I am so sorry. Anne had begun mumbling into her own mind, apologizing for things she had never done—for things she didn't know were wrong. She was apologizing for being different. Even now, she was with a bunch of humans. She couldn't be sure that they were nice, yet she was falling into the cycle once again, the cycle of trust and betrayal.
Anne shook herself awake and stretched. She was greeted by Rina, smiling like there was no tomorrow. The smile was warm and comforting, yet, it felt fake. something was hidden beneath that smile.
Vino had begun training, trying to communicate with his soul to figure out a method to temper it. Frags had done it in the past, so can he. Usually, people had methods passed down from their parents, but Vino was unfortunate enough to have one parent gone and the other forgotten. Maybe he wouldn't be in this scenario if his father was present.
Sniff He smelled something delicious. sniff sniff. He smelled something that he hadn't for years.
"Vino!" A call came from down the hall. It was his mother. "I made some pie!"
Pie. It smelled so good to Vino. It smelled like home. He got up and headed over to go look at what she had made.
He smiled happily and looked into the heart of the house, where the kitchen and fireplace lie. But something was off.
Creeeek. Vino looked down and noticed a creaky floorboard. It seemed familiar, yet, something was off.
"Vinoooo? Come eat your pieeeee." This time the voice sounded a little distorted, like someone was playing with his mind.
Crunch. He heard what sounded like a piece of wood breaking in the kitchen, he hesitated to look.
"Mom? Rina?" He called out. He took a deep breath and stepped into the kitchen, but was met with a shadowy figure. It looked like someone that once existed, but he couldn't tell. It had some inhuman features as well. Long fingers trailed the pie sitting on the counter. Their dark form showing the abnormal creatures intentions.
Crack. Craaack.
Vino looked up at the tall figure. He jumped back after seeing its head pop to the side. A thick ooze bled out of the creature's neck.
He looked down at his hand and the mark of the waning crescent really set in.
"Vino doesn't love me." The creature looked down, and tears fell, burning holes in the floor. Its long fingers grabbed the sides of its face, and it shrieked like a banshee.
Vino felt chill down his spine and turned around to run. The wailing of the shadowy creature knocked him off balance due to its sheer force.
Screee!
Vino stumbled back upwards and continued to run away to his bedroom. There, he planned to jump out the window.
But not everything goes as planned.
Vino ran through the middle of the home and took one step into the hallway.
Crack!
The floorboard that was squeaking before now had caught his foot. There was something off about the floor here. It was soft underneath, like a sack had broken his fall.
He quickly tried to pull his foot out, but it was hard because he couldn't stop shaking. He rotated his body and began pushing with his other leg against the wall. The creature rotated its head and began running at him once again.
He finally managed to free his leg, but he was in no position to run. He slid backwards and got ready to scream, but the creature suddenly stopped.
"Myy. Baaaby." It looked down at the broken floorboards and reached in to cradle the sack that was down there.
"You found my babyyy." The shadow creature turned the cover towards him and revealed a baby with pitch black hair and golden eyes.
"Oh Vinooo."
"My poor babyyy."
He backed up once again and hit his head on the wall, causing him to jolt back awake.
"What—what the hell!" Vino stood up and looked at his hand. The crescent was the same as ever.
"Frags, what is going on?" Vino called out, but there was no answer. He felt all alone for the first time in a while.
He began heading down the hall to go see what was going on, but stopped for a second after exiting his door. He turned to look back at the necklace his mother gave him. The lightning was bouncing around on the inside.
Vino looked up and started smiling, yet it was forced. A tear fell down his face. "Who the hell am I?"
After a brief moment of sadness, he went back to grab the necklace, throwing it around his neck.
He ran out of his room and into the hearth once again.
Silence. There wasn't a soul around, not anyone to talk to.
He began panicking and ran into his mother's room. His fears quickly faded as he saw his mother braiding Rina's hair.
"Hey Vino!" Rina called out. Hearing her voice made him feel calm. Like he had stressed for no reason.
"Hey." He felt relieved for a brief moment before remembering the necklace.
"Mom! Something is wrong with it!" Vino grabbed it and held it up, showing off the bizarre bouncing effect inside.
"Vino. Are you joking right now? Because this isn't a funny joke." Aria said while gripping the bridge of her nose.
Sigh.
"Vino. If you aren't lying, then that means..." A loud explosion cut Aria off. Aria jumped up and took the necklace from Vino, but it was still bouncing around.
"Mom! What does it mean?" Aria began shaking.
"Vino? You need to hide!" Aria undid her bandages once again and took off her heavy coat to reveal her chiseled physique.
"Can you explain what is-"
"Vino, you have more siblings. Way more family than you can imagine. I would estimate 17 others." Aria stopped herself. "That isn't what's important. All i can say is that you need to go! and leave this necklace behind."
Aria pushed Vino away, but the necklace started glowing bright. At the same time, the black bracelet Rina had made for him started glowing as well.
The necklace turned into a bright light and flew towards his wrist.
"Wha-" Vino looked down, and the black bracelet now had a red bead ingrained into its design. The black wooden beads around it had not changed.
"The gem changed! This doesn't make any sense!" Vino said, still shocked at the sudden changes.
"Vino, you need to hide! Follow me." Aria grabbed his arm and led him to the hall, where they looked down at a squeaky floorboard.
"Get in."