Dastya
From the moment I walked out the door, my mind was filled with a hopeless disposition that was bound to stay as long as the memory of last night remained in my head.
At the time I could barely think. My thoughts were surrounded in a hazy cloud that blurred all common logic and sense of awareness. Irregular, pounding beats marked each footfall that my dizzy brain landed randomly as if the world was tilting around me. The only anchors I had to the world were three bright spots ahead of me, glowing distinctly against the pitch black sky.
If only Mayzna were here… If only I…
I stumbled to a wobbly stop, my outstretched arm grasping a freezing pole underneath a glowing orb. The image of my one and only love surfaced in my mind.
Her soft blond hair glowed like spun gold against the street lamps, almost as striking as her blue eyes that laid upon everything with a spark of brilliance. I registered those eyes, basked in comfort at how they looked at me with that warm tenderness that I had gotten so familiar with, and she smiled. Her soft pink lips curled at the edges as she leaned in towards my chest.
Mayzna…
I held my arms to catch her delicate form; to feel the soft texture of her clothes forming a warm bond between us.
But alas, the mirage faded as quickly as it came when I tried to blink in hopes of her figure reappearing before me. The yellow orbs of light ahead had become defined rectangles on top of sleek lamp posts, springing up straight from the ground filled with sharp, rectangular cobblestones that formed a winding path. A wetness stained my cheeks when I gazed around in a daze at the apartments that surrounded every patch of sky and corner.
I chuckled in the cool air. "Heh…"
What a fool I am.
Looking around, I contemplated what to do next. The familiar tall lodge met my eyes, looming above like a reproaching father. Immediately I glanced down at my small sack that I held with a hand and crossed my arms to keep from the cold.
Technically I'm still not at a loss of everything.
Automatically my mind wandered back to the faint memory of that night, the coins I had gambled away without a second thought as I returned from a week of being away to Mayzna's hurt expression. They glittered in my mind, their flashy sparkle seeming to remind me of all my irrevocable mistakes.
No, I thought, and turned away from the wooden building. I… didn't mean…
The cold was starting to bite my skin. Every wind that lashed at my pitiful, shivering state sent my arms hugging tighter, my eyes closed and head hanging down to ignore the pain. I needed to run. I needed to run far from here, to a distant land where none of my past could exist. But for now, the very prospect of warmth and shelter seemed an irresistible feeling. My feet were drawn toward the door of another's home, being the best promise of comfort.
I forced each leg forward, fighting the wind that pushed me into an abyss of despair every time she rattled my bones with frost breath. Ages passed, and I had reached a building when I caught sight of a bright light several steps ahead. I recognized my good friend without a second glance.
F…Fire?
I forgot about the cold, lunging with every inch of will and strength I had left toward the direction of that hopeful, beaming spark.
A solid red mass with a shiny gold knob had stopped my momentum. The beautiful flame was flickering underneath a window, to a basement of some sort. Perhaps I pressed the doorbell accidentally because at that moment the door opened and a handsome man as tall as the doorframe was inches apart. In a quick flash, I recognized in his eyes a hunger for amusement, and when he registered my poor condition, instantly ushered me inside after a few hushed words. I made no hesitation to follow, hearing a single word which stood out to me: pay.
Before long, my world had turned black. The last thing I remembered was a rough voice murmuring, "What do you think, Chief? Will this boy come to live or die?"