A message? Well, that was unexpected, given that I had no friends and it was too late for my work manager to text me. Intrigued, I looked down at my phone.

  > Hey:)

  I had not the slightest idea as to who would possibly write me. The number wasn’t in my contacts either. Though not surprising.

  Was this a mistake or scam? Probably yes. Was the smart course of action to ignore it? Undoubtedly yes. Did I do that? NOPE. I thought I had nothing to lose.

  > Hello

  I replied. I assumed the texter was a 'he'—just a guess on my part. It made it more thrilling that way.

  I didn’t have to wait long.

  > Big epic you have a iPhone

  He said.

  > ?? stayed up too late rushed my morning and still late to work lol

  He texted right after.

  > I am so regularly late for work my managers told me they would have fired me long ago if I wasn’t decent at my job.

  My original plan was to end this conversation there.

  > What was it like being rich?

  He didn’t think for long.

  "Why is it so dark here? You should turn on the light," Grandma said as she hurried toward the lamp, distracting my attention from the phone. She was surprisingly fast and mobile despite her heavy complexion.

  That question confused me though. Was this out of the blue or did he know me? Hesitant, I wrote my reply:

  > Both sides of my family used to be sorta rich. Not anymore. By the time I was born they pretty much lost everything.

  With a flick of the switch, the room was bathed in a warm glow consequently making the shadows more pronounced. "Come, let's eat. Дитё подземелья," Grandma remarked when she walked out the door.

  As soon as that door slammed shut, the trace of a small smile immediately disappeared from my face. “Child of the underworld” hmmm…it would have been cool if I was actually something like that. Of course, what my grandma meant was different; she was just mad that I was sitting in the darkness.

  I looked back at my phone. There were several messages from him.

  > Ahhaahahahahahaha

  > You got fucked

  > Wait do you have siblings?

  I started tapping at the letters on my phone.

  > Nope. An only child

  > Do you?

  I said.

  > No wonder you were a menace

  “How would you know that,” was what I wanted to say. He beat me to it.

  “Ding!” Another message. It was him.

  > My family is large. 5 half sisters, 1 brother and 1 sister from the same dad

  “Ding, ding!” This sound was starting to get on my nerves. I silenced it.

  > No idea if my drug-addicted mom had more kids

  > Probably did

  > Quite the family

  I replied.

  > It’s not even the entire family lol

  > I have so many cousins and shit

  It was much better without the sound.

  > That is a lot

  I wrote, standing up from the hardwood floor, walking toward the door.

  “Sigh!” I was tired. I felt as if somebody was constantly squeezing my heart with their fist. Emotions, always so inconvenient. Why couldn’t I get my life together?

  I wanted a way out. Pathetic, I knew, but food was probably the only thing I looked forward to in life then. I lived to eat instead of eating to live. The only reason that I was still relatively thin was probably because I used up a ton of calories fighting with myself in my mind. Plus, I did forget to eat at times. Especially if I was left alone.

  But seriously what was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I seem to change no matter how hard I tried?

  I turned the door knob to exit my room. There were two new messages.

  > It really is … I hate it

  > I don’t enjoy big crowds

  I replied on my way through the corridor.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  > Me either

  I was following the delicious aroma of food calling me towards the kitchen.

  "Hhmm ahh,” I breathed in the delicious aroma,“It SMELLS So So nice!" remarking as I walked into the living room. My mom was eating in the corner of the kitchen while my grandma was putting food onto my plate. Grandma had a tremor in one of her arms. It was always a challenge for her not to spill any of the food, but she never gave up. This was one of the ways she showed her care for me.

  I felt my phone vibrate within the side pocket of my shorts.

  > I just don’t like people too ha

  He replied. I ignored it.

  I touched my chest as I felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my heart intensifying causing me to crumble the plain, oversized T-shirt I was wearing that day.

  “Why didn’t they see me for the monster I was?” I wondered, maintaining that expressionless face of mine, looking at the exhausted faces of my mom and grandma. Ungrateful, lazy ass bitch! Yep, that was me.

  "Thanks for the food,” I said with a smile, “It smells delicious!" Oh god! I hoped I didn’t look too weird, I didn’t want them to know the truth. Not yet. I had to try to fix it.

  “What do you think?” Twinkling, blue eyes full of care and affection were looking straight into mine, pulling me back out of my mind. “Is there enough salt?" My grandma asked. I nodded. I didn’t have the chance to try everything yet. But that didn’t matter. I would have said it was delicious even if it wasn’t.

  "I will make you some juice afterw...." grandma was about to say more. "Oh right!” My mom interrupted. Swallowing the last bite of her meal, she brought the empty plates to the kitchen sink when she remembered, looking at grandma. “Tell her,” she said.

  Not gonna lie. I thought they found out and wanted to talk about THAT for a minute. I calmed down soon enough. Both of them were too calm and cheerful for it to be true.

  "I was given a warning. Mara," my grandma's voice turned cold and serious, "soon you will need to make a decision that will decide the direction of the path you take in life." She continued while looking at me.

  It was one of those again. Dreams. I always found those dreams to be quite odd. In a sense, every female in my family had something peculiar about them. Except me that was. I was just your regular loser in life. Well, anyway…

  "What did you dream of now?" I asked curiously, enjoying my meal in the meantime.

  I didn't actually believe in the supernatural. I believed there was always a logical explanation for everything, but even I had to admit. My grandma's dreams were almost prophetic at times. Maybe she had good intuition or something like that.

  "A life of misery might await you, but there is also a path to greatness beyond your wildest dreams."

  "Yeah... Right" I said, putting another spoon of soup. I didn’t take any of that seriously.

  Although, I wished she would have elaborated on that. Ideally, told me what exactly was it that I needed to do to reach said greatness. Neee…that never happened.

  Now in a more playful voice she said, "You shouldn't be afraid of cats my dear. That one will lead you to the right path."

  "Wait what?....” that was confusing and honestly came out of nowhere. “When was I ever afraid of cats?"

  "Would you like some more to eat.." with no further explanation my grandma shifted this conversation back to food.

  *

  The rest of the evening was rather uneventful and monotonous. Once again I laid in bed. Paralyzed by my thoughts. I couldn't sleep, so I peeked through the wooden blinds of the window above my bed. The night was very beautiful today. I could see the large, yellow moon just outside my window. The sky was also so clear and mesmerizing. And air...mwah…chef’s kiss.

  "It's so nice outside. This slightly cool air felt amazing too. I have decided."

  "You have decided? Really now. How about doing that thing you’ve been delaying?" My inner voice protested. That was probably my last brain cell of reason.

  It was hard to escape from your own head. I felt like I needed a breather. I needed to do something impulsive. Something that could give me an adrenaline rush. I was ready to fight myself if that was what I needed in order to get what I wanted.

  No denying, there was a high chance I would regret this. Did it stop me? NOPE! Nothing could ever stop me once I had decided on it.

  I unlocked my phone. It was exactly 11:58 pm. Everyone was asleep, meaning it's the perfect time to leave. My mom was sleeping in the room next to mine and she was so tired that not even a horde of wild animals passing by her room would be able to wake her up. The only challenge was getting past my grandma since she tends to wake up in the middle of the night. An added bonus to this challenge was that she ended up falling asleep on the sofa, which was located close to the exit door.

  I picked up the red leather biker jacket, laying on the floor. Then I used the flashlight on my phone to find a pair of socks.

  "Perhaps I should wear leggings. It's spring, but it will certainly be cold during the night," I thought as I almost tripped on a pair of leggings on my way out.

  "Great. I am ready. Now I just need to quietly open this door, slowly walk through the corridor and turn right towards the front door. That should be easy enough." I thought.

  There was a slight squeak when I opened the door. Thankfully, my grandma seemed to still be sleeping. Step by step I quietly made my way through the corridor. The sound of my heart beat was overwhelming me, it seemed to be even louder than my grandma's snoring.

  I was putting on my white sneakers when I heard rustling sounds coming from the sofa. The snoring also stopped.

  "Rememberrr... to role when you fall...ahhh...aaaand never fall on your backkk," grandma mumbled as she fell back to sleep.

  "That almost gave me a heart attack," I thought to myself and closed the front door behind me.

  I was outside. The stars were shining brightly and the moon looked out of this world. I walked and walked and walked. It felt so exhilarating. It's been so long since I felt like this.

  I knew it! I just needed to follow my instincts and do what feels right in the moment.

  "Then tell me, WHY didn't you develop this mindset THREE months ago when I was screaming at you to do that thing, HA?"

  Here we go again. At times like those, I always wished my mind would just shut up.

  I focused on my surroundings. The air was crisp and cool, carrying with it the scent of pine trees. As I got further and further away from my house, I heard the occasional hoot of an owl and rustling of leaves. Some might say that it was quite eerie, walking here alone at night, but it wasn’t like this was the first time for me. I've lived on mountains my entire life and knew every nook and cranny of this one in particular. I felt a sense of peace and tranquility wash over me as I walked on this trail with nothing but moonlight guiding my way. I felt right at home.

  I wondered...was I living to die or dying to live. I wanted to live so much, but if that was true just why….why was I waiting for the perfect moment to start living?

  "PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY," I screamed at the top of my lungs. Back then, my mind truly was my archenemy.

  I couldn’t make up my mind, but something felt wrong with me. I couldn’t deny, I was falling apart. Slowly losing grip of everything I thought I knew.

  My gaze focused on the moon, I was looking for a miracle, "Give me strength. Tell me what, is it that I can do?"

  I stopped and here I was, surrounded by trees, illuminated by moonlight. It was so quiet. All I could hear was the sound of trees creaking and occasional rustling of leaves. I closed my eyes and tightened my fists till I started to feel pain as my nails dug deeper into my flesh. "Tell me NOW! TELL Me now," I screamed from the bottom of my soul.

  "Who....... is it...that I am....supposed to be?"

  In response, I got nothing but silence.

  "Ahhr!!!"

  Of course, I didn't get a response. Not like I was expecting to.

  "Awwoooooo"

  That definitely wasn't me.

  "Awoooo"

  This sound. It seemed to be getting louder and louder.

  "Wolves?" I thought.

  Most certainly I was not staying here to find out. With no hesitation I ran. There was a shortcut to my house from here. I just needed to run toward the swamp, so I did.

  "Huff, puff" I panted.

  It’s been so long since I ran this fast or did any sort of exercise really. It was only thanks to fear and adrenaline that I managed to run this far without slopping nor slowing down. The trail was getting narrower the farther I went.

  "Awoo, woooo!!!"

  They were following me, getting closer. I tried to run faster. My long unruly hair kept getting tangled in the branches and even breaking from time to time. The white shoes I was wearing were most certainly covered in mud by now, given how wet the ground was. Some of that dirt even got on my leggings. The most annoying of all were the cobwebs that kept sticking to my face.

  "I got this. Nobody knows this road better than I do," I thought while drops of sweat were dropping down from my eyebrow threatening to get into my eye.

  "Here goes that damn tree root.” I jumped and kept running ahead towards the metal bridge. I was starting to feel relieved as I crossed over the bridge and was on my way to the crossroad that had a path leading home.

  I was almost there. Just needed to pass through the...

  There was a wolf right in front of me blocking the trail towards my house. The ones following behind me were also close by.

  "Why do you always manage to get into trouble that could easily be avoided?" I scoffed at myself.

  I needed to make a decision fast. The path to the right was a dead end. It was then that I saw a cougar looking at me from the leftmost path of this crossroad before turning away and slowly walking through the path. It looked like that cougar was inviting me to follow it?

  "Don't be afraid of the cats..here goes nothing. Grandma, I sure hope you were right."

  Fast, with all my might, I sprinted in the direction of that cougar, not looking back. It seemed like the wolves had no intention of following me. After a while, I stopped to finally catch a breath. That gave me a moment to look around. Perhaps because it was dark, but this place seemed unfamiliar and new to me.

  Now that I was thinking about it, weren’t there supposed to be only two pathways?

  No I was certain. One path led to my house and another was a dead-end.

  "Then....," I nervously looked around me, " where the hell am I?"

  "It is true that life can be brutal."

  "Who said that?" I hesitantly yelled out.

  "Sometimes it might feel like you are aimlessly working your soul away as valuable time flies by at lightning speed," it continued.

  I couldn't quite pinpoint from where that sound was coming from. It sounded like a male voice. Also that cougar was nowhere to be seen. I picked up the sharp looking branch next to me, in an attempt to secure some sort of weapon. Then I slowly backed away in the direction I just came from. For a moment there was nothing but complete silence. I couldn't even hear the sounds of the trees.

  But then. I heard what can only be described as flapping of the wings. At that very moment, I saw a bird land on the fallen tree right in front of me.

  "It's just a crow," I muttered, still tense and alert, looking out for the mystery stranger.

  "You scared me, little guy," I whispered, smiling looking at the bird.

  "First of that, that is quite rude. I am not some crow. I am Corvus Omnisciens. Second, put that stick down. It's so barbaric. Third, who are you calling little here? Show some respect!" His feathers flipped up and down, his beak snobbishly raised upwards, he looked at me with that soul-piercing gaze of his left eye.

  "The hell!! Did that crow just speak?" Oddly enough it was the same exact voice I heard earlier.

  The bird became visibly angry, puffing his feathered and spreading its wings as it cried out, "I AM NOT A CROW!!!"

  That scared me and I took a step back. It all happened too fast. Before I could react, I lost my footing and came tumbling down a hill.

  "Ouch. That got to hurt," the raven spoke apathetically with a subtle undertone of joy before lifting off and plunging down the hill.