Prompt
One day, in the very early morning hours, a strange, bluish fog rolls in. It floats low to the ground and is incredibly dense and incredibly cold. Anyone who inhales even a single breath from this fog will be met with a sudden, harsh sensation of sadness. It’s the worst part of the holidays—the Holiday Blues. The fog slowly spreads through the town and is gone by mid afternoon, but the sensation of sadness, loneliness, and nostalgia may linger for longer than that. Scientists are explaining the bluish tint as just being a natural phenomenon, but in Destiny City, ‘natural’ isn’t really something anyone should expect. Today would have been a good day to stay inside.
She'd moved in with her sister over the holidays, and Jessie probably wasn't going to be overly-pleased to know that she was creeping outside in the wee hours, but... Rhian had to think, sometimes, and she couldn't do that very well inside. It was cold outside - of course it was, at the end of December and in the wee hours of the morning - but that was why it was the best time and place for her to do a little thinking. Cold air helped thoughts flow, after all, while warm air made your mind all warm and fuzzy and sleepy, which just made it even harder to think about anything important.
So out here she'd come, sitting on the step in a coat, looking up at the sky. She had so much to think about - if she purified, she'd lose the only family she had just gained. She could leave a note to her sister, maybe ask her to take someone in if they needed it, but... Jessie didn't really care about anyone other than family, except maybe kids. And that was alright, because Rhian spent all of her time trying to love everyone and that just wasn't working. She sighed and cradled her chin in her hands, closing her eyes as she swallowed.
Her adoptive parents were gone. She hadn't been the one to hurt them - no, that had been... someone who meant to help her, but... Taking a breath, she winced and shook her head. No. No, she couldn't excuse him. Not for something like this. Maybe they hadn't been kind to her; maybe they had only adopted her for... for some kind of publicity thing, or to have an heir or because they were friends with the relatives that had wanted her taken away from her birth parents in the first place but... she had considered them her parents, and they had been killed.
Killed, and it was her fault.
It was... it was her fault wasn't it?
Rhian breathed in, taking the time to consider that thought and weigh it, barely noticing the blue-tinted fog that had crept in as she went outside, certainly not noticing that she was breathing in the fine mist. Maybe... maybe if she had never powered, they would still be okay. Sure, she'd have been alone for the holidays again, and she wouldn't have reconnected to her sister, but...
But they'd be alive, Coffinite's conscience wouldn't be weighted the way it was now, and... everything would be better. A pang of loneliness shot through her and she huddled in place on the stoop, shivering faintly as tears filled her eyes. Why... why couldn't things go back to whatever they were like when she was a baby. The time she couldn't remember, before everything fell apart, before everything - before she had broken?
... Maybe it would be better if she did purify. And didn't find some way to stay - or come back - to her sister. Be somebody else, somewhere else. Someone who wouldn't get the people she cared about torn away or... or killed...
A sob choked her and she stood, finally deciding to retreat inside before her thoughts consumed her to the point she'd be entirely unable to function, and unaware that it was already too late: the fog had done its job, and what had already been a poor mood had been sent crashing to shatter upon the floor.
Word Count: 572
