Before Her Very Eyes

Chapter 33

Arin's first instinct was to run away, but she couldn't bring her limbs to react. She froze like a deer in headlights, eyes wide and body stiff.

Hoshi also stopped when he noticed she wasn't moving. He looked between Arin and the witch, then said, "oh right! I forgot..."

Arin turned to look at him, expecting him to explain what exactly he "forgot," but he didn't. He just turned to the witch expectantly, and she suddenly got down on her knees and lowered her neck.

"I'm sorry, Arin," the witch said. "I made a mistake, and I know nothing I say or do will ever reverse the damage and the trauma that you experienced, but the only thing I can do is apologize. I'm sorry, Arin. You were a victim of rage I couldn't control, and not a day goes by when I don't regret what I've done to you and to the people you love. I'm sorry."

Arin didn't know what she expected, but it was not that.

The witch slowly lifted her head to make eye contact with Arin. She looked like she wanted to cry.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," the witch said again, lowering her head again.

Arin also wanted to cry. She wanted to scream and yell and tell this person that she hated her, but not a word could come out of her mouth, not even a whimper. It was stuck in her throat in the most uncomfortable way.

She wanted to lunge at this woman. She wanted to hit her to step on her, to make her feel just a little bit of the pain that Arin felt. She could have; the witch was there, vulnerable, right in front of her. All she had to do was strike.

But then something strange and miraculous happened. Magical, for sure. A young girl of about 12 or 13 emerged from the crowd watching her and wrapped her arms around Arin in a tight embrace.

All of the pain and frustration disappeared. Arin could feel it physically get sucked out of her body and into the girl's.

It was a wonderful feeling, and Arin let herself get lost in it. She wrapped her arms around the strange girl and hugged her back.

Arin felt light and empty, and it was a wonderful thing to be empty, because it meant there was no despair weighing her down. There were no thoughts of revenge, no anger, no hatred. Just... nothingness.

"It's a beautiful moment," Dasinai spoke up. "But save it for the room!"

The girl released Arin and stepped back, and Arin found herself staring at her.

She didn't look like a regular girl. There were shadows around her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in days. And even though she wore pink sneakers and a t-shirt with a unicorn on it, the innocent bliss of childhood was not there in her eyes. Arin could tell that the girl had experienced something supernatural that changed her natural makeup. Arin could tell that the girl was cursed.

"This is Larali," Jun introduced her. "She's cursed to absorb other people's pain."

"Oh shit!" Hoshi suddenly said, pointing at Arin's bracelet.

It was a dark shade of green.

"Looks like Larali made the better first impression than I. How can I ever beat Larali?" Hoshi joked. He turned to Larali and said, "that means Arin loves you, by the way!"

Larali let out a weak smile, but Arin could tell that the girl was holding in so much.

"Oh goodie, the bracelet worked!" Dasinai spoke. "Wonderful news."

Hoshi began reporting to Dasinai about the findings of their experiments, while Arin focused on Larali. Arin was drawn to the girl, but the girl was drawing away from her back behind the crowd with Jun leading her to the back. Arin wanted to get closer to her, but to do that, she would have to step closer to the witch.