Bells.

Cady took a shaky breath, standing on the forest line, staring into the dark. She was currently waiting for someone, though, in the meantime she was mentally preparing for the activities they usually partake in. After standing in silence for what felt like hours, Cady finally heard hard hooves on the dew-covered grass. She turned around quickly, holding her hands close to her chest. Her eyes met ones similar to her own. Those eyes were very cold, yet caring; they belonged to the school’s very own Phagodae. Selby’s mask was currently tied to his hip so Cady could try and read all his expressions; his current expression was a lot softer than the usual look he gave others. Cady finally peeped out, “H-hello, Selby!” 

Selby smiled down at her. “Good morning, Cady.” The height difference between Selby and Cady scared her the first few times they interacted. Now Cady felt oddly safe with him around her.

Selby placed his mask in the grass, along with his jacket. Cady had another glint of panic in her eyes. She steadied her breath and removed her various accessories—her bells, puffball, ribbons, and vest—and set them with Selby’s. When she looked back up at Selby, he was staring into the dimly lit forest with a very concentrated look. A whine escaped from her throat, grabbing Selby’s attention again. They stood there for a minute, staring into each other’s eyes. Selby gave her a reassuring look, “Don’t worry, Cady, nothing bad is gonna happen.” Cady opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off when she and Selby heard another person’s footsteps approaching them. Cady and Selby turned towards them, and to their surprise, it was the librarian, Mr. Davidson. They seemed to never leave the library, but sure enough, they were walking towards the two of them, jingling all the way. 

“Now, would you kiddos like to tell me what you’re doing out here so early?” Mr. Davidson chuckled. Selby’s expressionless look returned, but Cady smiled softly towards Davidson. 

“O-oh! We’re just getting ready to do some training!” 

Mr. Davidson understood and nodded. “Well then, you two wouldn’t mind if I supervise, right?”

Cady looks back at Selby before nodding at Davidson. “Of course!”

Selby and Cady started their usual plans. Selby turned to Cady to reassure her. “Remember, if anything goes wrong, just listen for my bell.” With that, Selby disappeared running into the forest. Cady stood there for a few minutes, taking one big deep breath before taking off after Selby into the woods. Davidson happily sat there, listening to them run farther and farther away.

Cady knew all of this was necessary for her, but that didn’t stop her breathing from becoming uneven and choppy. This happened every time without fail but despite all that, she kept trying and trying. Lost in her thoughts, Cady wasn’t quite watching her step and her foot caught on a root, sending her tumbling forward. Cady’s hands crashed into the ground first, protecting her face, but her knees weren’t as lucky. She jolted up quickly to look at her hands, then her knees. Cady huffed at the sight of her ripped leggings and her freshly bloodied knees. She didn’t give herself time to pout about it. Her ears picked up distant running, reminding Cady of her objective; she jumped up and ran in the direction of the noise. 

She suddenly remembered the first time she and Selby did this. Both of them talked for hours before actually trying to condition Cady. In the end, they both agreed they would try their hardest to help Cady overcome her trauma. She knew it would be very difficult, but she hoped she could finally overcome this. At that moment, she so badly wanted to overcome all of this. Cady started crying as she kept running toward where she thought she heard Selby. Cady no longer heard Selby’s footsteps, but she just kept running straight ahead. The idea of finding Selby, almost slipped her mind running like this. Cady hated how the feeling of her chasing Selby slowly slipped away and was replaced by the panic of being chased herself. She hated this. It felt way too familiar yet she didn’t know why! She didn’t know why she was so scared of forests, she didn’t know why any time she entered one her heart skipped a beat. She hated the feeling of her hot tears rolling down her face, and she hated how they blurred her vision. All of these feelings were so familiar yet covered in the thick fog that clouded so much of her memory.

One thing was different: the actual fog Cady seemed to stumble into. Cady finally stopped running and looked around, breathing heavily. The fog made her feel like she was choking on her own breath. It was all so thick, she could barely see a few feet in front of her. This was bad. Very, very bad. She closed her eyes to try and listen more closely to her surroundings, but her heart was beating too loud for her to hear past it. Cady’s anxiety rose faster, making it harder to hear anything else. It sounded like a war drum, or at least what Cady would assume one would sound like. There was nothing Cady could do right now; she felt helpless and weak. She sobbed harder. Cady couldn’t help it. She just didn’t know what else to do.

Suddenly, she heard something, the chiming of a single bell. Cady’s head shot up to look around. “S-Selby?! Is that you? Please tell me that’s you?!” she shouted out in desperation. She didn’t hear a response, so she tried to follow the sound of the bell. “Selby, please, this isn’t funny!!” Cady ran blindly towards the sound.

She ran face-first into someone, but they didn’t feel like Selby. “P-papa?” Without even looking up she tightly latched onto the person, and she started to bawl her eyes out. “Papa! I’m back, I’m back! I-I finally found you! I’m sorry, I’m so so so sorry! I don’t wanna leave again! Please don’t make me leave!” The figure pat Cady’s head and shushed her.

When they finally spoke, Cady realized who it was. “Oh... I’m really sorry kiddo.”  Sure enough, when she looked up it was just Mr. Davidson. Heat rose to Cady’s face as it went red with embarrassment. “M-mr. Davidson…”