Lingering Darkness
Prologue
I don't know what it feels to be loved. Maybe because I wasn't, my parents abandoned me when I was a toddler and hardly walking then when I turned eight—at my exact birthday, Grandpa died, or rather, murdered. I can remember that day clearly, I was hiding behind a closet after all, peeking through its small opening and watching everything.
The men wore black suits but nothing to conceal their despicable faces. A man with a thick moustache took a step toward Jii-chan then yelled at his face,
"Where is she?!" half shouting and half asking.
I know that instant that he is talking about me, that's mainly the reason why Jii-chan told me to hide over here. I looked at Jii-chan intently then I saw the uneasiness behind his hazel eyes but he was determined to protect me, which I concluded. He will not give up.
"I don't know what you are talking about, Mister." He stated, mustering to sound apologetic but failed.
"Protecting that damn child, are we?" the one with the hat retorted. Jii-chan chuckled then spit saliva onto the man's face. The man's eyes shot wide, disgusted or mad? I can't quite figure out. He wiped off the saliva using the hanky from his pocket then nodded at his comrades, signalling them to do something.
That's when it started. There are three men to be precise and they each took their turns. The tallest one hit Jii-chan on his stomach, making him kneel and cough out blood. I wanted to scream but there's no voice coming out. I was left dumbfounded. I didn't blink; I just kept watching them beat Jii-chan endlessly.
He's too old for this, he will not make it.
They didn't stop and just kept going on and on and on. I clamped my mouth hard and hot salty tears trickle through my cheeks down my neck.
"Don't. Please stop." My mind begged but I can't do anything. Another tear streamed down my face then another and another until I started shivering. I feel like I was paralyzed. I can't move my feet, I can only watch helplessly.
"Quite determined, eh? If you tell us where the multi-alice user is now, we will stop and heal you right now." The one with the glasses bargained. Jii-chan laughed humourlessly then stood up; he placed his hand on top of the table beside him to maintain his balance.
"Over my lifeless body." Jii-chan grunted then the fucking bastards started beating and kicking him again.
I gulped and gritted my teeth. I blinked away the tears forming in my auburn eyes. Jii-chan's body was now covered in blood but he didn't reacted, not even a twitch or a scream. Rage, rage, rage. I blinked again. Rage, rage, rage. I put my hand on the door and pushed it then stepped outside. Rage, rage, rage. I looked at each of them, memorizing their plain features. Rage, rage, rage. They stopped beating Jii-chan abruptly when they heard my footsteps.
"There's our little girl." A man said, taking a step towards me.
I do not know what multi-alice user is but couldn't care less right now. I shifted my gaze to Jii-chan and his breathing is not evenly now. I look back at them again. My mind only has one word. Fury. They walk towards me again then a man held my arm.
"Let me go!" I shrieked, resisting.
"Don't make it more complicated than it already was, sweetie or else, we would be force to use our alice on you." he forced himself to sound caring but miserably failed.
I cast one final glance at Jii-chan and noticed that he is not breathing. He stopped breathing! My mind yelled. He is dead; they killed him!
"I said. Let. Me. Go." I stated nonchalantly, my voice turned out to be darker than usual.
The one with the hat carried me and the other two followed. My vision becomes blurry and black. Revenge. Revenge. Revenge.
When we were halfway near the exit, the entire house exploded, turning everything to ashes. Except me, except me who was lying on the ground, not knowing what suddenly happened. I didn't understand what an alice meant but now, I understood it perfectly.
I gasped exasperatedly into the cold air then looked out the glass window. It was almost midnight and all the lights were turned off but mine. The pale greyish moon that lights up the road could be seen and the stars are shimmering brightly above.
Big dipper.
I looked at the sky every night and it's the most common constellation I could see. I'm getting sick of it, actually, but the view is so fascinating; the stars and the moon that feels like they're enjoying the view from above. It's my only comfort in this cruel world. The world that keeps taking away everything that makes me happy, everything that makes me feel... human.
"Murderer." I could hear them all in my mind.
"Murderer." They chorused.
"Murderer." I put my hands on my ears, to not hear the voices but it's no use, they're all inside my head. I'm used to it though. Ever since that incident happened, they kept on calling me that, either behind my back or face to face. I hardly care. I stopped caring seven years ago. I stopped talking seven years ago. I stopped trusting any people seven years ago. My world came to a stop and everything feels like... frozen.
A/N: Pretty short? It's just a prologue!
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