on a quiet evening, the house was filled with the warmth of family and laughter. Siara sat with her family in the living room, the scent of tea and homemade pastries filling the air. Her mother's voice, full of life, recounted her recent adventures in the city, her hands gesturing wildly as if reliving every moment.
In the background, Beaky the bunny hopped from corner to corner, chasing his shadow and leaping over cushions, while Emma and Itachi were locked in their daily cat fight. Emma would lightly swat at Itachi, then sprint away, hiding behind Siara or between the sofas as if she were innocent, only to return and repeat the game—a silent ritual they both understood.
"Mom, you should give Siara an award today," Eileen said with a sly smile, looking at Siara.
Her mother raised an eyebrow in surprise, a mischievous glint in her eye as she looked at her eldest daughter. "And why is that? Did you finally find a job, my dear?"
Eileen scoffed dramatically, placing her hands on her hips as if exposing a scandal. "Yes, and she found a specific kind of job... a very handsome kind!"
Her mother's eyes widened, her eyebrows arching in a mix of shock and curiosity. "Handsome?!"
Reina quickly intervened, her face flushed with embarrassment as if she'd been caught red-handed. "Eileen means that Siara was... praying day and night for the owner of the pharmacy she'll be working at to be single... handsome... love her... and marry her!"
Her mother burst into laughter, shaking her head. "Oh, Siara... those things only happen in movies, my child!"
Siara laughed softly, dodging the knowing glances aimed at her from all directions. She grabbed her phone, escaping into the screen, where a new notification popped up. She opened the message, and Aiden's name glowed at the top. Her heart fluttered for a moment before she read:
"About what happened, I'm sorry... that I broke down... that you saw that dark side of me.
And thank you...
for being my hope at the end of this long, dark tunnel."
Her eyes froze on the screen, her breath catching in her throat. It wasn't just words; it was a rare, fragile confession from a man who seemed to everyone else like an unyielding storm.
A short time later, Aiden arrived at the police station. His footsteps were steady and confident, each one carrying the weight of his past and his pain. He entered the interrogation room to find Luna sitting there, a crazed smile on her lips and her yellow eyes gleaming with a deadly light, like a predator stalking its prey. Her predatory gaze was fixed on him, as if waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.
"Aiden... Aiden... Aiden... I'm happy... truly happy," she whispered in a low, terrifying voice, her tone wavering with a touch of madness.
Aiden approached slowly, pulled a chair in front of her, and sat down. He raised an eyebrow mockingly, a smirk playing on his lips that blended mystery with sarcasm. "Even though you're... crazy."
Luna let out a giggle filled with madness and affection. "Yes... because I loved seeing your face, and I always loved saying your name."
Aiden smiled, a laugh laced with the bitterness of the past. "Funny. A moment ago, you wanted to kill me, tear my body apart, drain my blood, and take my eyes..."
She looked directly at him with a crazed gaze, her smile both terrifying and serene. "No doubt... I would have... because I love you."
Aiden sighed, leaning back slightly. His eyes changed suddenly... their blackness became like the darkest night, and the blue in them like a stormy sea. His voice was calm and heavy. "Luna... why do you kill the people you love?"
Luna smiled slowly, her foot shifting slightly as if recalling painful memories. She answered as if revealing a long-held secret. "Because they told me to... ever since I was a child. When my parents would hit me and lock me in the basement, they said they loved me and were protecting me... So, everyone I've killed, I've loved sincerely... I just wanted to protect them. I can face life, but I'm afraid you'll get hurt... Don't worry, I'll keep your eyes with me... so you'll always be in my heart."
The light from the lamp reflected off the edge of Aiden's face, dark shadows swirling around him, making him look like a phantom caught between reality and madness. "No one is born crazy; madness is made by the mistakes of others... and that's the only thing you've controlled yourself," Aiden murmured in a sincere, painful tone.
Luna looked at Aiden with a playful, challenging smile, then slowly raised her hand towards his face, as if playing a dangerous game. "Unlock me... do you want to start by killing you now? Don't worry, life is very painful."
Aiden responded with a calm, soft tone, trying to defuse the coming explosion. "Mmm... Luna... I see our friends waiting outside... there, where the bodies are. Then we can continue, you and I."
A crazy smile spread across Luna's face as if she'd just heard an enticing offer. "So, will you come back to me?"
Aiden smiled confidently and called the officer at the door. "Trust me." Then he turned to Luna with a calm, meaningful look. "Listen to me, our friend... Luna will tell you where the bodies are. Don't touch them, don't hurt them."
Luna looked at him with glowing eyes, then took a deep breath and said, "Will you wait for me?"
Aiden replied with a calm smile, like a sincere promise. "Of course... I'll wait for you. But... Luna, why do you love me?"
Luna sat up straight, her eyes gleaming with a rare blend of nostalgia and pain. "Because you were there... when we were children. Do you remember the girl who dropped her ice cream? The kids were bullying her... Even though you didn't say anything, you hit them... and you gave me your ice cream. From that day, I've been following you... Maybe you didn't notice, but I truly loved you."
In the cold interrogation room... silence fell.
After Luna was led away, Aiden remained seated alone, motionless. The air was suffocatingly still, and the yellow overhead light cast sharp shadows on his weary face.
He looked towards the one-way mirror. He didn't see his reflection as a face, but as a pure nightmare. His features were frozen, and his eyes were slowly losing their luster, like two candles sinking into darkness.
He slowly raised his hands, clasped them behind his head, then leaned forward until his forehead rested on his forearms. Strands of his dark, blue-tinged hair fell on either side of his face, a heavy curtain obscuring what remained of his features.
"If I hadn't held onto what was left of my sanity, I'd be... wilder than Luna," he whispered, barely audible, as if confessing a secret to his own shadow.
At home...
Siara was lying on her bed, the blue light of her phone reflecting in her tired eyes. She was scrolling aimlessly when the air suddenly quivered with a soft sound.
"Meow..."
She quickly lifted her head, freezing for a few seconds. She jumped off her bed and went to the balcony. She peered from behind the sheer curtain, her eyes scanning the garden... nothing.
But the sound wasn't an illusion. She grabbed a small canvas bag and filled it with cheese slices, a bottle of water, and some wound disinfectant. Just as she was about to reach the door...
"Siara! Where are you going? It's past one in the morning!" her mother's voice, stern with worry.
Siara hesitated shyly, holding the bag behind her back. "Mom... a cat. A small one. It might be sick or hungry... I won't bring it home, I promise. Emma, Beaky, and Itachi are enough. But... I just want to check on it."
Her mother placed a hand on her forehead and sighed a long sigh. "Just... be careful, don't be late."
In the Arcadia Vault garden...
Siara crept between the trees, her steps quick, her eyes searching the grass, the benches, the corners. Her heart beat with a mix of curiosity and hope. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a motorcycle. She quickly looked up. A white light struck her eyes.
Aiden stopped. He got off, took off his helmet, and his messy hair fell around his face.
"Siara? What are you doing out at this hour? And what are those things?" Aiden asked in surprise.
Siara smiled and held up the small bag. "I heard a cat meowing. I just wanted to help it. My mom wouldn't let me take it, but I brought food and water... just in case it's hurt."
The moon reflected on her face, making her bright eyes look like two drops of luminous ink. Something in Aiden's expression shifted. His eyes, usually so stoic, began to widen with a hint of warmth... and admiration.
"Will you... help me?" Siara asked with an innocent shyness.
Aiden's smile was calm, his black earrings glinting as his night-like eyes opened to her. "Mmm... let's do it. Let's look for her."
They searched between the trees, listening to every rustle, every shadow. Until they saw her... a small cat, as black as a starless night, with golden eyes gleaming with fear. She was trembling, hiding behind a small tree.
"How did you get here, little one?" Siara asked in a soft voice, kneeling in front of her.
Aiden's voice was broken, carrying a hidden part of himself. "She was abandoned... because she's different. Because she's strange."
They sat on the grass, offering her food and water. The cat began to eat hesitantly, as if she couldn't believe someone cared.
"Siara, what should we name her?" Aiden asked, looking at her.
Siara smiled softly, tilting her head. "Black... because she's like a piece of the night. What do you think?"
Aiden laughed, shaking his head. "It suits her. So... Black, from today, you will be my friend."
"Really?" Siara asked, genuinely surprised.
"Why not?" Aiden said in a calm, sincere tone.
Then, without thinking, she rushed towards him. She hugged him tightly, as if something inside her had just burst open.
"You're the best... you've taken a heavy weight off my heart," Siara whispered against his chest.
Aiden froze. It was as if time had stopped for a moment. His heart... it quickened, hammering against his chest violently, as if calling him back to life.
The night was still. A light breeze rustled the leaves in Arin's backyard as he sat on a stone bench, his arms stretched out, head tilted back, eyes fixed on the bright moon. The silver light reflected in his eyes, gleaming like two unshed tears.
Suddenly... the doorbell rang.
He blinked twice, then slowly turned towards the sound, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.
"Who would visit now?" he whispered to himself.
He got up slowly, his steps on the stone floor heavy and hesitant, as if time weighed on his ankles. He opened the door slowly... to find his father standing there.
His father's gaze was glassy, a small, sad smile shyly on his lips. "Dad?! What are you doing here? It's late... did you travel all the way to Izura?" Arin asked, dumbfounded.
His father nodded lightly, looking at the ground as if it were more merciful than his son's eyes. "Yes... son, you see... I wanted to ask you about..."
He stopped. His fingers trembled, and he clenched his fists tightly. It seemed the words were failing him, as if the name was too heavy for his lips.
Arin slowly raised his head, then said steadily, his voice charged with unforgivable blame. "Aiden."
His father looked up at him with confusion. He sat in a nearby chair, his leg shaking with obvious tension. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a carefully folded, slightly worn piece of paper. He handed it to Arin, his voice hoarse. "This... this is Aiden's psychological report... from when he was in that orphanage."
Arin froze. His eyes widened as if a spark had ignited inside him. Then, with terrifying slowness, he raised his head and looked directly at his father, his voice calm but sharp as a sword.
"You? You mean you knew? You knew where my brother was all this time... before he was moved from the orphanage to Izura? And you... didn't say anything? Mom spent hours standing next to the carousels in the squares, holding his picture... asking everyone who passed about him... and you... didn't say anything?!"
His father stood up from the chair, his hand trembling, his voice rising in a shaky stutter. "I thought... I thought he was the one... who did that to you in the past! But I wasn't sure... And when I went to the orphanage... I saw him. He saw me, but he didn't know me... he didn't recognize my face."
He continued, whispering as if confessing a buried sin. "His eyes... those black eyes that used to hold the blueness of the sky... they were empty... lifeless. The supervisor there told me... he doesn't remember anything... not his name, not anything about his past. He was undergoing intensive psychotherapy... I was told he suffers from PTSD... a severe phobia... and complete amnesia."
Silence fell again, but this time it was heavy, harsh, like a lead slab on their chests.
Arin stood still, the paper still in his hand, his eyes gleaming... not just with anger, but with something deeper... the pain of a brother betrayed by silence. Tears welled up in Arin's eyes without permission. His green eyes no longer shone only from the moonlight, but from a silent pain that had been trapped for years.
The tears fell gently, hot and stinging, as if punishing him for every moment of silence, every moment of failure. His cheeks flushed with crying, the redness mixing with a faint sheen of shame, of sin. The night breeze caressed his tangled brown hair, and his single earring glowed softly under the moonlight, as if it were the only witness to that cursed night that changed everything.
He clutched his chest with a trembling hand, as if trying to contain an unseen internal tearing... His breath became ragged, as if thousands of knives were mercilessly ripping his heart apart from the inside.
Finally, he spoke, his voice broken, as if his heart itself was speaking. "I... I'm the reason..."