Memories of the Dark: "Nothing At All"

Cedany Shaw,

"I wonder when the professor is gonna come." Peronell muttered beside me.

"They probably lost track of time." Lianna suggested, she was on my other side.

"Where were you anyways?" I asked Peronell who went pale matching the walls of ACA.

"I'm sorry for being late, representatives. My name is Stuart Beasley." Professor Stuart suddenly appeared and the door was still open "I am your IC Professor and today, I present to you all our very first creature for inspection." as people with green cloaks walked in.

The staff starts to flood inside the classroom.

"What are they doing here?" Lianna whispered and I shrugged.

"Maybe that's the reason why he's late?" Peronell pointed at Professor Staurt.

The people in green cloaks starts to chant a spell and we watched them quietly. They continued to chant until a hole started appearing on the floor. I looked carefully until they stopped chanting. Suddenly a creature starts coming out of the hole and the hole immediately disappeared. They hastily chained the creature using magic. The sounds of the beast could be heard from the entire room, it could probably even be heard outside.

"What the hell is that?!" Imania Clemence, one of the Black Empire representatives screamed since she was terrified.

Everyone was alerted, while the creature was in a rage.

"Everyone stay calm. This is the creature we will be inspecting. We will cut off its stomach and we'll learn all about this creature." Mr. Stuart calmly said, however, he was too calm. Those words almost sounded like they came from a psycho.

"That's not even called a creature anymore, that's a monster." Martha Morgaine, a Black Empire representative and also part of the student council said.

"You guys are scaring yourselves, this is an everyday creature from the outside world. It's called a DeepClaw." Mr. Stuart laughed as the people in green cloaks chained the creature on the operation table.

The representatives calmed down, however, the DeepClaw's screams can still be heard. The staff were standing on the side making sure that the DeepClaw won't escape. Mr. Stuart put on a pair of gloves and got a knife in his left hand. The DeepClaw looked like it had the wings and the beak of an eagle, although it's bigger, and has legs.

"Alright, class! Examine the creature carefully as I open its stomach. I'll show its organs one by one." Mr. Stuart slowly put the knife on the DeepClaw's skin.

He continued to press the knife on the creature. In the process, he cut its stomach open and the DeepClaw screamed in pain. I watched silently, I felt bad for the DeepClaw even if it does look like a harmful beast. Shouldn't they at least show some kind of mercy?

Lianna looked disgusted at the sight of its stomach being opened, while Peronell looks like she was empathizing with the DeepClaw's pain.

After Mr. Stuart successfully cuts the stomach open. He slowly removed its organs. Imania suddenly puked on the floor. Some other representatives were as well disgusted at the sight of the DeepClaw and Imania's puke.

Mr. Stuart showed us its organs one by one. I could still somehow feel that the creature was still alive. Its eyes looked straight at mine and I felt my hands start shaking. It suddenly starts moving again as some other representatives start panicking, mainly Martha and Imania.

The staff immediately held back the creature who had no organs on its body, but somehow still manages to move properly. The creature successfully made it out of the staff's grasp. The girls panicked beside me. The creature went towards Martha and managed to scratch her arm with its claw.

Martha was now wounded on her arm and blood was dripping on the floor. The creature then looked at me after Martha passed out of fright. Lianna realizes and she immediately went in front of me. Lianna shielded me, but the DeepClaw managed to get close to me. I fell to the ground. It stood in front of me and dropped something.

"F#nd #ns#rs." The DeepClaw was trying to say something.

I didn't quite understand its words. It immediately ran away before I could ask anything. Lianna went toward me and I was shaking in fear. I didn't even notice that I was afraid the whole time. Who wouldn't right? It was normal.

"Are you alright?" Gavin asked me and I looked at him in confusion.

When did he get here? Why is he asking me if I was alright?

"Dan, your nose. Blood is coming out of it?" Lianna touched my cheek and I shook my head.

I'm pretty sure there isn't any blood. I quickly took the thing that the DeepClaw dropped and slip it inside my pocket. I touched my nose and they were right, there was blood. I start to get dizzy from looking at my blood and the noise was bothering me.

"It's so loud in here." I said to them.

They immediately helped me up and lead me out of the room. I tried my best not to pass out. Even though I felt my eyes were getting heavy and my mind felt like it was gonna explode. The ringing sound and their muffled voices were clashing.

"We'll get you to the clinic right away!" Lianna panicked as Gavin helped me up.

"Cedany, hang in there!"

Peronell's voice was the last thing I heard and then there was nothing...

-Flashback-

Nothing. Nothing was ever good enough for both my mother and father. I always tried my best to meet their expectations and would even go far for it. Looking back at my efforts, I feel sad and lonely. I did all that for nothing. Nothing at all.

I trained and did my studies as the future Grand Duchess of Norstow. Only for that very thing, my main purpose, to be stolen from me. I resented my mother, my father, that servant-baroness. And she, who I thought was just a normal friend of mine turned out to be the one who ruined my life. I felt jealousy for the first time in my life.

How come she gets to live the life I used to have? Why does she get to have my father's love and recognition? Why is my mother's place been replaced by that lowly servant-baroness? Why does Rosa Shaw get to have the title Grand Duchess?! It was rightfully mine, to begin with!

"Mother? Why are we leaving father?"

"He has been keeping a secret from us for 12 years. Your father has an illegitimate child with my servant and the child is Rosa, your friend."

And just like that, I was discarded by my father. He announced to the public that he made that lowly servant his Grand Duchess without any hint of shame. I was ridiculed by nobles and children my age for being replaced by Rosa. I couldn't attend any ball without being ridiculed. In fact, I couldn't go anywhere without being ridiculed. It made me furious!

I lived with this kind of bullshit every day. My mother didn't help when he brought that man into our home. That man my mother brought soon became her husband. I didn't have anything against that man, not until he touched me inappropriately. I would just suck it in and keep it to myself since he was threatening me. I was scared. I didn't know what to do. It was like someone sewed my lips together. I couldn't say or do anything.

My mother didn't know anything until that man finally decided to do something other than touch me. He came to my room while I was sleeping. I awoke from him suddenly putting his hand on my mouth to keep from screaming. I wrestled with him, but I was only 13. I have a small figure enough for him to have power over. He managed to take off all of my clothes until I was bare naked and right on time my mother came inside the room. She saw what was happening. I immediately came running towards her, crying my heart out.

"What did you do?"

"Ask your daughter! She was the one inviting me to sleep with her."

Just with that, my mother believed his every word. None of it was true. Not a single one. How can I? A child, ever seduce a grown man? But, my mother didn't believe my words. She brought me to a church to perform a cleansing ritual on me. I was confused. The man was the one who should be suffering. The priest and nuns continued performing a cleansing ritual on me for 5 days, without stopping. They would drown me in their holy water and continue to beat me up while I was bare naked. They won't let me eat or drink water.

I came back home being 'clean' and my mother treated me differently. Her motherly love was long gone. She would bad mouth me to everyone for seducing her husband. Her husband didn't change, so I was the one who adjusted. I kept going to places where he wasn't there. I managed to live like this for years without complaining.

Not until I went to a parade for Rosa Shaw's birthday. There they were waving to their people with joyful smiles on their faces. I tasted the bitterness on my tongue. I watched my father kiss another woman rather than my mother. I watched him have a proud look on his face as he looks at Rosa rather than me. I watched silently, but everything was killing me inside.

Everything that happened to me, I didn't complain about having this kind of life. But at that time, everything changed. I want what I was supposed to have back!

A nobody like me could only cry. Because nobody cared.

-End of Flashback-