Since then, with stars glittering above, I had never been afraid to turn off the lights at night, like tonight.
I glanced at my phone, and it was already eleven p.m. I had school tomorrow, and still, I couldn’t sleep. Each time I closed my eyes, dread filled my mind, and the worst scenarios played out vividly. I stayed awake until exhaustion finally pulled me under.
My eyes stung with tears, caught by the glow of those stars.
Everything felt emptier and sadder without Zioh, Zeraiah, and my brother.
I wanted us back.
Just weeks ago, we shouted our hopes into the night sky and hadn’t asked for much. We just asked that everything would be okay.
That we’d be alright.
Closing my eyes, I wiped them with my hand and pressed my palms together. “Please… make all of them safe,” I whispered, my voice trembling with the rawest plea. “I just want us to be… fine, healthy, and happy—”
A sudden blare of a car horn cut me off. My eyes flew open, and a white light spilt through my window.
My heart raced, my feet moving before I could think. I dashed to the window and tore the curtains open—
A black Rolls-Royce had pulled into the grand house next door. My breath caught—because it was Mas Zaeem’s car.
Which meant—
My eyes widened as the truth hit me. I rushed forward, almost losing my balance. “Zioh!! Zeraiah!!”
I bolted from my room, my hair flying as I leapt down the stairs two at a time. If Mum and Dad saw me like this, I’d be scolded senseless, but I didn’t care—not now.
Something deep within me urged me forward, desperate to reach the house beside mine. I flew across the living room, snatched the keys on the table, and flung the front door wide open. Past the garden, to the towering gate, I unlocked it in a rush, ignoring the calls of the housemaid shouting my name.
I ran, pyjamas and all, into the Danudara estate. The guards blinked in surprise, but only shook their heads and smiled as I dashed past.
I chased the car right up to the parking area, my chest heaving as I slowed to a stop. The Rolls-Royce stilled before me, and as it did, I stepped closer.
My heartbeat roared in my ears.
Zaeem, followed by Zeraiah and Zioh, stepped out of the car. A wide smile spread across my cheeks. I wanted to call out their names, to wave—but I stopped short at what lay before me.
Their faces looked…shattered.
Zaeem’s eyes were heavy-lidded, and dark circles were etched beneath them. Zeraiah got out of the car, his head and body bowed, as though he no longer had the strength to hold himself upright. His eyes even trembled.
And Zioh…
His gaze was empty, as if his soul wasn’t in his body. He kept pressing his temples and shaking his head. His brows drew inward. Their pale faces and dim eyes suggested the light in their lives had vanished, replaced by a heavy darkness. They didn’t notice me. I stood frozen, shaken to my core by the sight.
I knew something had gone wrong.
My heart pounded, and fear rose in me. Fear of my own worst thoughts. Fear that everything I’d been dreading had been true all along…
I took a step to approach them, but the sound of footsteps behind me made me turn. It was Mas Bibu.
Tsabinu stood frozen a few steps behind me, staring silently at Zioh, Zeraiah, and Zaeem.
Then it hit me—
The aura and expression my twin brother had been wearing all this time were the same as the scene in front of me.
The empty eyes.
