Status: Redo of my old story
Silence Falls
Chapter 73: In. And Out.
Demitria sat up with a gasp, panting heavily as she skidded out of bed and urgently flew out of the mattress store the group dozed in. Her bare feet padded across the floor before she finally ran out of strength and disintegrated to her knees, stooped over with her long hair streaming across the floor. Tears of enmity and grief blazed down her face and splashed onto the cold floor as she released the sobs. Those dreams she just braved through, those reminders of what she’d done and what's been done to her were becoming more lucid. Oh my god, I’m starting to relive it all again, Demitria wailed in her mind as she slumped onto her side and curled into a fetal position.
“Shh, Demetria. Shhhh.”
Demitria gasped once more but this time from the soothing voice that burst the silence of her weeping despite the fact that the voice was trying to pacify her. Whoever it was could be a murderous insane patient who managed to unearth a way into the mall and is plotting to slaughter them all! But Demitria knew better, for the voice was familiar.
“Demetria, come here. It is okay, come to me.”
Instinctively, Demitria felt her body moving out of its own accord, crawling towards a warmhearted presence that tenderly took her hands in theirs. She shivered at the pleasant touch, goosebumps stretching over her flesh as she took a gander from behind her long brown curtain of hair and into those blue and green eyes of Hermanni. How in the world did she get all the way over here? She could have sworn she collapsed by the stairs...the Electronic store was nowhere near the stairs.
Hermanni smiled delicately down at her while he focused on hushing her and help in steadying her breathing so she wouldn't pass out on the cold floor. “Shh, take slow breaths, sweetie, slow breaths. Here do it with me, take slow breaths with me. In.” Hermanni inhaled gradually and seized it, awaiting for Demitria to inhale too. When she did, he went on. “And out.”
Demitria exhaled after him. They continued this practice two more times before she felt positive she was in control again. But now she had another obstacle, the tears were still falling. Mopping them from her cheeks, she whimpered out. “I-I’m sorry.”
“Do you feel comfortable telling me what had happened?” Hermanni inquired gingerly, his thumbs kneading over her knuckles to assuage her further, sensing her sorrow slithering away.
“I-It's nothing important.” Demitria dissolved with a shake of her head. “It was just a bad dream. Memories, really.”
Hermanni nodded, feigning he had no idea when really he could see bursts of them with his own eyes. It was tough to combat them when the person he cared about was in grief, and all he craved was to make them better. But he couldn’t compel the truth out of her if she wasn’t ready to speak, right? “I see. Do not worry, I am here now. Those memories are in the past, and those dreams are dreams a beautiful young woman such as yourself should not be frightened of anymore. You are safe among us, I made sure of that.”
Demitria peered up at Hermanni's sanguine smile through her lashes before releasing a sigh of weakness. “I'm just...drained of being reminded of the mess I've caused in my family's life. I hurt them, physically and mentally. I wouldn't be shocked if they never wanted to see me again...ever!”
“Hey, do not be so sure of that. You are their child, a creation made in the private dance of their love. You have always been and always will be their little girl no matter what you do. Yes, you did have a moment of an emotional breakdown, but who does not in life? I have known many people who broke down in my time so I assure you that it is no good reason to expel someone completely from your life. Your parents still love you, faults and all.” Hermanni said tenderly with an amiable smile on his face, massaging her hands in his. His touch immediately softened her tense muscles, causing her eyes to flutter shut.
“A-Are you sure?” Demitria managed to stutter, his fingers that were squeezing and kneading over her hands were making it troublesome for her to even continue. “I-I mean, how can you be sure?”
“Yes, I am absolutely sure. All you have to do is think about the amount of breakdowns an average person has in a lifetime, whether classified as small or dangerous. I have recently been learning that a giant portion of humans have a lot of abandonment issues due to family members or other loved ones dumping them. When particular people are ditched, the result can cause some severe trauma that aggravates them to act out in an explicit way, sometimes even catastrophic. Some of them end up as what you Americans dub as 'fucked up', but that is not you in this case. You reacted to a broken heart, that’s all.”
“So it’s...okay to have reacted the way I did?” Demetria inquired, speaking deliberately to understand.
“Not necessarily in those words. You may need some counseling to work out what developed that day, or medication to stabilize the chemicals in your brain to forestall it from transpiring again if that ends up being the case. Either way, please do not see it as a ‘I must be crazy’ just because you may spend the rest of your life taking pills for it. That’s not what that means. We are not all built the same. Some of us require medicine to preserve a safe and orderly life as much as we can while others do not, and that is acceptable. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I think I do.” Demitria whispered unsurely, not wanting to accept his kind words that she wasn't crazy when she felt like she had to be.
Hermanni quit stroking her hands to cup her chin in his and compel her look him in the eyes. “You are not a crazy psycho, Demitria. You are a warrior because you have arisen from a subterranean penitentiary for years without having surrendered your rationality like all the rest. You are a survivor, a hero example to others! Stay strong, Demetria, because the world will try and bring you down to your knees and shred you to pieces. You will be ready to meet them when the time comes, because you have undergone what most of the world has yet to experience. You will do fine.” Concluding his speech, Hermanni lightly touched the tip of her nose with his fingertip, and made her burst into giggles, a blush blooming on the apple of her cheeks.
“Thank you, Hermanni. I strangely feel better now, and what you just said was very touching. I feel stronger somehow, like I really can take the world down that easily.” Demitria admitted in awe, a slight smile on her face. Could I really take on the world and all it has to fling at me, she reflected to herself, or was she taking his words a little too much to heart? They’d barely talked her matters out and already she went from feeling like the lowest worm to feeling like Wonderwoman.
“That is because you can, Demitria. One day, I will show you, I promise.” Hermanni's tone swiftly reduced from mushy and consoling to sober and determined as he asserted to her. “But only after I get you all out of this town and to a new more intact life. Do not fear, no one will be able to mangle this next life from you like they did your first. It will be all yours to live to the fullest without a care in the world. I swear to you.”
Demitria didn't have to challenge him how he would get them out of this town alive even though it would be a very practical question. Something about the way he vowed made her believe that he would really accomplish it. Perhaps not tonight or tomorrow, but definitely someday. Somehow he would make it happen.
“Shh, Demetria. Shhhh.”
Demitria gasped once more but this time from the soothing voice that burst the silence of her weeping despite the fact that the voice was trying to pacify her. Whoever it was could be a murderous insane patient who managed to unearth a way into the mall and is plotting to slaughter them all! But Demitria knew better, for the voice was familiar.
“Demetria, come here. It is okay, come to me.”
Instinctively, Demitria felt her body moving out of its own accord, crawling towards a warmhearted presence that tenderly took her hands in theirs. She shivered at the pleasant touch, goosebumps stretching over her flesh as she took a gander from behind her long brown curtain of hair and into those blue and green eyes of Hermanni. How in the world did she get all the way over here? She could have sworn she collapsed by the stairs...the Electronic store was nowhere near the stairs.
Hermanni smiled delicately down at her while he focused on hushing her and help in steadying her breathing so she wouldn't pass out on the cold floor. “Shh, take slow breaths, sweetie, slow breaths. Here do it with me, take slow breaths with me. In.” Hermanni inhaled gradually and seized it, awaiting for Demitria to inhale too. When she did, he went on. “And out.”
Demitria exhaled after him. They continued this practice two more times before she felt positive she was in control again. But now she had another obstacle, the tears were still falling. Mopping them from her cheeks, she whimpered out. “I-I’m sorry.”
“Do you feel comfortable telling me what had happened?” Hermanni inquired gingerly, his thumbs kneading over her knuckles to assuage her further, sensing her sorrow slithering away.
“I-It's nothing important.” Demitria dissolved with a shake of her head. “It was just a bad dream. Memories, really.”
Hermanni nodded, feigning he had no idea when really he could see bursts of them with his own eyes. It was tough to combat them when the person he cared about was in grief, and all he craved was to make them better. But he couldn’t compel the truth out of her if she wasn’t ready to speak, right? “I see. Do not worry, I am here now. Those memories are in the past, and those dreams are dreams a beautiful young woman such as yourself should not be frightened of anymore. You are safe among us, I made sure of that.”
Demitria peered up at Hermanni's sanguine smile through her lashes before releasing a sigh of weakness. “I'm just...drained of being reminded of the mess I've caused in my family's life. I hurt them, physically and mentally. I wouldn't be shocked if they never wanted to see me again...ever!”
“Hey, do not be so sure of that. You are their child, a creation made in the private dance of their love. You have always been and always will be their little girl no matter what you do. Yes, you did have a moment of an emotional breakdown, but who does not in life? I have known many people who broke down in my time so I assure you that it is no good reason to expel someone completely from your life. Your parents still love you, faults and all.” Hermanni said tenderly with an amiable smile on his face, massaging her hands in his. His touch immediately softened her tense muscles, causing her eyes to flutter shut.
“A-Are you sure?” Demitria managed to stutter, his fingers that were squeezing and kneading over her hands were making it troublesome for her to even continue. “I-I mean, how can you be sure?”
“Yes, I am absolutely sure. All you have to do is think about the amount of breakdowns an average person has in a lifetime, whether classified as small or dangerous. I have recently been learning that a giant portion of humans have a lot of abandonment issues due to family members or other loved ones dumping them. When particular people are ditched, the result can cause some severe trauma that aggravates them to act out in an explicit way, sometimes even catastrophic. Some of them end up as what you Americans dub as 'fucked up', but that is not you in this case. You reacted to a broken heart, that’s all.”
“So it’s...okay to have reacted the way I did?” Demetria inquired, speaking deliberately to understand.
“Not necessarily in those words. You may need some counseling to work out what developed that day, or medication to stabilize the chemicals in your brain to forestall it from transpiring again if that ends up being the case. Either way, please do not see it as a ‘I must be crazy’ just because you may spend the rest of your life taking pills for it. That’s not what that means. We are not all built the same. Some of us require medicine to preserve a safe and orderly life as much as we can while others do not, and that is acceptable. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I think I do.” Demitria whispered unsurely, not wanting to accept his kind words that she wasn't crazy when she felt like she had to be.
Hermanni quit stroking her hands to cup her chin in his and compel her look him in the eyes. “You are not a crazy psycho, Demitria. You are a warrior because you have arisen from a subterranean penitentiary for years without having surrendered your rationality like all the rest. You are a survivor, a hero example to others! Stay strong, Demetria, because the world will try and bring you down to your knees and shred you to pieces. You will be ready to meet them when the time comes, because you have undergone what most of the world has yet to experience. You will do fine.” Concluding his speech, Hermanni lightly touched the tip of her nose with his fingertip, and made her burst into giggles, a blush blooming on the apple of her cheeks.
“Thank you, Hermanni. I strangely feel better now, and what you just said was very touching. I feel stronger somehow, like I really can take the world down that easily.” Demitria admitted in awe, a slight smile on her face. Could I really take on the world and all it has to fling at me, she reflected to herself, or was she taking his words a little too much to heart? They’d barely talked her matters out and already she went from feeling like the lowest worm to feeling like Wonderwoman.
“That is because you can, Demitria. One day, I will show you, I promise.” Hermanni's tone swiftly reduced from mushy and consoling to sober and determined as he asserted to her. “But only after I get you all out of this town and to a new more intact life. Do not fear, no one will be able to mangle this next life from you like they did your first. It will be all yours to live to the fullest without a care in the world. I swear to you.”
Demitria didn't have to challenge him how he would get them out of this town alive even though it would be a very practical question. Something about the way he vowed made her believe that he would really accomplish it. Perhaps not tonight or tomorrow, but definitely someday. Somehow he would make it happen.