The cold wind swept through the land as the warm sun beamed in the cloudless sky. Leaves fell off dead from the branches while fruits ripened and filled the empty spots. But on the very next day, tears were shed on a serene afternoon.
"Bonn…"
Viola bid farewell to a friend she held dear, yet again. Her hands were covered in bandages, and she struggled to stand without the help of her mother accompanying her. She mourned with immense guilt in her empty heart. She already missed his warm company and his bright smiles. Tears pricked her at the thought.
"This is all your fault!" Mrs Ward shouted, trying to lurch at the violet girl, but was stopped by her husband. "I always told him to stay away from you! Eyes of that colour shouldn't exist, you're an ill omen! You cursed my son; he died because of you!"
Viola couldn't fight back the tears, while Mr Ward apologised in his wife's stead before taking her away. "Don't take those words to heart," Cecelia said, gently rubbing her back. "She's in pain, she probably didn't mean—"
"She's right." Viola stared blankly into the distance—her words carried a pained undertone. Whatever the stranger said the previous day echoed inside her head. "It is all on me."
"Don't blame yourself! The situation was way out of your hands!"
"N-No, it was in my hands," her voice cracked, "but I-I was afraid and…I couldn't keep my promise—" Violet eyes flooded with tears as she covered her face. Cecelia held her close and continued to comfort her, crying along.
…
They drove back home after dark. Cecelia helped Viola get back in bed. She lay there, staring at the ceiling, while her mother sat on the bedside, brushing her hair.
"Mom," she called out in a soft voice, "are the authorities still investigating?"
"No," Cecelia said. "They've closed the case, marking it off as another wild animal attack."
"But what if I told you…it was not an animal that attacked us."
"What?" She gasped. "Was it a person, then?"
"The thing that attacked us…it felt alien. It looked human, but it was not. This creature was far too tall and had creepy red eyes that I can still picture glaring at me." Viola's body twitched slightly. "And its skin was nothing but blackness. As if it were born from the empty void…"
"You must've been dreaming, sweetie." Cecelia sighed. "There's no way something like that is real."
"But it's real!" She raised her voice. "Mom, you know of my physical strength. Do you think a mere ordinary creature could bring me this much harm?"
"Well, some animals are superior to humans in strength. Maybe it's a newly found species that we've never seen befor—"
"No! You're not getting my point!" Viola frowned and turned to the side, facing away from her mother. "It cannot be a natural being. Whatever I saw back there is not from this world!" Silence settled in the room for a few seconds that dragged on for minutes, only broken by the ring of the doorbell.
"Must be your dad," she said, "rest up, Viola." She smiled and placed a kiss on the side of Viola's head before getting up and turning to the door. "You'll heal soon." Footsteps grew distant along with the gentle shutting of a door behind her. Soon, she heard the clicking of the front door and a new, but familiar pair of footsteps entering. They greeted each other with a warm embrace.
"How's she?" Wright asked in a worried tone, as the front door was locked shut.
"Physically, she'll heal." Cecelia sighed. "But I'm concerned about her mental state. She's seeing things…she said that what attacked her was something alien. I don't know…I hope she'll be okay."
"Don't worry, our daughter is strong." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "She will be fine. Here, I bought some of her favourite sweets." He gestured at the bag he carried in his other hand. "These will cheer her up." He smiled.
"They won't," Viola muttered to herself, eavesdropping on their conversation from her room. She turned and stared blankly at the ceiling. "You were awfully right…stranger." She closed her eyes shut, fighting back tears.
"None of them believe me."
…
"Leave him alone!"
Viola shouted at the three bullies who were knocked to the floor. They quickly stumbled back up and ran away in fear. She turned around, and her gaze fell upon a little boy curled up into a ball, looking up to her with watery eyes. Crouching down to reach his eye level, she asked him in a gentle, soothing tone. "Are you alright?"
"T-They always come after me," the boy's voice quivered. "A-All because I'm weak—"
He broke down into tears, and she immediately wrapped him in a warm embrace. "It's okay, I've fended them off. They won't hurt you anymore."
"No! T-They'll come back again later! They always do..."
"Well, in that case!" She pulled back from the hug and smiled at him. "I'll stay by your side and make sure they never bother you again!"
"But why…why would you care for a nobody like me?"
A stinging sensation struck Viola's heart, and a split-second image of a girl with silver hair replaced the boy. She frowned and looked him in the eyes. Wiping his tears for him, she said to him sternly. "Those words should not leave your mouth ever again. Don't let the world decide what you think of yourself. You're not a nobody if you exist in this world. You're not a nobody if there's someone out there who cares about you. Like your family…and friends!"
"I…I don't have one."
"Then that changes now! I'll be your friend!" She smiled widely, and his face lit up. "I'm Viola. What's your name?"
"Bonn."
"Now stand on your feet!" She got back up and gave him a hand. "Don't allow the world to belittle you!" He took her hand, and she helped him up. Bonn gave a slight, but determined smile.
"And I promise…I will always protect you and keep you safe."
Blood began spreading from her hand, painting him red.
"I promised…"
Reality shattered in front of her eyes like a broken mirror. Darkness filled the surroundings, burying away every last piece of light within her. She stood at the centre of the empty void, which reminded her of the demonic creature, of the hollowed-out spot in her heart, and of the reality she had yet to accept.
"Why did you run?"
The warm image of a smiling boy was replaced by the gut-wrenching vision of her best friend's dead body. Tears dropped like rain on a gloomy night as she ran away from it, searching for the happy memory from earlier.
"You cursed my son!"
Bumping into a figure, she fell backwards on the bottomless floor. Descending into emptiness, several voices screamed from every direction and distance. Tears fell the opposite way as they all told her the same thing.
"This is all your fault!"
Like the world had turned upside down, she was now the gloomy cloud. Wishing for a way to change the past, wishing for the sunrise on a brighter day. She covered her ears, but the voices would only get louder. They drove her insane, and her heart began to burn.
"YOU'RE RIGHT!"
She had no one to blame. Only herself.
"IT'S ALL ON ME!"
Viola jolted awake, screaming at the voices. Rapid footsteps followed the rhythm of her violent heartbeats until her door lurched open. Through her watery vision reached out a pair of loving arms, trying to comfort her.
"It's okay, you're okay!" Cecelia said softly, rubbing her daughter's back, who cried miserably on her chest. "I'm here now!"
"They're right!" Viola's voice came out muffled. "He died because of me! I failed to protect him. I broke my promise!"
"Stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault!"
"There's a monster out there…why do none of you believe me?"
She felt another pair of hands wrap around her. Wright joined in while Cecelia placed a kiss on the top of her head. Both parents continued comforting their daughter until she eventually calmed down and fell asleep in their arms.
"She must've had a nightmare," Cecelia mumbled worriedly, tearing up along. "This is what I was afraid of."
"I didn't realise things had gone this bad," said Wright, sharing her tone.
"She can't go on like this. We must do something for her."
"I," he uttered, seemingly reluctant, "I might have an idea."
…
"Viola, at least eat properly today."
A week passed by. Viola sat at the dining table that morning with food on the plate in front of her, barely touched. Her hands were no longer bandaged, and that morning she was ready to attend school again. Viola's superhuman constitution allowed her body to heal more quickly than the average person, with little need for mending. But that only counted for physical wounds. Her heart was still hollow, missing the warmth of the ones it had lost.
"But Mom," Viola said, eyes fixed on the spoon she was fiddling with. "My abnormal nature allows me to stay healthy enough despite not eating well. See, I've even healed so quickly with barely ever touching food."
"Don't say that word!" Cecelia sighed. "I know that…I'm just worried for you."
Viola stared blankly at the table, not saying a word. Moments passed, and she half-finished her breakfast before getting up. "I'm heading out," she said coldly, slinging her bag over her shoulders. "Otherwise, I'll be late."
"Viola," her mother called out worriedly, "are you sure you want to go? You can stay home a week longer if you wan—"
"No, Mom. I'm fine. I don't need any more rest."
She opened the front door and walked away without ever looking back. Every day, she would hug her mother before leaving. But that morning, she didn't.
A while later, she stepped into the dirt path again. The cold wind gently brushed her hair while the warm sun embraced her. But the silence rang in her ears, and the dreadful thought of seeing the demonic pair of red eyes glaring from the distance clawed at her skin.
The memory was fresh in her mind. A creature from the void, the innocent boy shielding her while getting mutilated by it. Dust left behind by the beast, the boy lying on the bloodied floor, breathing his last. And Bonn's present for her special day—a ring of maple wood.
"I don't deserve this," she said, taking the ring from her pocket and letting it rest on the palm of her hand. It was warm. She stared at what was a final parting gift for his one and only friend. Did he give it as a sign of proposal? Or was it a token of appreciation inspired by the pendant? Viola would never know.
Tears stuck in the corner of her eyes as she placed the ring back in her pocket. The overwhelming guilt in her hollowed heart rejected the idea of wearing it. Brushing aside the memory from a week ago, she pressed on through the path. The fear was too little to affect her. While passing by the town, she noticed a white-haired figure from the corner of her eye, entering a flower shop. She didn't give it much thought and pressed on.
"Such an alien feeling," Viola said, entering her school. "Just like on my first day, before I met him."
Walking towards the main building straight ahead, the crowd fell silent, steering clear of her path. As if she were royalty with guards beside her, forcing everyone out of the way. Or as if she were poisoned with a contagious disease that no one wanted to contract.
"...the rest have started to avoid you."
"Guess he wasn't wrong," Viola muttered under her breath.
"Did you hear what happened?" An unknown female voice mumbled a few feet away from her. "The only ones ever interacting with her died! I knew she was a curse! Good thing we always kept our distance from her—"
Viola stopped in her tracks upon hearing them. A gasping sound came from the voice.
"Hush!" Another one whispered from the same direction. "Don't speak of her like that; she probably heard you! Let her leave first!"
Despite the whispering, Viola heard them anyway. But she pressed on, ignoring them and everyone else. The day went on as usual. Except for the absence of a certain someone. And with almost everyone speaking something ill about her in hushed tones.
Everyone blamed her. And no matter where she went, where she hid, the same words echoed in her hypersensitive ears. 'Curse', 'ill-omen', 'foul', breaking her tolerance with every word. Even the adults avoided her, scowling. School hours went by agonisingly slowly.
"I shouldn't have come."
When the last bell rang, she hurried out of the school. Her legs hurried, trying to escape from everything that reminded her of her failure. Longing for the comfort of her home, she closed herself off from the world around. Upon entering the forest path, the silence rang loudly in her ears, and the fear of the creature no longer bothered her.
"He died because of you!"
Thoughts ached her mind. Emotions ravaged her heart. Darkness enveloped her soul. Her hands lifted and clutched her head as if trying to hold it together. She closed her eyes as a fiery sensation grew deep inside.
"H-Hello…Miss…?"
"The only ones ever interacting with her died!"
All their gossiping from earlier echoed again in her mind. Burning pain struck her chest, drowning out every incoming sound from the outside world. Her heartbeat raced, amplifying the voices.
"A-Are you okay?"
She felt a hand placed gingerly on her shoulder. It was warm, but uninviting. Caught off guard by the sudden gesture, violet eyes flashed open as she turned around and harshly shrugged it off, screaming at the unknown figure.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
However, the moment she came back to her senses, she couldn't believe what she had done. Laying her sights on the new person, she saw a girl standing about as tall as her, with short white hair reaching up to the girl's shoulder. She also wore a blue scarf around her neck.
"You're like them," she said, tears welling up in her lightless purple eyes. "You're just like the rest of them!"
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"
The girl ran away, crying, before Viola could explain herself. But instead of running through the path and back towards the main town like Viola was expecting, she went deep into the woods. A shocking realisation struck the violet girl's core, and her skin began to crawl.
"Don't go in there!" She tried shouting at her, but the girl had long vanished from sight. "B-But there's a monster there," she muttered to herself. "She'll be killed…too. And I was the one who scared her off…i-it would be my fault again!" She began panting heavily, taking a step forward, but her limbs began to shiver, rooting her to the spot. "O-Only I can save her…" Images of the demonic creature flashed before her eyes. "I-I must go…I must protect her…" She couldn't take another step. "B-But I can't win!"
For the first time in her life, Viola hesitated to help someone in need.
"How useful would I be?" Instead, she turned away. "Maybe there's no other monster." She began walking home. "He killed it that day…there can't be anoth—"
"Why did you run?"
"But who was she?" She paused and glanced at the woods again, where the girl ran off to. "She'd probably stand out. Why haven't I ever seen her before?" Recalling a moment earlier, she tried to piece together what the girl said when she was calling her. "Was she just…worried for me? If so…" Clenching her fists, she retook another step into the woods.
"I can't just leave her alone! I should at least check—"
But when a bone-chilling scream cut through the forest and stung her ears, she immediately dropped her bag and ran towards it without a second thought. Darting through the trees like a bullet and using her hypersensitive hearing to figure out the exact spot of the scream, she found the girl.
This is far too cruel.
Viola laid her eyes on the same demonic creature. Seven feet tall and a fleshy humanoid body that was devoid of all light, like staring into the black void. It held the white-haired by the neck, lifted a foot or two above ground.
"H-Help…me…"
She pleaded weakly. The creature cocked its head sideways to face Viola. Scarlet-red eyes glared, an image she'd never forget, and the shivers crept up her spine again. She gulped and stood rooted to her spot.
"I-I'm sorry," her voice quivered, "b-but it's too late…it has already got you…I-I can't defeat that thing—"
The creature slammed the white-haired against a tree behind, and she let out a scream. Viola flinched at the sudden action. She wanted to put an end to this, but remembering her past encounter with the same being, she doubted her usefulness.
"The rest have started to avoid you."
She hyperventilated. The creature slammed the girl again.
"I knew she was a curse!"
A fire started to grow deep within. Her world began to spin.
"I always told him to stay away from you!"
Burning sensations spread throughout her body. A foul feeling consumed her clean heart.
"He died because of you!"
It slammed the white-haired a third time, and she began to stop resisting as her arms went almost limp. Images of Bonn's dead body flashed in Viola's mind. She clenched her fists violently, nails digging into her flesh, knuckles cracking loudly.
"And I promise, I will always protect you and keep you safe."
The creature was thrown far away by a heavy force, bouncing off the ground a few times before crashing into a tree. The girl was released, and she fell to the floor with a thud. Coughing and panting harshly, her blurry vision eventually cleared as she laid eyes on her saviour.
"That otherworldly power within you is meaningless if you can't overcome a single human emotion."
A whine came from the distance as the creature held the side of its face. It glared at the one who came in between and roared. Viola stood firmly in front of the girl, but not once turning around to check on her. Veins appeared on her skin, threatening to pop open. For a second there, the creature flinched.
All the pent-up emotions exploded inside her, engulfing every piece of what she was, and were replaced with violent flames that felt no fear, nor shivered. Her violet eyes froze over, her lips parting to let slip a growl more demonic than the one before her, and a word that contradicted her entire existence up to this point.
"Die."
For the first time in her life, Viola did not hold back.