Page 1 of Ethereally Tainted

Prologue

Naya

age 7

A hollow feeling spreadthrough her body as soon as the old, rusty front door opened. She was overcome by an eerie silence devoid of life, as a sense of something being very wrong wafted through her body like a sour smell.

Whenever she walked through the front door, her father was always there to greet her, his eyes twinkling in the light of the chandelier.

This time, he wasn’t there.

Naya felt the uncomfortable sensation of her stomach churning as the truth of her father’s absence hit her, and she could hardly breathe. Her disappointment was a heavy burden she couldn’t shake. Even as a child, she was an overthinker, and she couldn’t help but wonder if her father had forgotten her. The thought brought a sharp stab of pain to her heart.

She refused to believe that.

Her father was her source of strength, a sturdy foundation that kept the family bonded despite her mother’s strange behavior. Though his absence was unbearable for her, she knew he had promised to be there for her no matter what, and he never reneged on his promise.

With reluctance, she crawled out of her pink outerwear before trying to calm her heart. She had never liked being alone. As Naya stepped further into the hallway, her face was filled with uncertainty. It was strange how quiet the apartment was, making her wonder whether she should walk further.

Not even her mother stood in the kitchen down the hall, cooking dinner for her. Her stomach rumbled at the thought of food, and she hoped her mother would start cooking soon. It was rare for Naya’s mother to cook dinner, but when she did, it was usually on good days when she wasn’t talking to the invisible friend beside her.

Whenever her mother’s friend visited, Naya would have to wait hours before she saw her mother again. Her mother valued her friend–whom Naya could not see–more than her own daughter, making Naya feel invisible.

Those days her mother didn’t see her friend were the only ones when she could get out of bed and smile. Her father never returned her smiles, but he returned Naya’s with love and warmth.

“Mommy? Daddy?” Naya shouted into the apartment, and the words vibrated against the walls, but she received no response. Wasn’t anyone home?

Her home had never been this eerily quiet, with no lights to give her some security, and it made her feel even smaller than usual. What if the monsters in the shadows came and took her when her father was not there to protect her? No, she really disliked that idea.

After taking a deep breath, she gathered all her courage before continuing down the hallway. She could see the kitchen ahead of her, dark and lifeless, and to her right–beside the towering chest of drawers–was a doorway that opened up to the living room. The very first thing she noticed as she got closer to the end of the hallway was the musty smell. As the scent grew more robust, its sourness made her eyes water, and its pungency was like nothing she’d ever encountered. A revolting smell caused her nose to scrunch, and she pressed her hands against her nose to keep the stench away.

She desperately searched for her father, longing for the comfort of his arms to protect her from creatures lurking in the shadows. She feared that he and her mother had gone on a trip without her, but she also knew her father would never take her mother anywhere. At the thought of it, Naya could hardly remember times when her parents had been affectionate toward one another.

After her father complained about her mother’s drinking behavior, she overheard them fighting. Naya, too, hated when her mother drank because she was always so furious, and if Naya did something her mother thought was unacceptable, she would get bruised. If Naya didn’t cover them up from the teachers, her mother would threaten her with more bruises, and Naya hated disappointing her. Although it didn’t always feel like it, she was still her mother.

As Naya walked closer to the living room, the smell intensified, a pungent smell mixed with a tinge of sickening sweetness, one that made her want to throw up. She knew that throwing up would anger her mother, so she forced down the acid in her mouth.

A sudden sound from inside the living room made her small body jerk, and her heart hammered into place.

“Mommy? Daddy?” she questioned, feeling uneasy in the darkness of the apartment until she realized she wasn’t alone.

Naya called out, but silence answered her. Still, she ventured into the living room, where an unmistakable smell emanated. An evil-sounding laugh was heard, like a giggle that was filled with something Naya couldn’t interpret. The sound reminded her of Snow White’s evil queen.

“Mommy?”

The laughter continued, sending chills through her body, one that started as a low giggle and grew louder into something wicked. Almost sinister. Naya’s pupils dilated before she clenched her tiny fists. She was afraid of the laughter, and all she wished to do was rush into her father’s arms, which were like a blanket of warmth and love that she felt every day when she returned home from school.

“Mommy?” Naya tried again.

As she approached the living room doorway, she noticed something had changed. None of the furniture was in its proper place, and the couch that used to be in the middle of the room in front of the TV was overturned against the wall instead. The sight of the mess inside the apartment was too much for her, and she worried about her mother’s reaction to it. Naya’s stomach churned as she imagined her mother blaming her for the mess.

As she swept her gaze over the rest of the living room, fear settled inside her, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She could see a dark crimson liquid trailing toward her, and the furniture was scattered across the room, an even greater mess than when she had first seen it.

As soon as she took the first step into the living room, a loud scream filled all four walls, the sound bouncing off the walls and through her body like a pulsing sensation. Her ears felt like they were on fire, her vision was obscured, and the salty taste of tears on her lips confirmed she was crying. It wasn’t until she noticed the dryness in her and the searing pain forming in her throat that she realized it was her scream. Her entire energy evaporated within seconds of collapsing on the floor, as if a vacuum cleaner sucked out her whole being.

Without hesitation, she crawled across the gritty wooden floor that left stains on her clothes until she reached her destination. When she arrived, she was covered in the same color as the liquid on the floor, dark red that smelled bad and felt sticky against her bare fingers. She didn’t care, not in her state of mind.

A terrifying sight in front of her made her cry out all of her pain while she tried to cradle the human body that lay on the floor in front of her. He was covered in a crimson liquid smeared brutally with his eyes closed. His peaceful countenance belied the fear coursing through Naya, and she felt an urgent need to protect him from death.

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