Dusk Town

Chapter Twenty-Five

Few days after I woke up from coma, Max bought a condo three stations away from my school. He's planning to stay for a couple of days more before going back to service. My body is recuperating quite fast. My lower limbs regained its strength. He finally let me go alone somewhere. At first he was hesitant but in the end he couldn't argue with me. It's nice to be in the city again. Riding trains, a crowd of busy people, streetlights, pedestrian lanes and the traffic. For the first time after several years, I finally have the courage to face my own grave.

Sapphire L. Harper

2000-2008

"May you find peace in His arms."

I offered flowers and lit up some candles. Underneath this tombstone is nothing but an empty coffin. This is where we desperately tried to bury everything but it's not enough. It keeps on haunting us no matter how fast we try to run away from it. Sometimes I can't help but to wonder what if my real body lies underneath this cold ground? Would that prevent my mother to feel miserable? Would that grant them peace for the rest of their lives? If so, I'd bury myself.

No matter how much I think about what happened, it's all my fault. If I speak up about it then I might still have a mother waiting for me when I get home. A father who always supports me. I want to feel that again. I closed my eyes as I looked up above the vast sky. It felt good as the air brushed my hair and skin.

"I like your new hair."

I thought I was hallucinating because I heard a familiar voice. When I looked from where it came from, I saw a gray-furred creature. I have never been so happy to see Tom again. This just proves that everything is real and it wasn't a dream at all. I went down to hug my friend. He doesn't have his clutch bag with him.

"You're... thinner."

"Yeah I was sick but I'm okay now."

"I know," he smiled at me sincerely.

"Have you been keeping tabs on me?"

"Of course. After what happened, I can't just simply let you go even if I want to. My conscience is killing me."

"Just tell me that you care for me! You're always in denial!" I laughed and he just scoffed at me.

I missed our nonsense banter to each other. I am glad that we can do it again.

"Did you come here alone?"

He looked at me and said, "I know you're going to ask about him as soon as you saw me."

Why do I feel dreadful about what he's about to say. Nothing bad happened, right?

"Even if I lied to you, you won't stop finding the truth so I'll tell you everything. One at a time, 'kay?" He said. "Let's start with, Sebastian is missing."

How is that possible? It reminds me of what happened on our fight, when Callum took control over me. I know he tried not to hurt me but Callum keeps on pushing him in the edge. I can feel every punch and kick that he did. In fact I puke a lot of blood, got serious bruises and I probably broke one or two ribs. The time that I woke up from coma, I looked all over my body to see any evidence of the fight but there's none. I just became thinner. No bruises, no wounds and not even a single scar.

"Since when?"

"Since the day we brought you back here. We're the ones who put you laying down on the forest."

That explains why I was wearing Aletheia's clothes when Max found me.

"When we all got back to Dusk Town, he just walked away. Saying nothing, even to me. We even came here to see if he's watching you and now I don't know where else to find him. We're wondering why Sebastian would leave us without saying anything."