Despair

The warmth of being held tightly as the coldness became harsher had made Feliciano quite drowsy. He also had a long and stressful day after all. Just as he was about to pass out, he was jolted awake as a commotion was taking place with police and other searchers (that had remained at the base) rushed towards their fellow teammates that had returned.

Feliciano's grip on his boyfriend's coat had tightened in anxiousness as he looked on towards the people emerging from the woods. First was a man in front carrying an item of clothing that looked to be ripped jacket, which matched Lovino's favorite warm garment. He then caught sight of a stretcher and prayed that it was just his brother covered in a blanket. Though already deep down he knew that the possibility of his brother being alive was impossible and yet he would forcibly suppress it.

He had been the lucky child of his family and he hoped his luck would kick in on this one, even if it meant losing that streak for good, as he prayed to God in his head.

Time then came to halt as the stretcher came into full view. Feliciano's breath lodged itself in his throat as he ripped himself away from his boyfriend's embrace and made a dash towards the body bag. "No" replayed itself like a broken record in his head as he had gotten closer.

A shrill cry made Antonio's blood go cold in the midst of an argument between him, Frances and Gilbert. All three, without a second to lose, made a hasty dash back to the backyard. In the distance, Feliciano could be seen held back and pulled away from what could only be a body bag.

Antonio hastened himself as he ran towards the searchers and his vision began to cloud up. Tear drops were rolling down his face even if he hadn't even confirmed if the love of his life was alive.

The grim painted expressions on the faces had halted his dash as he closed in on the body bag. His limbs began to feel heavy. He reached out his hand and began to slowly pull the zip with his lead-weight fingers. Everything in that moment had stopped for Antonio and the chattering and screams became muted as he faced the corpse before him with widened eyes. "Lovi..." he whispered.

His Lovino, his one true love, laid contrasted in a black bag. He wanted to touch the porcelain skin of the deceased, whose head laid to one side and lifeless eyes that looked at his direction. But his heavy fingers held its position above the body as tear stains, brown patchy blotched areas of dust and dried blood beside scratched and gory like wounds were telling Antonio's body to refrain from touching the deceased corpse.

Motion around him set back in as he collapsed on the ground and stared in shock as Feliciano threw himself in a crying rage over his dead brother's' corpse. Antonio couldn't seem to let out his pain as it lodged itself in his throat, killing him inside now for he would never forgive himself.

Reality really did sink in as the sun rose.

To be continued...

Next chapter will be the final: Reality

Thank you for reading