"You can't go forward...
҉ Herse Loughton ҉
"Herse, dinner is ready!"
"Coming Mom!" he called, returning from the stable. He had just finished grooming and feeding Karia, his favourite horse, when he call Mary Loughton call from the kitchen. He bounded up the steps to the house eagerly and opened the door.
The smell of freshly baked bread and roasted meat should have greeted him when he walked through the door, but much to his dismay, it did not.
Instead, his nostrils were filled with the scent of burning wood and paint. The house was on fire, falling to pieces before his eyes. Herse moved aside to dodge a falling piece of timber just in time. His throat felt dry from all of the smoke and he felt his eyes drying up from all of the heat. Herse hacked and coughed, struggling to breathe. He knew he had to get out of here. But first he must save his family.
He ran towards the kitchen. "Mom! Mom! Where are you?" He looked around frantically, but she was nowhere to be found. The kitchen, too, was fire. The appliances were dangerously close to exploding.
"Herse..."
He spun around. Mary Loughton stood before him, her arms reaching out to him. Suddenly, flames licked the hem of her dress and began consuming her completely. Her eyes were wild and fearful: "Herse! Herse! Help me! Help me!" Herse tried to lift his arms to beat the fire out, but his arms felt stuck to his sides. The flames were all around her, turning her beautiful face to ash...
And Herse woke up to someone trying to pull his ear off.
"Ow, ow, ow!" He cried, shoving Karia's muzzle out of the way. "What the hell, Karia? That hurt!" He rubbed his ear gingerly, looking at the white mare. Karia snorted, bopping his head with her muzzle. Her eyes looked at him reproachfully, annoyed that her master had yelled at her.
Herse sighed. "I'm sorry, girl. Didn't mean to blow up on you like that. Just woke up from a bad memory." Karia whinnied gratefully and nuzzled him, trying to comfort him. He smiled and patted her big nose. "I'm okay now, no worries. Just a dream. It ain't real."
He stood up, stretching his arms as he did so. He had fallen asleep in the make-shift stable that he made for Karia. It was a common thing for him to do; the bales of hay and heaps of straw scattered around reminded him of home. This stable was a reminder of his former life and how innocent his life had been. With Karia and his family.
But Delta had come to tear everything down. They destroyed all that he held dear within one single night. And that was something Herse could never forgive them for.
I will avenge my family, Herse thought reverently. I will make Delta Corp. pay for this!
He felt Karia nudge him playfully in the back and proceeded to nibble on his shirt collar. Feeding the horse came before revenge.
"Alright, alright, I hear you. Stop that." Herse gently pushed her out of the way and moved towards the two lumpy burlap bags that sat in the stable. He reached into one of them to bring out a clump of green hay. He shoved the hay into her trough and looked at her. Karia sniffed at the hay and blew out air between her lips. Herse laughed. "Yeah, I know you want your grains. But you gotta eat your greens too, you know." He walked back over to the bags and burrowed his hands into the pile of grains. He cupped some grains into his hands and dumped them on the green hay. Karia whinnied appreciatively and immediately dove into her meal.
Herse wiped his hands on his jeans and tied up the food bags so Karia couldn't get at them. He opened and closed the stable door, locking it securely behind him. Walking into the abandoned bungalow that he recently obtained with Sylph, he walked into the bathroom and stripped off his current attire. He reeked of horse. Sylph wouldn't like it if he greeted her with that musky scent.
Speaking of Sylph, where was she? She was taking a long time to come back...
...if you keep looking back."
