I felt a kick hit my side, flipping me onto my stomach. If I had the lungs to talk right now, I’d be cursing worse than a sailor, but any air that made it into me was too precious to waste on Gou Hui.

“Oh, brother Gou Jia. You know me too well. I wouldn’t have stopped until someone ended up dead.” Gou Hui whispered into my ear as he reeled back my hair.

My eyes were beginning to blur, but I could still distinguish the shapes of people staring towards us, then shuffling along in their lines. I could hear the children’s gasps as they hid behind their parents, hoping they could avoid a similar fate to mine.

But Gui Hui had to ruin that for me, too.

“Let me tell you something special.” Gou Hui whispered.

“You see, fatty, those people who aren’t gifted with talent are headed to an extraordinary place. The cultivators on the mountaintop like to call it The Pit.”

Gou Hui yanked my head over, and I was forced to look at a father-son duo being led down along the bridge cloaked in violet mist.

“That violet mist is fatal without protection. It gets into the pores and stings at first. Then, it digs even deeper and gets into your bones like a thousand needles are prodding at your body. And then…” Gou Hui stretched this part out. “…you die. For the sect. For The Matron.”

Gou Hui adjusted his grip on my hair and began to drag me. He spoke more things, but I couldn't understand them without him speaking right next to my ear.

Suddenly, we stopped, and his parting words drew close to my ears.

“Have fun.”

And with a single brutal kick, Gou Hui launched me into the dark, misty recesses of The Pit.

…

I tossed and turned as rocks stabbed into me with each fall. I wasn’t sure if the slope was curved or if I was losing track of time between falls, but it felt like it took forever for me to hit rock bottom.

Quite literally, rock bottom.

I briefly lost consciousness many times and only somewhat regained consciousness when the sting of the violet mist jolted me awake. I had made it to the bottom of The Pit.

Gou Hui had promised that the violet mist would bring bone-deep pain, and it delivered with brutal efficiency. But being in pain kept my mind awake and on the brink of shattering with one realization.

I was going to die. The moments leading up to my life would all crumble in the face of my tragic death at the bottom of The Pit.

Tears gathered in my eyes as my thoughts drifted to Grandma Sylvie, Abby, Arden, and Mr. & Mrs. Collins. If life was running out for me as Gou Hui promised, and I died here in the dark misty recesses of this world… I didn’t want to die here.

I couldn't die here.

A shiver, not caused by pain or anger, spread across my body. It subconsciously moved my fingers forward and gave my leg the jolt it needed to move. That shiver came again, and my whole arm moved forward this time. When the shiver came again, I managed to inch forward—the shiver after that another inch. I don’t know how many shivers it was, but I limped onwards, despite the pain that caused me to hallucinate.

“…Come…” A strange voice slipped past my ears.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I shifted my body towards the sound. Even if my mind played tricks on me, it was something. Right now, painfully moving towards something was better than lying in pain behind me.

If I didn’t move, then I’d die.

“…Come…” This time the voice sounded closer, but the pain that seemed bad before shot to a whole new level as it truly entered my bones.

Is this what lava feels like in your bones?

Even with the searing pain arcing over my body, I trudged on, eventually reaching some ground that curved uphill. With my body as it was, beaten and stinging with pain, it was a miracle that I could limp on flat ground, let alone uphill.

But something inside me kept moving me forward.

Mr. Collins said that we take our hardest steps by facing fear. Maybe right now, I was taking those hard steps.

Er, some hard trudges. I wasn’t in walking shape.

“…Enter the pool…” The strange voice sounded feminine as it spoke out again, urging me to continue. And as I tumbled over the edge of the uphill battle and splashed into what felt like clouds, I realized I had made it. The violet mist that had seared my skin now washed away with comfort from whatever I was in.

“…Sleep…” the feminine voice lulled into my ears.

One last phrase floated past my mind as my eyes drooped closed, and my consciousness disappeared.

Always tie up loose ends, Gou Hui.

*****

Abby watched as Gou Jia fed Arden a crimson pill. Arden’s fingers curled in from pain, and the red blush that flashed across his body in response made Abby quiver.

What did he feed Arden?

On second thought, Abby didn’t want to know the answer; she would rather stay in ignorant bliss.

Abby held onto her mother as they watched Gou Jia sit nearby, opening his mouth and closing it immediately after. Abby had assumed him to be the smooth-talking type he was when he helped murder her father, but he was a complete idiot incapable of words now.

“What’s going on?” Arden weakly spoke up as his eyes drifted open.

Abby and her mother rushed over and checked on Arden. The red blush from before had been replaced with a paleness that made it seem like Arden had been bedridden for weeks. But he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

“He’s healed now. You can take the bandages off him.” Gou Jia’s weak voice sounded out from behind them.

Abby felt a surge of unknown anger inside her as she levelled a stare at the man. Despite his earlier inability to speak, Gou Jia seemed unfazed by Abby’s glare. But Abby could tell that deep within his eyes was an internal battle that didn’t seem to have a clear winner.

Abby noted Gou Jia break the staring contest between them as he threw a clear container toward her. Within it were two similar pills to the one he had fed Arden.

“We aren’t eating these.” Abby coldly spoke.

Abby felt her mother grimace at her, but she could feel Gou Jia’s reluctance toward her. He was walking on eggshells as he spoke to them for some reason.

Gou Jia momentarily stared at her, then pressed his lips together. After consideration, he retrieved another set of blue pills from his robes and threw them.

“Those should help relieve the pain. Take them or not; I don’t care. But if you haven’t taken the crimson pills by morning, my sect brothers will force them down your throat.”

Gou Jia seemed to wince at the thought and turned to face the doors.

“The guards will be outside if you need anything. Tomorrow will be your introduction to the sect and your first cultivation session. Please mentally prepare yourselves.”

With no further words, Gou Jia exited the room. Abby watched with lingering thoughts floating in her head, each more confusing than the last.

Her brother felt the same way.

“Mom, what’s going on? Where are we? Who was that?” Arden’s questions seemed endless as he rattled on, and it only made it more apparent to Abby how big of a blow was headed his way.

“Where’s dad?” Arden questioned.

Abby and her mother’s faces scrunched, and they both lunged at Arden for a hug. Abby felt her tears soak into Arden’s clothing as she let loose for the first time. The tears seemed endless, but they eventually faded enough to make out words. Abby’s mother was the first to recover enough to begin stringing together what had happened.

The way Louie had brought Arden in from the forest.

The sudden confrontation with the Bloodthorne Sect.

The death of Arden’s father.

Louie's separation from their family.

“I’ll kill them all!” Arden sprung for the door, eager to get out and avenge his father and find Louie.

“No!”

Abby tackled Arden to the ground, but she was quickly overtaken by the fury that fueled Arden. As the tears drifted from her cheeks and Arden’s hands pressed her into the floor, she quivered out the words that made him pause.

“Don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me like Dad! Don’t go like Louie.”

Abby watched as her brother’s rage slowly left his eyes. She watched as the tears gathered in his eyes, and her mother quickly wrapped her arms around him as he crumbled. Abby promptly got up to do the same.

And for a long while, the remaining family members sat there, crying into the arms of the people they had left.