Bury The Dead

As conscious slowly made its way back to Catherine she began to open her eyes, only to see that she wasn't in Wockart Bridge. She was in the middle of a forest and had no idea how she was alive. She was pretty sure she was going to die last night.

She slowly got up, looking at her surroundings and brushing away the leaves stuck in her tresses.

She checked herself for missing limbs but found herself to be intact which made her sigh in relief.

She knew she had to leave the forest, but didn't know where to go. She wasn't even sure how far she was in the forest, or her way back to the carriage. A part of her didn't want to go back to the carriage but the other part was still stupid enough to want her belongings back even at a time like this.

But she had to move quickly, for she didn't know when the sun would set and the abjens would appear again, and who knows, this time, she won't be this lucky.

Catherine had been walking for an hour now, she was hungry and thirsty. She could feel an itch in her throat, reminding her how dry it was.

Walking further in an unknown direction she wondered if she would make it out alive. Suddenly she tripped over something, getting up she looked back to see what it was.

She gasped as she saw the coachman's dead body! And with her feet shaking, she took two steps back and ran in the direction she came from.

Dead... He's dead! I'm going to die, I will die here! Please, no!

Catherine found herself running again, her vision clouded with tears, she didn't want to die young. and yet here she was, and she was sure she would die soon. And then she stopped. She stopped running back.

"Catherine, what is it that you want to do for the last time in your life?" She asked herself aloud.

She smiled to herself and turned around, she knew what she was going to do. She was going to bury the dead and hope that someone might do the same for her if they ever found her rotting corpse that is.

She was going to bury the coachman after all his unintentional sacrifice gave her another day to live.

And so, with nothing but time in her hands she walked back in the same direction she came running from.

✦✦✦

The sun had already set, and the coachman's dead body was now Catherine's sight. A little hesitant, she started digging with her hands. She didn't dare to go near him but was mentally preparing herself to drag his body into the grave she was digging.

Or who knows, it could be her grave... But she kept digging.

For the first time Catherine looked up, and —

Something coughed, I swear I heard someone cough.

She shifted her gaze to the coachman, right now, everything was scaring the hell out of her.

"Mr. Coachman..." she said while walking towards his what she was sure was a corpse.

She sat down beside him and he coughed! He was coughing up blood. Catherine couldn't believe, he was alive?! All this time... if she had buried him, she would have killed him.

"Thank God you're alive! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I never meant for any of this to happen —" Catherine was cut off by the coachman's voice.

"S-Sav-e Your-self" Said the coachman, coughing up more blood. Then he pointed towards his hands towards a tree.

Confused, Catherine looked at the tree. And then it struck her, that's the way out? So he wants me to save myself? Leave him here?

"But I can't just leave you here — coachman? coachman!" Catherine understood he was now dead for sure. She closed his eyes. And Got up.

And she ran, again, the hungry and thirsty Catherine ran again, this time with the hope that she could save herself.

Just as she was passing the tree the coachman had pointed towards, she fell.

"Aaaaahhh!!" screamed Catherine while falling down, the whole seemed somewhat deep as she was still falling and then she landed with a thud.

"Arrgh" Catherine struggled to get up. And when she looked at what was in front, she was speechless.

A cottage underground? A bed.. some cutlery, and a mirror. Someone lives here?

Things were getting weirder by the minute. Who was living here?

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