A very large office which is at the top floor of the skyscraper building displays a jaw-dropping view of the city. It is around 9pm and the beauty of the night sky coupled with the glamorous nature of the city at night gives the office a sensation aesthetic. Various shades of light are gleaming, ruby, blue, and green, and neon too. Everything below looks better from above, and one could not help but marvel at this work of man. Zekiele often thought whenever she looks at the view below while lost in thought, "perhaps this is the only good thing about the city, the people, the lifestyle, and everything else is just shallow."
Zekiele has been in her office since she left the rooftop. She has been buried in paper work, numerous calls, and countless meetings with few managerial staffs in her office. With plans for the expansion and partnership in progress, the workload has doubled. This is undoubtedly the biggest business partnership in the continent at the moment and she has to give it her all; while still keeping a very close eyes on her supposed "allies" to ensure they don't stab her in the back.
She knows that in the last ten years, all the men of power in the continent have been patiently holding their breath and waiting for her to make a single mistake so that they can launch at her and take over her family business, but she will make sure they suffocate. After all, though they weren't the cause of her family's death, because they do not even have any idea of the celestial world, however, on hearing of her family's involvement in an accident which led to their death (a scenario which was faked to give the human realm a cause of her family's death, considering the fact that they are one of the most influential family in the whole continent), these people were overjoyed with the news of her father and brother's death.
They thought it was their time to take everything from her family, but to their greatest shock, she was announced as the company's new CEO three days later, on her birthday when she turned 18. She made sure to clear-off all the spies in the company, and she played the very game they had been playing with her father – the double-faced game.
That is how she has been running the company, with ruthlessness, cold-heartedness, and a tiny mix of double-faced dimpled innocence. She laughed with them, attended events with them, and even dined with the devils, but her masks are always worn, and she knows exactly when to take it off.
Because in Franz Kafka's words; "I was ashamed of myself when I realized life was a costume party and I attended with my real face."
That was her and her family 10 years ago, now she refuses to make the same mistake her father made – trusting people, be it in the Human Realm or the Celestial World.
She checked the time on her laptop and was surprise to see that it was already past 9pm. She quickly wrapped up the paper works and called Preye to tell her driver to get the car ready so that she can head home.
She had completely lost track of time, and by now, everyone would have left the office, but this is actually nothing new to her and Preye, it is an everyday routine. Then she thought of someone at home, knowing him quite well, he must be waiting for her to get home, and she is very sure he has not eaten because he won't eat till she gets back.
She smiles and then puts her laptop and some documents into her bag. Preye walks in right on time to inform her that the driver is waiting for her.
"Is anyone still around" Zekiele asked.
"Nope, we are the only ones left."
Zekiele then snaps her finger and they suddenly appear at the office doorway. They stepped out of the office and headed straight to the car park. The driver opened the back seat door and Zekiele entered, while Preye got into her own car and waved at Zekiele and her driver.
"Bye, see you at the office tomorrow. And have a good night rest as well." Preye said as she waved to Zekiele.
Zekiele responded with a nod but they both knew there is nothing like a good night rest for her.
…
Zekiele got home at exactly 10pm. The mansion was quiet, just the way it had been for the past ten years, unlike how it used to be before the incident. A few years back, from the veranda you could hear the laughter and happy sounds of a family of six, you could see children playing around, two girls running about chasing a little boy, while the eldest child and the parents watch and laugh from a distance.
Now it's all different, no laughter, no happiness, no emotions, just trauma bonding and anguish.
She enters the house and the servants help her take her things to her room. She then walks to the dinning and takes a seat.
As she sits down, she sees Aerian coming down through the staircase. He strolls into the dining and gave a slight nod to welcome her.
"How was your day?" She glared at him and waited for his response.
"Fine." He responded.
As the chef served their meal, she stole a quick glance at him and sighed. He is now a seventeen years old teenager, but he still hasn't seemed to let go of the past. She smirked, well neither has she.
As she eats her meal, she wonders what she had done wrong. What else should she have done to make her brother happy and live like a normal teenager. After the whole incident that occurred at the Celestial Purge, and after all he witnessed, he became abnormally quiet. In fact, after he woke up, he could not utter a word until after several therapy sessions before he finally spoke 3 years later.
And now as a teenager, he seldom talks, and when he finally opens his mouth to speak, he would only utter one or two words. She could literally recite all the statement he has uttered this month and the last one.
Sometimes, she wishes someone, perhaps her mother had left behind a book on "A Guide to Raising a Child", and a follow-up book titled "A Guide to Raising a Teenager," because sincerely speaking, she was tired and exhausted. She never knows the right thing to say, or when, or how, or what to say. She doesn't know what will get him mad at her, or what will make him happy for once at least.
She doesn't know what to get him at times, or how he wants his birthday to be like, well most times, it is just both of them and the servants at his birthdays. She doesn't know when he wants to be alone because he is always alone, and she definitely does not know what is going on inside his head.
She sighs again and does not realize when the sharp side of the knife she is holding mistakenly graze her finger.
"Ouchh!" She flinches and winced in pain. She hears a glass cup fall to the ground and looks at the person sitting at her right-hand side.
Aerian immediately got up and grabbed her hand, he held the finger that was bleeding, and started panicking.
"First aid! First aid! Bring the damn first aid box here now." He growled.
"Get the car ready immediately, we need to go to the hospital. Why is everyone wasting time, the wound might get infected." He shouted again.
"Aerian, calm down. It is just a small cut." Zekiele said in a soft tone in a bid to calm him down.
Aerian was shaking at this point, and he could not breath properly. The mere sight of blood reminded him of the very memories he had tried so hard to erase. Flashes of the gruesome murder of his family started to hit him. He saw flashes of when his brother was stabbed.
"Blood! Blood everywhere!" He shouted.
He then saw flashes of his elder sister, Freya's dead body, her blood-filled garment. He remembered the look on his mother's face when she saved his life with hers. So many horrific memories flooded his sense.
"Blood! Blood!" He continued to scream as he gripped Zekiele's hand tighter.
"Hospital, we need to go the hospital. Call the ambulance. No, get the car ready. I'll drive, okay."
"Why is everyone just standing there?" He screamed.
Zekiele waved her other hand and a gust of magic was released into the air. He immediately got knocked out.
"Zee, please don't leave me, please don't go." He said softly and gripped Zekiele's hand tightly while losing his consciousness as he fell to the floor.
Zekiele bent down and placed his head on her lap. She softly stroked his black hair that looks exactly like hers, the same way their mother would do when they were young. Zekiele smiled as a single teardrop fell from her eyes. She gives way to a mocking smile to taunt herself.
"At least he spoke more words in these five minutes than he had said in the past five months." She thought to herself.