The sky had long fallen asleep and the unsteady light of countless stars sang soundless lullabies to the people who were slowly drifting into slumber, each exhausted and confused, crouching and stretching over improvised beds, with people whom they never knew until this faithful day that brought so many together, and so many apart. Silent moans after those who were lost could still be heard echoing in the razed streets, reminding survivors of nothing but that they're still alive.
Sion was sitting at the table on the bakery's roof, breathing peacefully as if asleep, although his eyes were still open, staring absently at the stars. He was wearing a pure white shirt that still had a blood stain on it. A soft blanket was covering his legs. An aroma of a freshly baked cherry cake was still lingering over the table, overlapping with the scent of fruit tea that his mother and he had earlier that evening, after they ran into each other soon after it happened. The vibrant light of the stars was being reflected in his red eyes as they thought generously of people and their futures. But the futures that were as numerous as the stars could not hold his thoughts as long as the futures, and even the nows of people closest to him could; the people who were at this point who knows where.
"Sion?" a voice called out to him from the direction of the door that led to the bedroom. He flinched unnoticeably from the feeling of slight surprise the voice arose in him before he would turn to face his mother, who wore an expression that appeared both worried and very happy. "You'll catch a cold if you keep sitting there. It's already quite late." Her eyes glanced over the red stain on his chest just as a moan of a woman crying over somebody's dead body echoed from somewhere in the darkness of the dusty city. Karan flinched nervously, looking in the direction she thought the voice was coming from, only to return her gaze on her beloved son once more, the beloved son who now came back to her alive and well after all those days of desperate hoping and praying for his safety.
"I'll be there in a minute", was Sion's reply. His mother smiled at him softly and nodded her head. "Don't take too long. As the night deepens it only gets colder, you know", she said caringly , gathered the empty dishes as professionally as only a mother could and quietly shut the door behind her as she went back inside. Sion's hand unconsciously pressed against the left side of his chest, following his mother's glance and trying to silence the nervousness he felt after she left. He worried her so much, after all; it was only natural to feel uneasy over it.
Sion let out a loud sigh. He sat there quietly staring at the floor for another minute before getting up. He folded the blanket, placed the chairs in order and went inside, carrying the blanket under his arm.
-XXX-
Karan greeted him with a ready bath and a neatly prepared bed. The little girl who he just met a few hours ago was already sleeping on the top bed. When asked, his mother replied she will sleep with the girl, and that he now has nothing to worry about. A little relieved, Sion made his way towards the bathroom.
"Ah, warm", he whispered pleasantly to himself as he shut the bathroom door behind him. Only now did he notice how tired he actually was. He unbuttoned his shirt slowly and as he started taking it off, he noticed a little hole at the front left side. He stared at it for a while, confused, trying to remember where it came from. "That's strange – didn't I get this blood stain on me when I was helping Rat-?" The memory of excruciating pain that pierced through his heart like a thousand needles suddenly appeared in his mind. He remembered Rat's panicked expression fading before his eyes as all visible sank into ominous darkness. Cold sweat covered his body as he remembered how he died. His legs gave in and he dropped to the bathroom floor, gasping desperately and gripping onto his unharmed chest. The shirt was already lying on the floor beside him. He struggled not to scream, to calm himself down. "It can't be true!" he thought to himself, "It isn't! Aren't I alive right now? Or is it all just a death illusion?" What he didn't feel under his fingertips finally reached his mind. His breathing violently calmed and his eyes hurried to look at his wound which wasn't there. He palpated his chest a few more times before he was finally assured the wound doesn't exist. Swallowing the lump, he picked the shirt up again and found without any difficulty the part where the bullet had torn it. "What is going on?" he thought to himself in confusion.
-CHAPTER #1 ~ UNENDING-