Ringing.

It beat against his skull, screamed, scratched, and nearly cracked his head open with its intensity.

Every sound that passed through his ears was amplified. Every shuffle of someone's feet, every breath anyone took, every creak and every flutter of a bird's wings. His head throbbed harder.

Emrys screwed his eyes shut.

The rowdy chatter worsened by the sudden onslaught on his ears and every damned whisper as well sounded tenfold louder. Pushing and elbowing his way through the crowd resulted in more noise and ended up drawing more of the attention he very much tried to avoid.

"Fuck," he muttered, picking up his speed.

All the faces faded and molded into shadowy figures that were slowly closing in on his frantic figure.

His heart stuttered.

Unable to focus, Emrys staggered as he bolted toward the woods, abandoning the horse in his haste. He panted and swayed, tripped, and crashed into unforgiving trees.

A haze.

Everything passed in a blur as he ran, ran, ran until his feet were coated in sticky red. He pushed harder until his body could no longer respond to the urgency that had originally set him into motion. He heaved for air until his lungs screamed from the exertion.

Then, Emrys stopped, looking up at the intertwined branches that dared obstruct silver rays from reaching his sweltering skin.

Quivering fingers wrapped around his mouth as he struggled to regain his composure. He dropped to his knees, his body curving forward. His heart nearly hammered its way out of his chest.

His bloodshot eyes stung as he muffled the sounds that were helplessly trying to escape his tightly sealed lips.

When did he become this emotional mess?

A vision of silver orbs flashed through his mind. That stranger wasn't a regular villager. No. He wasn't even human. He looked like he knew something. What was it? And how did such a brief eye contact reduce him to such a pathetic state?

Emrys took in a shaky inhale that was quickly released in a harsh exhale as his surroundings finally came into focus.

He'd reached his...home.

His legs trembled as he rose and then leaned on the trunk for support. How fast did he run to get here sooner than he expected?

His days were getting stranger as time went by. He could no longer keep denying the changes that had happened to his body. However, as his gaze roamed the village, the questions swarming his head faded into nothing but background noise.

He was home. He was finally home.

Yet, it looked anything but.

He'd only been gone for a week. So, why did it feel like he'd been away for hundreds of years?

Emrys pushed away from the tree and rushed toward the village. It was...different. There weren't this many houses before. His gaze darted from one building to another. His breaths came out harsh as he raced through unfamiliar paths.

He was finally home, damn it. So, where was his home? Where was his family?

He skidded to a stop, frozen as he stood before where his house was supposed to be. Instead, there was a barn that stretched out across a land twice the size of what used to be a small wooden hut with multiple holes scattered all over its crumbling roof.

He turned around and scurried through the village, scrutinizing every building on his way until he was back to where he started – in front of the barn.

Unable to hold himself upright, Emrys stumbled backward. His knees buckled and he fell, eyes wide and jaw slack.

"Wh-what...where..."

His breathing picked up yet again and his throat closed up. Air escaped him and his whole frame shook slowly at first and then harder as whimpers slipped out.

Tears brimmed in his eyes and trickled awfully slow.

"Mother," the first sob tumbled out. "Father," he wheezed, curling forward and burying his face in the ground. "Oh, my sweet Ellis."

His wails grew louder as reality finally settled in. He no longer had a home. The realization dug, dug, dug its way through his heart. It tore, stabbed, maimed, and then left it gaping wide, leaking to the damp soil beneath.

A shaky inhale, Emrys clutched at his chest as it threatened to burst from the grief of losing his family.

What was going on? What happened to them? Where...did they go?

His headache intensified and he found himself dragging himself inside before slumping against a pile of straw inside the barn. A couple of horses voiced their distress at first. Then, silence and darkness swallowed everything.

Emrys sniffled, glaring at the roof atop his craned neck.

He knew something was wrong. He knew. He just...he'll try again. He'll ask around tomorrow. The darkness must've confused him.

With that final thought, Emrys drifted to restless slumber.

Wind beat mercilessly against his skin – tender, bruised, weeping crimson. He was falling, falling, falling.

Despite the coldness of death that surrounded him, warmth spread throughout his body while the moon bled for him all over the clouds that gathered to witness his pathetic final moments.

A gentle touch scared death away as it embraced his battered body and pressed him tightly against unfamiliar softness. It wrapped around his wounded soul and prohibited it from departing – anchoring it to a darkness that brimmed with life.

Scarlet orbs bore into his boring pale blues. Cherry lips brushed his ear, triggering a wildfire of goosebumps to spread all over his limp form.

'What a tragic death you had, you silly human.'

Emrys gasped, the sound resonating around the stillness of the dawn and alerting the snoozing animals. He scrambled to his feet, frantically looking around, desperately searching for those eyes that haunted his dreams. His shoulders soon deflated as his momentary confusion was cleared by the flood of recollections from the previous night, and he sagged against the wall.

He cleared his throat, overcome by a sudden itch that prickled at his gullet. Yet, no amount of swallowing could chase it away.

Clicking his tongue, he plucked a couple of leaves from a nearby bush and chewed on it, hoping to busy his mind until it overlooked the uncomfortable sensation.

With a huff, Emrys fixed his attire – retied the ropes, ruffled his hair, and carefully wiped the blood that caked the soles of his feet – and then trudged out, his legs dragging behind him.

The village wasn't as full as he expected it to be. It wasn't bustling with life like the previous one he'd visited. However, it still held unfamiliar faces. In fact, no one resembled any of his neighbors.

Yet, that didn't stop him from asking every person he stumbled upon, undeterred by their inhospitality. He didn't blame them. He looked deranged and suspicious. Not only did he stink, but he was a stranger.

No one liked strangers, especially creepy ones like him.

By midday, Emrys was chewing on his nails, taking shelter in the privacy of the open space of the looming forest.

There was no more denying it. Those dreams must mean something. He'd never had them before. So, did he truly die..?

He shook his head, ridding it of the absurd thought but it came back with vengeance.

Yes. Yes, he did.

At the cave, he was mere bones before life swallowed his pitiful body and returned it to its previous state.

Emrys studied his arms and legs. He's never looked healthier. Lanky still, but for someone who hadn't fed for days, probably more, he looked better than most living beings.

At the mention of feeding, the nagging sensation that'd been itching at the back of his head overflowed and he was suddenly overcome with uncontrollable thirst.

Silver eyes invaded his head along with the woman's parting statement. "...humans aren't the sole inhabitants of these lands."

A thought crossed his mind and he was petrified – blood, blood, blood.

Emrys worked on slowing down his breathing in an attempt to tame his growing bloodlust. His body was screaming for him to feast on some luscious, succulent blood.

A sheen of sweat covered his skin. Heat flared in his belly and spread all the way to his chest, tantalizing his wild heart and gripping at his throat.

Burying his head between his knees, Emrys bit down hard on his lips. Just one droplet and he'll calm down. Just one.

Please, he begged. Please, Please.

The metallic taste finally reached his tongue. Yet, it wasn't satisfying. "Damn it!" Emrys gritted out. He wasn't about to go on a killing spree.

His hands shook as he exposed his arm. Saliva gathered and coated his protruding fangs which were soon plunged deep into the tender flesh of his own forearm. Prodding the wounds with his tongue, Emrys slurped and licked as much as he could.

A tear trickled down his cheek as he lay limp against the tree with drying scarlet smears across his mouth, cheeks, and wrist.

His heart hesitated, staggering over loose heartstrings, as it debated the purpose behind its usual drum, drum, drum. There was none, he realized as hiraeth set its roots deep within his aching soul and spread throughout his lifeless body.

No home. No family.

Emrys had nowhere, no one to return to.

Word count: 1541.

Total word count: 5049.

MEANING OF THE WORDS USED:

Hiraeth: (n.) a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.