Darkness.
People avoid and fear it until they are forced to survive in its conditions.
After enough time, it was no longer an affliction, but an annoying companion he had grown used to.
This 'darkness' meant more than dim lighting or moonless nights. But today, against all logic, as suddenly as it left, the darkness in his eyes was slowly being replaced by light.
For six years, Aldric had dreamed of this moment. He had often fantasized about the first thing he would see if he escaped his blindness. A beautiful scene like the sunset horizon? A starry night? Or perhaps the face of a breathtaking lady.
But his reality descended upon him like a physical blow, far from the joy and excitement he had imagined.
"Arghhh!!!" A loud groan reverberated around the room. The light piercing his eyes was merciless. It felt like they were being assaulted by hundreds of needles. It was nighttime and the surroundings were dim, yet, the intensity burned brighter that the noonday sun.
His eyes watered, and his body shook from the stinging sensation as he tried to make sense of the shapes and colors before him.
Slowly but surely, clarity arrived. He found himself kneeling in a foreign room that smelled of lavender and iron. Also, he was holding something, or rather, someone in his arms.
A girl.
She was young, perhaps fourteen. Her hair was tied in a ponytail by a blue ribbon matching her dress. The dress was stained with a warm red liquid spreading from her chest.
Aldric's bloodstained hands trembled as he felt the girl's body growing colder.
'I–I can see?' his mind stuttered, the thought colliding with the panic rising in his chest. 'I can see... I'm covered in blood? What's happening? Where am I?'
Before he was overwhelmed with questions, a soft whisper drifted into his ears.
"Aldric..."
He jerked his head up. His depth perception was almost nonexistent; it felt like he was trapped in a flat painting.
A small lamp flickered on a bedside table, as though struggling to stay alive. White wallpaper with floral designs covered the walls. The breeze shifted the cream-colored curtains, allowing moonlight to spill in.
At the opposite end, a vanity mirror reflected the scene in a ghostly sliver.
Following the voice, Aldric's gaze fell on an older woman lying still in her own pool of blood. Her eyes were tilted in his direction.
Tears slowly streaked across his cheeks.
'What is going on?' He felt a different type of pain from that in his eyes; it stemmed from within, but he failed to recognize it.
The shock of everything happening at once rendered him motionless for a time he couldn't properly perceive. But soon enough, he collected his thoughts.
Someone was dying right in front of him.
She had just called his name, so even though he didn't recognize her voice, she seemed to know him.
Scanning the room, he found a basket of clothes lying in a corner. Quickly but gently placing the girl on the ground, he hurried over to grab some.
The motion made him dizzy, but he gritted his teeth and pushed through. He succeeded, then hurried over before pressing the clothes against her bleeding stomach.
"W–Where am I? What happened here? Who did this?" His voice cracked anxiously.
Cluelessly thrown into a crime scene just after regaining his sight was a fate too cruel.
The woman's eyelids fluttered, confusion mixing with pain. "Y–You don't... remember?"
"Remember? Remember what? Please explain!" He trembled as his desperation grew.
"You–" A raspy cough interrupted her as blood spurted from her mouth. Some drops splashed on his face, but there was more to worry about.
As much as he needed answers, a person's life was more important. So he decided to get her help first. The questions could come later. "Keep pressing this against your wound. I'll go get someone."
He attempted to run outside, but her weak hand shot out to grab his wrist. Looking to her in confusion, he was taken aback by the view. How could her fading eyes hold such intensity?
A sudden intake of breath rattled her chest. And with the exhale came three simple words.
"Can you see?"
The question surprised him. Not only did she know his name, she was also aware of his condition.
He racked his brain to remember her voice, but he found nothing. This was his first time hearing it. Why would his memory fail him in this situation? A sense of deja vu washed over him.
With a bit of hesitation, he slowly nodded.
A soft glitter filled her eyes as her lips trembled.
"Fate is a funny thing. For your sight to return now..." Tears slid from her eyes as her hand dropped. Aldric wondered how happiness and sadness—expressions he hadn't seen for a long time—could coexist so seamlessly.
From the way her lips struggled, he could tell she still had more to say.
"My only regret... is Alice." The woman's voice thinned. "Listen... Check Alice's hand. She... had something important... for you."
Aldric's gaze drifted to the girl who had been in his arms. Her fingers were clenched tightly around something. He pried them open, revealing a piece of folded paper. He immediately unfolded it, hoping for a clue.
What?
To his disappointment, it was completely blank. He blinked several times to ease the tension in his eyes. Maybe his newly regained sight was failing him.
Interrupting him, the woman continued, barely audible. "He's going to frame you. You need to... leave. And remember... please... none of this is your fault."
Her breathing slowed as she resigned herself to her fate.
"This is the darkness you often talked about," she whispered. "It's...not...so... bad..."
Total silence followed. She was gone. Aldric sat still, somehow left with even more questions. His erratic breath and the breeze brushing through the curtains were the only sounds left in the room.
Crack!
The sudden noise snapped his attention to the vanity mirror. Webbed fractures spread across the glass.
What was that?
Aldric wiped his face, startled by the tears he hadn't realized were still flowing. He looked once more around the room, then back at the motionless bodies.
"Is this a dream? No, it can't be. W–What do I do?" He muttered to himself. His sanity was being tested.
'Wait! She said something about framing me? It must be the person responsible. I–I need to leave.' With this realization, he wasted no more time.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
He apologized to people who could no longer hear him while stumbling toward the door. The sudden motion made his vision blur, causing him to fall to his knees.
"Come on!"
Barely forcing himself to stand, he inched toward the exit.
He reached the door, but turning the knob, he discovered it was locked.
"Shit!"
His only option now was to find the key. He staggered around in search. From the table to the drawers, then the bed to the barred windows, but it was fruitless.
Before he could curse again in frustration, his ears picked up sounds...
Approaching footsteps.
His breathing hastened. He couldn't keep a cool head.
Shortly after, the doorknob moved. After a few more turns, it slowly creaked open. Aldric watched in despair as two men entered.
They wore thigh-length black tailored coats adorned with a metal crest.
Officials.
The man in front held a cigarette between his lips. His expression didn't change, even at the gruesome sight.
The man behind him, however, grimaced in disgust.
Aldric looked back at the bodies, then at the officials. His composure shattered.
"I-I wasn't the one! You have to believe me! I was at home and then I was here. I didn't do this!"
The second official's frown deepened, but the first merely took out a lighter. A bright orange flame appeared as he flipped it on, but in the next instant, it turned deep red.
He stared for a few seconds at the strangely colored flame before using it to light his cigarette.
A brief silence followed. But for Aldric, it felt like an eternity. He was on the verge of breaking down completely.
Finally, the first official spoke. "You have plenty to explain. Don't worry, we'll listen. Just not here."
Aldric's vision blurred, not from panic, but from sudden dizziness.
What?
His consciousness slipped away. They hadn't even moved to strike or apprehend him. He stared at the smoke drifting from the cigarette. Whether that was the cause… or something else, he didn't know.
Immediately after, he collapsed to the floor.
The first official looked back at the girl and woman. He drew closer to where they lay. Sorrow briefly flashed in his eyes. He placed the tip of his fingers on both hands against each other.
"The world is a cruel place. You both were too good for it. May you find eternal rest in the goddess's embrace." He lowered his hands, then turned away. "Get people to clean this up. We'll take him there first thing tomorrow."
"Does that mean..."
"Yes," the first officer cut his subordinate short. "He might be one of them."