Story Head & Heart

[Kristen Van Leeuwen]

prologue:​

Earth was a normal place for over 2,000 years until a boy was born. Not some normal boy, a boy with two hearts. It was biologically proved that one heart served just as a decoy, But surely there must have gone something wrong in that research attempt. They eventually decided to take the biggest risk of their entire life and let him roam free in this country. Their parents eventually named that boy Koen Van Leeuwen. Koen did exceptionally well in every form of study until it came to math, let's just say that he sucked. And he got bullied for it. Everyone disdains him due to his differences, but Koen couldn't care less. He wanted to just live his life--his normal life. But that soon changed when some of his classmates approached him with knives and machetes, all ready to strike their target with a sharp slice. Koen started to taste the bitter flavor of his dread. His stomach felt like it was coiling up, and his presence emanated a vulnerable and scared feeling. They knew that, and that flued their confidence even to a worse level where they started this murder mission by sticking the entire machete into his calf, cutting the muscle in half, and making Koen fall on his knees. Koen's body screamed out in pain, but his soul was wandering in the depths of terror and anguish, constantly questioning his existence, his purpose, and his life. It took whole minutes wandering in the depths of his emotions, while his body was slowly dying out from being cut in pieces by the merciless knives and machete that swung around and in his body.

And Koen came to the conclusion, it wasn't himself that was the problem. It was others who couldn't accept him for what he was. And with that, The grounds of his stoned mind started burning. He felt adrenaline being formed in his kidneys, and that only fueled the flames of anger to rise to the heavens where it could finally be noticed. He felt that fire burning in his stomach and throat, completely taking him into the intensity of his growing rage. he felt his heart crystallize in his body. he had been drained from blood in the meantime, and yet he felt alive. His heart started pumping raw energy through his veins. Koen started to radiate a powerful presence for the first time. His classmates took a step back. "W-what!? How is he not dead!?" They shouted at each other, their minds feeling heavy with sudden regret and terror. they shouldn't have treated him like that, and they started imagining the horrible fates that were possibly awaiting him. Koen's rage finally exited the flames of his mind. Tentacles completely filled with a greenish/yellowish aura were cracking through the ground, rising through the heavens just as Koen wanted. His classmates started running as soon as they realized what was going to happen, but it was too late. The tentacles already broke the school building open and took them as the victims of this rampage. there were surely other Victims when it came to catastrophes like these.

People all over the city started panicking about this news while some died without even knowing why and how they died. Koen had killed so many innocent people, but he couldn't care less. he had gone from vulnerable and weak to strong and emotionless. Those tentacles that roam over the city and destroy everything in its path eventually started twisting together in order and coiling up before revealing a monster figure with the face of a snake, the claws of a lion, and the quills of a porcupine. Koen stood at the top of that figure, drowned by his emotions and not aware of anything he did. He watched the world burn slowly by the flames of his rage, but he didn't stop there. One tentacle multiplied and multiplied in size until it matched the side of the earth's core.

Meanwhile. Everyone glanced both in awe and shock at the monster figure that reached even above the Ozone Layer in size. They were scared of that tentacle--really scared because they knew their fate. They couldn't accept it, so they started screaming, crying, running away, and praying. The tentacle slowly destroyed the distance between Earth and itself. And then it came in a split second... It plunged the biggest hole in Earth's history through Earth. The core was shattered, and so was the magnetic field of Earth and the ozone layer. The remaining survivors were suffocating and slowly floating into space as they were burned with the heat and the remaining oxygen in their veins. The earth was shaped like a donut. a new core formed out of nowhere in the middle that was slowly surrounded by an earth mantle and crust. it slowly became a redefined earth while Koen himself was dying out due to a lack of oxygen.

His last words were the naming of the new earth, Viddlell. It took years for Viddlell to get a new life and a fully stable Ozone layer. His two hearts were buried in the ground in the meantime. Until the first forms of humanity appeared once again after millions of years. They found The two hearts, and each of them devoured a heart. That was the start of the 2 enchantments. Primary (Royal) and secondary (Citizen). Viddlellians developed over the millenniums as power was gained by the strongest of the 2 bloodlines, just like the rules of nature. The strongest of the strongest had their hands on new abilities along the lines of evolution, as they started to develop their own bloodline along the way. They came the closest to acquiring the Origin (The bloodline of Koen), but that stopped soon enough when they realized that there was a certain family who had already gotten it in the grasp of their hands...

End of Prologue.

 

[Kristen Van Leeuwen]

chapter 1: The consequences of senophobia.

Kristen V.L

“That was the 2nd win!”
I cheered with a high-pitched yell. Brantley, my opponent and also my brother started penetrating his ears with his fingers due to the loud yell. I know he couldn’t stand it, and that’s exactly what makes me happy.
Or it is just me with a twisted desire to annoy my brother.
Maybe it isn’t just me.
But anyways, my brother quickly ended my yell with a smack on my right cheek. I could really feel my left cheek heating up from the sting. Of course I was a crybaby at the age of six, so I started blaring it out. I can bet that my childish cries can be even interpreted at the beach 200 meters away. it is not that it had the best effect, but at least my brother got caught red-handed after that slap. That disapproving gaze of my mother only made Brantley's fate worse than it already was. I can bet that his mind was racing with the urge to flee as fast as he could, especially when I am the most loved kid in this house, and the most spoiled one.
“Brantley, what did you do?” She asked, her stern tone definitely piercing through Brantley’s defense.
“She needs to stop yelling so loudly!”
“Do not raise your voice at me Brantley!”
“But-”
“No buts! You should be more mature than slapping your sister, you are two years older than her!”
“Still-”
“Are you still trying to talk back to me?”
“...”
“That’s it, go to your room and don’t come out for the next 2 days!” She said, right to Brantley's face. She’s more stern than I expected, not like I feel empathy for Brantley.

While he was leaving, the only thing he could do was send a “You’re going to regret it” glance at me before disappearing into his room and slamming the door a bit too hard.

After my mother sealed Brantley’s fate like a judge for the next two days, she approached me with that usual soothing expression on her face. It always makes my day seeing her like this.
“Are you feeling alright?” She asked in that reassuringly soft tone, “Did he do anything else to you than smacking you?”
This was my ultimate chance to frame Brantley for things that he didn’t do or attempted to do.
In short, lying.
But I wasn’t heartless like that, and I would definitely regret it if I pushed my luck like that. After all, I believed that the truth always comes to light. Just like mother said.
“No, he didn’t.” I said, my soft childish tone flickering as waves in the air. My mother gave me a quick nod and tucked me in bed. I could feel myself sinking in the mattress, but only slightly as most people aren’t obese at six years old. Mother stayed by me until I lost track of time, basically sleeping.

I dreamt of a gray void, with one stage made of wooden planks, almost invisible under the pile of corpses and skeletons. It was stained and colored in the color of blood. The scent was unbearable, and the sight of corpses was just saddening. There was a shop lying next to the high stage. Both the interior and exterior view are designed as a candy shop. Yet it was already clear that they didn’t sell candy, seeing the iron shackles planted to the walls. But the big question is, what do they sell then? I asked myself while moving around like a ghost in this half-empty map. Every time I move around, I ask myself questions that I can’t answer. What does this dream mean? Why is it so empty? And why am I even seeing this??

Just as I got the answer, I opened my eyes and felt the winds of reality again. Not like those winds were cold, but they were enough to jolt me up from bed. I shifted my gaze everywhere, confirming that I actually woke up. Being in the eyes of myself again makes me forget my dream, which was probably not the best thing. Maybe it was a key, a piece of the future, or something I should be cautious of.

But since I forgot my dream, it was just back to my normal life. I rolled out of bed, but I hit my head on the ground. It was natural for kids at six years old to cry at everything they do, and I was no exception. So I started screaming it out, yet my cries are always so childish… As expected after a while, my mother came running to me and lifted me in her arms, soothing me up with her gentle cradles. Mother was one that can make me happy in just mere seconds. I wish I could stay with her forever.

After a happy breakfast, I quickly took my backpack for the day in the grasp of my hand. It was heavy as always, just like every day. It took me a while to lift it before running to my mother for a quick hug. It didn’t last more than two seconds before my mother gently pushed me out of the door and waved one last time at me with a sunlike smile before slowly closing the door before me. I started disappearing from the front of the door and walking to the central primary school of Vallania, a city in the state of Zigrow. My slow pace took me a few minutes to arrive, which was annoying due to my impatient mind. I always think that I can do everything in an instant, yet reality doesn’t allow it. However, I arrived at the central primary school. It is enormous as always, yet it always surprises me. I quickly planted my first steps behind the doors and started walking up the stairs to the 14th floor. The stairs only are like a gym session, was this really the smartest option of the architects? Piling up everything in four skyscrapers, each with at least 140 floors? At least my class is on the 14th floor.

After a painful 5 minutes of running on the stairs, I reached my class. I didn’t see a single human in the class, meaning that I was probably the first. Not that it was allowed to enter a classroom before a teacher does, but who cares about those rules?
I don’t.
After a few minutes of sitting at my desk, waiting to be scolded by my teacher. My educator walked in, with his usual disdaining gaze shifted towards me. It was getting sickening being given that look, so I probably made a mistake by asking.
“Sir, what is that dirty look for?” I asked. He didn’t respond for a while, using his time to look around for anyone. He replied after a while.
“Because you’re so different from the rest, your appearance makes you look like the Pendscavellers.”
“I am not a Pendscaveller, but why does that anger you so much?”
“Don’t talk back to me like that young woman! The Pendscavellers are disgusting creatures, made to be slaves from their nature.” He said.
The pendscavellers are the main enemies of the viddlellians. They are short and gray-haired, with eyes that see more at night than day. Unfortunately, I have all those features. But I’m proven to be a full Viddlellian in blood. What happened?
“I don’t know why I look like this. I’m vidllellian in blood.”
“That doesn’t matter, having that appearance already makes me gag.”
That response hurt. It makes me want to be normal, but I am different. Nothing can actually change my genotype.

I stopped saying words to him, knowing that trying to talk him out will only make things worse. I don’t know whether he was filled with propaganda from others or actually experienced an attack himself. As I was sitting at my table, my classmates started streaming in. Their talks were replacing the silent air as they slowly sat at their desks. And even in second grade, some people were in a relationship together. Like, they are seven. There were some bullies physically and mentally hurting their victims, and there were some friend groups doing everything all together. That leaves me, the ghost of the class. Disdained and neglected by others. In Viddlell, the age of six and a half is the start of puberty. I know that I cried earlier, and I know that was a childish act. I am only getting physically in puberty, like growing, hormones, and stuff. Until the age of 21, our minds are constantly changing. Meaning that people shouldn’t get clingy to each other, or they will likely be in depression at their first breakup. I’m perfectly fine being alone and ignored, but I can’t stand the disdaining glares of both my teacher and my classmates.

They made education really challenging in Viddlell. I need to have Math B, Chemistry 2, Physics 2, Viddlellian D, sociology A, and topography at least to pass Elementary school. There is no time for love or depression, just pure stress.

It was both a stressful and lonely day, but something started coming to the light. Proving that I was different. The only explanation I have now is the start of puberty, but it is definitely not a normal beginning. While I was writing my notes carefully and as detailed as possible because I know I won’t get another explanation, I felt heavy, like I weighed double as now. My muscles feel like strings, and my heart starts beating faster. After a couple of minutes, I felt normal again. But I know for sure that I wasn’t normal, not after seeing my hands radiate a red sheen of weak light. The glares of shock planted on everyone around me was both fascinating and terrifying, since I knew this would lure more distrust and xenophobia than ever. Why did this have to happen here?

The sounds of distancing steps can be heard, as my classmates quickly take a step back. Their fingers were pointed at me, which is absolutely horrifying. Their eyes were wide and their pupils were like dots. Nothing is more terrifying than having everyone fear you.

“S- she… She is a witch!”

That was one sentence that wasn’t heard in years by me. I call it the Christian spell of terror, due to its horrible effects. The last person who was accused with that sentence was thrown in a bonfire. I can’t even imagine what will happen to me and my relatives…

My teacher responded after a while.
“We will immediately inform your parents and the authorities, we can’t take any risks.” The teacher responded, he had the same terror in his eyes as everyone else.
My mind is panicking and racing. I immediately tried to argue with him with anguish struck in my face and the movement of my body.

“Wait! I don’t know what happened either, I swear! Please don’t inform the authorities!” I begged with a tone as shaky as a glitched sine wave. My heart was beating fast enough to match the beats of a mouse.
“No, you’re just making it worse for yourself. Get out of this school right now. Witch.”
Those words struck my heart deep. I started experiencing horrible feelings I never felt before. It’s like I carry the fear of all the jews who were massacred by the Holocaust, all on my back. I quit my seat and disappeared from the classroom with the shaky cracks of my insecure steps. I did not dare to glance at any of the faces at either my classmates and my teacher. I just ran down the stairs in both dread and rising disbelief. Why would this happen to me? And why here, in all places? I was constantly asking questions I couldn’t answer.

Now I understand everything. Jews weren’t executed because they did something wrong, but because they’re Jews.

Since the middle ages, Viddlellians have suffered from a sickness called xenophobia. It may have occurred due to their constant failures. They are afraid of a worse situation caused by a newcomer.

They constantly blame people who aren’t themselves. Why? Because it soothes the pain of their mistakes.

With anguish coiling up in my heart, I wandered back to my home. I was praying to god, wishing against the approaching of horrible fates. I was like this for my entire walk home. I was clinging to my last hope like rope. The hope of the teachers forgetting what I was, but that hope tore into pieces when I heard familiar voices.
“What do you mean our daughter is a witch?” It was obviously the voice of my dearest father. He was always strong enough to carry me and play catch with me. Although his throws were a bit strong, they were still memories with a great place in my heart. Especially when I don’t feel happy. It makes my heart ache with despair, longing for that happiness I recall in my head. As I was deep in my feelings, I listened to their heated argument as I quickly sprinted through the hanging wooden door from the fence bordering our garden. The first thing my mind processed in my eyesight was a high-armed official having quite an argument with my parents. the silver armor covering his torso shined in the strong rays of dawn. He was an absolute beast in physique, almost comparable to the ancient Greek gods.

I can’t believe that I’m admiring someone that is against me, but I guess it’s really just my mind who hasn’t seen something like that before. I was intently listening to their heated argument.
“She isn’t a witch! She is just different! Why can’t you just accept a race that is literally the sibling of yours!?”
“Look what happened to her back at school, she was glowing! We can’t take any risks and let this possible threat live among us! We must eliminate any possible threat, and that includes relatives.” The Official said. His judgment was as painful as the cut of a blade. His glare didn’t even reveal a speck or remorse, compassion, or guilt. I can easily mistake that beast for a sociopath.

I wouldn’t take any chances and just watch from the garden, I ran to the front door of the house. But it was too late. I heard the metallic clicks of handcuffs and the loud clangs of chains responding to gravity and the panicked movement of my parents and my brother. I saw the sheer horror on their faces through the window I was watching. I was foolish at the age of six, so I ran through the front door and tried to distract the official using weak punches. But the next thing expected was a razor sharp blade pressed against the upper side of my throat, right where I could feel my blood flowing with a high pressure. It was a fine obsidian blade that would have at least costed ten grand, not that it soothes my anguish threatening to consume me. Before I knew it, a titanium collar with shackles for my wrists was clicked around my neck. The cold surface send shivers down my spine. A firm grip was on my wrists as they clicked in the shackles. And then I stood there, with my stationary restraints to my wrists and neck. I knew it was over, but I couldn’t believe it. The ache in my heart grows, longing for a freedom outside the anguish and humiliation from this. The look on my family was just as much in disbelief as me. They were happy that I was there, but they were worried to what my terrifying fates will bring.

Panic started overwhelming me. It made me aggressively squirm against the restraints. But I definitely wasn’t strong enough break a material as solid as titanium.
And then I was greeted with a fatal kick on the back of my head. bringing a light concussion and the loss of consciousness to me. It wasn’t something my body could bear, so I fainted with a light thud on the ground.

— — — —

 

[Kristen Van Leeuwen]

Chapter 2:
2 without remorse

Kristen V.L

I hoped to wake up in the light, but it was the opposite. I slowly gained consciousness in the cold iron plates that served as the floor. Standing up was almost impossible due to my hands being restrained to the titanium collar of my neck. It took everything within the depths of my heart to not start absolutely panicking. I was trying to flood my mind with reason–reason to keep calm–reason to believe it is going to be alright. But the sight of the wall on the left side of me replaced by lead bars planted through the floor and the ceiling made it significantly harder for me to find hope. My mind was already ordering my adrenal glands to produce adrenaline, which made it harder for me to stay still. I felt my energy rush to my legs and brain. as I felt the energy flowing, I knew that my body was getting ready to run, but my mind knew there was nowhere to run.

My defenses are starting to come down and my emotions started to overtake reason. The only thing I could do to prevent my mind is trying to soothe my emotions with sobbing, although I felt bad for my family having to endure my cries.

Mother pulled me close with the little movement she had and tried to soothe me despite the struggle of her restraints. It did little to my cling of hope, but it did make me forget my fate and enjoy the warmth of my mother, which will probably be the last time I would feel that.

But I wouldn’t bulge on that. I would long my entire life to bring back the warm feeling of happiness.
Even if it costs the life of everyone I love.

From the start of the Viddlelian race, hope was mandatory for a goal in life. It makes us mentally stronger and more determined to navigate through the most difficult times. The belief of a dawn to the night soothes the pain of the struggles we endure. Why? Because it gives us a reason to keep going.

That was knotted tightly in my head for the rest of my time being in this cell. We warmed each other up through cold times, we starve together, we dry out together, and we hope together.

This temporary suffering came to an end when a councilor himself removed the lock from the lead door. The tension of his glare thickened the air continuously as his steps approached us.
most of my muscles tensed as I heard the clicks of iron and a lock opening. My pupils enlarged when I interpreted the figure of a powerful man in both money and strength. the line of his lips were slightly curved downwards and his pupils were bigger than his eyes. They were of hate–one of disdain.
He seemed like someone without remorse.

He had a rounded iron stick in his hand that could compare with his arm in length. a circled steel bar attached to the top end of that stick, probably used to hold multiple restrained objects or organisms to that stick.
“Time’s up.” He said. before quickly approaching my parents and using the loose shackles on their collars to bind them to that stick with a click on the curved steel bar connected to the stick. I could hear the shackles clang together and click on the end of that stick.
I could definitely see the panic on my parents’ face. They were trembling and wiggling against the cold restraints on their neck and wrists. Not a really fun sight to see, and definitely not comforting.
Time seemed to slow down around me, and my body started acting on my own. As that happened, I stood up with the use of adrenaline and ran up to the official and gave out a powerful bite, which certainly failed massively as I felt my neck starting to carry the weight of my body.
I realized what happened.
The masculine hand attached to my iron shackles lifted me up by my collar, which started draining my supply of oxygen while the pain in my heart started overwhelming me, all this despair, just to face a fate worse than today. While all this happened, I could see black spots in my eyes that multiply like bacteria, until I saw nothing.
Either I lose consciousness or lose my life completely.
I wish for the second option,
in the hope for the end of all the suffering.

No, I won’t give up what I sacrificed. I wouldn’t make anyone happy with that thought, not even myself. It would just flood me with guilt for the loss of the people I hold dear to, I would be just a failure if I gave up like this.

Without being able to bring a single change to society.
How does that feel, Kristen? How would it hit that you’re you’re useless if you kill yourself like this?
Nothing more than a pathetic soul that deserves to be disdained, deserves to be ignored, and deserves to be neglected.

Like I would let myself die without bringing at least a single change to this filthy society.
Seems like my rational soul overpowered my emotional one,
But would I remember it once I wake up?

Or never wake up?

— — —

I had a great hardship by keeping my eyes open, it cost more energy than running for an entire hour. At least, that’s how I think. The floor wasn’t a cold iron plate right now, it was wooden planks that the side of my cheek rested on., scented with a familiar smell of rotten corpses. As I was slowly waking up, the mixed stares of Viddllellians somehow bore into the back of my head. It caused confusion in me, but I decided to ignore those.
At the point My eyes were finally fully open, I could swear I recognized a familiar combination of lines and angles in my eyesight. A long wooden beam that stretches out at a height of at least 3 meters. An angle of 90 with another wooden structure attached. There was support from a diagonal piece of wood right on the angle, creating a dimensionally stable triangle at the angle. And at the end of the horizontal piece of wood, a beige rope attached with a noose at the very end. As that form took place for recognition in my eyes, that dream snapped before my eyes. the last puzzle fragment to realize where I was.
I was clearly on a wooden stage, with gallows attached to it.

These people…

They would do anything to wipe out the unknown…

Curse them to hell!

If my last hour strikes on the clock, my last wish would be to drown in the clearest lake.
Be the apple of truth I take, from the tree of fate.
Death would strike upon me the day after I ate.
Consider the justice taken among society of disdain and hate.
With a curse responsible of removing their human face.
Would they be the unknown they fear so bad.
Shall they get the same treatment they unconciously made.
May they learn the lesson created from their hate.

Adrenaline pumped into my veins and my senses heightened. The heavy breathing of my parents and the cry of my brother were quickly recognized in the back of my head. due to the strengthening of my senses, hearing that cry made my head detect an emergency and set off alarm. I felt my head racing and strange fingers poking the inside of my skin. Those pokings only got worse until it they got physically unbearable to bear that pain.
Brantley’s cries intensified along with the strange pokings, only intensifying to the point I could swear I felt something rip. I had to cry out in agony to at least do something to ease the unbreakable sting pressing against the inside of my skin. Like something begging and screaming to get out. As this was only worsening my sanity, my vision started to get a bit blurry with a transparent white hue. Pain disappeared at that moment, but I could feel the skin of my thighs being ripped into a hole and being stretched by something that was both cold and squishy, but it was most importantly transparent. It forced my blurred vision to turn sharp again, which I wish hadn’t happened. It were transparent tentacles with glowing strings in the center from what I could imagine only a jellyfish has. The electrical tips of those branching tentacles started nearing the wooden surface with purely a will on its own, but it felt like it was a part of me. From the Viddlellian I am, or whatever I am. I certainly fear the unknown, but would I let my heart win in this situation? Nah. That’s what I thought before my consciousness got warped to an entirely different place.
“Where the f am I?”

I was certainly in:

A place where light was not in the physical rules, a surface wetter than a deep sea, a sky with no stars, and a steel wall stretching out in the Z axis that certainly marked the end of my “dimension”. I was under water, but I was not in need for oxygen. A pair of white polished stairs from a quark-like material seemed like the only way out of this deep water. But why the fuck would you place stairs in a deep sea? No one in their right mind would take the stairs if they could just swim to the top. I certainly swimmed to the surface, but in the direction of the stairs. I was curious what the end of those stairs could offer. after what seemed like hours to get up, my intuition was correct. the stairs indeed stretch further above than the sea-like surface would. I put my feet on the stairs without thinking about the possible risks. While I was climbing, the stairs ended on a solid surface that had the material of those strange tentacles that spewed out of me. The outer half was transparent with a slight white hue, and the center was emanating more light than the sun, purely white light. When I finally set my foot on that surface, numbers and operators became visible to my eyes, all floating weightlessly through the air. As I was comprehending this reality, a panel right before me was moved in automatic rhythm to the height of my waist. It contained an open book with a pitch-black cover, and it contained a feather with a bottle of red ink.

I started realizing the point of these numbers.

Math?

— — — —