Somewhere in a world that once glistened with the promise of utopia, the fragile balance of love, hatred, and desperation in the heart of a young man set a chain of events.
What started as a mere ripple of emotion soon grew into a tide of chaos, sweeping across the land, threatening to consume all in its path. This was the world that Noah was born into—the one where the echoes of devastation would one day reach everything he ever cared for.
The story of his life, though brief and filled with heartache, would unfold against the backdrop of a greater tragedy. A tragedy that no one could have foreseen—not even the one who had unknowingly set it all in motion. The spark that would ignite this cataclysmic fire began with an accident, a tragedy so profound that its repercussions would transcend into something far more than anyone could ever have imagined.
"Nionel!!" shouted a distant voice, his voice breaking through the suffocating haze of smoke. "Hold on! I am coming for you!"
"My head… it hurts..." muttered a little girl, her words barely escaping her dry, cracked lips. "I can't think straight. What happened? Where am I?"
"The ambulance is on the way!" came the distant echo of a man's voice, strained and urgent.
"Someone is calling... Mom?" Nionel's thoughts drifted in and out of focus, as if her mind was struggling to make sense of the chaos.
"Where are you?" the man shouted, his voice full of panic.
"Something isn't right... Where is everyone? Dad!?" Nionel tried to push herself up, but her body wouldn't respond. Her vision blurred, her surroundings spinning, a heat radiating from all around her.
"Damn it, damn it all," the man cursed, his words desperate and ragged. "I can't lose her! Not like that…" The sound of his feet pounding against the floor above echoed in the crumbling house.
"Why can't I move my body? My eyes… they burn…" Nionel tried to blink, but the light stung. "Why can't I force my mouth to speak? What is going on?"
The house groaned and creaked, the walls buckling under the strain of the fire consuming it from within.
"I will get you out of there! Just hold on!" His voice reverberated through the thin, charred walls, each word tinged with fear.
"Who is this? I can hear steps..." Nionel strained to focus, her voice barely a whisper.
"It's going to be alright. I'll get you out of here, I promise!" His words rang with an edge of desperation, as if he were trying to convince himself more than her.
"I feel tired... I want to see my mom... Where is she...?" Nionel whimpered, her voice weak, each breath a struggle.
"Nionel?" The man's voice became frantic.
"I know this voice..." Nionel's heart stirred faintly, a flicker of recognition through the fog of pain.
"If you can hear me, please, answer me!" he begged.
"Uncle Noah…?" she whispered, her throat raw.
"Nionel, where are you? Can you hear me?!" Noah shouted, his voice getting closer, yet still too far.
"It's dangerous here… I have to tell him!" Nionel's thoughts were scattered, the building's unstable structure groaning above her as if it, too, was crying out in terror.
"We must hurry! It's not safe here!" Noah's voice cracked as he dashed through the next room, knocking debris aside, his hands trembling as he searched in vain.
"I need to get out of here... I shouldn't be here... Help me!" Nionel's voice faltered, the flames creeping closer, suffocating her with their relentless heat.
"NIONEL?!" Noah shouted, his voice near now, but still searching.
"I have to tell him! But it hurts so much!" Nionel's thoughts screamed in desperate urgency, but her mouth refused to obey. The pain was unbearable as her lips, scorched and blistered, had begun to melt together, fusing like two pieces of hot wax pressed against each other. She tried to part them, to force out a word, but the skin on her lips felt like a thick, searing glue, holding them shut.
"Give me a sign so I can find you!" Noah's footsteps echoed wildly as he combed the rooms, the cracking wood and the hiss of flames drowning out all else.
The unbearable heat intensified, the air thick and suffocating, as the smoke swirled around her, choking her thoughts.
"The heat... It's everywhere... It hurts," Nionel thought, her gasps shallow and ragged as her nostrils filled with smoke, her chest tightening.
"We must leave before the whole building collapses!" Noah shouted, his voice strained with desperation.
"I feel pain! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!" Nionel cried out, each word a ragged plea for release. A wave of agony, sharper than any she had ever known, flooded her body. The fire roared in her ears, the crackling sound like a beast devouring everything in its path. Nionel's tiny body shook violently as she was trapped under the heavy debris, her throat choking on smoke, her skin burning from the fire.
"MAMA!" she screamed with all the strength she had left, her voice hoarse and raw.
The instant her scream echoed through the smoke-filled room, an electric shock jolted through her, as the open burns on her body sent pain coursing through her like a thousand needles. "HELP ME!" she cried, her voice breaking, the flames licking at her flesh, every breath a struggle.
"NIONEL! I'M COMING!" Noah's voice rang out, sharp and desperate. He threw himself onto the ground, covering his mouth as the smoke thickened, his heart breaking as he moved closer.
"What did I do…" His eyes filled with helpless tears, the world around him spinning with guilt and anguish. His gaze locked onto the half-burnt form of the little girl he loved, her cries a raw wound that he could never heal.
"Uncle…" Nionel's arm stretched weakly toward him, reaching through the suffocating smoke, her voice barely a whisper, "Noah..." Her breath slowed, each gasp weaker than the last. Her body trembled with what little strength remained as her hand fell limp, her consciousness slipping away.
It was late evening, and the sun had already dipped below the horizon, leaving the sky awash in shades of bloody orange and deep indigo. The house stood at the edge of a dense forest, its silhouette barely distinguishable from the towering pines that surrounded it. Distant streetlights from the nearest suburb flickered faintly through the haze, their glow too weak to pierce the swirling mix of ash and embers carried on the cool breeze.
The house had long been forgotten by its neighbors, its isolation making it a quiet secret in the woods. Now, the fire's glow was the only beacon drawing a small crowd of onlookers who had ventured out, their faces illuminated by the cold, artificial light of their phones. Some snapped pictures, others murmured into their devices, their voices hushed, as if afraid to disturb the eerie stillness. Amid the chaos, no one seemed to notice a teenager boy sitting alone on the damp grass, his shoulders hunched as he cradled the fragile, burned form of a 6-year-old girl in his trembling arms. Tears carved tracks through the soot on his face, falling silently onto the scorched remains of her tiny frame, a heartbroken vigil in the shadow of the collapsing house.
"…I hear someone crying..." Nionel thought vaguely, her mind drifting like a leaf in the wind. "I know that smell of lavender cologne… Uncle Noah. Why is he crying? That's… sad… I wonder why... Maybe something bad happened to him…? Maybe I... can help...?" Her thoughts were clouded, fractured, but she wanted to ease his pain.
She slowly raised her arm, her hand shaking, and gently poked Noah's cheek, her fingers barely brushing against his skin.
"Uncle Noah..." she murmured, her voice barely audible. "It's going to be… all right…" Blood dripped from her mouth as she spoke, the words escaping in shallow, labored breaths.
"I'm sorry... I am so sorry..." Noah sobbed, his hands trembling as he cupped her head, his grief overwhelming. "It shouldn't have happened like this... Not like this..."
"Everything is going to be... all right..." Nionel whispered, her words fragmented, her breaths shallow, her tiny voice filled with an innocence that could never comprehend the tragedy unfolding. "Everything… is going to be all right..."
"No, not this time..." Noah whispered, his voice breaking. His hand gently caressed the scorched remnants of her head, her hair all but gone.
"You can always… start over... Right?" Nionel tried to smile, but the effort only deepened the pain in her chest, the ache in her body more than she could bear.
"I can't…" Noah's voice cracked, his tears falling freely. "I can't… Not this time… I am so sorry..." He lowered his gaze, unable to face her, his heart shattered in a thousand pieces.
The air around them was thick with the smell of burning wood, the house collapsing piece by piece as the flames tore through it. Minutes passed like hours, and then, the sirens of the ambulance and fire trucks wailed in the distance. The flashing blue lights painted the faces of the crowd in harsh, cold light. Every head turned, the realization settling in like a heavy weight, as the medics rushed to the scene.
Nionel whispered one last time, the words barely a breath. "I want… To see mommy…"
.
Nionel Valentine – Deceased [24.10.2178]
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'You never know what you have until you lose it,
And once you lose it,
You can never get it back.
Or so I thought...'
- LOVE:less act 1 -.