<< Sirens - Fleurie >>
For the first few miles, Kai focused his entire being on sticking to the winding path.
Even partially obscured beneath the cold mist, that appeared to be growing subtly but steadily thicker as he progressed, the path was wide enough for at least two people to walk side by side and it was not difficult to avoid the water.
For the first quiet, lonely hour there was no sign of anything untoward.
He even began to wonder if the stories were false.
Perhaps those who had traversed the marsh before him had simply been driven to the point of exhaustion by the eerie forest and had only imagined the disembodied voices.
And then he heard it.
It was as though someone had approached him from behind, whispering softly into his ear.
Kai spun around, his heart jolting in his chest at the unexpected change after an hour of silence. Yet, even though the mist had slowly coalesced into a dense fog, he could still see several feet in each direction, and clearly, there was no one there.
But the whispering didn't cease.
In fact, the further that he walked the more persistent it became. Continuing to flow from somewhere just outside of his reach of vision.
He couldn't yet decipher what the voice was trying to tell him, or even if the voice was one that he knew, but there was one thing that he did know.
Whatever it was trying to say was important.
He wanted - needed - to know what it was saying.
If he didn't listen to those unintelligible murmurs he would surely die.
Kai felt his skin break out into a cold sweat, the heavy pack growing heavier still, the straps cutting into the burn on his shoulder until he was panting against the pain.
Halting in his tracks, Kai bent down with his hands on his knees and breathed slowly and deeply.
'Get it together, idiot. Just focus on the path and keep walking, 7km to go.'
The whispering stopped.
Kai blinked in surprise and lifted his head, glancing around him warily.
And that was when, after peering into the clear waters, he noticed an alarming change.
Thousands of gold coins littered the bed of the marsh, creating a shimmering gold light that hung above the misty waters with a soft, radiant glow.
And for the first time, he heard a clear, unknown voice in his ear:
"Reach into the water and take them. They're yours."
Kai simply scoffed at the attempt and shook his head, even if that voice had chilled his veins. It had sounded very much like Katesch.
He resumed picking his way over the winding path with careful steps, "Nice try you tricky little pricks. Have you never heard that gold can't buy you love? I don't care about being poor, thanks."
The whispers fell silent once again.
But then, as if in response to his words, the gold light faded away into nothing, and in its place, Kai heard a familiar, husky voice that caused his stomach to drop. It called his name across the marsh with a clear but faintly echoing dissonance:
"Kai, please! I tried to follow you here but I'm stuck! Please, I can't swim! I'm drowning!"
His steps faltered, his lips pulling down into a grim line.
"Oh come on now, this is a low blow. Besides I said love! Money can't buy you love! Why are you using his voice? Stop doing that!" He shouted, angrily.
But the voice grew louder, as if in answer to this question, frantic and laced with pain and misery.
"Kai! PLEASE! Help me! Why won't you HELP?"
He shook his head back and forth, gritting his teeth together and stared down at the ground, focusing his mind on the path and desperately ignored Rami's voice, calling for him to save him.
"Don't leave me here alone! Please! HELP ME! KAI!"
He could hear his pulse in his ears by the time the choking and spluttering started, "...not working. Try harder!" He hissed furiously at the unseen blight that appeared to have latched onto him, determined to drive him into the waters.
But Kai wouldn't let it. There was nothing they could use that would make him touch these damned waters.
Suddenly, the noises ceased and Kai stopped in his tracks, startled by the abrupt silence.
And then his voice changed, laced with mocking scorn as it spoke again, close to his ear and as clear as a bell:
"Of course you wouldn't save me. You hate me so much that you wanted to kill me. Isn't that right?"
Kai let out a bitter laugh and continued forwards, shaking his head in disbelief, "Wow, you recovered so fast from all of that drowning and choking. Almost like you aren't real or something. Isn't that right?"
Rami's voice came again, just out of reach but following behind his every step like a curse:
"You're good at deflecting, good at running too. Run, run, run, that's all you do, Kai."
Despite himself, Kai spun around again and sneered out at the marsh, a bitter, angry sensation twisting at his insides, "Fuck you." He spat.
A low, husky laugh echoed back and the mist crept towards him, seeping under his clothes and into his skin.
"You should just give up. Isn't that what you always do? You don't even want to live, so why are you still fighting?"
His eyes widened, stumbling back until his foot almost slipped from the path. A small piece of moss fell into the clear water with a quiet splash that caused his heart to jolt.
'Stick to the path, don't touch the water. Stick to the path, don't touch the water. And...and...what was -'
Kai shook his head in confusion, even his mind was growing foggy, "I-I do. I do want to. You're just...this is just a trick. You don't know me. You're not him."
When his voice spoke into his ear again, he could almost hear that leering, lopsided smile.
"Oh, but I do know you. I know that you're a coward. So much so that you couldn't even end your pathetic life yourself. Instead you ran away on a suicide mission so that Asmarata could do it for you. You could have stayed and confronted everything. But you didn't, did you? You just ran away."
"Why did you do that I wonder? Was it because you were afraid to know why I did it? How would you have felt if I told you that I hated you too? That I resented you for treating me like an outsider...like your fucking pet. You never treated me the same as them. I was always left on the outside looking in. You fashioned yourself as a God in my eyes, my perfect saviour. You loved being the only person I had..."
A strangled gasp slipped past his lips, and Kai felt a dull ache pulling at his chest, "No! Not true." He shook his head as he stumbled forwards.
Lifting his head, he thought he could see a small clearing through the thickening mist, maybe a mile or so in the distance, and quickened his pace.
Maybe it was this mist, maybe there was something in the mist that was causing this. If he could only get out of it...
"You're just a liar! I never treated him like a pet, he was just...he was -" Kai trailed off.
'What is he to me? What was he?'
A bitter laugh rang out, bouncing over the marsh like it was everywhere all at once, "You don't even want to confront how you feel, you never did. Such a coward...so weak...just like her."
Kai's heart dropped, a deep fear creeping inside of his veins.
When he replied, his voice came out in a shaky whisper, "Don't...don't go there. Don't you dare." He warned.
"What's wrong, Kai? Don't you want to speak to her again?"
By this point he had covered his ears with his hands and started humming a loud tune in defiance, but it was like their voice was inside of him, creeping into his brain like poison.
"So afraid...what of, I wonder...do you feel guilty? Do you still think it was your fault?"
He shook his head, desperation clawing at his insides, "Don't. Please don't."
But the next moment, Kai froze in his tracks, almost stumbling off of the path, his foot slipping against the wet ground at the sound of the woman's voice:
"Kai? Darling, is that you?"
It had been so long since he'd heard her voice, but he knew it instantly. A flood of memories, some beautiful and some that made him want to claw off his own skin…or maybe he could just put his head underwater.
It would be quieter in the water…
When he didn't answer, the voice continued, persistent and pleading:
"Kai, why won't you come to me? Don't you love me anymore? Don't you miss me?"
Kai dropped onto his knees and drew in a sharp intake of breath and with it, the icy mist rushed into his lungs, "...fuck you...fuck you...stop." He choked out, "Please stop...please, please, please."
The islet was maybe a few yards in front of him, but Kai's mind was foggy and tired, his limbs were heavy and his injured shoulder pulsed with a sharp, cutting pain that spread through his veins, directly towards his aching heart.
"Why won't you speak to me? You don't even talk about me anymore. It hurts me, Kai."
He shook his head from side to side in an attempt to clear the fog from his brain.
A small part of him still knew where he was, still clung to consciousness, and slowly he started to crawl towards the break in the fog.
"You're not my mother." He answered it, in a small voice.
She laughed softly, the mist deepening until Kai could no longer see his own hand clawing at the earth in front of him, let alone the path that he stubbornly clung to.
"No...I am not. Your mother is dead, Kai. Just like you should be. But you just won't do it, will you? Because then you'll be just as weak as her. Admit it, Kai. You don't love anyone, even her. You resent her for leaving you."
Kai gripped at his chest, struggling to take in a single breath of air as black spots began to cloud his vision, 'Ah...that was it, wasn't it? The last rule…don't fall asleep...what will happen if I sleep?'
He desperately pulled himself forwards, his legs a dead weight behind him. His shoulder throbbed again.
"You shouldn't hate me for what I did, Kai. It was your fault after all, you gave it to me."
'Maybe there was something on that webbing...I don't think it was just acid. Did it poison me?' Kai's mind began to drift, the shock and cold creeping inside of his body with icy hands as he crawled forwards a little further.
His hand was out of the mist now, he only had to move a few more metres and he'd take a break.
Not to sleep, just to rest. Just to close his eyes for a moment.
"Even now...you still believe that it was your fault. Some days you can't even look Aida in the eyes. I bet you were so glad to abandon them both the way that you did. At least then you could pretend that you left because of Rameses and not because you killed your own mo -"
Kai dragged himself through and collapsed onto the soft, dry earth, a thick black veil immediately closing over his eyes and pulling him under.
**