The sound of metal swings screeching back and forth slowly along with the movement of Neil's feet. He looked down at his gray pants, which were torn at the left knee, and dried blood stained his pants with small spots.
Neil sighed, he looked up at the sky that lost the stars above his head. There was only a glowing crescent moon up there. His hand rose to touch his cold neck and felt there which Neil thought was the same crescent mark.
Neil's heart skipped a beat as his swing creaked. A gust of wind came suddenly caressing the smooth surface of Neil's skin which was even covered by his clothes. Clothes felt completely useless to block the night wind that pierced every inch of his skin.
He stayed up late at night like this in a small park that Neil came across during his random trip. Until Neil's legs felt numb from the distance and time he was doing non-stop for no purpose.
Through the black night sky spread out in front of Neil, he conveyed the longing for his father that Neil could not convey in words. With a gentle gust of the night wind that blew a few leaves, Neil left his longing for Skylar, whom Neil had never met as a twin. At a minute like this, Neil missed all of them, who were involved in the landscape of Neil's life that he remembered in his head.
Neil can't be selfish by accepting offers from people who persuade and seduce him to return to the real world and don't just give up on circumstances, because more than that Neil can't live up to their expectations of him. Neil also didn't want to pin people's hopes on him, which sounded more like impossible. He also didn't want to embarrass Father and Skylar sooner or later with what he had done which people would surely know.
Neil doesn't want to blame fate. The life that Neil lives now is a choice. He could have gotten to this point for sure because the choice Neil made was a mistake he chose with origin and eyes closed. So, Neil didn't want what he was going to do now that it would affect him in the future.
Neil took a deep breath of the fresh night air until it filled every gap in his chest cavity. Until he was startled by the sudden creak of another swing beside him, Neil immediately looked over there and his brown eyes immediately widened when he saw Skylar's figure swinging slowly with a straight-ahead gaze.
Neil turned his gaze back to the expanse of the sky which was now surrounded by thick clouds that covered the faint moonlight. He leaned his head on the rope that tied the swing body, still faithfully looking up at the sky with the wind slowly blowing and playing with a few strands of his hair.
Neil's eyes closed as his heartbeat-like scales filled his ears and his breathing steady. The faint sound of the wind crackling rumbled in Neil's ears, making him feel every nerve to relax.
Skylar and Neil were silent in comfortable silence and their own thoughts. It was as if a weight had been lifted from Neil's shoulders as he blended in with the soothing sounds of nature. He never knew that looking up at the night sky and being accompanied by the glowing moon above would make Neil so calm and as if he had returned to being himself who had never known the cruelty of the universe.
Through the expanse of the dark night that overshadowed him, Neil knew that he was not alone. Even though Sain left him in the midst of the pain that bound his body without leaving a word for him, Neil was never alone because there was himself who always accompanied him at all times. No one will be able to help Neil when people turn their back on him but himself.
"You're not coming home?" A deep voice came from Skylar who was sitting far away from him, the squeaking stopped, but Neil still reluctantly opened his eyes. He was still too comfortable in his current position, that he was afraid he would miss this moment the next time he opened his eyes.
Neil chose silence with a rhetorical question that escaped Skylar's lips. To him, this was all clear without Neil reminding Skylar back.
"You really didn't come back home?" Skylar asked again. It made Neil's brow furrow as his eyes closed. He was because he was confused by Skylar's behavior that seemed to care about him before he had sometimes been bad to him. Neil knew that people here couldn't be too trusted with what they said. One question swirled inside Neil's head.
What does he want?
Neil once again chose to lock his lips tightly, he moved his legs to straighten. Neil this time opened his eyes, but he didn't have to bother looking at Skylar by his side, he preferred to look up at the other sky he was addicted to tonight.
"Sain is looking for you." The name Skylar had called made Neil tense up uncomfortably which had only disrupted the calm tonight that Neil had been fond of since the minutes had passed. Why did Skylar bring Sain into this awkward conversation? Neil now doesn't want to talk about it, he still has a feeling of disappointment piling up. Even though Neil has always wanted to come to Sain and apologize for anything he didn't do.
Neil is still stubborn to open his voice. He didn't know why and why did Skylar come here and find himself in this place?
Why didn't Skylar let himself calm down for a while?
"You have to go home," Skylar spoke in a tone that Neil didn't like him to hear at all.
Neil felt anger gather for him to spit out. His stomach churned with nausea that was about to burst through his throat. He got to his feet and started walking leaving Skylar behind him.
It wasn't long before Neil walked, his steps stopped when Skylar called out to him again. "Where are you going?"
Neil's breath thundered into his ears. He turned around and came face to face with Skylar who was standing steadily. "Why do you care? Do you remember? I was kicked out of the house without a defense, why would I go there and everywhere I go I'm sure it's none of your business. Stay away from me."
After saying that Neil breathlessly walked quickly away from Skylar who was afraid to follow Neil behind him.
Neil gets confused about where he should go after this. Skylar messes up the cozy place he's found. Neil doubts he will find him again.
layman continued to walk, ignoring his legs which were getting more and more painful, this was a foreign world for him. Even in the real world, Neil had never run randomly so far. Since childhood, he always locked himself in the housebound by reading materials from the books that his father bought for him.
He spent junior high school at home with a private tutor. It was Neil's choice. Raihan had persuaded him several times, but Neil flatly refused. Somehow he couldn't do it because Neil felt he didn't want to meet people. He had stayed away from everyone for years and Neil still felt that way again.
Neil stopped in front of a small closed shop, obviously, it was closed at midnight and one shouldn't be hanging around in the middle of the night like this.
Neil leaned his body against the wall and sighed tiredly, his legs stretched out straight ahead. He had walked this far from home, he had avoided everyone.
Now he's back on his own.
With the moon and the sky is dark again. Neil is actually a little afraid to face the world he is currently exploring, remembering how bad experiences happened in the middle of a deserted school alley. Not that Neil hoped it would happen again.
Neil reached into his trouser pocket and pulled a black cell phone out of it. It had been several hours since Neil had forgotten about this thing and ignored the incoming messages from there.
Neil slowly opened the message which was full of messages Faiz and Michelia had sent. Neil's slender fingers slid up with his sharp eyes watching and searching for a name that Neil expected to be in the row listed there.
However, it actually made Neil sigh harshly. He should have guessed about this, that Sain didn't care about him.
Maybe Faiz was right that Sain didn't care about him and was taking advantage of Neil, but deep down in Neil's heart, he believed that Sain had a reason to do all of this no matter how hard Neil was against it.
Neil heard footsteps coming toward him, it made Neil shudder in his seat. Neil was just afraid that his nightmare when he arrived here would come true. Neil wouldn't give up on it and at least he was prepared to face it.
Neil looked down and saw a pair of legs already in front of him. He looked up and instantly his eyes widened, feeling like he wanted to run away from here or the ground drowned him.
Neil's jaw hardened and it was as if the blood had drained from his face. He shut his lips tightly and bit the inside of his cheek, Neil also inched closer to the wall.
Sain stood towering in front of him with a straight face that Neil knew only anger flashed and stuck there permanently.'s hands Sain crossed looking at Neil with black eyes glistening in the light of the street lamp which Neil was sure they were staring at him more intensely than Neil could bear.
"Neil, want to stay away from me again?"
Neil's brows furrowed in disbelief at what Sain had said to him. Neil's pupils dilated and terror and fear flashed across his colorless face.
"You left me, Riksa. I thought you cared about me." Neil said with his body shaking, he bit his lip reluctantly as a sob escaped his lips.
Sain didn't say anything in front of him. So, Neil continued, "Are you just using me, Riksa? Am I just your toy? Are you going to torture me again, Riksa?"