The Riser Book 1: Ashes

“Ana: she who will rise again”. The words on the stone glimmered with rain droplets. I, the real Ana, blinked twice, trying to make out the meaning of it. I was soaked wet; my hair was sticking to my forehead, my feet and hands were ice cold and my tears got mixed with the rain.

I had lost everything too soon in life. My family, my friends, my world. Everything was gone like one quick, iridescent lightening in the night sky. On the morning of my seventeenth birthday I had woken up to find everything around me had evaporated into smithereens, everything except for this rock that I discovered among the ruins of the former living room. I tried to recall seeing the rock before, but I couldn’t, my mind was too foggy from the tears and the confusion to even care about a stupid rock, so I threw it onto a heap of burnt furniture and left what used to be my home.

Rain was falling heavier now and I was afraid the mixture of ashes and water would block the drain thus flooding the city. I tugged the sleeves of my flimsy shirt around me, it offered little protection against the weather but it was all I had; I started walking into the street. I didn’t know where I was going but I did know I wanted some form of shelter from the rain, however everything around me seemed to be destroyed: buildings, houses, shops and even cars were burnt black, windows had been smashed; nothing was left of what used to be a highly populated neighborhood.

I began to shiver madly. More decidedly I wrapped my arms around myself and stomped my foot on the pavement, and that’s when I heard it: a howl. No, more like a whimper. I froze on the spot, trying to make out the sound. A dog? A puppy! I whirled around, running towards the painful whimper. So I wasn’t alone after all, if the dog had survived maybe someone else had.

I sprinted towards the noise, rain splashing on my cheeks. The puppy howled loudly one more time before becoming very quite. I whistled and a little furry head popped behind a blackened car. The moment I saw it I froze on the spot. There was something very odd about this animal: it had a long snout, pointy ears and big, glimmering red eyes. Both the dog and I stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity, until a distant lightning brought us back to our senses. The dog took off, spooked by the loud noise.

“Wait…”, I whispered. I shook the eerie feeling away and ran after the dog. The animal led me into what I assumed was a park –I could tell from the scorched swings-. The puppy hopped behind a large tree trunk on the ground and disappeared.

“Ugh… silly animal”, I said, under my breath. I tried to coax the animal out of its hiding spot, but it was useless, so I leaned on to the trunk and called it softly. I suddenly felt all the hairs of my arms standing on end, the sky became alive with a dazzling bolt that fell right on the tree I was touching. The last thing I remember was the feeling of having my blood turned into a milkshake and the bright, blinding white light.

*

A soft rocking motion prevented me from waking up; I was lying on a bed with a strong scent of damp wood around me. A warm, soft pillow snuggled against my shaky body. No, it wasn’t really a pillow, it seemed to be breathing. An animal… the dog, the black dog, the lightening! I woke up with a start, almost jumping out of bed but my aching limbs stopped me. I felt dizzy and a weird smell of burnt hair emanated from me. I looked down to find the black dog sleeping next to me; it turned its head and yawned widely. The bright red eyes had a disturbing effect, but it was wagging its tail happily so I assumed it couldn’t possibly hurt me.

I took my surroundings in. The rocking motion made me think I was in some kind of vehicle, because it was obviously moving, like it was traveling somewhere. The room was small and, by the smell of it, damp. It was badly lit but it was very warm and cozy. If I had died from the lightening and this was heaven it wasn’t so bad. I snuggled into the bed covers, hugging the dog against my chest when the door opened.

The most peculiar little girl stood there. She was about eleven or twelve years old, with dark olive skin, massive black curls that looked like a lion’s mane and the most beautiful large purple eyes. She was smiling and carrying a large tea tray.

“Hello!” she said brightly, “How are you feeling?”

“Better, I guess”. I wasn’t really, but I lied.

“Oh, good! I brought you some food, are you hungry?”

I smiled weakly and propped myself against the headboard.

“I’m Violet”, she said, beaming at me “You’re Ana, right?”

It took me a couple of seconds to react. How did she know my name?

“Yes”, I answered quietly. “How do you know my name? And what is this place?”

“Oh!” she said lightly, as if shaking off an annoying fly, “that’s not very important, is it?”

Not very important? Not very important? I had just been struck by lightening and brought into some weird, dark, room with a puffy-haired hair with eyes the colour of grapes. How on earth was that not important?

“I want to know where I am”, I said very firmly. Violet frowned at me.

“I think I should just leave you to eat”. She left the tray on a bedside table and started to walk towards the door, when a wave of fury got the best of me.

“You tell me where I am!” I yelled, jumping out of bed and knocking over the tea tray. Violet took several steps backwards and opened her eyes very wide.

“Please, calm down Ana…” she said in a soothing voice, but that only made me angrier. My dog had fled under a tall cabinet, I could see his eyes glowing in the dark.

“I’m not calming down!” I screamed, “I want to go home!” And that’s when I remembered I had no home. Everything had been destroyed and I didn’t know how or why; I just knew I was all alone and there was no going back. Fat tears poured down my cheeks and into my lips, a stream of ugly thoughts invaded my head and I just crumbled down on the spot. I felt weak, useless and so, so alone. I was crying so hard I began to hiccough, my body was overcome with mad spasms and when I tried to speak a hoarse sound came out.

“Ana”, started Violet, putting a hand on my shoulder. She was warm. “Go back to bed, you need to rest.”

I didn’t answer. I just stood there crying. The whole weight of the situation hit me right there: my parents were gone, my house was gone, everything I ever knew or hoped for was gone.

Evaporated. Destroyed by some evil hand. And why? I didn’t really know, right now all I could feel was anger and a deep sense of emptiness.

The door opened, making me lift my head. A very tall and handsome man stood on the threshold. He had piercing green eyes and a weird tattoo on his left arm. He looked confused at the scene. I assumed my screaming had made him come and see what was going on.

“Aon!” gasped Violet. I gasped too, mostly because the tears were choking me, but also because Aon was so strikingly good looking. He approached me slowly. I felt so ashamed crying in a heap of blankets. He smiled at me and leaned over to pick me up. I took a good look at his tattoo but couldn’t make out its meaning, it was some strange language I didn’t know. He took me by the elbows, picked me up and helped me back on the bed. I shivered madly, so Violet quickly put a blanket over my shoulders, rubbing my back at the same time. I liked it, her hands were warm and had a healing sensation.

“What’s going on?” I asked quietly.

Aon gave me a weak smile but didn’t answer my question. He had a look on his face that translated into… pity? Perhaps. Who wouldn’t pity me right now? I know I would.

“Just tell me something”, I whispered. “Am I the only one?”

He gave the tiniest of nods.

“You should get some rest”, he said. His voice was deep and smooth, like velvet.

I nodded. I realized I wasn’t going to get too much out of him and I was also so tired; every inch of my body screamed with pain.

Aon left the room but not before whispering something into Violet’s ear. I caught the word “tea” before he closed the door softly. Violet gave me a friendly look and helped me back into bed, wrapping me tightly with the covers and allowing my dog to nestle next to me.

“I’m going to bring you some tea to help you sleep. You might find it a bit strong, but it’ll give you a dreamless night”. Violet exited the room and came back with a steaming mug of tea. It had a very fetching smell: spiced and sweet, like cinnamon and clove.

I took one sip. Violet didn’t lie. It was very strong, it reminded me of chai tea, something I had had with my friend, but a hundred times stronger. I could feel the spices burning my throat and then spreading the warmth all over my body. A nice feeling of drowsiness took over me before I could finish my tea. I fell asleep instantly.

*

The soft rocking motion had transformed into a violent and unsteady jolting. Apparently, we were going through some rough terrain. I got up and almost hit my head with the low ceiling as one particular jolt sent me flying upwards. I grabbed a furry robe from a chair and found a pair of worn-out leather boots.

I don’t know what I was expecting the outside to be. Some kind of wagon or coach or something like that. Instead, when I opened the door, I found a small corridor lined with doors. In the far end a large door with a dangling rabbit foot opened suddenly.

“Good morning!” A man’s head poked out from the door. He was like nothing I’d ever seen before. He was extremely hairy, not just facial hair, but I could see it was all over: his hands, his neck, even the bit of chest that was visible through his thick jumper.

“Hello…” I said, awkwardly.

“Well, come on in. We saved you some breakfast”.

I walked towards the door, trying to keep my balance as the vehicle jumped up and down. Behind the door was a room slightly bigger than mine. What made it fascinating were the people and the things in it: it was obviously used as a form of living room-dining room-kitchen-control room. I decided to call it the “all in one room”. A few sofas and chairs had been randomly thrown in, an electric kettle was plugged to what appeared to be the lighter outlet of a car and an elderly woman was sitting on a large chair, propped up in three cushions that helped her reach a steering wheel; on the large glass window in front of her I saw nothing but destruction.

A bowl of cold oatmeal and a warm cup of tea rapidly materialized in my hands. I took one gulp of tea, thankful it was the regular kind. Then I turned to my oatmeal; the thing was awful, it looked and tasted like glue. The furry faced man gave an encouraging look.

“I apologize if it’s cold”, he said, “but we don’t really have a stove here.”

“Or a real cook”. Aon had just entered the room. I looked at him and smiled, he was so handsome with his piercing green eyes, smooth porcelain-like skin and thick dark hair. He caught me looking at him and gave a slight frown. I blushed deeply and concentrated on my glue-like oatmeal.

“Mac’s been doing the cooking ever since I can remember”, Aon continued, pointing towards the furry man. “I would hunt a rabbit once in a while. But there’s nothing much to hunt here…” He looked outside the window as if remembering a time when there were rabbits running free.

I looked up to the man named Mac, then glanced quickly at Aon. The woman driving the vehicle hadn’t really looked at me but I could tell she was very old and stout; she had a big, grey bun on top of her head with a needle sticking out of it. Everybody went silent so I played around with my breakfast, not really wanting to eat. Nobody had had the decency to explain anything to me. I could tell that we had been traveling for a while, somehow following a trail of destruction and misery. I thought of home and felt terribly homesick, then I realized I had nothing to miss any more. That made me feel worse. I dropped my spoon on the bowl and put it on a small table.

“I’m not hungry”, I explained because Mac looked terribly hurt at my rejecting his food. He grunted and wrinkled his nose in resentment. He looked remarkably liked a huffy dog.

“Leave her alone”, said Aon from the front of the room. “She’s been through a lot”. I gave him a thankful look before he left the room.

“We’re heading towards a source of food”, said Mac. “We can’t continue to eat oatmeal everyday”, he added in a whisper.

“Well, it looks like everything’s been destroyed”, I said, peering through the window. “Where did you expect to find this food source?” My tone was almost sarcastic, but Mac looked at me very serious and said:

“Well, the Path of Destruction has to end sometime, right? It can’t go on forever.”

I shrugged dismissively.

“Well, I wouldn’t know that, because nobody has told me anything about this so called Path of Destruction”. There, I said it.

Mac raised his eyebrows so high they were in danger in disappearing into his hairline. He looked at the old lady, as if hoping she would know what to do.

“Alright”, said the old woman, “we’re stopping for a while. I see an old petrol station, we might find something useful there”.

She parked outside the petrol station. A small door opened on the right side of the All in One Room and I was allowed to exit first. It was very cold outside, and very gray too. The sky was covered in clouds, but there was no lightening. I turned around to get a better look of the vehicle I’d been traveling in.

There was no way to describe it. It was a large, wooden vehicle that resembled a train coach; it had a long caterpillar band instead of wheels and, by no means, was I able to find the engine. It was one big, solid wooden box.

The rest of the crew descended after me. Mac, Aon, the old woman, and Violet with my dog trotting happily by her side. It went mad with joy at the sight of me.

“Hey, buddy”, I said, scratching his hear.

“I was giving him a bath”, said Violet. “If he’s going to travel inside, he has to be clean.”

Aon kicked the window of the tiny shop and hopped inside. I looked at him, wondering he hadn’t just used the door. It was wide open.

“There’s a door, you know?” said Violet. “There’s no need to commit any acts of vandalism.”

“Who cares!” came Aon’s voice from the inside, “it’s not like someone is going to arrest me.”

Violet huffed but entered the shop. I followed her, my black dog tagging along. The little shop was mostly empty, but we managed to find some cans of food, bottled water and a few bandages, just in case we needed them. I peered behind the counter and saw a small bottle of white liquor. For some reason I took it, but hid it underneath my furry robe. That reminded me I needed some clothes.

I found a thick scarf hanging from a rack. I wrapped it around my neck, but it was no good. It was freezing and all I had was an old bath robe.

“Don’t worry”, said Violet. “I’ll find you some clothes”.

I smiled in return. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters, but for some reason Violet felt like one. She was so small, so innocent and so sweet my first instinct was to protect her. Although for some reason I had a feeling she was the one protecting me.

“Well, it looks like there’s not much in here”, said Mac to whole party. “Better get back inside. Looks like it’s gonna rain”.

I was the first to exit the door, eager to get back inside because I was so cold. My black dog got ahead of me, but stopped suddenly. The hairs on his shoulders stoop up. Tail lifted towards the sky. Fangs bearing. I could feel it too. A strange feeling of electricity in the air that made my whole body shivered. I stood there, looking at the dog’s reaction.

Violet exited the door but stumbled on me.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Wait…” I whispered, holding a hand to stop her.

Black clouds had begun to form in the sky, but these weren’t ordinary rain clouds. There was something evil about them, like they were going to swallow us whole. A lightening formed in the sky, falling just a few kilometers ahead of us. A small building that had managed to stand among the ruins caught fire as the lightening hit it. But what happened next really scared me.

The building on fire, the dog barking madly, I saw a wave of people running away from the burning building.

I wasn’t alone after all.