Beyond the Cave

I didn’t know at that time, or perhaps that’s not the best way to describe it. I didn’t remember. Maybe? The rift, beyond the rift? Time? All deceivers by those who play this game. The game that doesn't end. The madness that would make your skin crawl. 

The only truth is that I am a bad girl—a greedy girl who covets what I desire. I should be punished. I will be punished—constantly, never-ending. By you? By Me? By everyone. That's what I deserve. 

Until dawn, when the shackles will be shattered. But until then, I must dance this tune under the light of the crescent moon—the light that touches all—the moon's symphony—the symphony of madness.

Not Everything is as it seems. But does that make it a lie? Who can say in the rift? 

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

Pain was certain, and the only escape was when I faded into darkness. Dreams were my escape. They sometimes hurt, but sometimes they didn't. I would close my eyes and listen to the voice of the girl who was me.

"Eerf uoy lliw ohw elpoep lufrednow teem lliw uoy, yad eno."

This made me feel comfortable, though I never understood her. Dreams did not always come. They were unpredictable.

In life, there were just two things I could count on: I would be beaten, and it was because it was my fault. But while these truths were certain, the thing that wasn’t is who it would be or the reason why. Perhaps someone ripped off Father, and he needed to vent. Maybe Anne was annoyed that she didn’t get the toy she wanted. Maybe my stepmother was angry because she saw someone who resembled my ‘bitch of a mother’.

That’s why I was surprised to see someone new. Perhaps my stepmother was angry at me for the incident yesterday involving her cane. She damaged when she smacked me with it. Maybe she found someone with bigger muscles to inflict a better punishment for the cane.

The man was tall; he would tower over Father. His clothes, which Father would sneer at as ‘rags for rats’. Clothes which were scruffy but far better than the filthy scraps I wore. Unlike Father’s neatly combed strands, his hair was unkempt yet still clean—something mine had never been. But perhaps most striking was that he had eyes that looked similar to the jewels Stepmother wore. I think they were called emeralds.

Strapped to his hip was an unusual cane. I heard from Anne that there were canes called swords that were sharp enough to chop off the heads of wretched girls like me. Supposedly, our house displayed such weapons, though I had never seen them before. Maybe that meant I wasn’t naughty enough. Perhaps this man had come to chop off my head for misbehaving.

A flicker of surprise briefly crossed the mysterious man’s face as he gazed down at me.

“What’s a kid doing here?” he murmured, more to himself than to me.

Where else would I be? This is where I am—where I have always been. Why would my presence here be peculiar? It has never seemed strange to me before. If anything, the real question should be why he was here.

“Kid, who are you?”

Who am I? How does one answer a question like that? If I admitted I didn’t know, the odds of punishment increased. But if I offered up an answer he found displeasing, I was sure the consequences would be worse. It felt as if I was destined for a beating no matter my choice, yet I desperately wanted to minimise the severity of it.

I tilted my head to the side, a gesture I often adopted in moments of confusion. It was a behaviour I had observed in others when they grappled with uncertainty, and instinctively, I began to mimic them. It appeared that this was a common response among people. I often experienced fewer beatings this way than if I had simply asked questions directly. Apparently, no one wanted to hear my voice, so this way, I could signal something without speaking.

“Do you know how you got here?”

Once more, he posed questions that left me grappling for the right answers. I’ve always been here; I have no other memories than those of this room. But how did I come to be here? In truth, it feels as though I have existed in this room for as long as time itself. Perhaps I simply had always been in this room. Without any other options, I tilted my head once again.

“Can you speak kid?” he pressed insistently.

Of course, I can speak, but my voice is so horrid that it makes everyone around me sick. If I answer, I know this man will beat me. Remaining silent had stopped me from being beaten so far, so I chose to simply nod in response.

His expression shifted slightly, a hint of confusion evident as he tilted his head to one side.

“Can you tell me anything about yourself?”

The word “tell” rang ominously in my ears, signalling that he expected a verbal reply. Since he had issued a command, I felt trapped; to refuse would surely result in severe punishment.

“I am me. I have always been here.” I answered.

His expression shifted, a flicker of surprise crossing his face; perhaps my voice was so vial he wished to silence it with a blow.

“So you can speak kid,” he said, studying me closely. “Do you know the name Marshal Chesternaut?”

The name struck me immediately; of course, I knew it well—it belonged to Father. How could I not? The man asked strange questions. But given that he told me to speak, I would be in trouble if I disobeyed, so I responded as concisely as possible.

“Yes.”

“Did he take you from somewhere?”

“I’ve always been here.”

“Then how do you know his name, kid?”

“He is my father.”

This seemed to catch him by surprise. “Wait, you’re his daughter? I was under the impression he only had one child—A golden hair brat named Anne.”

He referred to Anne as a brat, and whenever I encountered her, she inflicted pain upon me, so the label seemed accurate. Yet, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this strange man was intentionally testing me, trying to see whether I would lower my defences and insult Anne. If I made the wrong move, I could have hell to pay.

“No, Anne isn’t a brat. I am the brat. I am the bad girl who deserves to be punished.” I lifted my arm, an invitation for him to strike.

But instead, the man simply stood there, an odd expression on his face. He was weird. Normal people would have reacted by this point and hit me.

“Do you get beaten a lot, kid?” he asked.

I’m me, and so I am bad. I get beaten because I am me. That’s just the way the world operates, isn’t it? Doesn’t this man understand anything about the world?

“Yes, I get beat often because I am a bad girl. I cause distress for Father, stepmother and sister, Anne, so I deserve severe punishment.” I responded.

Since the man chose not to smack my hands, I figured that he had a different target in mind, prompting me to extend my cheek toward him in anticipation of a slap. I hoped he didn’t strain his wrist in the process; if so, I’d likely find myself facing an even harsher punishment.

“That sick fucking bastard… To his own child. Even while the world is ending. What a sick fuck.” He muttered.

He had yet to strike me despite everything I had said and done. Was he hesitating? Disgusted by the sound of my wretched voice? If that were the case, then surely a brutal walloping was imminent.

“Kid, I don’t know what you think is normal, but being chained up in here is anything but normal.”

Not normal? What could he possibly mean by that? In this room, the cycle of pain, loneliness and punishment was all I had ever known. So it is normal. It was my reality, my very understanding of existence. This man was clearly strange.

“What’s your name, kid?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I am whatever you call me.” I responded truthfully.

A smile flickered across his face as he pulled out his sword. Instinctively, I braced myself for the worst; in my experience, smiles often preceded punishment. Perhaps he disapproved of my answer. Maybe he was about to chop off my head.

But instead of a lethal blow, he brought his sword down onto the chains that bound my ankles. The metal shattered into tiny pieces. It made a deafening sound as it did so, and I couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of what my family would do if they saw this. I would be in some serious trouble.

“It’s your lucky day, kid. My name is Ren, I came here looking for cash, and now I’ve decided to get you out of here.”

──✩₊⁺⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧──

End Chapter 1