literature

Haunting Heart | Prologue [CANCELLED]

Deviation Actions

Published: Aug 10, 2017

149 Views

Literature Text

Prologue

I'm sure this question has crossed everyone's mind at least once. What if you could rewind time? What if you could undo the things you've done in the past to make a better choice? Unfortunately, such things only exist in stories, myths, legends, our minds. Everyone wanted to rewind time at least once in their lives. Me? I cannot count the times I've thought about it anymore. I've made choices. Bad choices. Choices that changed my life forever. My name is Leanna Merrant Goldberg, and my story takes place in the land of Eryen.

The Heist

The vault. That was our target. In the city of Whiteridge, was a huge bank where people were allowed to store all their wealth. I was only sixteen years old and we already did most of the work. The barrels of gunpowder were placed in front of it. All it took was an ignition. The others, Shane, Belmor, Ivaac, they all kept the bankers at bay with their crossbows. No one was allowed to leave.

"Fire in the hole!" I shouted, throwing the match on the fuse that was supposed to explode all the barrels. It only took a few seconds for the fuse to reach the barrels, and then the huge explosion followed. I took cover behind a wall as the shockwave blew away all the furniture around the room. When I looked around the corner, the vault was destroyed.

"It worked guys! Load your bags as full as possible!" I shouted again. This was the moment of truth. This was the moment we all planned so long for. I ran inside the vault, and it was filled with crates and bags of rials, Eryen's currency. Shane and Belmor ran inside the vault as well while Ivaac kept aiming his crossbow towards the bankers, still keeping them at bay. Filling our bags with jewels and rials, we hurried as fast as we could. It was only a matter of time before the guards arrived.

"Hurry up!" Shane grunted, realizing we were taking too long. Suddenly, we heard Ivaac shouting.

"Guards incoming! We need to leave now!"

"Okay, leave the rest, we're out of here!" I said, being out of breath. I closed my bag and hurried outside the vault, and then we could see it too. At least ten guards were approaching the bank. Quickly, I pulled Ivaac's shoulder while keeping up my momentum and exited the bank, dashing through the dense crowds. At this point, I didn't know where the others were. I just hoped they were getting away too. It was so hard to push through the crowd. People just didn't want to get aside, which did cause the same troubles for the guards chasing me though. It was also really tiring to run with this heavy bag full of rials and jewels. Between the gaps of the crowds, I saw other guards approaching on the other side of the street as well. They were about to box me in. Then I saw an opportunity, seeing a ladder on a house going all the way to the roof. Without thinking, I started climbing the ladder with the heavy bag over my shoulder. I was going slow, which made it easy for the guards to reach underneath me. A guard grabbed my feet, trying to pull me off the ladder, but I forcefully kicked it, making him drop instead, followed by a scream. I reached the roof, and climbed on top of it. Looking around, I suddenly saw Shane as well, a few rooftops away at my side. He was being chased by guards on the rooftops as well.

Rooftop Chase

I ran and jumped across rooftops, crossing the gaps. But on every landing, the weight of the bag made me stumble and take too much time to get up again. I couldn't feel my legs anymore. I heard shouts of the guards behind me, indicating they got onto the rooftops as well. I realized keeping a hold on this bag would mean my capture, so I turned it upside down and ditched almost everything, keeping only a small layer of gold inside the bag. I tied the much lighter bag on my belt and continued moving. The bells of the church were chiming as I jumped across another gap to another rooftop, with a group of guards behind me. I felt so much swifter. A shame I had to ditch almost everything I looted, but I had no other choice. Suddenly, I saw a bolt zooming past me. When I took a quick look behind me, I saw the guards firing their crossbows towards me. Staying on the rooftops now would not be a good idea, so I ran towards the edge and tried to find something to jump on to soften my fall, but there was nothing. With the guards only coming closer, I had to take a leap of faith and aim towards the crowd, hoping they would catch my fall. I jumped, and the air howled past my ears as I landed on the crowd, tackling a few underneath me. On the impact I felt my foot spraining, making me release a little yelp in pain. The pain radiated through my entire body. This was not good. I caught everyone's attention here, so I just stumbled further, hoping the guards would lose me in the crowd, but that was not the case. Citizens wanted to hold me down as well, trying to help the guards. I punched them away desperately, but suddenly a guard tackled me from behind, making me drop into the ground harshly. I wanted to resist, releasing grunts and groans, but I realized I couldn't as more and more guards were around me.

I was caught. After all these years of successful heists, robberies and raids, was this really the one that would mean an end to myself? The guards restrained me, and all I could do is look at the rooftops. But you wouldn't believe what I was seeing. It was Shane and Ivaac. They were looking at me, but then Shane pulled him out of sight, and they never returned. I was so angry. No, not angry. Furious! I remember screaming at the guards out of anger that the others were on the roof, but they ignored me. The crowd made space around the guards, seeing me being tied down. I felt so betrayed. Shane, Ivaac, Belmor...I called them my friends for years. They just wanted to save their own skin, leaving me to rot inside the Whiteridge dungeons. The guards pulled me up and guided me towards the courthouse.

I spent the following night in a temporary cell inside the courthouse. They took everything from me. My clothes, my weapons, my rials...everything. All I was wearing were dirty ragged clothes. My long brown hair was a mess. I couldn't sleep that night. I kept seeing the image of Shane and Ivaac leaving me in the streets. When it was finally morning, I sat against the wall when the cell door opened. It was a guard.

"Get up, your trial's happening."

I didn't say anything. What was I supposed to say? I just stood up slowly and followed the guard. I kept trapping him looking at my cheek.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, being a bit annoyed by his staring. He started mumbling something.

"You criminals, what is it with your people and scars?"

Now I knew what he was looking at. The scar on my right cheek. Everyone thinks I got it from all this criminal work, but honestly, it was just an accident during training. No wonder I chose the criminal life, I started hating people. Even people that never did anything to me. I started feeling hate towards people that were just looking at me. When the guard led me to a big fancy door with golden ridges, he pushed it open, revealing the courtroom. People were sitting at the audience benches. Who even invented this? An audience for trials? What are we, animals? At the end was the courtmaster, sitting behind a bureau. When the people noticed me, they started throwing insults at me. Coward, criminal scum, piece of dirt...everything they could think of. I expected people to be angry, but that angry? I really had to do my best not to lunge at them. The guard guided me to the front of the room. In front of everyone, staying behind me.

"Silence!" the courtmaster shouted. But none responded. This time, he loudly slammed his hammer on his desk.

"SILENCE!"

This time, the crowd turned silent, and the courtmaster started speaking while reading the papers in front of him on the desk.

"Leanna Merrant Goldberg. You stand accused of robbery of the Whiteridge Banks, assault on three citizens and disobeying guard orders. These accusations have been witnessed by fifty people and counting, what do you have to say in your defense?"

What do you have to say in your defense? Is he really asking me that question? The whole city saw me. How could I possibly talk myself out of this? I sighed while looking at the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with the audience.

"If more than fifty people saw me doing this, what does what I say matter anymore? If anything, the bigger criminals are the people that have yet escaped. Yes, I am guilty. But will you do justice to these crimes? No, because the others are still walking freely, and I am not. It's only a matter of time before the next place in this damned city will be robbed."

My response made quite some commotion about me admitting to my crimes.

"Silence!" The courtmaster shouted again. When the crowd became silent, he looked at me.

"The court decided that if you inform us of everything you know about your friends, you will be given a milder punishment. And young lady, I can assure you, take that offer if you still want to make something of your life."

These words, they never left me. Back then I knew what I was going to do. Without hesitating I took that offer. Shane, Belmor and Ivaac, they screwed me over. So I wanted to screw them over as well. People may call me a coward because of this, but that was what I wanted. That was the only way to make me feel better, and by the gods I took it with pleasure.

Eventually, the court of Whiteridge sentenced me for ten years in the dungeons instead of thirty after me informing about everyone. I spent lonely days, looking at the torch in front of my cell. And by lonely I'm putting it mildly. Luckily, the city of Whiteridge aren't monsters...they didn't starve me out at least. Yes, I did lose a lot of weight, but that was inevitable. Those ten years slowly passed, and I just turned 26.

10 years later

A guard was leading me outside the dungeons. One cannot understand the happiness of finally feeling freedom again after being locked up for ten years. I cannot describe how happy I felt. But my story was not over yet. I still felt a grudge against the people who left me ten years ago. They never got caught despite the information I leaked about them. They got away with it, and I didn't. I wanted to better my life. Get rid of this whole criminal life thing. It only caused more losses than gain. It wasn't worth it anymore, not after spending these slow torturing years in isolation. But before I enter that life, I need to finish loose ends...

Haunting Heart

My name is Leanna Merrant Goldberg, and I am going to kill the people I once called friends. The people that once betrayed me. Just like I said, my story was not over yet.

It had only just begun.