"Sky"
Wondering how it will answer my prayer... Will it give me rain or a rainbow in a sunny day?
---
"Benjamin!" Jake shouted from afar as he runs towards the direction of that man.
And before he even sees me, I ran away without thinking where I was going and so I ended up in an unfamiliar place...
It was an empty road with no cars or people passing by.
I was exhausted that my legs just gave up...
I sat there for a long while, staring blankly while my tears just keep falling from my eyes.
My mind and heart was empty... I don't know what to do or what to think anymore.
Out of nowhere, I suddenly started hearing voices...
'Don't die, Amiya...'
'Don't die!'
'Don't leave me... Please don't die, Amiya....'
'Amiya!'
'Amiya...'
I covered my ears in fear as I cried harder...
I tried to run again as I was so scared like I was losing myself until I reached the end of the road... A cliff...
I stopped at the end as I stare at the sky. It was so clear and bright as if it was mocking my misery...
"How can you have no mercy..." I weakly said as if I was talking to the sky.
I worked so hard just to be happy at least once in any of these life that you gave me...
Just one... I ask for just one time...
Yet as if a joke, you sent him...
"Why did you let me meet him just when I was just starting to have the life that I wanted to treasure! Why..." I screamed as I get down on my knees.
"Can you just give me this life... Just this one... Please..." I begged.
The sky suddenly started to turn grey as it rains... Like it was trying to give me its answer.
I laughed as I wiped my tears away...
My mind was clouded with bitterness and my body just moves on its own...
And with that, I closed my eyes and decided to put an end to my misery.
***
My name is Hana, and for everyone who was wondering, I am the Class President and I hold all the responsibilities in the class.
As the President, I always tend to assist all my classmates who are having a hard time especially in academics and this is how I met Illa...
She was an odd classmate of mine and she would often exclude or avoid interacting with people as much as she can.
I met her for the first time when the professor introduced her to me as a scholar and from that day onwards, we've been having this kind of a work-business relationship. Plain work and no friendship but I would say she was nice...
We also became my group mate along with my friends Lia, Jay and Jake. She was intimidated at first as we have this kind of status established in our school in which you might say, 'a bit' famous but as we continue to interact with her, she was surprisingly comfortable to be with.
Although there are times where she would act weird and occasionally get sick all of a sudden, she was actually really considerate and hard working.
This weekend, we went in a vacation with some of my friends as we initially planned to surprise Jake for passing the scholarship abroad but Han told us that Illa passed too so we decided to include her in the celebration and I must say, that was the day we officially became friends.
She was really happy about it but today... All of a sudden, she just disappeared.
It was too sudden as yesterday we were just having fun but now, she went missing. She did not even leave a note or bring her phone nor packed her belongings which is weird since she did not know this place at all.
"Any news?" I asked Jay.
It was already late afternoon and the rain would not stop falling.
It was also been hours since Illa went missing and none of us know where she went.
I sat on the couch and let out a deep sigh.
Illa was the type of person who hates being a burden to others so it is unlikely of hers to just leave like that and on top of that, she has a weak body unlike the rest of us so it bothers me a lot...
"Calm down Hana..." William sat beside me as he pat my back.
I was really worried... I don't even know how to explain it but there was this kind of feeling that I don't want to lose her.
I was so drawn to her that if I would have a sister, I think I would feel this way?
It is making me so anxious that I don't know what to do...
"Jake and Benjamin was not answering either. Just where the heck did they go?" Han said as he was starting to lose his temper too.
Those two rushed out the moment they knew that Illa went missing but we couldn't reach them as well.
"I don't think weather will get any better, what should we do?" Ethan asked Han.
He was our guardian after all so he would be in trouble if there is to happen to any of us since we are not fully adults yet except for Kei.
He let out a deep sigh.
"As much as I don't want to stop searching, I think we need to just wait for now... We already reported it to the police as well so we just need to wait for their response." he said.
"But what if something happens to them!?" Lia exclaimed while crying.
She was one of the closest person to those three so I understand how she feels but what can we do?
Jay calmed her down as she continued to cry.
"I think we should all rest for now. Who knows, they might be back some time... We all need to calm down. I know we are all exhausted so we need to take a rest to have some strength so we could search for them later." Johnny said while trying to ease the tension.
We were hesitant at first but we've done what we could and we can't go any further than this so starting from me, I encouraged everyone to rest and take their time to think so we went to our own rooms.
The place was quiet for a while after all of us went to rest and I know as time goes by, we were all getting more and more anxious.
***
Hours passed and it was already evening. There was still no news about those three and the rain is not helping at all.
The others couldn't stay still as well and I can hear them bickering inside their room. It was just a good thing Ethan and Kei was there to handle the boys.
While Lia was asleep from crying, I went out of our room to think and there I saw Han in the living room fidgeting as he talked to someone on the phone.
I can actually see him from the second floor where our rooms were located but then the door opens and it revealed Benjamin.
He was soaking wet from the rain and he looked so haggard.
"Benjamin!" Han called as he hugged him.
I ran downstairs to see him up close but there was something different with him.
"Where have you been!? Where's Jake? Did you also find Illa?" Han asked. You can hear from his voice that he was worried sick.
But Benjamin remained silent...
The others also came running except for Lia who was sleeping and they asked the same question but did not receive any answer at all.
It was also then, when Jake came...
He looked much worse than Benjamin and he was holding a pair of slippers.
"Jake... Are you okay?" Jay asked.
Jake did not say a thing for a while and we notice that he was actually crying.
"I saw this..." Jake murmured as he handed the slippers while shaking.
I took it only to see some blood stain on it...
It was Illa's...
I was shocked to the point that I was speechless and it was the same case for the others.
"I... Saw the first pair in an old road that was closed for a long time and so I followed that track...
It was raining so hard that I could barely see anything... Then I saw blood... There were hints of blood on that road... I went all the way at the end...
And there I saw the other pair... It was... It was on a cliff and Illa was not there..." Jake tried to explain as he keeps on crying.
I did not want to imagine the worst case but I couldn't help but to cry...
She's not dead right? I thought.
No one dared to say a word after that...
Except for Benjamin...
"She's not dead..." he said.
He looked at Jake's eyes as if he was so sure about what he was saying.
"She can't die..." he added as he left us and went to their room.
***
The next day, the police arrived and the rain stopped pouring.
We still haven't heard anything about Illa...
We told the police about what Jake saw and they said they could not find anything as it must have been washed away due to the heavy rain last night.
But as Benjamin predicted, Illa was indeed alive...
The police said that there was this old couple who reported that they saw Illa on the cliff last night but she just walked back she saw them. They even said that they offered her a ride but she refused and just walked away.
We were so releived to hear that...
"We will check the place again and let you know if we found her." the officer said as they took their leave.
"Let's try searching again, she might be --" Jake was trying to say something but Han stopped him.
"You're still not okay Jake, take a rest here for now." Han ordered.
After Jake and Benjamin came back last night, the both of them had a fever that I don't even know how they can still move or talk after all of that.
I signaled William and Jay to take Jake back to their room which they did but then Benjamin showed up.
He was carrying his things as if he was about to leave.
"Where are you going?" Han asked.
He was frustrated at how these two boys were acting.
Benjamin didn't look that good either and like Jake, he still looked so sick.
"I need to go back, Cal called me and she said that she needs me." Benjamin said.
We were already frustrated because of Illa's disappearance now that girl just had to join and add to the stress!?
"Just let her be! You're not his toy Benjamin! Stop being so gullible to that Witch!" Lia shouted.
I know where she was coming from... We all knew...
Cal is definitely the last person you wanted to meet. Yes, she was pretty, smart, talented and rich but that was it for her...
She was never considerate nor kind to anyone but Benjamin. I don't even know what in the world did he like about her in the first place when he have tons of girls surrounding him.
Cal was just in another level of evil? I don't think I can ever describe how much we hate her.
"Stop being so disrespectful to her Lia, you don't know anything." Benjamin calmly said but Lia retorted.
"She deserves it! You just don't know how bad she was treating us! We're your friends Benjamin, your family too yet she treats us like a trash! Don't you get it!?" Lia shouted.
I hugged Lia to stop her and calm her down.
"She's just stressed, just go..." I said.
The others did not argue anymore and just let him go on his own as we can't even stop him once he's decided so what's the point?
We were all disappointed but what can we do? That's just how he is and we don't want to force him to do what he does not like.
Before Benjamin leave, he placed a piece of paper on the table and said.
"She might be there..."
We were all confused as to what he means but then he smiled for a bit.
It was a bitter smile to exact...
"Who?" Ethan asked.
"Illa..."
I immediately grabbed the paper and as I opened it, I saw a sketch of a girl playing in a pond while holding a Lily...
It looks exactly like Illa...
"Is this... Illa?" I asked to confirm and he nodded.
We all knew that Benjamin was really good with arts, especially painting as he was gifted like his parents but how does this sketch even predict where's Illa?
"Stop joking around... We can't just base on your drawing! This is Illa, we're talking about not just some random thing you can pick up anywhere!" Lia shouted angrily.
She's right... It's not like he have some super powers or premonition to see where Illa was.
Han stood up and took the paper from me. He looked at it for a moment and smiled... It was like he was finally relieved.
"Thank you Benjamin." he said.
Benjamin sigh and just left like that...
"Are you really going to look for that place? Just base on that drawing?" Riki asked.
We all can't believe what both Benjamin and Han acted but there this part of me saying to give it a go...
"We will never know if she's really there if we don't look." Han explained.
He definitely has a point...
"What? But how can we even find this place? This doesn't look familiar to me at all." Johnny said.
He was Jay's best friend so he knew the place well as much as him.
"What place?" Jay along with William came back after bringing Jake to their room.
"Do you know where we can find a pond? That crazy fortune teller told us that Illa was there." Lia sarcastically said.
The two of them looked confused as to what Lia said but Jay tried to think whether he knew a place like that or not.
"I think there's one... It was at the back of that abandoned house near here but I don't think it looks exactly like this one. That pond was already dried up and was burned long ago so I'm not sure if that's the right place though?" he said.
"It won't hurt if we look right?" Han said as he convinced us.
Some of us agreed but some did not so we decided to split in two groups to search at different places where Illa might be.
Me, Han, Jay, William and Johnny went together to that place that Jay mentioned but he was not really sure about where to go or what route to take.
It was already taking us long as we could not decide which way to go but surprisingly, Han lead the way...
It was as if he knew where to go from the start...
"Wow... Bro how did you know which way to go? We almost gone to that cliff!" Johnny said excitingly as he was really amazed.
Us three was amazed too. How did he even know this place?
"I saw it..." Han said.
He was smiling...
"Where?" William asked.
"In my dreams..." He said as we finally reached the dried up pond.
The place was really beautiful like the ones you see in a fairytale book...
And what makes it more beautiful was because Illa was indeed there...
And she was sleeping peacefully in a field of grass surrounded by beautiful flowers while holding a Lily.
We all wanted to run and hug Illa but weird enough, we could not move. It was as if the time stopped us to do so...
Except for Han...
"Amiya..." he whispered as he started walking towards Illa while crying.
It was the most beautiful yet painful moment I have ever seen in my life...
I don't know why but I just started crying at that scene and it was the same for Jay, William and Johnny.
It was like we were enchanted with what we were witnessing...
Like a magical moment we've never seen and will never see again...
It was as if the sky was blessing us with something we don't know...