Ashvin heard a voice.
Thud…
"I'm sorry… sob… sorry, please! Please!"
Smack…
A young girl, around thirteen or fourteen years old, knelt on the ground, wailing in pain. Her cheeks were bloody red, not just from the imprint of a hand, but because blood was actually spilling out of her cheek.
The perpetrator of this scene was a middle-aged woman. Sarah, their aunt, wore her bitterness like a second skin. She paid little attention to her appearance, letting her hair hang in greasy tangles around her round face. Her body, once youthful and vibrant, had succumbed to the weight of her own neglect, bulging in all the wrong places.
In her lap sat a boy with his torso and head down so he wouldn't obstruct Sarah's view of his sister. He was around seventeen. He looked at the glass shard hidden in his socks, wondering for certain if he should just kill this horrible woman once and for all. But he held back. He knew it wouldn't achieve anything besides him being thrown in jail and custody of his sister being passed to his uncle, who, besides already being abusive, would certainly kill his sister after his wife was killed by Ashvin.
So he dropped that idea and endured, just like he always did, with the hope that someday this nightmare would be over. At least this time, this hope wasn't just an illusion. Or so he hoped. A bitter laugh escaped his lips.
"… huff… ha."
His aunt, seeing this, glared at him with such intensity as if he had killed her dog.
"What boy, huh? What part of this do you find amusing? Do you find your sister being beaten something funny? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Do you know it's a brother's duty to protect his sister? You have disappointed me, Ashvin. You really have no empathy."
Ashvin clenched his fist in frustration but avoided saying anything. He knew the consequences, and he knew he wouldn't be the one paying them if he dared to speak. Instead, it would be his sister.
"He's smiling because he's glad he ain't a gas-lighting bitch like you are," Reine said, giving a middle finger to her aunt with one hand while rubbing her cheeks with the other.
Ashvin smiled at her, which in turn caused her to smile warmly at him.
Sarah did not like it though; she kicked Ashvin on the foot and stood up.
"Very well then, I need my monthly rent paid today, or I'll kick you both out," she stormed out after saying that.
Ashvin glared at her behind her back for a moment, but then shifted his focus to Reine. He walked over to her, helped her sit down on a chair, and started applying antiseptic to her cheek. He always carried some first aid tools in his pocket.
Both of them remained silent for some time.
"I messed up today. Should've just played the role of a silent, meek girl," Reine said softly, "At least that way she would focus on the last ember of her humanity to justify her actions later."
"That would have changed nothing," Ashvin shook his head and then said, "None of that though. I have some good news to share with you."
Reine's eyes reflected hope, and she gave him a questioning look.
****
A young guy was sitting beside a window. His hands were furiously typing something on his laptop. His concentration was so focused on his work that he didn't even hear his teacher calling his name.
"Mr. Ashvin, would you be so kind as to grace us with an explanation of the concept 'Fate Morgana'?" his teacher said mockingly, with a voice of contempt and irritation. Perhaps some arrogance too… Well, he was not wrong. Ashvin certainly had not been paying attention, but that didn't mean that he was wasting time either.
He swung his head back and stood up. He looked at his teacher, who had a strong jaw with highly defined cheekbones. A pair of spectacles on his nose bridge drooped a little too low. His forehead had some worry lines showing his age. He wore a formal suit with a pair of leather shoes and trousers. Even in this hot and humid climate, each button of his jacket was meticulously fastened, adding to the aura of professionalism.
"I am sorry, teacher. I know it was inappropriate of me but…" he glanced down at his computer displaying a website meant for people trying to find a part-time job, and continued, "...this is important for me."
"…Ha, the audacity."
"…Damn, he is gone. Teacher's not gonna let this slide."
He heard some murmuring from behind.
His teacher, however, raised an eyebrow at that statement. He moved forward, coming face to face beside Ashvin, and looked down at his computer, then sighed.
He was about to say something when suddenly, the whole building shook. The ground beneath Ashvin trembled, as if protesting some unseen force. A confused frown appeared on Ashvin's face, still unaware of what was happening, but his protective instincts were screaming at him, to hide, to run away, to pray, and to die.
However, before he could comprehend what was happening, a deep roar emanated from beneath his feet, accompanied by a violent shudder that rippled through the earth. The surface cracked, churned, and somehow started to fall beneath, accompanied by all that was present in the classroom.
Fear coursed through Ashvin's veins as he started falling downwards, the air rushing past him with a deafening roar. Every sense was overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of the moment - the smell of earth and dust, the taste of adrenaline on his tongue, the cacophony of his racing heartbeat drowning out all other sound.
"Is this how I will die?" his eyes started tearing up with the thought. He still had to support his sister. She would be waiting for him. 'If I didn't make it in time, then Aunt won't forgive her.' He thought as he reminisced the horrors she had inflicted upon him. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he let her do the same to his sister.
His heartbeat started to rhythm faster and faster, fear and anger rushing to his head and for one intoxicating moment, Ashvin thought he could tear the skin of this world and make it bleed through its fringes.
Alas! As fast as that feeling came, even faster was his death upon his head.