Chloe heard a few giggles sounding out from behind her as she looked onwards, noticing the shards of glass which haphazardly covering the floor, creating a trail towards a balling mess of orange hair currently laid against the dining table.
She’d never once before seen the older woman in such a state, usually she was the type to stay composed and show no signs of worrying under even some of the harshest conditions.
"It... i..s beca..use of y..ou..”the figure behind her stated, a few crooked chuckles erupting from god knows where.
Chloe’s body stiffened at the thought, her shoulders slumped, breathing paused.
“If dad was here then it would be different. But. It’s not my fault. It can’t be. It was the driver’s fault. It must be.” Chloe reasoned, the figure behind her letting out what seemed to be a pained groan as it put its coarse hand on her right shoulder.
Flicking her head round to see the dark figure behind her touching her, Chloe felt an uncontrollable shiver sent down her spine as she impulsively flinched away from the contact.
The hand felt ice cold, but weighed more than she thought ice would. It was so heavy that her legs started to tremble under the pressure; Chloe doubted that she’d even be able to take even one more step forward.
Hearing a sudden movement coming from in front of her, she turned around to see that the older woman had already lifted her head from the table, staring intensely at her.
"Ask... H..er...T..he fa...ul..t is yo...ur’s a..lo..ne.” it grumbled, the grating voice reverberating inside Chloe’s head nonstop, as if it had just shouted into a large empty space.
The small orange haired girl fell still at it’s words, eyes avoiding the woman in front of her, landing on a picture of her father giving her a piggyback.
The food the older woman had made that day was truly delicious. Chloe could clearly recall the laughter of the three as Mikhail ran around with her on his shoulders.
“I’m sure Dad would be on my side.” she thought, fists bawling up in determination.
Looking up towards the older woman, Chloe stared at the orange hair which flowed from her head, finding comfort in the colour as she prepared herself to speak.
“It... It wasn’t my fault? Right?” Chloe whispered, looking down to the floor after seeing the expression on the older woman’s face.
She stared at the floor for what seemed to be an eternity, eyes glossing over the smooth wooden texture running all the way across the floor panel.
Looking back up towards the woman, inquisitive as to why she was taking so long.
But as she was moving her head upwards, she heard a loud voice erupt from in front of her, one that she hadn’t heard before.
“Shut up! Don’t you dare!”
Once again frozen in place, Chloe didn’t dare to look towards the older woman, shoulders trembling from hostile words of someone that had been so kind to her all her life.
Suddenly the older woman stood up from her chair and quickly stood before Chloe, her hand raised in the air as her mouth opened in preparation to speak.
“If it wasn’t for you, Mikhail would still be alive! Give him back to me!” A crooked voice attacked the small girl, the weight of the words violently bashing into Chloe’s feeble figure, making her feel like she was about to collapse onto the ground.
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The dark figure behind her burst out into a fit of laughs, falling to the floor due to its uncontrollable ebullition.
*SMACK*
And then in the next moment Chloe found herself sprawled out on the ground, hand on her cheek which now radiated with pain.
The small girl looked towards her mother before another round of pain was unleashed upon her, alongside with some words which she desperately didn’t want to hear.
“WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT?” she howled, tears flowing from her eyes as her wrist once again raced towards Chloe.
*SMACK*
“DON’T YOU DARE LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU, HE’D STILL BE WITH ME!” she continued.
*THUMP*
This time came a blow to the young girl’s stomach, causing her to let out a moan of pain, crawling up into a ball as she grasped her midsection in agony.
“It was my fault?” She internally questioned, pain continuously flowing from her stomach and face.
*THUMP*
"You... ki...lled him...!”the creature confirmed, watching the scene in front of it unfold with great pleasure, flinching every time a blow landed upon the small girl.
*THUMP*
Bandages damp from the tears, Chloe felt herself slipping away, the animalistic howls resounding within her head as she finally understood.
“I... I killed my dad.”
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When she awoke from her slumber, Chloe found herself in a strange place.
A world of crimson red buildings, an obsidian black sky that contained two ginormous watchful eyes, and a recreation of the worst accident of her life.
Green rain poured down from openings in the soulless sky, bombarding the ground, resulting in giant green pools of water forming.
It dampened her hair, the neon rain dyeing it into a brownish colour. Chloe didn’t mind it though. Her thoughts were preoccupied with the events that had just occurred prior to waking up in this foreign land.
Staring at her palm, she open and closed it before patting down her body.
“No pain?” she thought, confusion swirling in her mind.
*Chime*
As if a giant grandfather clock had just gone off, the world grandly resounded in its sound, seemingly basking within it.
Her surroundings started to bend and warp, metallic groans escaping the towers as the sound grew and grew.
And then her surroundings changed.
A familiar voice entered her ears, but finding herself unable to control the body she was now confined in, all she could do was watch.
“Let’s cross now Chlo” the voice chimed, once again bouncing off all the surroundings and then funnelling into her mind, pulling apart her consciousness as if she’d just fallen headfirst into some concrete.
Certain sounds entered her mind, sounds that she perhaps hadn’t noticed before.
The rain crying out to warn them as it sombrely embraced her raincoat. The clicky blinking of the broken light which dyed their surroundings completely red before returning to normal.
The faint screeching of a motor vehicle that would soon cause a terrible accident to occur.
“Stop! Dad! Dad! Listen to me! Please, don’t go! There’s going to be a car... and... and... I’ll... murder you again....”Chloe’s inner thoughts slowly crescendoed as she came to a chilling conclusion.
“Ah. I’m dreaming.”
The world turned green as the pair started their march forward, time slowing down as if they were death row inmates, trying to savour every last second before their timely end that was sure to come.
“Aaaaagggggghh... agggrhhh..aa...aaagh...Please... Stop this... Please! I know you’re watching this somewhere! Shadow! I don’t want to! Stop it! Stop it now! Aaaaagrrrh... No... Nooooo... NOOOOO...” Chloe bellowed, imprisoned within the tiny orange haired girl, fated to experience such torment for a second time.
*BAM*
Finding herself staring up towards the endless black sky, two large orbs scornfully bore into her.
The black figure freed itself from the Mikhail’s corpse, ripping it’s body parts apart from his flesh, sometimes absorbing chunks of into the fuzzy static that it was composed of.
Two pairs of eyes creased upwards as a grating voice entered her mind, sharply piercing into her mind, body uncontrollably pulsing.
“...It w..as yo...ur fau..lt~~! Hehe, You...r ...fa..ult!”it mocked.
Diluted crimson mixed in with the neon rain flooded her vision, stealing it from her so as to hide the abnormal world away.
‘It was my fault.’ the girl reaffirmed to herself, now all alone in a endless void that appeared to extend until infinity.
“Ye..s, Yes! It.. Is~~ It is!” the voice gleefully confirmed, responding to her thoughts.
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White rays of light smarty clobbered Chloe’s eyelids, causing her to wince slightly, lightly rubbing her hand against them.
Her fingers felt the soft texture of the bandage that had been draped over head as tears unabashedly started to pour out of her orbs.
“I miss you Dad.”