A Michigan family tragically had their winter vacation cut short when the pair of Serial Killers, known as the Motel Maniacs, broke into their room late at night.
The father had been absent during the attack. When he returned, he successfully incapacitated the assailants.
One of the suspects, Jonathan Hen, had survived a gunshot wound to the chest and is now facing trial. Some of those charges include twenty-seven accounts of sexual assault, forty-five accounts of murder, and twenty-eight accounts of breaking and entering.
The survivors of the attack include Henry Grim, a former military man, and his daughter, who he has confirmed was unharmed in the attack. Our prayers go out to the family, and the father had this to say:
"I'm glad that those monsters can no longer tear apart anyone else's family. Cheerish the ones you love. You never know when they may be taken from you."
National News segment report shortly after the Incident.
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"Some of my family died in a terrible incident."
Gwyn was solemn. She remembered the dark fabric over her eyes. The fabric was her brother's shirt. The men who invaded the motel room didn't care if their victims watched or not. They hadn't brought the proper materials to do as Gwyn's mother had asked of them.
Why they did as her mother asked, Gwyn still had no idea.
The final requirement was now met. Teddy was freed from the tree. The wood split open, and a doorway revealed itself. The cramped confines of the tree sent everyone bursting towards the new entrance.
"We did it!" Astrin cheered, her words echoing off the room, which seemed to be stadium-sized.
Myria dusted herself off once she stood, her tone dehydrated.
"Yay. I'm so happy I could cry."
"Everyone alright?" Leo asked, being the only one not to fall once the opening revealed itself.
Well, almost everyone. Teddy floated towards the center of the room.
"Treasure! Here… I... come!"
"Wrap that shorty in bindings,
So I can stop my teeth from grinding!"
Myria performed a simple rhyming spell, binding Teddy in black chains. Truthfully, she envisioned the chains around his neck, but didn't know if she could stop herself from choking him once she started.
Astrin tried to stop the moody elf from casting.
"Myria!"
"What? I'm just making sure he doesn't get himself killed. We don't know if the trials are over."
"Yes, Teddy, come down," Leo commanded.
He flailed wildly, snarling like a rabid dog.
"Let go of me! I—"
Myria pulled Teddy back to the rest of the party and released him.
"Why did you do that?"
Teddy was ready to cast a spell of his own at Myria.
"Oh, I did it to help you," Myria lied.
"Are you sure you weren't looking for an excuse to bind Teddy?" Astrin sheepishly asked.
"Why would I do something like that? I was obviously trying to prevent our friend from getting himself killed. Why would I, Myria, want to do something as heinous as—"
"Yeah, she did it because she could," The twins interrupted simultaneously.
Myria feigned offense.
"That's low, guys."
Teddy raised his staff to Myria's face, and she slapped it away.
"This place…"
Gwyn's bewilderment pulled everyone out of their tangents.
A marble statue sat in the center of the room. It held its hands out like it was begging for something. A fog covered the ground. Gravestones outlined the room by the hundreds. If any of the grave markers were alike, Gwyn couldn't tell. Some even glowed neon as though they were from a cybernetic universe.
Gwyn stepped up to the raised pedestal containing the statue.
Astrin shouted out for her.
"Wait, Gwyn! Be…"
Leo put his hand on his sister's shoulder.
"Look."
It was as if Gwyn were being drawn to the statue's source. Suddenly, her ring slid off her finger. But not just any ring, her mother's ring. The ring that sat on a necklace's chain until Gwyn was old enough to wear it herself.
"My…"
Gwyn reached out for the ring, but she understood. She understood that what was happening wasn't to cause her distress. It was as if all the suffering from the memory was taken from her and placed within the statue.
Even for the elves that were not included in the memory.
Images appeared before the Chosen One's eyes.
She was at a dinner table, watching on in despair as an older man tried to stop a little blue-haired girl from choking.
She then couldn't breathe, if only for a moment.
An overwhelming dread and hopelessness overcame her, but it wasn't unpleasant. It felt… normal, for some reason.
Finally, she was in a field littered with little trees, yet to sprout.
All of the foliage was of different heights. A freshly planted tree was in front of her. A mother, the same height as her, put an arm around her shoulder. The despair remained. She turned to the mother, and a weak smile crossed her lips. There was no happiness. There was no reprieve.
The images vanished along with all grief, mourning, and despair. Gwyenevere Grim felt at peace.
Her ring floated in the palm of the statue's hands. It spun like a top, faster and faster. It glowed like a sun rising after an endless nightmare.
Then it stopped. The ring floated back to Gwyn, who caught it and inspected the surface.
Little vines now adorned the golden carving, twirling around the emerald gemstone. Gwyn's mother never liked diamonds; she thought they were too cliché. She liked emeralds much more, because they reminded her of the forest, where she much preferred to be, if she could've been.
Inside the ring's inner workings, in Elvish, three names were carved.
Jacob Grim. Jasmine Grim. Lilith Grim.
Gwyn immediately covered her mouth. The tears were torn from her body. It wasn't a cry that was full of sorrow. Pleasant memories drowned out the despair. Overwhelmed by the gratification of having a family to feel the absence of.
She remembered the hectic breakfasts; she missed them the most. She remembered how her sister would read her children's books late at night under the covers, which was the reason Gwyn loved reading. She remembered her brothers' harmless—and terrible—pranks that often backfired. Those silly pranks now make Gwyn overly cautious, but every time she is, she thinks of him. She remembered her mother's compassion. She could turn any bad day into a good one. Always seeing the bright side of a situation, unless she was tired, that is.
She smiled at the ring. Only now, she truly understood why she needed to return to Earth.
She had been pulled from her home, but anyone who is taken from their home often wants to return. No knowledge or special event is required for that to be an adequate response to return from whence you came.
Over time, this feeling of needing to go home faded. Interacting with the people and culture of Keceo had dulled Gwyn's senses and desire for Earth.
This was the ultimate reminder.
The other half of this ring was at home, alone, not knowing where she was. That ring and the person wearing it wondered where Gwyn had gone. And if she were to stay here forever, he would lose Gwyn all over again.
Gwyn looked up at the statue. Its face, which was a frown a moment ago, creased into something else.
A piece of parchment floated from the ceiling like a leaf from a maple tree.
"Oh, no, yeah. That's cool, she just gets the treasure."
Myria elbowed Teddy.
"You saw what we saw, dude."
"Actually…" Leo paused in horror. "I didn't see anything… I just… heard things."
Leo looked at the Chosen One with new admiration. Surviving such a horrifying event and still functioning as a person, he couldn't fathom.
Gwyn was flooded with what the others had felt during their confession as if she were there. Like a lifetime now her own, she relived their trauma through their bodies.
It was brief, but the experience lingered.
She grabbed the note and caught it before it reached the ground. She opened the tear-stained page. The ink was smeared.
Suffering is meant to be shared, not buried. Through suffering can come understanding. Suffering is unavoidable. The further you run from it, the faster it encloses. Care for one another. Do not let those who can be helped suffer in solitude. It is the greatest injustice to every living creature.
Gwyn read this note aloud. When the final word left her lips, the party was suddenly before the entrance, standing in front of a tree like any other. The marshy ground squished beneath their feet.
"Wow, is this what not being depressed feels like?" Myria looked at her hands as though she couldn't recognize who she was. "I hate it."
Astrin pushed Myria.
"Oh, come on! Did you learn nothing from that?"
Teddy approached Gwyn. The ring was still in her hands.
"So… do you want that?"
"Yes! Of course she wants that!" Astrin approached the Chosen One. "Is everything alright?"
Gwyn wiped her eyes and nodded.
"Yes…"
Leo stepped beside her. Holding his hand out.
"May I?"
"Oh, so he gets to hold the treasure," Teddy complained.
Astrin glared at him.
"What? My dad was murdered. You don't see me crying about it."
Leo held the ring up to his glasses, narrowing his eyes, reading the inscription. He then nodded and placed the ring back in her palm.
"They made your keepsake into a catalyst, it appears. Though you'll have to forgive me, I don't know what kind it is."
"A catalyst?" Teddy looked relieved. "I'm sorry, Gwyn. I thought you got something cool, but it turns out you just got what we all already have."
He manifested his oversized staff and pointed to it.
Myria kicked him in his ass.
He rubbed his behind.
"Ow! I said sorry. That's character growth right before your eyes."
"It's fine, Teddy, I saw what you saw as well," Gwyn said. "I felt what all of you did." She then looked towards Myria. "You might need some professional help."
Myria shrugged.
Gwyn donned her mother's ring. She knelt and hugged Teddy, who looked thoroughly embarrassed.
"I'm sorry that happened to you, Teddy. I can tell you loved your father very much."
Teddy was tight-lipped as tears pressed at his eyes. He released himself from Gwyn and waved his hands.
"It's fine. Like… what happened to you was sad, or whatever. I'm sorry I said what I said."
"No worries, Teddy." The Chosen One stood. "Can we get out of this marsh? It feels awful on my feet. My shoes are soaked through."
"I thought no one was going to say anything," Leo joked.
They made their way back to where they were before, pondering if they wanted to go deeper into The Wilds.
"Hey, guys?" Teddy asked, as though he had just realized something. "Did we all just trauma bond?"
"Oh!" Astrin exclaimed. "I think we have!"
"That just brings never-ending joy to my heart," Myria deadpanned once more.
Gwyn narrowed her eyes.
"Myria, I don't understand your whole… thing going on."
Myria shrugged.
"Sometimes you are the night, sometimes the night is you."
Gwyn was bewildered by that statement and decided not to press further. It seems the others had learned that lesson long ago.
"That's honestly enough excitement for one day," Leo stretched.
"Do you think that's enough for our project, brother?"
Leo nodded.
"Oh, no, no, no." Teddy wagged his finger. "We aren't leaving until we see a dragon." He floated next to the Chosen One. "Besides, she has a means to defend herself now."
Gwyn looked at the catalyst. The ring looked beautiful on her finger. More importantly, she now had the means to cast spells and not just lesser magic.
Astrin looked to her brother.
"I think it's probably safer if we go back."
"Yeah, but that's boooooringggg." Teddy twirled his staff. "How often do you get to come to The Wilds?"
No one answered him.
"Never! Exactly. So we're going to hang out until we see a cool animal. Plus, we were only in there for a couple of minutes at most."
The party remained unconvinced.
"Well, what if there is a dragon…"
Astrin said in a low voice. Another strange bug caught her eye, but Leo shooed it away before she had the chance to pick it up.
"Then we kill it, how hard could it be? We are mages of Kaldere Academy. We aren't some wimps." A devilish grin crossed his face. "Aaaannnnd if we were to stay out here, we may be able to run into Anastasia."
Even the mention of her name set a flame within the party.
"Oh, Anastasia, you say? The psychopath who constantly tries to ruin our lives?" Myria hissed.
"The very same. It'd be a shame if she were too… I don't know, be isolated in The Wilds. And some sort of creature just so happened to get her."
Realization dawned on them all.
Leo adjusted his glasses and smirked.
"It would be a shame."
"Whose Anastasia?"
The utterance was a sin to the party before Gwyn.
"Only the biggest asshole in all of Keceo," Astrin said.
"Sister!"
"But it's true!" Astrin emphasized. "She is quite literally a terrible person. No redeeming qualities whatsoever."
Myria nodded.
"She blackmailed the cooks to poison my food with laxatives for a week."
Teddy appeared fired up.
"She blackmailed my mother's work so that she would be fired."
"She threw my notebook in the toilet…"
Astrin was furious, remembering this injustice. Leo put a consoling hand on her shoulder.
"She pushed you earlier, don't you remember?" Myria asked Gwyn.
"No, no. I remember her. She said something about staying away from Artero, her boyfriend."
Anastasia's implication didn't make sense to Gwyn. There was no way Artero would date someone so hostile and rude.
"You're probably next on her blackmail list then," Leo stated as though it were an inevitability.
"You're her new target, it seems. It's the only reason I spoke to you," Myria said honestly. "That and I wanted to know if you were really fucking the royals."
"Myria!" Astrin cried out. "That's none of our business."
Myria shrugged.
"In this meaningless life, I yearn for gossip."
Teddy nodded.
"Then it's settled, we will look for this 'dragon'." Teddy air-quoted.
"Yes… 'dragon'."
They all looked mischievous.
Gwyn wondered what she had gotten herself into and who this Anastasia person really was.