Sneak Peek: Nour Ch5 (2) (Patreon)

You stop running only because your legs burn, and every muscle practically begs you to stop and catch your breath. As soon as you do so, your legs wobble, and you find yourself far closer to the ground than you wished. But there is no energy nor want to stand. You would gladly accept if the ground wished to wrap around you and pull you into its folds. It hardly helps that as you gaze around, your surroundings are not familiar.

You are unclear about where you were when Tyrae first grabbed you and running off as soon as possible did not help such comprehension. But you hardly can say you care. Not when your chest heaves and your body sing in praises while simultaneously cursing. It hurts. It hurts, but it also feels like your only salvation. You can hardly close your eyes without seeing the younger version of you lying on that table, unable to move as Tyrae first injected you with the serum. Your child-like screams fill your ears, and your body quivers much like ?she did.

<<if $anger gt $sad and $anger gt $numb>>\

Your rage mounts, and you grunt out as you pound the ground. Once, twice, and then three times. And soon after, you lose count. Even when your body has grown still, and you are simply heaving in an attempt to regain your breath, you still wish to lash out. You wish to command a fire that has long since been doused.

<<if $sad gt $anger and $sad gt $numb>>\

    You scream out. Crying for all that you have lost and may continue to lose. It hurts. And it will continue to hurt. There is no medicine that can soothe a fractured mind and a decaying body.

<<else>>\

You wish to scream, but nothing comes out. You wish to pound the ground, but you remain motionless. Thus the fate of one who feels everything but shows none of it. You once thought yourself numb to the pain, but you're not numb to that but the acts of the display. Why cry when nothing will change, and the same pain will be felt again in the near future? Why rage and curse when no one will hear you and no solace will be brought?

<</if>>\

And this time, there is no Nour. There's no embrace for you to fall into or eyes to stare deeply into and ground yourself with. //Nour lied to you//, a voice rages. //All this time, they lied. You have no use for them. Would it not be better to forget it all? To leave your memories where they belong, in the past//?