I did not wake up the next day.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHnqMP2Rs5K
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KSFnnwDfA
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQVxzh9XkLs
For a very long time, I was dragged beneath a heavy veil of senselessness. A wintry breath whispered across my limbs, easing the numbness on my skin. In the darkness of my coma, I heard only my own sharp inhalations; deep, sporadic. Echoes of distant visions blurred my mind, drowning me in its icy embrace. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWPuTjB06v
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGNisU3RMg
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHr0Z8jVfk
They were as cold as frost. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfngrlBwAs
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEb3zVcQ5EI
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lM4fP5Dff
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxM4qxTZ26u
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7gtwjk1x8
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIG64h8jCc
I remember standing in the backyard of my house. The last whisps of faint summer wind brushing against distant trees. I remember the cobalt blue of the sky. Ushering a tranquility as deep as the evening ocean. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmJYLOUv78H
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBgXtgESErY
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8qy381Kkj
I recall staring at my own shadow, trying to hide the countless wounds that I knew I would never forget. A smoky sky grumbled coldly above me, bringing forth a state of numbness.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeBJ6AR3Yc
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uQZJs4t8x
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVnb3EhIbqP
In the distance, a lone light from a cigarette shone, its smoke trailing the wind. Then, long, slow exhales twined through the air, accompanied by hoarse breathing. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIxa7VO9sk5
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBS0tnQzUVk
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQUPtxhqsu
I don't really know when the nightmare truly began.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWpJ5WPHyi
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErrOhJtFBI
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHfNl3PvG6
Perhaps it was when I heard the resonance of that cold, embittered laugh, one that seemed to twist through my flesh and into the inner heart. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmmq2wMNFO
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgUNjSmgTGS
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsvIZVIsPF
Perhaps it was when I heard her screams. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrGvFMD36g
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKayyQyWKGd
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcajZPnQbFq
I felt terror, like the dreadful Arctic cold, sear me like blistering fire. They crippled my body, etching and coiling deep within my chest. At that time, I still wasn't used to this kind of fear. I remember convincing myself that everything would be fine, although I knew that wasn't true. My mother never screams. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWk5uLFXefx
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpYyRZ2ozV
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJWrHzvACR
The next thing I knew, I was rushing desperately towards the front door of the house. It was bolted shut. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnExkf4zBP
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGa08GFTulH
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt5E7iLkfeQ
My body was drenched in cold sweat. I would never forget stumbling around the locked house, crying out my mother's name. Dread melted and thawed within my heart with every step. When I finally lurched in from the back entrance, scanning the dark interiors of the household, everything had become strangely quiet again. It was almost if I had imagined those screams.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDeRTi27HkT
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbt0osCuVa
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4zEDjtnZW
A sudden, bitter feeling gushed to my heart. The living room was drenched in a murky gloom, one that seemed to replace the air of normality previously prowling in its expanse. Something was bizarre about the house, making me instantly nauseous. I scanned all intersections of the living room, yet nothing was amiss.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdsD6jT7hm
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAA81TC1Azp
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFfzxOVttEW
And then I turned to my mother's bedroom. And I see---281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZYP313gOd
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3erk83kgf
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLEiCUOesuO
Crimson. Writhing across the grey carpet. It was a familiar shade, almost too familiar... I closed my eyes, tried to convince myself that it was just paint, paint I used to create illusions of----281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeHHC6Qu9e
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4cmM9aK5f
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeU1FKwmM5M
Blood.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVeDjcc2VG
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnYASgzOzw
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiW9rZazWJ
It was a dimly illuminated room. My mother was curled up by the bedside, shivering. Blood spurted wildly across her hair, threatening to spill across the apron she wore across her chest. As I entered, she looked up, her eyes entrapped with a look almost devoid of feeling. It was the same feeling that punctured my mind now; paralyzing, drowning, suffocating me. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWmGofWh1u
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTmfcQS77N
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrCFH1PXiRB
Nothing.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsbZtebkbG
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwP1m1rNdB
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcIG2WZwJih
Her arms reached towards me unsteadily, her fingers involuntarily grasped mine, as she benumbed me with that similar unfeeling gaze. I knew that look. It was the remnant of an empty shell, one crippled raw by terror and hopelessness. My heart raced as she slowly touched her tender lips to my cheek.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6PGXP2fW2o
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsBbJCSS0j
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34pXnpxfcd
"What happened?" I urged, terror creeping upon me again at the ghastly sight of blood. She didn't reply to my urgent cries, and only brought me closer towards her, until we were in a stiff embrace. I trembled at her warm touch. I was so close that I could smell the fiery scent of her blood. It was creeping down her own soaked clothes, and dripping onto mine.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXOewtf55B
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXFgjSkQUH
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7oAuJXPPB
"Lily," she whispered feebly, clutching me against her chest, "just tell me one thing. Promise me that you'll be silent about this. Please." She embraced me tighter, and an acidic premonition rushed to my heart. I wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks, as she attempted to draw out those last, despairing words. "Get away from here, Lily, and tell no one."281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsR0eW9Qu8y
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCydWMhxQjp
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9f0rJerr05
I gazed, perplexed, at her curled composure before me. She suddenly seemed so strange and distant. It was almost as if she had left me. I wanted to reach out and touch her, but something held me back.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLYY7SmM8q
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytMh5oBW4K
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4NYNQxEk2
I endeavoured to protest, but she only shook her head, terror scintillating in the deep ocean blue of her eyes. "Go," She whispered."When they come, just say that I've killed myself. You can do that, can't you?" 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKLVREiwk6
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdpFf6TRi5D
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVAiiy0LOEn
I remember staring fixedly at the growing cascades of blood, immobilized by shock and desperation. The curtains in the room were drawn; my surroundings were blanketed in gloom. It was so dark I could almost convince myself that the gory lines feathering across the blotched carpet could've been nothing but paint. Nothing but an illusion.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDihgaouEqg
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhSfRQfr02P
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJRc6xJ87bE
The next thing I knew, my mother was quivering in an excruciating, breathless state. Her lips were trembling rhythmically, yet I could tell she was trying to say something beneath her breath. But before she could finish, a terrible spasm constricted her mouth, and at last, a lonesome tear slithered out from her eye. I was able to make out the final sentence she whispered, although it was stifled in pain.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnN6soaWlHT
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NKp7BOcMw
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0YMVBAFOf
"I... I love you, Lily."281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3l0ngGINNb
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu4ADTu5EpI
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3B0WutRLZZ
After that, everything ended quickly. The spasm that clenched her body died away, and her tremulous breathing drained into silence. I was sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing away from my mother, yet I could envision everything that had happened. Her painful, despairing struggle, which soon ceased into ice-cold lifelessness. I was scared to look back at her figure one last time. Outside, the ambience of wind and growing rain thrummed against the roof of the house, indifferent to the tragedy that had just left a blotch in my heart.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNtxEDQQjP
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBmJzPQR1i
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFUNIkycVdM
Very soon, after my mother's tragic death, I heard ear-splitting sirens resonating outside the house. I recall standing in the backyard with my father, gazing coldly at the sun that was now shrouded by dark, intimidating clouds. At the rain that now pummeled down a smoke-grey sky, like all the tears sealed inside me. My father's eyes were drenched in sombre darkness, yet I could interpret a hue of bitter insanity clouded behind his stony expression. I ignored his dazed look, and buried myself in the dreary shadow of the clouds. 281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIXypGtbTj
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRVKn40vj3l
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PBR68u2c7
It was only at the last moment that I registered my glistening apparel, now snaked and doused with crimson blood. My mother's blood. A voice inside me screamed and mocked and hissed, as though rising from the ashes and attempting to swallow me whole.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJ9ZCwKbA9
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCvRaCAQIE
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxRVCD3q9S
You left her there to die.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHqfd7XD18
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡocGdZRkBwY
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95Or1MbgfY
You killed her.281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2JV70qFrWJ
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wm4GTb1pN
281Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2yYRJPY0JY
I feared that it was true.
ns3.133.119.75da2
