///Warning before reading this chapter!
This chapter contains content that may trigger trauma and mental illness.
For readers with a history of mental illness, please proceed with caution in this chapter.
Remember, you are never alone wherever you are; one day, you will surely meet someone who will love you.
Keep fighting!
///
In a place where a housing complex sat near the forest.
After walking for quite a long time, about an hour, Onyx finally arrived at her house.
Onyx's house was located in a forested area; there were neighbors, but the distance between houses was quite far.
The sound of conversation couldn't be heard at all.
The house was modeled like a simple home in California.
Onyx looked to her right, left, and surveyed her surroundings.
As soon as she arrived in front of the house.
Thump!!
Her heart stopped for a second, then raced rapidly.
Onyx's gaze locked onto something beneath her.
She saw muddy footprints in front of the door, looking fresh.
"ARGHHG!!!" The sound of a woman screaming from inside the house. That had to be the sound of Onyx's mother's scream.
"Mama," Onyx whispered.
Onyx stepped forward, but stopped because it felt as if her body had ceased to move.
Onyx's entire body trembled, until her hands shook violently like someone freezing from the cold.
Onyx ran away from her house. Running with all her might toward the neighbor's house next door.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! Onyx immediately and repeatedly hammered on the neighbor's door.
"Ma'am, please help me!! My mother could die inside the house. Ma'am!!!" Onyx shouted.
But the door didn't open. Onyx looked around her neighbor's house, but it turned out there was no one inside.
The day suddenly turned overcast, and a heavy rain began to pour.
"I can't... I can't let mother be hurt. But I... I... what should I do?"
Onyx ran, pushing through the rain; even though it was midday, it became darker as the rain fell.
Onyx gathered her courage; this time, she would face it all.
"I'm fed up... with constantly running away." Onyx grabbed an iron rod from the clothes drying rack in front of her house.
As soon as the front door opened, the entire house was dark.
All the windows in the house were tightly closed.
Onyx stepped forward, slowly, sneaking in.
On the floor, several kitchen knives were seen lying around, smeared with a lot of green blood.
Onyx entered the kitchen; she saw her mother sitting in a chair, in front of the dining table.
Onyx tried to press the switch and turn it on.
"Mother, are you okay?" Onyx asked.
Onyx touched her mother, but then Onyx's mother fell to the floor.
...
Her mother was lifeless, her body covered in slash wounds and bruises.
Onyx instantly felt short of breath, and her heart pounded hard, seeing that her mother was no longer alive.
"ARGHHH!!!"
"NO!!!" "OoooNnnYyyxx..."
Onyx's father appeared behind her, standing at the kitchen entrance, gripping a knife coated in blood.
In the dim light there, only his eyes were visible, glowing a bright, fiery red.
"Fa-ther!..." Onyx took a deep breath, "Hughhh!"
"Why...?" "W-hat h-appened to you?"
Onyx spoke with lips that trembled violently.
"YOU KILLED MOTHER?!!!"
BOOM! A flash of lightning struck the air, causing the electricity to suddenly go out.
"Your eyes..."
Onyx's father said, "The bar... my usual place, ran out of ethanol. I... met someone, he was selling a new variant, hahaha. It's very effective. I feel happy, proud, my whole body feels fit, it's like I've gained a new power." Onyx's father's eyes turned red.
So her father was also a man named Gerd, who had worked with Atlas Prime back then.
Lightning struck, illuminating the dark kitchen.
"Father... you've been getting crazier, day by day, why? It was never like this before?"
"Do you just not care about me and mother anymore?...!"
"... We've been struggling just to stay alive, Father. And did you never know that Mother always worried about you, even though you were like this!"
"... If you really didn't love me, or didn't want me, why did you give birth to me?"
"If you want to end me, just do it now! Besides, I don't deserve to be in this world!"
SLAP!!! A slap slammed Onyx's head to the floor. Onyx endured the pain by clutching her head where it hurt.
"... I hear whispers!... But if I follow the will of those whispers, it feels... like joy and relief. HAHAHAHA!!" Onyx's father had gone insane.
Onyx groaned, crying in pain.
Onyx crawled slowly, reaching for the kitchen counter to stand back up.
SLAP!!! Cruelly, Onyx's father struck her head again, sending Onyx crashing into the wall.
Onyx was nearly unconscious, as her vision dimmed and her surroundings grew darker.
Onyx ran while whimpering in tears.
Her face was battered, blood constantly dripping from her nose. But the kitchen door had been locked.
'Why is my life always like this...'
'... Does God already hate me so much that He gave me this fate?'
'... At least let me die without having to feel this much pain!' '... Perhaps, God is laughing at me right now!'
Onyx looked back, shaking her head at her father.
Until she was no longer able to stand. Onyx sat resignedly, leaning against the exit door, weeping though the tears would no longer come out.
'No one wants me!'
Onyx remembered Ranny kicking and burning her backpack, then her evil boss, up to the moment she sold her self-respect.
'... No one!'
'... I've tried so hard to stay alive, hoping that maybe one day things would change.
I only hoped for just one day where I could find a place where I could be happy again like back then!'
...
'Every night before falling asleep, I always prayed—if things couldn't be like they were before, at least let me and mother be free from all this.'
'... Perhaps my prayer was answered in this way. Why does no one feel pity, not even God himself?'
'... Why?'
'Must I die like this?'
...
Onyx's father then said, "Oh, look. Your mother... It's like I'm not satisfied yet, huh. But she's not breathing anymore? I'll wake her up." "Hey, Jenny!"
"Jenny!!"
"Jenny!!"
"Wake up!"
Crack!!
Onyx's father kicked Onyx's mother, even though she was already lifeless.
He kept kicking even as the sound of bones breaking was heard; he continued to kick her. He wouldn't stop until Onyx's mother woke up.
"Wake up!!" CRACK!!
"Wake up!!"
CRACK!!
"Wake up!!"
CRACK!!
"Wake up!!"
CRACK!!
"STOP IT, YOU BASTARD!!!" Onyx screamed hysterically, closing her eyes and covering her ears with both hands.
THUD!! Then Onyx's father kicked Onyx.
Onyx immediately heard a high-pitched ringing, her vision spun, and her hearing buzzed.
...
"STOP IT, YOU OLD BASTARD!!" Maximus arrived; he managed to shoot the kitchen window and break in. He entered and immediately aimed his weapon.
"Well, well, the hero has arrived, Hahahaha!!" said Onyx's father.
...
Onyx, who had almost lost consciousness with her vision flickering, shouted to Maximus,
"Max!! What are you doing? Why did you come here?!"
Onyx's father went wild, moving fast to slash and cut the hand Maximus was using to hold the firearm.
Then her father stabbed Maximus in the stomach.
"Dad, stop!"
...
Not stopping there, Onyx's father then slashed Maximus's right chest.
"No!! Dad!!!"
...
'... Why? Why is Maximus here now?'
'What is the meaning of all this?'
'Is torturing me not enough?... Maybe because from the very beginning, I really was useless.'
...
"Onyx!! Run, I can handle this!" Maximus shouted.
"Onyx, if you run, I'll mince your hero Maximus, Hahaha!!" said Onyx's father.
...
"We have to report this to the police!" a statement Maximus once said flashed through her head.
...
Maximus lay floored.
But Onyx's father was still tearing at Maximus's leg.
...
Onyx then turned on her gadget and dialed the police contact number.
...
"Hello, you've reached 911, what is your emergency?" asked the telecommunications operator.
Onyx reached for Maximus's fallen firearm. Without needing to aim anymore, despair and determination had solidified within her.
'... In that case, I will end all of this. Forget that past!'
'The hope I always dreamed of will never be able to return again.'
'I won't hope for any of that again this time.'
"Mom... forgive me!"
BANG!!
...
...
Onyx, who was already desperate with her decision, hoped that at least maybe that wish could return.
But it seemed that none of it was possible.
She continued to imagine how happy those childhood times were.
Her mother and father looked like a perfect couple, always happy in every moment.
...
Onyx shot her father right in the head. Not just once; the second shot hit his stomach, the third hit his left chest, and her father instantly collapsed.
"Hello!... Hello!... Anyone there, please answer! We are heading to the location, please stay on the line!"
...
****
Onyx now only saw herself alone on a beautiful night hill.
Picnicking alone, gazing at the beautiful night sky without anyone to accompany her.
'... in the end, I am destined to be alone in this world...'
'why couldn't that moment last forever...'
'If only I could repeat that moment...'
'... Now only memories remain.'
"Onyx!" Maximus called.
'... What was the point of me holding on all this time?'
'... Why is this world so unfair to me?'
"ONYX!!" Maximus shouted.
****
Onyx snapped out of her reverie; she fell back against the wall, still clutching the firearm she used to finish off her father.
...
"Thank goodness you're still conscious!"
"... Stay awake, I don't want to lose you, Onyx."
...
"Max..."
"Why are you still with me after what I did to you?"
"You already know, don't you..."
"I'm not a good friend to you."
"But you..."
"Came that time... to treat me to a meal."
"Helped with my homework..."
"... And now you even came to save me... Why?"
...
Maximus hugged Onyx spontaneously.
"Enough... don't talk too much!... The police and ambulance will be here soon!"
"... I accept you for who you are, Onyx. You are the reason why I still want to try living this life for a second time, Onyx."
"... You are a good person, Onyx."
...
"... I see!"
Onyx could no longer hold back her tears.
She then also hugged Maximus tightly. Letting go of all her pain.
...
Outside at last, police sirens were heard along with several of their vehicles; there was also an ambulance.
"Secure the area immediately and evacuate the victims!" Onyx and Maximus were immediately placed on gurneys and taken into the ambulance.
Even though they had to go in different ambulances, their destination was the same: the hospital.
....
"Onyx..."
"Maximus..."
****
Beep... Beep... the sound of the heart rate monitor.
Maximus, he was still lying unconscious. His condition had improved because all his wounds had been treated; he just hadn't woken up yet.
Tuk-tuk... the sound of footsteps from Doctor Drugger. He leaned against the doorframe, watching Onyx sit beside Maximus, waiting for him to wake up.
Onyx's own body was still covered in bandages, and she even had to carry a rolling IV drip with her.
"Onyx... It's time!" said Doctor Drugger.
He had to say it even though it broke his heart; he knew those words would make Onyx leave Maximus.
....
Onyx stroked the palm of Maximus's hand while he was still unconscious.
"... Max... I'll be back soon."
"... I won't be long." Onyx got up and left, bringing her IV drip with her.
...
Doctor Drugger still stood there.
He was meeting Maximus again, but once more, it was to see him at his lowest point.
...
In her trial, Onyx was accused in this murder case. It wasn't for nothing; the public themselves voted that way, bringing up many past problems Onyx had caused, which prevented her from receiving a reduced sentence.
Considering her age was sufficient for imprisonment, the judge finally sentenced her to 16 years in prison.
In the hospital, Maximus sat up. He had regained consciousness but had been staring blankly at the wall in front of him since he woke up.
"Maximus!!" Alpha Trion arrived at Maximus's room, panting heavily.
Alpha Trion immediately hugged Maximus, tears falling.
"I'm sorry!... Once again, I wasn't there to help you!"
"I'm truly pathetic!" said Alpha Trion.
But... Maximus still didn't respond, as if he couldn't even bring himself to look at Alpha Trion.
He remained silent, not saying a word, not even moving.
....
To be continued....