After listening to Brenda's story, Sylph went into thoughts.
"T-that thing is hideous. But it's still not an excuse to leave Alice to die like that. I'm just as hideous as it." She wept.
"No you're not. If I was in your shoes, I'll do the same if not even worse. I'm sure Alice is glad that you were able to preserve your life and besides, there was nothing you could do," she said somewhat truthfully.
Brenda didn't still believe that her action was justified by that.
She was the one who made Alice to leave her house and come to hers. She was the reason they ended up in that part of the neighborhood. She was the reason why they went into the karaoke bar and she was still the reason why they left at that time due to her pestering Alice to sing.
In short, everything was her fault.
If she had listened to Alice on multiple occasions they would both be alive. And when the threat arrived, she couldn't protect her friend and the only thing she could do was to run away.
"I don't deserve to live. But neither does that abyssal. We can't let it stay alive, " she spat in a low venomous voice.
Pure hate.
This was what she felt for the abyssal now that she finally got to open up to someone. All her fear had been multiplied three times and converted into anger and hatred, for herself and the abyssal.
"We'll handle it." Sylph stood up and walked towards the open window.
"Let me help you, there must be a way I can," she proposed while standing up in determination.
"No! You're useless if it comes to that. Like you said, it's not a job for a human, much less a regular citizen."
Brenda gritted her teeth and folded her fist when she heard this.
"I believe there is something almost as important that you have to do," said Sylph as she floated out of the window.
Brenda stared awestruck at Sylph as she left, and after this happened, her last words registered in Brenda's mind, causing her expression to change into sadness and doubt.
She knew what Sylph meant and that was something she had been avoiding.
She was aware that she would sooner or later confess everything that had happened to both her parents and that of Alice.
"I have to do this." She encouraged herself and steeled her resolve.
******************************
Two hours later,
Brenda heard a knock on her door.
"Honey! It's time for dinner," her mum called out.
She took several deep breaths before walking out of her room to the dining room.
When she got there, her mother had already served the dishes and her father was eating
She took a seat and slowly began to eat, but realizing that she didn't have any appetite, she dropped the fork and just stared at the food.
Her mother joined them shortly and she immediately noticed Brenda's odd behavior.
If she didn't know her daughter so well she would've believed that she was just acting up, but she noticed the look in her eyes, which was much more complicated than that and now she realized that she might've been overlooking things.
"Brenda honey, is everything alright?" She asked in pure worry.
Brenda looked up to meet her mother's gaze as tears began forming in her eyes.
Her father who had enough of his daughter's attitude and behavior was about to snap at her silence but her mother gave him a signal with her eyes which he noticed and calmed down.
A sigh escaped his lips before voicing out, "Dear, if there's anything you want to tell us, we are all ears."
She fell into contemplation as doubts began to surface. 'What are you doing Brenda? You have to tell them.'
She took in a deep breath before saying in a slightly shaky voice. "Mum, Dad, there's something really important I have to tell you."
By the tone of her voice, her mother was beginning to get really worried and nervous as she didn't like the last news Brenda broke to them using this tone, but she tried her best to hide it as not to discourage her daughter from spilling it out.
"Go on dear, we're listening."
After some seconds of silence she began telling them everything that had happened one week ago with her best friend.
During the 12 minutes of narration, her parent's expression went through several changes and now that she was done, she didn't know what they were thinking as their faces displayed mixed and complicated expressions.
They stayed in silence for two whole minutes which seemed like the longest two minutes of Brenda's life.
She waited for what they would say next in anxiety which she felt could kill her before she sees the abyssal dead.
Her parents on the other hand had many things to say but didn't know where to start from.
Even though deep down they were glad that their daughter had ended up safe, someone else's daughter, a family and girl they knew had ended up dead and in a sense it was partially their daughter's fault.
Her mother finally spoke out weakly, "I can't believe this. We have to go to Alice's family."
"Are you alright darling," he said in worry to his wife who seemed like she was just one step away from fainting.
He loved and became overprotective of his family even more after they had all survived the meteor apocalypse and won't think twice about killing anyone who did any harm to his wife and daughter, but now he just heard that his daughter was involved with the death of her best friend and she had hidden this for a week. He didn't just know what to think.
"I'm alright its just..." She couldn't finish her statement and rested her head on the dining table.
She felt like screaming and scolding her daughter but this was something beyond that, it was death they were talking about here.
Besides, she couldn't make things worse for her daughter as she wondered how much pain she must've been feeling while carrying this alone all this time for a week. She even wondered how her daughter didn't become completely broken. This wasn't something anyone could do.
In a sense she failed in her responsibility as a mother for not noticing this quickly.
She raised her head to stare at her daughter who had her head hung down.
"Honey, why didn't you tell us about this? Do you know what this means or how important it is? Alice's mother came to ask about the whereabouts of her daughter and we told her that she never came here and now you're telling us all this!" She tried to control her emotions but the more she spoke the harder it became.
"I'm sorry mum, I just couldn't. Please forgive me, I never wanted this to happen," she sobbed.
"I know that dear, but this has gotten really complicated." Her father didn't know how things would end up. He could only hope that Alice parents would be reasonable people.
"I'm willing to receive any type of punishment after the abyssal is erased from this world, " she declared as her parents were surprised by the killing intent in her voice.
"Just stop talking like that. We need to visit Alice's family and tell this to them," her mother voiced out.
"Are you sure about that darling? You don't look mentally strong enough," her husband said in worry.
"If we don't do this, I won't be able to sleep tonight. We need to leave now." She wondered if Brenda had gotten any sleep since then. "Brenda, it might seem difficult but we have to do this, I hope you understand?"
Brenda nodded weakly in response.
"Then go get dressed."
Brenda excused herself before walking out of the dining room.
*****************************
40 minutes later,
Brenda and her parents were standing in front of a house. Her mother knocked on the door and after some time it was answered by a woman with long brown hair.
The woman who opened the door was slightly surprised by the faces she was seeing. Even though she didn't associate much with Brenda's parents especially her father, she could recognize them. She also noticed Brenda who she hadn't seen since her daughter's incident.
Truthfully, she had expected them to visit much sooner.
"Grace, how have you been?" Brenda's mother asked in worry.
"Nancy, I think that's very obvious." Anyone who looked at her face would know that she had been crying for a long time, and Nancy felt guilty about this.
"Please, come in." She gestured as they all walked into the house.
Seeing some of Alice's pictures hanging on the wall, Brenda felt enormous guilt and regret. She couldn't even take another glance at them.
Grace's husband was already seated in the living room so he stood up to greet the family.
After they were all seated, Grace offered to bring them something but they refused.
"There's something we need to tell you," Nancy voiced out, as Grace sat down.
"Is there a problem?"
Nancy looked at Brenda who was slightly fidgeting before bringing her gaze back to Grace.
"Yes, It's about Alice."
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Make sure to read author's thoughts