Chapter LVII:

I ended up going out west. What other choice did I have? I stayed with Maddie and her siblings for too long. Most of them disappeared because me. A couple of them even died. I just hope that Maddie and the rest of her siblings can survive this. But I know in my heart that’s not going to be the case.

I haven’t seen or heard any ghosts lately. I haven’t seen her either. I didn’t stop walking west. It’s kind of strange now that I think about it. I didn’t feel tired the whole time. No hunger or thirst. I didn’t have a destination in mind. I just kept walking. I just needed to get away. Go somewhere where there was no people. Somehow, I thought the west would help me. There wasn’t going to be much out there anyway.

I traded up the swamp for the desert. I was okay with that. Nobody would be out there to bother me. Once again, I made a small house for myself. There weren’t many people out here in the west. Maybe there wouldn’t be any war or ghosts.

For the first ten years, I was alone again. I did what I needed to do to survive. There was going to be plenty of food in the wild. My hunting skills had only gotten better. If I could survive in the swamp, the desert would be no different. Things were a little bit better with Luna not stalking me. I hadn’t heard her voice or seen her face in those ten years. It didn’t matter if I was going to be lonely or not. No more people would have to die because of me.

I should’ve known that it wouldn’t have lasted long.

Humans always just have to have more. Naturally, they would just have to come out west. Pretty soon, I wasn’t going to be alone anymore. Why did I think that this was going to be any different? The fates seemed to hate me. Why couldn’t they just leave me alone? I already knew the answer, but I couldn’t stop asking that. Maybe I should’ve and then the misery and mess would’ve stopped way before I turned into what I am today.

My further ruin began when I ran into another woman.

Ah yes, her.

Just remembering her makes me feel a little bit sad inside. Heh. What do you know? I still feel something after all.