Karren Neil's Story

I don't understand why I'm like this. An unsociable guy. If only...no if's Luka. Haha...a dream...I see snow, lots of it. I decide to stand up and walk. I notice that my hands are covered in blood...I wonder what happened. I look to the left to see a haze. I stop and look straight into it. I see a young me, reading a book on a swing. My parents nowhere to be seen. A group of boys come up to me and say, "Get off the swing, Luka, if you aren't going to swing."

Younger me says in a hesitant voice, "...N-no..."

The boys laugh and walk away. They know that I get uncomfortable under certain situations but in a small town there are no bullies. People were to nice. They're dead now. I keep walking and look to my right. This time it's like a void. I look into it. I see a me again, slightly older than the one before. What I'm looking into is an argument that my parent's were having. My dad yelled, "No!!"

My mother stepped back in shock. She notices me first. "Jace...Luka is over there," she says.

I tear myself away from those memories. I keep on walking in this dream of memories. Nightmare of forgotten truths. I finally come upon current me. Killing a wolf with a lucky shot. Then falling over and everything turning black. I frown in confusion then...

Luka opened his eyes to see people staring down at him. New guy and Lyric. Starting to panic again, Luka forced himself to calm again. He just kept silent, done with words for that day. He shakily stood up and walked off towards the tree he was swinging at, his axe firm in his hands. He still needed firewood.

Lyric frowned. Her eyes followed Luka as he headed back into the woods. He shouldn't be working after he passed out, he should rest. She let out a sigh and pulled herself to her feet. She could feel the could again, the excitment had began to slip away and cold replaced it. Firewood. She still needed some and had a long way to go. She headed back to the woods and stood near the smallest tree she could find. Unfortunatly there no longer was such a thing as a 'small tree' around here anymore and the wooden warmth she stood before, toward over her.

Her axe swung through the air and collided with the bark making a small thud. That's my girl. A familiar voice mumbled in her ears. Another swing of the axe. What's the matter Lovebird? The voice called from the deepest part of her memory and forced tears to her eyes. She quickly wiped her eyes. The normal warm salty liquid felt like frozen knives out here. She swung the ax again, and again, shoving the memory back down.

She glanced at Luka, cutting down a tree of his own. He needed rest. She did not want to see another person die. Her eyes drifted to the blood splattered snow. She did not want to see anything die again. There was enough death in the village to last them a lifetime. Maybe more.

She shook her blood hair trying to get a grip on the situation. She needed firewood so she could go home. Go home and read a book, forget about everything that had happened. A low, faint rumble crept up from her stomach causing Lyric to pause. When was the last time I ate? That did not matter right now. She needed wood. She needed warmth.

Despite the cold air making his gimpy leg painful to walk on, Jamie continued to make his way closer towards where the others were, looking around as he walked. What could have grabbed all of their attention? When he saw Lyric walking closer to him, he ceased his walking, ignoring the slightly dull throb in his leg. By this point he'd grown used to the pain, it becoming a constant in his life that he'd had no other choice but to accept. At her words, however, Jamie paled, not even hearing Lyric inform him that there was a new guy. Eyes quickly looking out past where Luka and Cassie were his heart skipped a beat, seeing the wolves for the first time since leaving his home.

Jamie was frozen to the spot he stood in, his eyes wide and face pale as he gripped his cane tightly, his body rigid and stiff. Images of gray fur, sharp white fangs, blood and pain flashed across his mind as he stared fearfully at the large pack of wolves. He hadn't seen that many wolves at once since his accident, and even then there had not been this many. There had to be nearly a dozen of them! Frozen in terror, Jamie could do nothing as he watched Luka go and stand by Cassie, ax's held in both of their hands.

With numbed interest, Jamie watched as Luka scared away some wolves before killing one in a single blow, a small surge of jealousy going through him. Luka had been able to handle those wolves no problem, while he'd stood frozen in pure fear from afar. Though, some of his shock disappeared as Luka fell into the snow, unconscious. Worried for the others man's well being, he began to hobble over towards Luka, his leg hurting much more than before. What had previously been a dull ache quickly turned into a near crippling pain, one similar to what he had felt when that wolf had bitten into him.

Stopping a few short feet away from Luka, Jamie panted, gripping his cane so tightly his pale hands turned pure white, the cane shaking slightly from the grip. Had the wolf hurt Luka while he'd been attacking it? Why else would the otherwise seemingly uninjured man fall down like that? Before Jamie could even move any closer to Luka, the man was already back on his feet and heading towards some trees, not doubt to grab himself some firewood. Jamie stood there in surprise as he looked after Luka, wondering why he had suddenly fallen to the ground, only to get back up moments later. Shouldn't he rest? What if he'd been hurt?

Looking around, his mind still whirling from the sight of such a large pack of wolves, Jamie quickly turned, ignoring the pain in his leg, and began to make his way back towards his home. His heart was still pounding in his chest as he quickly limped towards his home, his breath coming in small, short bursts. He hadn't freaked out this badly since he was a kid and still healing from the bite... he'd be fine once he was in the safety of his own, frozen home to suffer his panic attack in silence.

"Jamie!" Cassie called after him as he had been turning to head back to the house. She could see there was something off about him. The way his chest seemed to heave as he had just earlier stared down at Luka. After it was apparent that Luka was alright, there was another situation at hand that she wasn't about to let go of. Although she'd never seen Jamie with such fear in his eyes, she couldn't just let him leave now, she needed his help. His bad leg would hinder his ability to aid her, she knew that, but it was worth a shot. And maybe a distraction would calm him down? But if he decided to head to the house and ignore her, she was sure there was someone else that could give her a hand. It wasn't like the entire village wasn't getting firewood all at once... Cassie made sure she would talk to Jamie about it later, but as for right now, these dead wolves were just an opportunity one wouldn't pass up in these conditions.

She started dragging both carcasses by their hind legs towards Jamie and the house. She had left her axe in the snow, where the bodies were, noting that they still needed firewood and she would go back for it later. Glancing around at everyone, she took in a deep breath before calling out. "I can prepare the meat, and split it all up evenly between everyone." She started as she nodded her head at the bodies in her hands. "I can even cook some up too, so after chopping wood we can have some grub..." She trailed off and looked down at the snow in front of her. She was hoping that to do things efficiently, Jamie could handle the meat and she could continue to get firewood. No way in hell was she going to sleep another night in the cold, and she wasn't proud that she had climbed into Jamie's bed for warmth night after night.

Although there was still blood smeared on her face and in her hair, she wouldn't be able to boil snow-water to rinse herself without firewood. The thought influenced her determination to withstand the cold weather for the sake of warmth, and cleanliness. For the first time in a long time, Cassie finally realized that she longed for the luxuries that came with summer. Working pipes with running water, hot and cold. Although she wasn't a fan of sleeping in the heat, it was definitely a lot better than freezing and staying up all night. As her thoughts trailed off, she realized how tired she was of the fact that everything was such a chore these days. It was starting to grow in her that maybe leaving the village to start south again would be a better option. But fear of the unknown storms and creatures was the only thing holding her back.

She shook her head, turning to look back at Jamie with a small frown. She was glad he had taken her in, but had he not, had the entire village just rejected her, she would have continued south. And maybe that would have been for the better. Although loneliness and the storm that had been passing was definitely something she would have suffered through greatly.

It was then that her mind turned back to the carcasses in her hands, and how she was dragging them back to Jamie's place. It finally struck her, that the lack of trust could easily turn this situation worse. If they didn't trust her or Jamie with handling the meat, they'd be wasting precious time. Of course, the cold winter snow and winds gave them more time than there was if it were summer for the meat to stay good. But even having these carcasses out here were a risk with newly found nearby animals. She stood there, frozen for a moment before looking around to everyone.

"Is that okay with everyone?" She asked nervously hoping for the sake of making things as easily as possible, that this would go smoothly.

They said you'd be fine Luka! They said you would have no trouble at talking to people! Luka thought to himself as he kept chopping at the tree, everything around him a hush, They said you would be fine! But no...It's all a façade. Everything, a lie. My life...this world. What is true? What is real? Ha! Death is the only truth, and the cold is the only thing real. Why try when there's no hope, Luka? Why? Why?! WHY?! With one, final, exerted swing, the tree fell over. Slightly panting, Luka grabbed the tree where it broke off and started walking away. He was ignoring everyone, everything. Then, Luka stopped as he thought, Why don't I just do it? Why should I care about a promise with someone dead? Contemplating this, Luka went off again. He had almost forgotten the wolf! The wolf could provide food. He turned to see Cassie with both of the dead wolves in her hands.

That made him frown, scrunching his already weathered, yet handsome, face. Shaking his head he kept on going forward. Dragging a tree isn't as hard as it sounds. As heavy as some might be, the one Luka picked was about the size he could carry himself. And as he was dragging the tree, Luka was starting to become numb. Not just from the cold, but from what had happened earlier. He talked to people, actually conversed. Something that he doesn't usually do. He killed a wolf, but hey? It's kill or be killed. And he had a panic attack, one of many. He's always wondered, why, his parents ignored him.

He remembered a conversation, back before the winter, back before...his parents death. He was talking about...

Luka was sixteen then, and still the oddest in the town. He had always wondered why he was ignored by his parents, by the people he loved. So, he went up to his mother and asked, "Mom, why do you ignore me?"

She replied in an icy tone, "We don't ignore you-"

"Yes you do!" Luka had never yelled in his life. He was always soft-spoken. Either to shy to talk, or felt to awkward. He'd tried, but they always failed. So this slightly louder voice then usual surprised the Perry matriarch, "You do mom. You and dad. You barely ever acknowledge me! Why?"

Luka's mother narrowed her eyes at her son and said, "That is a secret!" She then softened, "But, I am willing to tell you this: If-when-we die, there is a book. I-we, your father and I-want you to read it, understand?"

Luka nodded solemnly before walking towards his room.

Luka had never bothered to read the book. He didn't want to know, he was just...just to curious back then. Luka looked up and saw that he was in front of his wooden house. Luka just stared, thinking what was in the book. He hadn't thought about the book in years. Luka closed his eyes, ears, everything from the real world. Just another day in the world they called home. Just another day in paradise...

"Why don't we all get inside somewhere with some firewood. We can have a nice meal and perhaps get to know each other, and figure out what any of us are going to do after this," Adam suggested to those around him, settling down from the passing tensions. He walked over to a tree the man he saw fell was working at, and began working at some of the branches with him.

"Are you alright?" he asked Luka, bringing blade to wood. "That was some fall you had, I did my best to get to you. I didn't think that many wolves would attack... I have to question whether someone else is using those wolves for something."

Thinking about it, the occurrence of an entire pack of wolves at once, attacking a group of people on no provocation was unsettling, and questionable. However, he kept his mind off of it for now, working away at the wood as one branch fell to the ground. Grabbing it, he moved it further off to the side and began working on the next.

Cassie smiled at Karrens offer, handing her one of the wolves. It was nice to get some aid from someone she didn't necessarily trust the well. She would have her talk with Jamie later in the evening, she thought as she watched him head into the house. Her attention turned to Adam after a moment.

"We can convene at Jamie's house." She called back at him. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of calling it her house, because it really wasn't. "Karren and I can cook some of the wolf meat. If one of you wouldn't mind bringing over some firewood?" She asked as she set the carcass down for a moment. It was a pain to drag and carry, and a small break wouldn't hurt.

Not to mention her mind was on overdrive, and her body was frozen numb. Frowning at the thought, she started to lose patience as they all figured out what they were doing.

"I offered help... now I have to give it..." Karren thought. "Great, I have to cook now... At least I'll have a taste later." She continued thinking.
It was weird for Karren, though... It sure was a world where you shouldn't trust people, but you were forced to trust them at the same time. However, after so many years of barely socializing, everyone visiting someone sure was something new to Karren.

"I should warn you, I rarely cook and I might make stupid mistakes with this..." Karren told Cassie. "By the way, do you mind if I bring my father over? Now that I won't be back home with wood soon, my dad might get cold because I didn't do this task." She said. "Not to mention that he might start yelling at me and punishing me with... ugh... chores..." She thought.