Nearly a week had passed. This was not a dream, but a disaster. A giant wormhole had manifested itself onto the nation of Vindyr, and harvested the souls of their citizens, seemingly at random. Those who remained unaffected were simply thought to be lucky.
News of this disaster spread throughout the world of Desiderium like wildfire. This incident would come to be known as "The First Cataclysm," as it was unknown to anyone when and where the next wormhole would appear. The entire world was on edge, trying to find a way to prevent this from happening again, and to find the culprit behind the Cataclysm.
As for the affected site of attack, Vindyr was essentially in a state of collapse. A majority of the population were now soulless husks, and survivors were few. Those fortunate enough to be unaffected sought shelter and refuge in neighboring countries, rendering Vindyr a "ghost town." There were no traces of a struggle or any signs of destruction. Everything had remained in place since the start and end of the Cataclysm. It was as if nothing had changed. The only difference was, instead of a thriving, bustling nation, there were only shells of the people who once lived there, frozen in time.
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In a village on the outskirts of Vindyr, a group of people approached the front door of a small house. One of the figures stepped up and knocked on the door gently, three times. There was no response, as expected. The survivors had allowed themselves inside the house, and laid their eyes upon a victim of the Cataclysm.
It was their reclusive neighbor, Helsyn. They had already known the poor girl's fate, but decided to pay their respects before leaving to find a new home. They had thought it was only right for a girl who seemingly lived a life without love or purpose. They wanted to make it seem like she had people who cared about her in the end, and to make sure she did not die alone without anyone thinking of her.
Each of the survivors sat beside her body. They spoke to each other about the unfortunate victims of the Cataclysm and how terrible the situation was. Looking at Helsyn, her pale skin and unkempt hair remained the same as it was on that day. Her white t-shirt and the bandages wrapped around her wrists. The red flower in her hair she always wore. Even though this girl despised life itself, and held no value towards her own, she still had people who thought about her at the very end.
The villagers decided to keep Helsyn's body exactly where it was; in her bed. They knew removing her from her "safehaven" would be doing her a disservice. As the villagers took their leave one by one, Helsyn laid, asleep and in a state of stasis, for what would be the end of time.
Until her eyes opened. As the door was being shut, she awoke from her supposed eternal slumber. The confused girl sat up from her bed, and looked around, dazed. After getting up and drinking some water, the memories rushed back to her. She had known exactly what had happened, as if she were conscious throughout the entire ordeal.
At that moment, Helsyn fell onto her knees, onto that cold, hardwood floor of her home. She fought back the urge to vomit as the reality of the situation hit her. She had "died." She was dead for nearly a week, stuck inside her own body, without the ability to reach out for help. Tears began to stream down her face as she recalled the misery of being trapped within an empty shell. An unimaginable void.
Then, she laughed. And laughed. And laughed. She was alive, after all. This was an undisputed fact. She had been given another chance to live, despite being so careless with her life. Her laughter began to turn into a crazed, maniacal one, as she entered a state of hysteria and insanity. Helsyn had never felt such intense emotion before. Nonetheless, she embraced this feeling of being alive, and revelled in the fact she was able to "revive" from the dead.
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As her manic episode continued, something special had begun to awaken inside of Helsyn. An unknown power. Before she knew it, the right arm of a skeleton formed alongside her own. It seemed to be the size of a giant, considering the fact that the arm was several times larger than hers. Surrounding it was a purple aura, emanating menacingly. Helsyn held her hand in front of her face, in awe, as she realized the skeleton's arm moved along with her own.
At the same time, a burning desire began to emerge from within. It was a small flame at first, but it continued to grow and grow, until it encapsulated what was left of her own rational thought. The flame gave her purpose; something she never had before. It was as if the flame was its own entity, manifesting inside the body of its host. It was at that moment, when the flame seemed to utter a single word—
Consume.
Suddenly, everything began to make sense. Helsyn realized what she must do. Consume. Devour. Sate her appetite. She finally understood the feeling of hunger that she neglected her whole life. This was her life's mission. To consume.
It was almost as if she was no longer in control of her own body. She stood up, the skeleton's arm moving along with her. She walked towards her front door with purpose, and opened it.
"Ah, the outside world. It's... so beautiful."
Helsyn had never once been so relieved to see the night sky. In fact, she had rarely ever gone outside on her own. This act of opening the front door to her own home and taking a step outside meant everything.
Still, her body continued to move on its own, taken over by this foreign desire to consume. Upon stepping outside, Helsyn stood still and closed her eyes, taking in the smell of the surrounding environment. Her eyes then immediately snapped open. Her sense of smell was elevated to a level beyond what should have been normal. She was able to make out the scent of humans in the distance. It was her neighboring villagers that had paid respects to her corpse only minutes prior.
At first, she began to walk slowly and solemnly, as if each step was filled with purpose. Then, she began to run. Faster. And even faster. At this point, she was like a feral anime hunting down its prey, sprinting with her back low and her arms behind her, flowing against the wind.
Helsyn's eyes were no longer human. It was more akin to a hungry beast, filled with nothing but a shining, bright red that resembled fresh blood. Slowly, the small group of people began to enter her vision and grew bigger and bigger as the animal approached. One of them turned around, but it was too late—
The beast lunged towards the one who had reacted first, and managed to bite a chunk of their flesh from their neck. There, she sat on top of her victim, looking up at the sky and savoring the taste of blood in her mouth. The girl had never felt so relieved to have something to eat.
At the same time, one of the other soon-to-be victims screamed in horror as they watched their friend get killed by what resembled a lion. Helsyn stood up off of the corpse, and swiftly grabbed the throat of the one who screamed at an inhumane speed.
"H-Helsyn...? What are you do—"
𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘱.
That was it. There was one more traveller left, who had already began running from the start. It was a futile effort. Helsyn did not even need to sprint at her full speed, but rather walked at a brisk pace to reach her target.
"W-Why?! Why are you doing this...?! We thought you were dead!"
The man turned around and cried out, as if these were his last words. Helsyn simply scoffed, but did not respond. It was like trying to talk to a wild animal. There was no human left inside of this girl anymore.
She raised her arm, and brought it back towards herself, as if to prepare an attack. The skeleton's arm was still attached to her, and seemed to grow larger as Helsyn got ready to take out the poor human before her.
The skeleton's fingers sharpened like claws, and Helsyn swiped in front of her in a single, quick motion.
Blood began to burst out of the man as he collapsed onto the ground. Upon closer inspection, his face was completely mauled, and there were large claw marks from his face to his body. It was almost like a bear attack, except on a much, much larger scale. Anyone looking at this scene would attribute it to an unknown species of animal or "an unidentified, overwhelming force."
Helsyn looked down at the fresh meat laid down before her. She got on her knees and began treating herself to the greatest meal she ever had. Gorging on the man's guts and intestines, Helsyn had a look on her face that she never thought she could make. She was smiling out of pure joy and delight, as she continued feasting on human flesh.
Her hands and face were stained with blood, and the white t-shirt she wore was almost completely covered in the bright crimson of her victims.
After a few minutes, Helsyn stood up and began to walk around aimlessly. The skeleton arm and its purple aura dissipated as her appetite was sated. That intense desire to consume no longer controlled her. Slowly, she began to regain her senses.
The girl then looked around at her surroundings, and found the defiled corpses of three of her kind neighbors. The same neighbors who would check up on her every week and offer her food. The same neighbors who came to pay their respects when she died.
Once again, Helsyn was brought to her knees, in a state of shock. She held her head with her blood-stained hands, refusing to believe the scene that played out before her was real. The beast, having returned to its senses, began to cry in guilt of what it had done. The crying quickly turned into laughter, and she looked up at the night sky, laughing at her own situation, as if the very gods were playing a cruel prank on her.
There she laid, in a grass field near her village, surrounded by three innocent people who she killed, under the night sky. She laid with her arms and legs splayed out as she stared at the stars in the sky, with a dumbfounded look on her face.