C8 S08:The Onset Of Night

*Warning: Bloody Content*

After I wrapped a white scarf around my neck, my eyes traveled all over the night sky. I couldn't see anything else but darkness. It seemed like an endless abyss, with no light shining anywhere.

A cold breeze passed by, making it hard for me to even catch my breath properly. The wind blew so strongly that my long hair almost brushed against my face, I hardly saw anything. I closed my eyes and sighed deeply through my nose as I tried to calm myself down.

If only I could tie my hair by myself...

"Hello?"

A voice from behind me greeted me. I turned my head and saw a woman and a little girl looking at me with their mouths wide open. They looked so excited that they didn't notice that I hadn't returned their greeting yet. The little girl was clinging onto her mother's hand. Somehow, her face flushed when she looked into my eyes.

"Forgive my rudeness but were you the one who played the character role as 'Iolite Sylvia'?"

I nod slowly in response.

"I guess you were one of the audiences. It must have been quite a shock to watch that kind of ending. I'm sorry for ruining the original story."

The mother quickly shook her head.

"No! We don't mind! The ending was not like we expected but it looks amazing. Even my daughter said that it was great."

Her daughter nodded vigorously before looking back up at my face, still blushing slightly.

"Actually, my daughter is a fan of your character. From the moment you were standing on that stage, she was entranced by your appearance or should I say, your aura."

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"But what makes your daughter like the villain and not the protagonist?"

Her lips curved into a smile.

"She likes both characters equally. But then she says Iolite looks lonely. My daughter wants to be on the villain's side when the other characters leave her during her last breath. And she has always wished to meet the real 'Iolite'. We tried to wait there for a few minutes, and we didn't expect that we could finally meet you so soon. Thank you again for playing such a good role."

I stared at them.

The little girl's face flushed again, buried herself further into her mother's chest. Her mother giggled softly before she started whispering something to her. After a second, she approached me and held out a small bouquet of Silver Sterling Rose.

It took a moment before I accepted the flowers. I stared at the gift I've received for the first time while my fingers gently stroked the petals of the flowers, not realizing a soft smile was forming on my face.

"Thank you."

The woman simply gave me a warm smile before nodding and leading her daughter away from where we met earlier.

When they were out of view, my cheeks suddenly felt warmer than before. That feeling made me wonder about the source of this warmth.

'Was it because of the flowers? Or was it because of them?'

~ ~ ~ ~

I kept staring at the flowers while my feet kept carrying me towards my house. My hands caress the silky fabric of the ribbon holding the bouquet together.

'I guess I can just give this to Ariel as her birthday gift tonight.'

I thought to myself as I stopped walking when I heard the siren wailing. My eyes followed the noise. From where I stand, I could hear the police officers talking on their radios, probably giving some information about a fire that broke out at one of the houses.

When I looked in front, I could see the flames burning on the horizon, which was a little bit further.

"That place..."

I could feel my heart beating faster as I started running on the sidetrack. At the same time, the police vehicles, ambulances and firetrucks were also passing on the road, next to my right side.

The three vehicles gathered around a burnt house with all their lights shining in the place. The firefighters were moving around trying to put out the flame as fast as possible. Some people had already arrived on the scene, trying to help extinguish the fire.

When I reached my destination while gasping for breath, my eyes couldn't stop watching my own house burning in a huge fire. Everything around it was engulfed in red and black flames rising higher into the sky. The fire was still raging there even though the firefighters tried to put out what they could.

I felt panic start rising in me and my chest tightened even more than before. A feeling of despair is slowly taking over my body. As if someone had hit my heart with a hammer, I realized something very hard – I didn't want to lose them.

The bouquet slipped off from my hand, scattering onto the ground. My legs move forwards and before I can realize it, I am running inside the burning house. My ears caught the sounds of people shouting, 'She went inside!', and the other things I'm hearing, but my mind doesn't listen to anything except the words that keep going on repeat.

'Please let them be okay...'

As soon as I reached the entrance, I pushed the door with as much strength as I could. The whole door flew open, and the smoke immediately entered my lungs, forcing my eyes shut as my hand instinctively moved to cover them from the overwhelming smell of burning wood. The smell of the stench fire almost suffocated me.

I don't know why but when I enter inside, I can feel my heart almost stop beating when I look around. Everything in the house has turned into disaster. The furniture and objects were burned or broken, and even the walls were scorched completely. All I can hear is the crackling sound of the fire behind me and the sounds of people yelling frantically.

My gaze kept wandering around the burning room as I ran forward. I tried to make my way while calling them a couple times, but no reply ever came.

'Please let me find them...'

It took only minutes, but everything felt like ages until finally, I found them lying unconscious on the ground. But my eyes caught one of the large burning planks that were about to fall from the ceiling, above their heads. The sight made my blood freeze, and before I could react to anything, I rushed and threw myself against them.

As I managed to protect them in my arms, the beam started to fall and hit right on my back. I screamed in agony as the heat was burning my back. My hand touched my forehead, but all I could feel was warmth coming from it. A small amount of blood was running down to my left eye, making me feel dizzy and everything around me became blurry. I was unable to recognize anything else besides the pain I've been experiencing right now.

I opened my eyes and looked at my siblings who were still unconscious on the floor. From their position, it looks like Ariel tried to protect Nash. Both their skins were slightly charred. Their faces were covered in dust and their clothes were ripped and stained in a dark red color.

Carefully, my trembling hands brushed the dust away from their face. I can feel Ariel's still breathing but Nash, I can't feel the pulse from him.

"Ariel... Nash... I'm here now. You won't feel scared anymore because I'm here to protect you. I will take you out from here. Just... Don't leave me alone. I need you... Stay with me... Please..."

I bit my lips as tears started filling up my eyes, trying to suppress the sobs that wanted to escape from my mouth. I could feel the pain growing inside my body where indescribable emotions consumed me.

My whole body trembled, and I was struggling to breathe. I leaned down on top of both and buried my face between their chests. With all my might I continued stroking their hair and whispered.

"You'll be alright. I promise."

~ ~ ~ ~

'….!'

'...ep!'

'...Beep!'

"Beep!"

I jolted awake and automatically grabbed the hand that was trying to touch me. I turned my head to see a lady wearing a nurse uniform flinched back a little. Might be surprised because she didn't expect me to wake up suddenly like this.

"Where are they?"

"Pardon me?"

I narrowed my eyes.

"You heard me. Where are my siblings? Are they safe? Where did you take them? Answer me!"

My whole body was trembling with anger, and I didn't realize I gripped her hand too tight until she winced.

The nurse's face went from surprised into petrified in a split second. Her eyes were wide with fear as they met mine, trying to pull her hand away from mine, but it was no use.

"Please calm down, Ms. Hamarsya."

Three seconds later, someone barged into the room. Both of us turned towards the noise.

"Are you finally awake?"

A doctor in his late thirties wearing a lab coat with a white shirt underneath, asked.

I stared at him for a moment before speaking again.

"My siblings. Are they alright?"

The doctor frowned but he didn't answer right away. He looked at the nurse first then back at me. After I let her go, she quickly ran out of the room

The doctor took a moment before sighing.

"I'm so sorry to do this to you, Ms. Hamarsya but you've been unconscious for a week."

He stepped closer to me before pulling a chair next to the bed, placing it there. He started to tell me what happened.

My mind raced around thinking about that accident. I felt my heart skip a beat and my breathing became ragged.

"Does that mean, my siblings.... they didn't survive that fire?"

I whispered hoarsely, not wanting to hear the reply that was coming.

The doctor slowly shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no. We still need to keep your condition under wraps until we figure out how the accident happened. For now, you need to focus on recovering from your injuries. You've suffered some pretty severe burns on your left side, including the left side of your forehead which also damages half of your hair. The other injuries aren't so bad except for a broken arm and a few bruises. It will take several weeks before you're fully healed."

He paused, looking at me carefully for a moment or two, before continuing to speak.

"However, there's damage on your left eye socket, causing a loss of vision there. If possible, I'd recommend putting on a prosthetic if your sight won't return for another month. I'll have to talk to your surgeon but hopefully you'll be able to recover with proper care."

He glanced towards the door for a moment before turning his gaze at me.

"Is there anything else you would like to know?"

I stared at him for a moment and eventually shook my head.

He smiled lightly at me.

"Alright, well, just remember to take the medication I gave you every day."

He stood up from the chair and walked towards the door.

After he closed the door behind him, my gaze wandered down to the IV in my arm then moving to both my hands which were currently wrapped in bandages. I try to wiggle my fingers although it's shaking horribly.

Suddenly the picture of Ariel and Nash lying on the ground flashed across my mind. The warmth I felt from stroking their heads has faded away.

'Are they really... gone?'

I looked up at the door in front of me.

"Ariel... Nash..."

I tried to call out their names, hoping that they would open the door and appear with a delightful expression on their faces. However, they never showed up.

"I guess... it's really the truth."

I let out a small chuckle. The sound was filled with self-loathing.

I stared at my hand as it rested on my lap. It felt cold and numb. I gently touched one of the fingers with my index finger and brought the tip to my mouth. I softly grazed my tongue over my dry, chapped lips.

Out of nowhere, a single tear ran down my cheek and dropped onto my knuckles.

'Huh?'

I wiped the tears on my cheek.

"Silly. Why are you even crying? What's the purpose of wasting your tears when you already know the fact that all living beings will end up dead? You never truly cared for them. They're just some kind of 'treasures' you want to protect. You can just replace them-"

I stopped mid-sentence as my throat constricted. A sudden realization hit me, made me force back the tears from falling. I tried to swallow but it was as if something caught in my throat. I clenched my fist around my heart.

'This feeling is different... compared to papa's death in the past. I don't understand. Why am I feeling so sad? Is it because I'm actually starting to feel lonely? Or maybe it's because...'

"They're not treasures... and they're not something I could replace. They..."

My lips began to quiver. I didn't even realize that my hands were clenched into fists.

"They're my family. The only people who care for me. The only people who meant everything to me."

I bit my lip and blinked rapidly, tears that I tried desperately to keep inside flowed down my face in a flood of hot streams.

My voice cracked as I spoke again.

"I've tried everything... I've prepared everything... Just for them. Their school. Their job. Their future. The life they wanted. I thought they would be safe when I'm with them."

As soon as those words came out, the sobs escaped my throat. As each sob wracked my body, my hands clutched at my head.

"But why?! Why am I always late protecting them?! Why can't I be there for them when they need me the most?! Why did I let them suffer?! Why am I so useless?!"

My fingers dug into my scalp as though they were trying to remove the pain inside my skull.

"WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!!!"

The loud voices echoed in my ear and the weight on my shoulders seemed to increase tenfold as the pressure in my chest increased, making breathing harder than ever. My breath hitched in my throat as I struggled to breathe normally.

"Ariel... Nash... Ariel... Nash..."

With every repetition, I felt like someone had punched me directly in the gut, then proceeded to rip it open multiple times.

'I hate this pain, yet I deserved it. I need to atone for my sins. For not keeping my promise to protect them.'

Curling myself into a ball, I buried my face in between my knees.

I wanted to scream until all my voice was gone. I wanted to cry until my lungs couldn't hold any air anymore.

'I wanted to die.'

"Don't leave me..."

'I wanted to die.'

"I miss you..."

'I wanted to die.'

"I'm sorry..."

~ ~ ~ ~

I hug my knees up to my chest, letting my elbows rest on them and my chin rest on top of my arm. My eyes caught a Ruella flower on the grass, and I reached out a finger to grab the stem.

It was beautiful. Almost too beautiful for my liking, considering how it would die within hours.

My fingers traced the edges and twirled it around, admiring the way its delicate petal seemed to dance with every move I made before my hand hanging down by my knee. I stared at it blankly before my eyes moved to the grave in front of me.

"I'm sorry for telling you this late but... Happy belated birthday, Ariel. The bouquet I wanted to give to you has ruined because I dropped it. Then is it okay if I give this little flower to you instead? No need to thank me."

I put the flower on top of the grave stone but the wind blew it away, slipping off and hitting on the ground with a soft thud.

Slowly I stood up and walked downstairs to the taxi which was waiting for me outside the gate of the cemetery and climbed inside. The driver looked at me quizzically but didn't say anything. I remained silent for a second before telling him where to take me.

The driver just nodded, putting his foot down on the accelerator and sped through the road. Sometimes he would glance at me who's leaning on the window, using the rear view mirror.

Of course, he would feel suspicious when having a passenger who covered their face fully with a hoodie.

After a few more minutes, the driver pulled up in front of the old building. I gave my thanks and got out of the car. I looked at the building once again before taking a deep breath and entering inside. My footsteps echoed along the empty corridor, and I found myself standing in front of the big iron door. I exhaled and pushed open the door.

My eyes caught someone sitting on the other side of the room, facing me. The person said nothing and only continued staring straight ahead.

I swallowed heavily and slowly sat at the opposite. Only transparent glass separates us.

After a while, that person finally turned in my direction. Her greenish eyes looked directly at mine.

"After nine years, you're here."

Her voice sounded familiar, cold yet soft.

"Do you finally miss seeing your mother, my Safiyya?"