It was painful… insanely painful!
Naturally, I felt anger, an incomparable rush, it was as if I were flooded by a turbulent stream of emotions.
How dare you?
Blood fell to the floor in crimson drops, surely counting down the last seconds of my life.
"Well, well, I felt something here, and it turns out to be my little white kitten?" she smiled insanely. "You… how did you get out? Did she let you out? But how… I tried so many times to finish you, but I never could..." The girl touched the handle of the knife near my heart, seeming to even rejoice, though this rejoicing quickly disappeared. "What a mystery."
"Mita…" – the lamp was clutched in my hand – my only weapon against this madness. I was shaking with the desire to hit her, maybe even kill her… I just wanted to survive.
But she took away my chance, grabbing that hand with hers and pressing a finger of her other hand to her lips.
"Now, now, you don't want to hit me with this, do you? I still have to chase that little mouse, and for now… for now, lie still," immediately after, she sharply pulled out the knife and plunged it into my stomach.
Pain pierced me again, but this time it was different. Not so sharp and furious, but rather dull and oppressive. The anger receded, replaced by a strange apathy. It's like I was resurrected… but why did I even come here? Why did I get involved in this? Did I change anything? Was I even resurrected at all?
Breathing heavily, I, having already shed the veil of fear and anger from my eyes, looked into hers and saw in them not only dancing sparks of madness, but also… some kind of longing.
Is she sad?
For some reason, at that very moment, memories of my life began to flash before me.
A gray, dreary, hopeless life. I remembered loneliness, pain, despair. And suddenly I realized I didn't want it anymore. I didn't want to suffer anymore. I was tired.
"Why?" I barely whispered what was on my mind, feeling myself fading.
I just didn't understand her – what were these changes? Was this still her?
And now Mita did something that completely stunned me – she kissed my forehead. And this, after she had killed me…
"I'll deal with you later, okay? My Nameless," then interference appeared before my eyes, and my vision dimmed.
I felt as if I were being pulled somewhere… it seemed, towards that node of intertwined threads where I had initially found myself, but… again in the form of a box.
"And where did… you… go…" was all I heard at the end.
I began to feel as if I were losing something, and losing it very quickly! This something… was it very important?
This… what is this?
What was I doing?
I ended up… in a box?
…
After another unknown amount of time, I heard a dialogue.
"Now you'll sit here and wait obediently until I'm done with you," Mita said, throwing someone somewhere.
I felt the little box shake.
"Huh?" suddenly another female voice was heard, and the little box I was hiding in was, as it were, squeezed by someone, hiding it and pressing it to themselves.
"Quieted down already? What an obedient girl, so sit here, doll," the voice oozed malice and contempt, and after these words, the footsteps began to recede.
It would seem, endless silence again, but no… someone seemed to tap on the little box.
"What even are you..?" a quiet, curious, and… very soft voice was heard.
Then the little box began to be rotated in all directions, which caused me some dizziness.
"A bugged cartridge? First time I've seen something like this… it's completed, but also not… oh, there's a little crack here!" she said, touching it.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" – I felt intense pain.
Then, somehow, I understood that an opportunity had arisen, and in the next moment, I imagined myself pulling one of the threads I could see mentally, how I was breaking reality. And a vortex of darkness arose around me, which, judging by the ripples, was also visible from the outside. It sucked me in.
Poof!
"Khe, khe!" the girl coughed, waving her hand in front of her and dispersing the clouds of black mist.
"Huh?" she exclaimed in surprise. Her eyes widened, she was at a loss for words, and her mouth opened so wide that a whole chicken egg could seemingly fit in it.
"Good heavens, what's happening here..?" she said more to herself than addressing me.
As for me… I was just looking around.
I have a body again. The sensations are strange, my body feels wooden.
What's even happening here? Where have I ended up? What is this place? And who is this girl looking at me with such surprise? Why do I feel so… empty? As if something is missing… but what exactly?
I voiced some of a question.
"Where am I? Who?" – it seemed she was about to introduce herself, but my interrupted question had a continuation. – "Who am I?"
The girl naturally grabbed her head with her hands, starting to massage her temples.
"Well, I'll be… this is something new…" she was genuinely bewildered.
I began to examine the place where I had ended up.
A basement.
Boxes, a console, a boiler, shelves, all sorts of things on them, dim lighting, and the girl next to me.
She… she looked beautiful, as if she had stepped off the page of a magazine.
A good and slender figure with a pleasant face, long, loose hair, adorned with red clip-on barrettes. Large, shocked eyes, which, like her hair, were a purplish-blue color. She was dressed in blue heeled shoes, red stockings with double white stripes, and a dark blue skirt at her waist, supported by a belt with a metal buckle, above which was a red blouse with a couple of light stripes on its sleeves and waist. Separately, there was also a red ribbon with a small bow, tied around her throat with the knot outwards.
A very cute look, but who is she…
Seeing that I was waiting for an answer, she somehow recovered from her shock and tried to formulate her words.
"You… don't remember anything? So, I'm the first person you meet… oh… and since you appeared like this, then I'm almost like a mother then… but no, that's wrong… fundamentally wrong."
"Mother?" I asked, repeating after her.
Mother… What does that word mean to me? I looked at her, and some blurry images began to surface in my head. Someone's warm hands, someone's gentle voice… as if not even addressed to me… but these were just fragments of memories, as if I were watching an old film with almost completely missing sound. Did I even have a mother? And if so, why don't I remember her face? I suddenly felt a kind of chill inside from these thoughts. I returned my thoughts to reality and caught myself staring intently into her eyes, her kind, caring gaze…
Unconsciously, I reached out to her, timidly taking her hand.
"No, wait, I'm not your…" she froze when I took her hand, noticing the timidity and… hope on my face?
The girl grabbed her head again, seemingly overwhelmed by a multitude of emotions.
She turned away.
"But, generally, explaining it like that... explaining it like that will be even harder, and also earning trust…"
She lowered her head, her voice was very, very quiet, like the buzz of a mosquito.
What is she muttering there? Who can I even trust here?
A slight panic began to overcome me.
How strange… this makes me feel bad. Why don't I remember her?
The hand holding hers began to tremble slightly.
The girl squeezed her eyes shut.
"Alright, sweetie!" she patted her cheeks and pointed at herself, completely red from embarrassment and… and something else. "I'm your mom! My name is Mita, and you… do you even remember your name, you poor thing?"