Memories

Emmen's thudding feet pounded the soft earth of the forest as she ran, ran from the city, ran from the pain, ran from the memories, with a bloodied dagger at her side.
But, of course, the memories followed her trail as efficiently as a bloodhound, occasionally gaining, and that was when she would stagger, and fall to her knees.

"Aren't you ever lonely, Emmen?" her brother asked, lounging in a chair in her own home. She shifted uncomfortably in her own chair, considering and reconsidering the answer. Like herself, her brother had always had special senses. He knew when she and a select few others were lying; others like their parents, and his closest friends.
"Vellan... yes," she said honestly. His probing made her feel exposed, like she had no privacy. But then again, nothing was ever safe from him.
"Then how do you live out here on your own? I cannot stand being alone." She turned her head away, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. Neither could she, in all honesty. She herself could not understand why she lived alone, except for an incessant feeling of separation, like she didn't belong.
"Emmen? Tell me. Tell me," he insisted, and she spun around to face him fully.
"Stop it!" she screamed. "Have I no right to privacy? Must you uncover everything about me? Why do you do this?" Abruptly, he stood, and turned away. His voice was icy cold like the wind that battered the windows.
"No," he said bitterly. "That is not your right."

Something streamed down Emmen's cheeks, but it wasn't the rain that poured from the heavens. She didn't notice. Blinded by the memory, she staggered to her feet and reentered the race.

Emmen clenched her jaw tight, and her hand stroked the hilt of her dagger, inconspicuously, threateningly. "What are you talking about, Vellan? That I am not allowed to keep anything from you?"
He glanced at her sidelong, gauging her reaction. "No," he repeated stiffly. "And you know that you cannot. You have not, not since my power... evolved." Tears sparkled in the moonlight as they ran down her face. She turned to face him fully.
"What will you do if I do? If I can?" She was testing him, to see how far he would go to satiate his hunger for knowledge.
"You cannot." It seemed like he would not elaborate, but Emmen kept pressing the question upon him, like he had done to her not minutes ago.
"But if I can? I am sure that you have something planned for such an occurence." Her voice was spiteful, yet almost teasing. She could see that she had struck a nerve with him.
"I would get it out of you. You... you know how persuasive I am. How else do you think I got all of that other knowledge?" His voice mimicked hers, and her heart broke. The tears flowed freely; she did not try to stop them. His jaw clenched too.
"Torture, then? Surely you would not sink that low," she hissed mockingly. His head snapped around to face her fully, and his teeth were bared. He looked feral, nothing like the calm, neat brother she had known all her life.
"You have no idea what this is like for me! How much I need to know this. To know everything. Ah... It is like you, wanting to know how everyone feels. Except, my power has evolved, and yours has not. How does it feel? Knowing you are inferior?" Again, he was probing for information. Like he could not help himself.
Deep in her heart, Emmen knew that he could not help it. The need was too great. But what he had said, the question he had asked, it was too much. She screamed in frustration, then ran.

No. No. Not again, not this again. Her foot caught in a root, and she tripped and fell, sinking into the mud. And the memories just kept coming, an endless stream of anger and pain and loss.

Her brother, eyeing her blade warily as she advanced on him.

No.

Her brother, glaring as he asked again and again.

No.

Her brother, body lying on the floor, throat cut, lifeblood flowing freely.

"No!"

Author's Note

This is something based off a roleplay I did once upon a time~ Enjoy, m'dears!

Reviews

[David]

Not my kind of writing, but it is so well written I found it hard to stop

[Matthew Ian Herrawood W]

this is a dark piece but i enjoyed it the way you ended it with the sentences and the folowing No was good what made that part great was how the last was not a simple No but a "No!" i would seriusly think about continueing this well done!

[Nikki]

I really like your story, it has lots of details, and very well written. You should actually continue it, i bet it would be REALLY exciting!