After a while, I came to understand how the darkness of that place worked. As Raphael said, that would swallow every cell of my body and mind if I stayed there and that it would only take him only five minutes to do the job and come back.
I saw that after he left, one of my legs was starting to disappear, but I could still stand even though I couldn't see or even feel it anymore. After that, it continued on one of my hands and after that the other foot. I only had five minutes to get out before totally disappearing into the darkness. So after each minute, one piece of my body would disappear, and only a part would remain at the end when Raphael appeared.
I stayed calm most of the time because I knew this would happen during the time Raphael would be absent, but I had no idea that it would develop so quickly. I counted in my mind how much time had passed between the disappearance of the two parts of my body and then counted how many were left.
Now three parts were gone and there were still three other parts, one of the arms, the head and the spine. I was traumatized, after every minute I have to see a part disappear, I was not sure I would be able to get out at the end.
Minutes passed and this time only the head was left. I had stayed in the same place as before, every part of my body was gone in the dark and this time I knew I had reached the end of those five minutes. Raphael wasn't appearing and as the darkness continued to disappear my head as well, I felt scared. Even though I couldn't see my body, I was still connected to all the parts and ironically I could feel my heart beating faster from waiting in that suffocating silence.
'Why did I even trust you? I knew you just wanted an excuse to leave me here and never came back. I don't blame you, because why would someone want to come back to this dark place? You were locked inside a body without his rightful owner for eternity, when you could easily take control and forget about the fake one.'
In the last moments when I was feeling the darkness that was swallowing me on the ground, I saw a light, a warm light in the distance.
'Is this the end?'
I felt that light before, the moment I met Mireyan, I would do everything that her light would continue to shine and warm my soul. This time I couldn't reach it, I had no foot to walk and approach, no hands to hold it and no heart to lock it there forever.
I felt sad when I was looking at that light fading little by little. It was standing before me, still shining brighter than ever, so I was the one who was fading away. The tears came out without realizing and I found myself crying until the very end.
I cursed myself for believing what Raphael told me and leaving my fate in his hands. And I was sad that I couldn't do anything about it. My tears were disappearing and I couldn't see the light in front of me anymore.
'I'm so sorry Mireya!'
[Child, I have a problem here!]
Opening my eyes to the outside world seemed like a dream. I could finally see the light, I was not dead, I could breathe so was alive!
My body was shaking, I was out of breath and my head was aching. I opened my eyes with all my might because I couldn't believe I was outside, far away from that place. I looked around and could see that Raphael's words were not just that, he really had done what he could during this time, and that meant he had killed those people.
That lady was not among them, which meant she was safe in another place, but her guards seemed to have not had so much luck, dealing with Raphael. Well, as long as this problem is solved now I just need to get out of here as soon as I can. If I go quickly I can make them both come with me and leave, this time he also has the perfect reason.
Someone's applause made me come to my sense, I had forgotten Raphael's words about encountering a problem, but I didn't know what kind of problem it was.
'R-Raphael, w-what is happening? Why is everyone dead but he is not? '
[Well, apparently dealing with those guards took longer than I had imagined, and you were almost done for. I saw him standing there looking at me when I was ready to go inside. His stare irritated me, it was like he was enjoying a show or something, and I had a great desire to rip that slanderous image off his face, but your life was more important, I didn't have much time left so now is your time to finish this job.]
'So he didn't do anything, just standing there the whole time? He wasn't scared nor did he look disgusted, so why do you want to end a man's life who seems to be doing nothing to stop me? '
[Look child, such people irritate me, because you have no idea what he is thinking inside that head of his. And moreover, he gives a creepy vibe, I don't like him!]
'Are you serious, what are you a baby? I just have to keep walking and get out of here, if he talks to me about something that interests us then we will listen to him, even if he attacks, I will do as you say and I would attach him back. It's not that complicated. '
[I warned you!]
I did as I thought was right and started running to find a way out. While doing that, I constantly looked to see if that man would have made any moves. He was short and a middle-aged gray-haired man. He was standing far away from me, but I could see his face and maybe he could too.
Once I was at a safer distance and covered by the shadows of the trees, I stood still and turned my head to see if he was still there. Apparently, he was talking to someone else, someone who looked like a knight, and maybe he was asking him questions about what happened. I had nothing to do with it so I left and headed to the city.
I roughly cleaned myself from the blood and with a few pennies I had, hidden in case I needed them, I went to a bar to calm myself down, thinking that I had managed to escape from the guards, but they were one step ahead of me.
The city was filled with noise and citizens were being questioned one after another. The guards were checking every corner of the street and every house to make sure. People didn't know what was happening and the sight of all those knights caused a negative effect on the community, some got scared and started running, some locked themselves in the house as soon as they saw their approach, and some didn't want to talk confronted them.
I stayed in the bar for a couple of minutes before they even checked that place. If I went outside they would spot me, but even if I stayed there, they would find me sooner or later. I was trapped and had nowhere to go.
'It looks like the little lady asked for extra help after what happened, what do you think?'
[Well, perhaps it could have been that creepy guy standing in the corner watching us, who knows. But more importantly, what are we going to do now? They are tailing us, it is a matter of time until they find you hiding here.]
It was indeed a matter of time until they found me. I was lucky enough that people inside the bar were not impressed by my hair color, and I didn't have a cape to hide myself, so I felt uncomfortable standing there like that.
The commotion outside continued and I couldn't stay in one place, some of the people inside were starting to lose their temper and went outside to confront the knights. It wasn't a smart move. My hands were shaking so much that I poured most of my drink and people started to look at me. I was scared to look outside for any approach. My heart was pounding, I started breathing heavily and stared outside without blinking. What is going to happen?
"Hey officer what is going on here, mind explain it to us, why are our families and friends treated like this?"
The officer didn't speak which led the person talking to get angry, but he didn't pay attention and gave a contemptuous look at him turning his head and speaking to one of his colleagues.
"Gather all the citizens here, at this rate no one will be willing to cooperate with us, she couldn't have gone far."
"Yes sir!"
After saying that, the knights started to gather the people one by one in front of the three officers in charge, until some of them came inside the bar to take out the people who were still standing there.
My heart dropped! There was no place for me to flee. Every step that they took to approach the bar, my heart pounded faster and looked like was going to burst my chest out. It was like time had stopped in those moments and only me and the knights could move.
They were close and I then started to panic, Raphael couldn't help me now and I didn't want to go through the same experience where I was waiting for death with every part of my body disappearing. Using my powers by myself was not a bad idea, but what came next terrified me more, I didn't want to turn into a mannequin and be controlled by Nasya. And staying there without doing anything was the same as going with my own two feet towards the guillotine.
'Raphael I have to do something, tell me what to do, I would do anything!'
[…]
'Raphael? Stop playing with me Raphael, now I need you more than ever, please tell me what to do!'
He didn't answer any of my calls, even though I begged him endlessly to help me, it didn't work. He had left me all alone and then the door of the bar opening showed two faces that made me shudder as if I had seen a real demon walking slowly in front of me.