[Music: Eternity Of Reality By Yutaka Yamada]
Everything was still.
It had never felt so... quiet.
But then a sharp ringing drowned my ears, followed by other sounds I couldn’t pinpoint coming together. I heard metal groan loudly, the clink-clatter of glass, and a distant voice.
The voice was calling my name, faint and almost... gone. I can’t feel my body either... I can’t feel m-my... hand.
"Catherine!"
Reed?
I want to move, but I’m unable to do so. I can’t breathe. I’m suffocating.
"Catherine!"
Someone help me please... before I...!
I heard something ripped open, and I pulled away from the airbag, and I could finally catch air. I rasped heavily, trying to collect as much as possible, resting the back of my head on the seat before I moved my half-opened eyes to Reed.
Blood oozed from his head, sticking to his skin, and I wanted to ask if he was okay, but I couldn’t find my voice.
He forced the seatbelt off me and pulled me out, carrying me in his arms.
"Call an ambulance!"
I tried to keep my eyes open, but I couldn’t; my consciousness was slipping away faster than I could process.
~☆~
I ran down the stairs as fast as my little legs could carry me, my breath coming off harshly. I was still sleepy, but I didn’t let that stop me. At the last flight of stairs, I came to an abrupt stop, clenching the wood tightly.
"Mom! Dad!"
My mom turned to me, smiling. "Look who’s awake."
"What’s the point of sneaking out when she’s right behind?" my dad said, adjusting his glasses.
My mom threw him a look and pushed his shoulder lightly. She came to me and crouched to my height. I quickly wrapped my arms around her neck.
"Don’t go."
"Sweetie, are you okay? You’re shaking." She tucked my hair behind my ears so that she could cup my cheeks. "And you’re so cold and sweaty."
"I-I had a bad dream."
"Oh, sweetie."
"Don’t go, please."
She stroked my cheeks. "It’s alright, nothing bad will happen."
I truly wanted to believe her, I really do, but there was a deep-seated feeling that I couldn’t explain.
My dad neared us and playfully scattered my hair like he always does, and I would growl at him, but I wasn’t feeling it at the moment.
As if he could tell, his face contorted in concern.
"Don’t worry, we won’t take long." He kissed the top of my hair and stepped into the light.
I looked to my mom, eyes pleading.
"When I get back, how about you tell me all about that dream, okay?"
"I don’t even remember it."
"Huh... then that means it won’t come true. You already ward it off." She poked my little nose, and a smile crept on my lips, but it fell so quickly when she said the next words.
"Bye, sweetie, be good to gramps and granny." She kissed my forehead and rose to her full height, about to step into the light.
"Mom!" I called.
Slowly, she turned to me, and that was when I should have said it. I should have told her that I was sick, I should have begged her not to go. I should have made both of them stay.
I should have gone with them.
She waved at me and disappeared into the light.
~
My eyelids were heavy, but I mustered up the strength to open my eyes; everything was too bright.
Had I stepped into the light, too?
I raised my hand. Then I could see them again. "Mom, Dad."
"Catherine." A hand engulfed mine, holding tightly.
Ares?
I couldn’t see him clearly; he appeared doubled.
"Can you hear me?"
His deep, masculine voice was like soft echoes resounding around me.
Beeping sounds picked up sharply when I saw my parents standing at the foot of my bed.
They were waiting for me.
"I need a nurse in here now!"
They stretched their hands out for me to take, and I wanted so badly to go with them.
Please don’t leave me again. Please.
Mom.
Dad.
~☆~
Beeping sounds drowned my ears, steady and soothing, but picked when I saw someone.
She smiled sadly. "How’s my little warrior doing?"
My little warrior.
It’s been years since I heard that, and several emotions rose to the surface at that instant.
"M-Mom..." My voice cracked. "Is it really you?"
She stretched out her hand. "Yes."
I rasped when I saw my dad, too, smiling warmly at me.
I sobbed, reaching for them as I pushed the sheets aside, but when I took the first step, my legs gave out, and I crashed into the nearby mayo stand and dropped to the floor.
Pain consumed my entire body as I broke down in tears, trying to move but I couldn’t.
When I looked back up, they were gone, and that only crushed my heart into a million pieces.
The door opened with force, but I was too consumed by grief to tell who it was.
"Catherine..."
I lifted my teary gaze to Ares, who came to me cautiously. I wondered why he was slow in steps and held my gaze intensely, a soft look I had never seen before, which cracked the coldness in his eyes.
When he got to me, he crouched and showed his palm. I was confused, but his next words brought realization to me.
"Give me the scissors."
With shaky breath, I leveled my gaze to the scissor I clenched tightly, blood oozing around me.
"Catherine..." His voice came out softer, and like a magnet, I’m pulled. "It’s alright, I’m here now."
I sobbed, leveling my gaze. In my line of vision, Ares took my hand and gently pried it open to take the scissor away, then a loud sob wrecked from me.
He pulled me into his arms, and I curled up on his lap crying like a child as grief, despair, and confusion stormed me all at once.