I did not wake up the next day.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2O3VgkYpDE
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGgA4CQm2y
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0r8uXma2xp
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. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjscApRMY4H
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6ch7TDCXS
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1agMm1ZIg5
They were as cold as frost. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡms5pHDoCbE
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOxWRNoiuH
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXtHAri6JR
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwWqLf3EkU
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomQcZVMG21
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3gXWzNk6CQ
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. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZdmjJzGRi
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLB3pOoFtQ
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2uvtXxAVUJ
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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi45Hi97s8E
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7gbPIXxij
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUdiNbVmbS
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. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8HQIL84A5X
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfxvH3cWbg
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4FVHvKSKws
I don't really know when the nightmare truly began.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmwS0WZbFQ
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlteI12nBl
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ikcairiYO
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. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tELV0n6L6
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDb7FeM0wrb
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU26m6QzZQB
Perhaps it was when I heard her screams. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLi38w2S24Q
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxEZpbmzJw
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeNJo3ABHp
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. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbzpyL8s2eP
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl9ywbOD5FS
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmLQJ9vrkj
The next thing I knew, I was rushing desperately towards the front door of the house. It was bolted shut. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9M9gwX7Bh
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCiHSNRAFjx
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyWexOWUiQ
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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6S9vRHQpox
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1h9IZpgLJ
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMZivrw1rPA
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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGbxPKx76n
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7VWFuHkhA
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8FyLO8HRi
And then I turned to my mother's bedroom. And I see---277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjn9OQb4jjr
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6p1WFz8uD
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulMv7urDhi
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----277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXczvsKX0J
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nilL7Qqhp
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXWVzfCcP4
Blood.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAjnuIduZqm
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEFgnfUc8T
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXGS8xpcA3J
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. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZH9u436Tcz
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ1UL046yg
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcOX1ZnGoU
Nothing.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzSzQnEDF1
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1ZkLaidBF
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEmrQIMtBh
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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWAisx0oT1
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpupBgZelUV
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4z6e6JoOS
"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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOLAHrrKIP
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNnsAioYuY
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM5gYoFFXoN
"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."277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskoe5XJvf4
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyxxi2imL3i
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKcxThIbRK
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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA3XHHfeTUR
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡakGcVGH1YT
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvYfRtVlwNs
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?" 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNRoqI8mFKJ
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCy51s87tW0
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLBhdwDBr5n
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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6u6vW7bk8x
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8adGlxBjV
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ce0qqIBBC
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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3RbF3kNDtm
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobEEoIUz5z
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHlhPF17xG6
"I... I love you, Lily."277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6lGpYi1mQt
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGf2tn9HgWL
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMObyilbHV9
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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgegCcvxJla
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GJtfSjLYo
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHk7Hh2C8Mb
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. 277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAkiR6j9bv
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzN9287cT1
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG9WX8DIsPZ
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.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatEX7jBYGz
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkwE3GD3qL
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUbNBaQeGT
You left her there to die.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3TXjMCWsh
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XuJ6Md1i6
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jjiTT8Pca
You killed her.277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8rT0ms3P2
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIqQjDXecY
277Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxdPjfmfUQ
I feared that it was true.
ns3.137.136.226da2
