Cries of sorrow yelled out into the distance as the child's voice was covered by the noise. Droves raced down the street, kicking those who fell like empty bottles deserving of being put into the trash.
Screams of terror overshadowed those of confusion, but even with the ear-bleeding noise, the child could only watch as husks of bloody meat scattered across the sky.
The child slowly raised her head. Her eyes watered, with a blank expression, as she reached out her hands with tears running down her cheeks.
She muttered, "Mom?..."
….
"AHH!!!"
Kaelin's eyes shot open. "... What..."
Her eyes drifted down to her shaking hands, breathing heavily. 'That... was me...'
"But what else could that be..."
Flicking the sweat from her hand, Kaelin proceeded to press her hands hard on her chest, scraping the mildew and moss onto her clothes.
'Just... breath.'
With that, Kaelin let out a calm breath. With eyes staring in the distance, her mind slowly found its footing in this reality.
With a sigh of acceptance, Kaelin rested her hands on the floor.
'Great, a new symptom to deal with.'
"Kaelin! Are you ok!" Jared quickly appeared, saying all this at the corner of Kaelin's eyes.
"Oh, you're still here-"
'I really need to get myself together.'
Kaelin slowly looked away from Jared's worried face, deciding to get up from the loose blanket covering her legs.
"- You're too weak to be worrying about me."
"What?" His face twitched, replying sharply. "Bro, it's only been two days. How strong did you expect me to get?"
"That's not the point. Oh, whatever, my jokes don't land here either."
Kaelin reached to her side as a cooling, freshly wet rag suddenly appeared. She picked it up, wiping her face as she spoke.
"Ore, the time?"
"8:42 in the morning, daily mushrooms and herbs have already been collected. If that's all, I'll be going."
"Yeah, you can take it easy for the rest of the day. Just break me a piece of the nature-safe soap before you go."
With that, a hole appeared as Ore jumped in and vanished. In its place were two pieces of the soap bar perfectly cut in a square. Next to it was a new set of clothes.
Jared quietly watched, amazed by those two's effective communication.
Kaelin turned her head with Jared basically breathing down her neck. "Allrriigghhtt-" Kaelin slowly put her hand in the kid's face, pushing him away. "Don't you have some reading to do?"
"Oh, I totally got sidetracked."
"Yeah, get back to that because we got some training to do before we keep moving."
Pumped, Jared hopped, walking back to his book just feet away.
"Don't forget to stop when you start feeling drained!" Kaelin lectured, accepting his dismissive hand wave as enough of an answer.
'That kid is really something else. Sometimes I wonder if he has a mental illness or something.'
…
Crashing waves and cooling mist raced from the waterfall. Water flushed down the lush, nature-filled cliffside into the steady pond. A handful of jumping fishes leaped off the edge, flowing with the mellow tides. With her toes in the water, Kaelin stared into the distant forest as the small family of deer stopped to take a sip.
A slow, cultivating, and dreadful feeling passed over her. Things started to tint in color, washing in red. The joy, love, wholeness, and peace the view once gave gradually altered.
The vivid green beautification of the lakeside grass mutated gray, eroding like an engineered bioweapon to destroy all life. Right as the trees themselves started to sweat blood and snap, Kaelin's eye rapidly regained life as the red and purple glow abruptly vanished.
"Ugh…."
'Crap!'
Frantically, she started tapping the ground around her. Suddenly, she reached for the covered object beside her. Her breathing softened. Calmingly, Kaelin stroked the cloth covered object, lifting it before placing it on her lap.
She looked toward Jared, practicing holding his breath under the water. "What should I do from here?"
'This thing isn't slowing down, and now new side effects are showing up.'
As she placed her hand over the center of the object, her body twitched. The small concave hole in the center revealed itself as Kaelin ran her finger around its edge. Though brief, the image of her earlier dream filled her mind, riddling her skin with goosebumps.
Slowly unwrapping the cloth, Kaelin's Black Journal revealed its hollow center. With one touch of the damage, Kaelin's eyes flared up, her pupils narrowing like an untrained beast before adjusting themselves back to normal. With a pouch of supplies next to her, she wiped away an elixir. Popping it open, the vaper swiftly emitted as the liquid ran along the edge of the damaged area. Coping with the visceral pain, Kaelin almost reflexively bit her lip as blood ran down the side of her mouth.
As the last of the medication dripped, Kaelin watched as the repairs seemed to work, filling the hole but not fully removing the pain.
"That should take care of it for a while. "
Splash…
Water lifted into the air like a tiny explosion, splashing Kaelin's face. Bursting out the lake's surface, Jared exhaled deeply, Choking up water while fighting to take in the oxygen around him.
"Wow, I'm surprised." Kaelin calmly wiped the water from her face. "Thought you managed to drown yourself without putting up a fight."
Jared turned to her, fighting to breathe.
"So you were just going to sit there and watch?!"
"I was getting to it."
"You really don't have to be this mean."
Kaelin got up from her seat, taking a step or two away from him before turning her head.
"When are you going to decide to get out of the water? You know we have other things on the list for today?"
Jared's eyes briefly glowed white cyan with excitement. "There's more?!"
"Control yourself," Kaelin said in a motherly tone. "Just hurry up and get ready; I'll start preparing some high-energy food so we can get started. If you finish early, start reading the book's next chapter."
Kaelin continued to walk, saying. "And remember-"
Jared mimicked her words, "Don't overdo it." "Yeah, I know, I'll be careful and stop when I sense the bookmark starts glowing."
"Alright."
…