Chapter 1:

9

I don't recall much from my early years.

I remember...

In the beginning, there was blinding darkness and deadly silence.
It was so overwhelming that I couldn't even hear myself crying.

I remember being cold and hungry, with a feeling that I was all alone in the world.
Like I was abandoned.
Like no one wanted me and just discarded me like a useless piece of candy wrapper.

What is this place? Why am I here? Have I done something wrong?

I... I can't remember anything prior to that moment...
Maybe I did something bad to deserve such treatment...

But suddenly... A familiar smell.
And a sudden warmth...
Like something was embracing me to keep me safe and drive away all my worries...

I wasn't feeling lonely anymore...
I wasn't feeling hungry...
I wasn't afraid...

I felt...
Peace.

I remember losing my sister at a young age...
She fought with everything she had, but in the end, she succumbed to the disease.

I didn't know her that well, and some parts I couldn't understand...
But I felt sad all the same...

I cried a lot. That day a piece of me died as well...

I remember my body grazed by the cold wind and the rain soaking deep enough to reach my bones...

Yet again abandoned...
Yet again lonely...
Yet again hungry...

I cried as loud as I could, calling for my mother, but I got no answer in return...
Not from my mother at least...

But someone...
Someone else came...

Someone else answered my desperate call...
My cry for help...

Who was it?
I had never seen that someone before.

But to be honest, I hadn’t seen anyone else around except my mother...

Fear struck my spine and my limbs started trembling...
My heart started pounding like a hammer hitting mercilessly on a metal plate...
It became harder and harder to breathe as time went by...

What is this fear?
My primitive instincts are off the chart...

It's an intruder, I'm pretty sure of it...
Waiting for me to be left on my own to make a move...

The distance between us is getting smaller and smaller...
Making slow movements while scanning around the area...

I could feel the intruder getting closer and closer by the second until...

Suddenly...

I felt a sharp pain on my neck, like something was piercing it without giving any resistance at all...

The pain grew stronger, and a burning feeling covered my whole body...

Is it mother...?
Is this a different kind of embrace...?

I could feel that she wasn't...
I could feel...

I couldn't feel anything anymore...

No pain...
No hunger...
No cold...

Not even fear...