Love, while a mysterious form of power, had always been considered as the source of the best and the most powerful thaumaturgies. In it, people found unprecedented bliss making them do things beyond their physical and mental capabilities. However, when they walked out of it, the hollowness that came with the thought of never being able to hold another's hand again brought pain without measure.
Eddie had one-sidedly loved since he last saw Lulu. As a loner, love came with irrevocable attachment. He would love with devotion, doing everything he could to see a smile in the faces of those he loved. However, when they decided to walk away, unbeknown to them, they tore a piece of his heart leaving him with terrible intangible pain. He hardly shared his pain with anyone and to the outside world, he was an exonerative young man who took nothing to heart. Inside, he was a walking dead.
Maybe the reason Lulu clung to his mind was because she had not truly left him like the others had done. When Jane had given up on him though, he had decided not to be with a woman again. He hated the fact that she had left with no satisfying reason and part of him still wanted her back but he had decided. Love was probably never meant for him and if he was going to find himself in it again, he had to be sure she would be one who would never end up making him cry.
Canya, since they joined the university had showed that she was in love with him. She had done more than a person in love could to win him over but Jane was still the occupant of what she wanted. When Jane left, after some time, he thought Canya would be the exact person he wanted and decided to give it a shot. After he had heard what Anna had told him, a strong feeling of desolation hit him filling him with the desire to hit his head on a wall and kill himself. He did not know what Anna was going to show him but he was sure it would confirm what she had said about Canya.
As he walked along the streets of Noya, he scarcely saw where he was going since his eyes were full of tears. Even when he walked past Canya and Loreen at a nearby shop, he failed to notice them. His mind seemed full of the thoughts that were now weighing on him. He felt a throbbing pain in his head making his walks heavy, as if his legs were filled with lead.
Reaching his house had been arduous, had it been a kilometer further from where it was, he would have collapsed. Immediately he got in, he found his bed and tried to collect some sleep.
…
Canya and Loreen had arrived at Eddie's place only to find the door locked. They wanted to leave but heard his cell phone ring from inside. When the calls were never answered even after more than five attempts, they deduced he was probably not in and decided to go back to school. As they left, Loreen realized that Canya's expression had changed to panic. She even trembled with beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She asked to know what the matter was.
"Loreen, you are my friend, right?" Canya held Loreen's arm with a jerk. Loreen only nodded in incomprehension. She was as confused as she had ever been.
"Eddie is in big trouble and I caused it." Canya confessed. This time, tears were already trickling down her average face. The rue she was full of seemed to cascade with the tears. Her knees became weak and she fell on them, and on Loreen's feet. She clutched her friend's clothes and cried, "I wanted him dead. I think the assassin has taken him to the place where the did was to be done."
Loreen was too petrified to speak. Her first instinct was to twerk Canya's hands from her dress but she was so numb that she could not feel her hands. While Eddie was Canya's sweetheart, he was her friend. Like Canya, she had discovered the interesting parts of him and losing him was one thing she had never imagined of. It was worse if he was to die.
"What do we do?" Loreen helped her friend up; she asked not wanting to believe what Canya had told her. She was also not sure what she would do with the information but at the back of her head, a decision had been made. Maybe, for the first time since they knew each other, their friendship was in jeopardy.
From Eddie's house, they had decided to take a few drinks in a shop to cool, if not to calm themselves down. It is at that shop Eddie had gone past them without noticing them. However, they also had their minds filled with the pleasure the drink they were having brought.
After they consumed a bottle each, they felt better. Loreen retrieved some money from a purse in her handbag. After she paid for both of them, she asked Canya to excuse her for she had a meeting she had to attend. At this point, she did not care whether Canya was feeling well or not.
"Loreen," Canya called out, a vicious gleam casting from her eyes, "If anyone knows of what has happened, you will be flayed alive and fed to the monsters you see walk in the streets of Noya."
In her sorrow, fear crept in her heart, though, a decision had been made at the back of her mind. She was going to do what had to be done. She told Canya she was going for a meeting but after the threat, she just went to her room to cry over her mistake in her choice of friends and to make sure her friend, Eddie was doing well.