Minutes dragged on and my eyelids began to grow heavy. The pull of sleep wrapped around me, dragging me under.
But suddenly, I heard a crash and a sharp cry that cut off too quickly. Then struggles, furniture scraping against the tile, a dull, sickening thud.
My breath hitched, every muscle in my body locked as icy fear slithered through my veins.
I shoved away the covers, my body trembling as I swung my legs off the bed. The floor was cold beneath my bare feet, grounding me just enough to keep me from collapsing. My kneesalmost buckled as I forced myself toward the door. Every step was slow and hesitant as even the walls themselves seemed to be holding their breaths.
The hallway stretched, darker and suffocating than before. Finally, I arrived at the living room, still bathed in the soft glow of the television light. Gossip Girl still played the echo of laughter, a cruel contrast to the stillness that had settled over the house.
My eyes widened when I saw a shattered vase and pieces of porcelain scattered on the floor, glinting like jagged teeth.
My heart pounded violently against my ribs as I moved further in. And then my world came to a standstill. A strangled scream clawed at my throat, but the sounds didn’t come, never came, only a gasp, though broken.
There they were, right next to each other; Kenzo and his mom.
Rose Takahashi’s body laid unnaturally still, eyes empty, blood pooling around her.
Then there was Kenzo too, blood coating his chest, some spilling from his mouth, fingers twitching.
“No!” The roar that tore from my chest rang louder than a gunshot, shattering something somewhere in the room.
I staggered backward, my hand clutching my head as the room blurred, the ground beneath me shifting. I opened my mouth again but no word came out as my body went lightweight, and I found myself collapsing to the floor, the darkness taking over me.
47
BETH
I wanted to die. I needed to die. What was there to live for?
Darkness.
That was all I knew. A deep, consuming void that swallowed me whole, cradling me in a silence so absolute I could almost convince myself that none of it happened.
That Kenzo and his mom weren’t dead. And I definitely didn’t shatter at the sight of Kenzo’s lifeless body; the grief all-consuming my body itself gave up.
But then, my eyes fluttered open, the reality like a sledgehammer to the chest. And this time, there was no darkness to run to.
No, no, no.
Panic shot through my veins like ice as I bolted upright, throwing the covers off my body. My bare feet hit the cold flooras I stumbled to the window, yanking the curtains aside with trembling hands.
And the sight below me made my stomach churn.
Soldiers patrolled the open ground, rifles of different shapes and sizes slung over their broad shoulders, their movement precise, sharp, and disciplined, like they would catch the wind in their fists with an easy grace.
He took me back…to the prison disguised as a palace.
A strangled sound escaped my lips and I stumbled away from the window, Kenzo’s paling body, covered in blood, flashing before my eyes.
My knees buckled, and a wretched sob tore from my throat as I sank to the cold floor, my arms swung over myself, wrapping it tightly as if to hold the grief in before it shattered me.
I needed to go back. I needed to hold Kenzo one more time, press my forehead to his, and whisper ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry’ until he heard me and opened his eyes. Until he recognized the grief and loneliness in my voice and woke up.
But I was here. Miles away from him. I couldn’t hold him if I was here, locked away in this wicked castle. I couldn’t even see him take his last breath.
As the tears ran down my cheeks, I tried to walk through my memories. I wondered what date it was. How long had I been asleep? Was it too late? Had they already sealed his body away, locked him in a lonely, cold, and dark grave?
Kenzo hated the dark. He was the only eighteen year old boy I knew that couldn’t sleep with the lights turned off.
