BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Kael woke up.
He made his bed, something he rarely did.
Well, he hadn't had a bed back then, only the sterile floors. The chlorine that hit the back of his throat was a pungent smell so strong he still remembered it vividly.
He brushed his aching teeth. Maybe he'd clenched his jaw too hard.
The guilt was killing him, slowly and slowly.
He looked into his mirror.
He still remembered the night, and he kept his letter close to him. He saw his miserable, bruised face, and the scars on the left side of his lips.
Aira's door was always closed after what happened.
She still blamed herself; Kael had tried to stop her, but she only sought new techniques to hurt herself anyway.
Raegal was always downstairs, sitting on the sofa, drunk and smoking cigarettes. His coughs shook the entire house.
Nila was always locked in her room. She was the only one Aira talked to.
Kael often sat in his room, punching the wall until it turned red—and kept going.
He got caught sometimes.
Everybody knew what he did; they just didn't react. They didn't intervene.
He was always alone, even when surrounded by a crowd—thousands of people wanting to talk to him—but he wouldn't let them.
---
He knocked on Aira's door.
"..."
"Don't... don't kill yourself... please," Kael shouted to her.
"..."
She didn't answer. Cold as always.
Kael walked around the hallways. The carpets were stained.
He stopped at the next door.
Knock. Knock.
"Come in," Nila replied.
She sat on her bed.
"She... she's not answering to me."
"She wouldn't, and I'm glad."
"..."
"Why... why did you turn so cold all of a sudden?"
"Because of what you did, Kael... you—you killed that boy, goddam—" Nila's voice cracked.
"I had a CHOICE and I CHOSE what had to be done!"
Kael screamed, his hands shaking, his voice cracking.
"WHAT WOULD YOU DO?! HUH? WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IF YOU WERE IN MY FUCKING PLACE?"
"..."
Silence.
Only the sound of the air whirling because of the fan.
Nila turned away.
"..God.. I—" Kael muttered.
He ran away from the room, covering his face with his hands.
"I shouldn't have said that... GOD,"
he thought.
He reached his room. His pendant clinked.
...
"I..."