Loose Strings

A blood contract, such a simple thing. It led Aiera to be what he is now, a mere puppet in a world much to large for one such as himself.

It was never like this, well, at least Aiera didn't think so. He knew nothing of the shop keepers past and of what he's done before he came to reside in Aiera's hometown. It never occurred to him to ask - though considering the objectives, it would have been an unwise decision to do so.

Aiera left his entire life behind that day that he went the little shop. It was April 11th, 2021 when his heart stopped beating. It was also the day that he lost entire being, nothing but his actions remained but even then, his bonds were held and he was unable to move. Though, now, if he had read the contract correctly - which he doubted since he had only been able to take a glimpse of it - then today would be the day that the bonds connecting him to the shop keeper would break. Since he woke that morning, he's been able to regain feeling in his limbs inch by inch, muscle by muscle.

Finally, as a young woman who looked to have just graduated the year before paced in front of his glass window, Aiera felt air entering his dried out lungs. Immediately, Aiera coughed uncontrollably, his senses returning subtlety as the time dragged along. He unconsciously gasped and brought his right hand to his mouth in an attempt to stop coughing. Though, just as quickly, his actions ceased and Aiera regained the feeling of being immobile.

He hadn't moved in 3 years and he never expected to move again. Yet, his limbs moved once more without a single feeling of pain. Perhaps, a bone or two would creak as he tried to get comfortable. It was a miracle to him, though miracles never quite existed in his mind. The feeling of living once more was the only the thing that brought an ache to his body, the ache to live and be free from the horrible seal of fate.

Destiny was on his side, though a thought lingered within his mind that there had to have been a catch to him being able to finally move again. Maybe there were side affects, perhaps he would be unable to walk or talk. Perhaps he would just die since his entire body had been without food or water for so long. Aiera had no idea. If he were to die, he was certain he would now embrace the feeling. He could hardly stand to stare out the window any longer and it left him weary that maybe this entire feeling was a dream.

Aiera turned his head, wincing at the loud creak his neck made, and stared at the room around him that was covered in a veil of darkness. He twisted his head back and stared out the window once more, the streets emptied. Aiera tried inhaling once more, once again hacking up a storm when he attempted to do so. It gave him the impression that he would no longer be able to breath normally, yet he remained alive without any sign of suffocation.

Aiera lifted a leg and swung it over the side of the ledge, landing firmly on the ground. He attempted to bring the other and after a few minutes of struggle he was able to do so. He grunted and pulled himself up, though he soon felt the ground firmly beneath him. Aiera squeezed his eyes shut as he expected to feel some sort of pain, though nothing came. It was as if his entire nerve system had shut down. He pulled himself back up into a sitting position, staring solemnly at the peeled wall before him. A small visible dust cloud had appeared around him from his landing. His human instincts told him he should blink to keep the particles away from his eyes, keeping them shut to avoid any irritation but thus far he had yet to even blink - not counting the moment he had squeezed his eyes firmly shut.

Aiera wanted to cry out of confusion, he wanted to know what was going on and why nothing was as it had once been. He wanted so badly to know of what happened to him and why he had been taken away from his family. His thoughts ceased as he thought of his family. Any thoughts about them had been avoided during his time behind the window, it had been too painful to think about considering shortly after the shop closed, posters had been placed around his window. They were even placed across the street on the windows of the small floral shop. Each poster bore his own face, information, telephone number and in big letters, the word 'Missing'.

It pained him at the time that his family knew nothing of his whereabouts and the shop keeper did not notify them of anything. Though, eventually, the posters stopped getting placed up around town. All until the last one finally blew out of his sight, dragged away by a small gust of wind.

His family was something special, at least to him. Most people resented their family and took them for-granted. Aiera looked at them in a different light. At the time, his father had been laid off from work and was struggling to find a new job while his mother worked twice as hard to keep the family afloat.

His mother was the person Aiera admired the most, she always tried to make things better for him even though she knew things would not so quickly change. There was a time when she would take off work just to spend time with him, though, Aiera never once spoke of his hardships during school. He didn't want to do anything to burden her even further.

Aiera's father was a nice guy in many people's perspectives. It was a shame that he was unable to find work, an even greater shame that he had been laid off from work in the first place. Though his father didn't do too much to bond with Aiera, he still admired him.

He admired them so much to the point where he almost wished they didn't have to deal with him and his antics. It would only bring them both trouble and give them more things to worry about. It's shameful to him that he had caused them both worry when he vanished, he's certain that even now they worry and tremble at night just thinking about the possibilities of what could have happened to their son.

Aiera had to drop the little pride he had left and crawl his way over to the doorway - where he struggled to stand himself upright. His fist was clenched firmly around the handle, the coolness of it felt warm compared to his body heat. Slowly, he opened the door using every muscle that would currently work on his behalf. The light blinded him, not directly seeing it for the past 3 years had some downsides. Aiera shaded his eyes by bringing a hand before his eyes. Once again his bones creaked as they attempted to work correctly. Though he finally was alive once more, he felt like he didn't quite own his body anymore. It felt as though he had been placed into something else even though he was certain that the body he was in was his own. The same one that he grew up with and the same one he supposedly died with.