. "You're not dreaming, Devi. You are alive and everyone came to see your recovery." The woman kissed Devi on the forehead.
The hug was so warm and her hand felt so gentle. Devi no longer cared if it was a dream or reality, she would enjoy it to the fullest. She didn't think of what happened to the real heroine. Her eyes glittered with happiness and she hugged her mother tightly, ignoring the other pair of eyes that looked hurt for being ignored. "I missed you, mother!"
"Yes, yes. I missed you too but… call me mom or mommy like before. I feel hurt if you say it like that." Devi nodded. "Yes mom!"
Devi shyly looked at those strangers' faces and said thanks then hid her face on her mother's boobs. They were soft and warm. They bounced when she hid her face on them. Devi could hear her mother's heartbeat, it was soft and calming. Her mother looked at the extras and said with a strange smile: "Leave us." The others nodded with an awkward smile and unwillingness in their eyes, then they left.
The woman took Devi's head out of her chest and looked worriedly in her eyes. "How are you feeling sweetie? Where does it hurt?" Devi smiled and shook her head. "I'm fine mom."
"You've always been such a good child. Why must you have such a sad fate" Her mother had tears in her eyes. It made Devi's heart ache seeing her mother look so sad. She kept thinking of all those 2 years she lived alone. She would never let go of this warmth that she found again. "Don't worry, I will make sure nothing bad happens again. I will always listen to you. I love you a lot!" Devi kissed her mother's cheek, which made the others giggle and pat her head. "Alright then. You should eat carefully the food I make you. It will help you gain some strength. For now go back to sleep. You must feel tired, right? You can sleep, I will be right here."
Devi was about to say she was fine and that she wanted to talk more but suddenly let out a yawn and felt sleepy. "Ah… Yes… Good night mom…" She quickly fell asleep.
Her mother put Devi's head on the pillow and kept patting it with a warm smile.
The door slowly opened with a cracking noise and a whisper was heard. "Madame?"
The woman's smile disappeared and she stopped patting the head of her daughter. She stared with a chilling gaze at the person who dared to enter. It was a boy. She looked with disdain at that purple head. "What." She talked as though she spat out daggers and the room temperature dropped. The purple haired boy was sweating. "C-c-can't I see my girlfriend? A-after a-all…"
"Shut up and get the hell out of my sight!" The boy flinched and ran away, leaving the door open. The woman let out a sigh of frustration. She grabbed the nearest object and threw it at the door. It banged hard against it. It closed the door but at the same time, the object broke.
The small room's temperature was coming back to normal and the mother's eyes fell on the sleepy Devi. With a smile, she whispered while sliding her nails on the blonde girl's cheek: "I will love you a lot. So heal quickly and let's play a game… my sweet girl."