AUTHOR NOTE:
If you've held up to this part of the novel well done I'm grateful, you've done well...
But don't forget to grab your popcorn cause it's about to get hotter
*Sips hot chocolate*
FLASHBACK: ONE YEAR AGO
Third person POV
The streets was lively more than usual pedestrians carried their daily activities as they moved about. It was summer break; all students are back for a short break, bringing a sense of warmth and homecoming to the neighborhood. At the far end of the street was a house painted in white. It doesn't look luxurious; it doesn't look shabby either. Flowers were planted around the house giving the house a beautiful cozy glow, their petals catching the soft light of the afternoon sun. A guy with black jet hair could be seen planting more flowers at the side of the house, his hands deep in the soil as he worked with a patient, practiced rhythm.
"Brother!" a tiny voice yealled from the door post, the sound cutting through the quiet hum of the afternoon. Elara came running to the guy with a burst of energy that seemed to light up the yard.
She crashed on his body snakeing her hands around his broad shoulders in a tight, breathless hug.
"Get of Elara," the guy laughed and stood up playfully spinning her around until the world was just a blur of white house and green grass.
"No leo," elara stuck her tongue out, refusing to let go of the rare moment of peace they shared.
"Shouldn't you be out there playing with those your mischievous flock of teens?" leo rolled his eyes, though the affection in his voice was unmistakable.
Elara scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You should be grateful I left my flock of teens just to see your ugly face," elara spoke scastically, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
The comment earned a loud, genuine laugh from leo.
"Yea thanks for coming to see my ugly face," leo replied as he walked inside the house, dusting the dirt from his jeans.
Elara followed him, and as she stepped through the threshold, she sniffed the air. The scent of home-cooked food was everywhere, thick and inviting.
Leo walked to the dining pulling out a chair for her as if she were a guest of honor.
Elara mouth watered seeing the delicacies on the dining. The spread was more than they usually had, a feast prepared just for her return.
"You never failed to amaze me," she shook her head beaming, her eyes fixed on the plates before her.
Leo pated her head, his expression softening.
"Of course baby sis," he smiled. "dig in."
Elara started eating forking every single dish till she was full, savoring the flavors she had missed while away. She raised her head only to notice that leo wasn't eating; he was just sitting there, smiling at her with a look of quiet contentment.
"Leo," she poated her mouth, setting her fork down. "why won't you eat?"
"I'm full just watching you eat," he smiled at her, his voice low and steady.
Elara shook her head and fork a meat, refusing to take no for an answer.
"Ahhh," she spoke bringing the meat to his mouth, her eyes demanding he comply.
"Stop it elara you are behaving like dad," Leo complained, though he was clearly fighting back a grin.
"Stop behaving like mom," elara rolled her eyes. "open up."
Leo growned and open his mouth letting her feed him, the playful bickering filling the room with the kind of warmth that only family can provide.
The rest of the day went in blur. Elara and leo planted flowers together, their hands side-by-side in the dirt. They laughed and played in the yard, and even passerby stopped to admire them. Most of them complimented leo, telling elara that leo was gold, a brother one could ask for. Elara smiled at leo, feeling a deep sense of pride. She even mentioned that he was going to Blackwood University just to show off, her voice loud enough for the neighbors to hear.
It was nighttime as candle lit up the cozy home, casting long, flickering shadows against the walls. Elara starred on her bed, her sleep troubled by shadows she couldn't name.
"No... no... leo... leo," she muttered suddenly. Her eyes flew open and she blinked twice, trying to orient herself in the dark. Her night wear was soked in cold sweat, her heart hammering against her ribs. She kicked off the blacket stridding into leo's room, driven by a sudden, irrational fear.
She opened the door gently as she walked inside. The room was silent, the only sound the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. She placed her hands on his nose as she felt his breathing, the warmth of his life steadying her racing pulse.
Elara sigh in relief and turned to the door, but she paused as she saw the laptop glowing on the desk. The blue light was stark in the darkness. She walked to it with the intention to shut down the laptop, but she saw a picture of a coin—a black mentallic coin that seemed to absorb the light around it. Her insist screamed to her begging her to shut it down, sensing a danger she didn't yet understand. But her Curiosity spoke otherwise.
"Just five minutes it won't hurt," elara spoke to her self as she say down scrolling down into the depths of her brother's private files.
But that was her mistake, the worst five minutes of her life. What she saw left her shaking, her blood turning to ice in her veins. She saw pictures of dead body, pale and distorted. There was a vedio of students with vacant eyes walking as if hypothesized, moving like puppets with their strings cut. She click on a hatchtag: #fobidden website@#
#A forged black coin always had loops but advicable,if caught repercussion is massive#
Under it was a single comment that stood out among the chaos:
#The blacksmith#
Elara shut the laptop forcefully, breathing hard, the metal clattering against the desk. The noise woke leo.
"Elara, come here," leo backoned unto her. Elara walked to him, her legs wobbly and her mind spinning.
"What did you see?" leo asked, his eyes holding nothing but worry as he sat up in bed.
"Nothing," elara shurgged, trying to keep her voice from trembling.
"Tell me lara," leo spoke, his voice dropping low.
Elara knew leo want's her to tell him. He used her pet name, the one their mom called her when she was alive. No one had called her that since seven years ago, not even leo. The sound of it broke through her defenses.
"Just a few dead bodies and blood with the vedio of some students," elara spoke, her uncoinciouss mind screaming at her to tell him about the fobidden website and the blacksmith, but she ignore it, shutting off her uncoinciouss mind to protect the peace they had left.
"Forget about what you saw elara, it's okay," leo pat her as she snuggled close to him. She drifted to sleep in her brother's arms, feeling safe.
Only if she knew that was going to be the last time she saw her brother, maybe she would have spent a lot of time with him.
Only if she knew what awaits her the next morning was leo's latter of him leaving for school without a final goodbye.
Only if she knew one week latter she would be told her brother had gone missing, his existence erased by the very institution he had been so proud to join.
Only if she knew that one year latter her brother would be "presumed deceased," a name on a piece of paper rather than a person in a room.
Only if she knew she would be romeing on the walls of Blackwood just to find her brother maybe, just maybe she would have made the day at least special.
Death has indeed cheated her, leaving her with nothing but gold memories and the gravel of a shattered life.