_As he spoke, all his words were transcribed onto a letter scroll_
To you; the reader,
The war is probably still raging over there, Master Chen got stabbed and I watched him die, slowly. But you know he wouldn't want us to see him in pain. Never! He never shrieked nor did he cry for help when the sharp blades pierced through his chest, he never did!.
As he dropped to the floor, he had a smile on and I knew those eyes of his would taunt me, forever. I am now a slave to his end, I am now bound to his cruel death.
Who would have thought Jamil could do that to us all? Who? [*Chuckles*]. I do not resent him, Aurelia, I do not. Please, keep protecting him, it was not his fault…it was mine.
I made him into that. He is just a child, a grown up child who had been traumatized, just like us when we were growing up. I hope to see you again Aurelia, I hope to see Marcus and Ulysses too, I miss you all…a lot!
[*Coughs*]... Remember when we stole Master Chen's music box and waltzed together till dawn? Marcus and Ulysses had stood guard for us in case Master Chen came raging at us for stealing his music box. Do you remember the lyrics of the sad song we waltzed to? ...Past lives?
[Sings]...
Past lives couldn't ever come between us
Lost love is sweeter when it's finally found
I've got the strangest feeling
This isn't our first time around
Past lives couldn't ever come between us
Sometimes the dreamers finally wake up
Don't wake me, I'm not dreaming
Don't wake me, I'm not dreaming
Past lives couldn't ever hold me down
Lost love is sweeter when it's finally found
I've got the strangest feeling
This isn't our first time around
Past lives couldn't ever come between us
Sometimes the dreamers finally wake up
Don't wake me, I'm not dreaming
Don't wake me, I'm not dreaming
Past lives couldn't ever hold me down
Lost love is sweeter when it's finally found
I've got the strangest feeling
This isn't our first time around
Past lives couldn't ever come between us
Sometimes the dreamers finally wake up
Don't wake me, I'm not dreaming
Don't wake me, I'm not dreaming
[*Laughs*]. How I wish we could go back to those days…despite the days being filled with prolonged evil, we still managed to scale through.
I had a dream Aurelia, you were not in the future we both had visualized. I was standing all alone in the long field of buckwheat…you were by my side, for a moment, you had held my hand tenderly, you had looked into my eyes like you wanted me to read the words in your eyes, you had pressed a kiss on my lips- funny…that was the first kiss we shared. Then, you spoke;
-'Come back to me, if I cannot be with you in this life, I will look for you in my next life. I will search mountains, swamp in vallies, fight death just to be with you.'-
As you nimbled those words, I felt a torn pierce through my chest and I thought;
-'Ahhh..is she going to leave me all alone? In this vile world? I should be the one saying all these romantic words to you. Aurelia, if I cannot be with you in this life, I will come find you in my next, I will fight with the heavens to be with you!'-
[*Coughs*] In the buckwheat field, you ran, tagging me all along. That moment should have lasted forever, you had let your hair down by yourself-for the first time. Your smile unwavering in the sunset, your hair dancing gracefully as the air swam in. Then I thought,
'I am blessed, I have received favor from the heavens to have been blessed with someone like you!'
And then, the smile left your face and you slowly turned into pixie dust- your touch vanished, your smile vanished, I never wanted to let go of your hand, I never did!
Alas, I realized, it was me. It was me all along. I had left you behind. I had died!
I will not forget you Aurelia, even in my death, I still miss you!
Death might be a sad bone; bruised, you would say and yet you would wait for me year after year. I always knew it, but I failed to overcome it 'Nothing is permanent' even though I left you in the end. Maybe in another life I will have you.
I will pray to the heavens on our behalf; please let us be happy in our next life.
And for the things I am sorry for; I am sorry for leaving you all behind in this endless war, I am sorry I had to leave first, I am sorry for dying…..
[Sings]...
Sometimes the dreamers finally wake up
Don't wake me, I'm not dreaming
Don't wake me, I'm not dreaming
[Sigh]
[*breaths his last breathe*]
***~°~***
_EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO_
_29TH DAY OF THE 2ND MONTH_
_A LEAP YEAR_
Max was plowing the land that was beside his little hut. Jia, his wife, came frequently to check on Max as he worked. Each time she came, she would bring some water and feed it to Max. A little boy was playing with a kite in the yard.
"You shouldn't come out to check on me often, Jia" Max said, his voice laced with genuine concern. "It can be tiring for you and the baby." He added now rubbing his hand against her belly.
He smiled as he touched his unborn child that was still living in his wife's belly. His heart swelled as he could feel the baby kick at his touch.He knelt before her now placing his ear on Jia's belly.
"Be a good boy, Snoke. You cannot disturb your mother's peace. She needs to rest, so do not kick too much."
Jia smiled at his words. She brushed her hands through his hair gently giving it a pat as well. As both were still swerved into a moment of adoration, an uninvited guest announced her arrival by calling out to the boy playing in the yard.
"Austin!" She called as she arrived into the yard.
Max got up from his knees to stop the guest who had just arrived from resorting into a violent outburst.
"Kayla," he called at her as he walked up to where she was standing. "What are you doing here?" he asked, perplexed.
The woman named Kayla did not bother to give him a befitting answer to his question as she continued calling the little boy playing.
"Austin…mama is here!" she called again, her voice tight with desperation.
The little boy- Austin turned at the voice, dropping his kite, he raced towards the woman- Kayla. As he ran towards her, Kayla fell to her knees with her hands wide open, she let him fall into her embrace holding him dearly. She closed her eyes as she savored his smell, she rubbed her fingers through his hair not wanting to let him go. A clear theory that she had missed the little boy.
"Mama." Austin said, his voice barely above a whisper, but Kayla heard him well.
She tried to fight back her tears as she said. "Yes, mama is here."
Max's voice broke through the romantic reunion.
"Why are you here Kayla?" He asked again, with curiosity hinged on every word he said.
Kayla stood to her feet holding Austin's hand firmly. "I am here to get back my son. I cannot let him continue to live with you anymore." She replied, her voice firm.
"Austin is not your son, Kayla." Max began, his voice rising and his eyes blazing with anger. "Have you forgotten how you left him all alone already? You said it yourself you were not his mother. And n-now you just think you can come out of nowhere to get him back? Stop being delusional Kayla. You are a mad woman!"
Max advanced towards Kayla and yanked her hand away from Austin's.
"Stay away from Austin okay?" he added. "Stay away from my son!"
Kayla laughed maniacally at Max's words. "Your son? Give me a big fat break Max. Your child is yet to be born even after all these years. You have been waiting for your son's delivery for two years now and you think you can hide your pain with my son's presence in your life?"
"Shut your mouth Kayla! Do not speak to my husband in such a manner." Jia who had been silent all long warned.
Kayla shot her gaze at Jia in disgust and said; "Are you also in dire thirst to get the joy of motherhood? And you think you can enjoy that privilege with my son around?" She moved forward at Jia and yanked her hair.
Max quickly held Kayla's hand so he could successfully withdraw her grip from his wife's hair.
"Get your filthy hand off my wife!" He yelled at Kayla breaking Jia free from her sharp grip.
As the banter continued, strange hails started to fall from the sky. They all looked up in union and behold, a spaceship like a huge glider was floating in the sky. As it hovered, it made loud mechanical noises in the sky.
As they all stood bewildered by the scene that was unfolding before them, a random door opened in the spaceship like craft. Some ugly deformed figures that had the appearance of a Jackal started to fall freely from the ship.
As the Jackal's fell to the earth in full force, they all sprawled to the ground, their eyes darting about in a quest to search for their prey. The people who resided in that area all started to scream at once, running in contradicting directions.
Aside the space ships that were hovering in the sky, giant crimson red balls began to fall ferociously from the sky creating a crater on the earth they fell into and the balls began to evolve into mutants and more jackals.
The jackals stalked their prey through the tall grasses they had fallen into, their ears pricked and their eyes sharp monitoring the prey they would be advancing at.
The jackals' muscles tensed, their haunches coiled like a spring ready to be released at the same time. In an instant, they were off, running at full speed. The chase was on.
"The apocalypse is...is here!" Max muttered to himself as he watched in ethereal surprise. Darkness loomed across the sky and announcing the grave state humans were in.
A beast's eyes were fixed on its prey as it lurked in the tall grasses, calculating the distance and the best angle of attack. With a sudden burst of speed, the jackal lunged forward, its powerful legs carrying it across the ground in a blur. The prey turned, but it was too late as there were no means of escape from the ferocious beast.
The jackal's teeth sink into its prey's flesh, bringing it down in a tangle of fur and claws. The jackal's powerful jaws close around its prey's throat, cutting off its breath and bringing the chase to an abrupt end. And after consuming the blood from its prey, it started to evolve into something else, something different from his former state. The beast was shapeshifting into…into a human form.
With what they had just witnessed, they need not be warned about what was about to fully unfold. Max quickly grabbed Austin, lifting him off the ground onto his shoulder.
He gently pushed Jia forward towards their little hut. A deformed figure fell to the earth, now separating the three adults from themselves. Kayla was just five feet away from catching up with Max and his running wife when the figure landed.
The mutant screeched, a sign to its other mates that he had seen a human. Kayla ran away from the yard as soon as the mutant landed in front of her. She was equally terrified as the couple were. She kept running diagonally just so she might easily outrun the mutant. As she ran, she kept screaming: "Get away from me you evil beast!"
Max was impatient. He wanted to keep his family safe at all costs, so he ran inside the hut with his wife and Austin. Staying inside the hut alone would not provide enough safety for them as the mutants were much stronger and could rip open the roof of their hut.
Luckily for them, Max had an underground barn inside the hut. He hastily dropped Austin off his shoulder and yanked a mat away from the surface. There on the floor was a wooden door which had a rope tied to it. He opened the closed lid and grabbed Austin who was now in tears calling out to his mother- Kayla.
"Do not worry Austin…I will go get your mother now okay?"
"Mama!" The little boy wailed unrelentlessly.
"Go Jia, go in first!"
Jia nodded obediently and climbed down the ladder into the underground barn. When she was down safely already, Austin was next to climb down though he was reluctant to get into the barn without his mother.
"J-Jia," he stuttered, not sure if he could make it out safely. "Make Austin stop crying so he doesn't attract these beasts. I promise I will be back. I just have to get Kayla in here with us."
Jia aggressively shook her head in disapproval of him going out to find Kayla. She climbed the ladder again to stop Max from leaving.
"No! You cannot choose her over me Max..you cannot leave your child for her." Jia bursted as tears started to creep off her eyes. She lifted up her hand to him and he grabbed her hand. "You cannot leave us Max…you cannot!"
It broke Max seeing his wife cry, the woman he loved so much was breaking down before him and…and
"I promise you Jia…I promise to come back for you and Ashton." He said, kissing her hand softly.
Kayla's scream was heard in the yard once again, the beast that was chasing after her was howling loudly as he chased. Max got up from the floor letting Jia's hand go and with that, Kayla's final scream echoed through the yard making Max stop in his tracks. Jia also gasped as she had missed her footing on the ladder immediately Max let go of her hand.
"Jia!" Max called, finding his way quickly into the barn. He closed the door to the barn and lifted his wife from the ground. Austin had stopped crying by now.
Max held Jia dearly in his arms. She had started to whimper at the impact of her fall and then suddenly, her water broke.
"Max," she called weakly. "Ash-Ashton he is on his way."
And with that, her eyes rolled back in her head as she sank deeper into Max's arm. Her breath became shallow and soon, she wasn't breathing anymore. Her skin turned pale and her hand that was clutched at her swollen belly, as if to hold the life inside her fell by her side to the floor. Was it too late?