Sa-Rang..
"Where's Sa-Rang?" I asked my father in the morning of her 10th visit. It had just been 7:09 pm and she still hadn't arrived yet.
Father sighed. "I doubt she'll be able to make it today, son." He stared at Mother with a grave look on his face. She looked down and continued eating her scrambled eggs. She wouldn't make eye contact with me. What was going on? Did something happen to Sa-Rang?
Father turned back and faced me again. "Why won't she be coming today?" I asked.
"There seems to be a problem going on in her family." He said uncomfortably. He took a napkin and dabbed it on his mouth. He took a sip of water before fixing his suit. He got up and looked at me.
"Son, her parents recently got divorced. She's having a rough time, I think it's best you give her some space."
Her parents got divorced? But whenever she talked about her parents, she seemed to be happy. She would always smile and start describing all the things they did together with great detail. A divorce didn't make any sense.
"When will she be coming, then?" I asked. I wanted to be prepared so I could comfort her.
"We told her she could come over when she feels better," Mother spoke for the first time today. "And when she arrives, Sang, I don't want you to talk about the matter unless she brings it up first, okay?"
I looked at mother and saw that she was smiling at me. But it didn't seem like a smile at all.
"Yes, mother."
Around two weeks later, she came over for the first time after the divorce. She didn't look any different except the fact that she had dark circles under her eyes.
I smiled at her in an effort to cheer her up. She returned the gesture with a tight hug. She was mostly quiet the whole day. I would draw on my desk and she would watch movies on the screen while she sat on my bed.
"Did your mother tell you?" She questioned.
"Tell me what?" I put my pencil down and looked up at her. She was wearing a pained expression with tears brimming in her eyes.
"She told you, didn't she? About Mom and Dad-" She broke out into a sob. I instantly got up and went to her side. I sat next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She was sobbing into her hands for a solid minute. When she looked up at me, her eyes we're completely red and a new wave of tears were flooding her eyes
"They promised that they wouldn't leave me. That they'd always be there. They lied, They're liars!"
I hugged her from the side. "I won't leave. I'll keep my promise. I'll be there and protect you."
She stared at me for a few seconds before sobbing even harder than before.
.
.
.
.
.
What's going on?
Where am I?
Oh, I was on a walk with Sa-Rang. But why does it feel like I'm laying down?
And where is..
"..Before she could finish her sentence, a dagger pierced her back and came straight through her heart. My eyes widened. She fell forwards to the ground, a smile still on her face."
A dagger? What are these memo-
"Sa-Rang's blood had formed a pool. My Gray hoodie was stained with her blood-"
This never happened! Is this a dream?
"She's on the floor, dead"
This is a dream, this can't be real.
I woke up with a jolt. I couldn't breath, it felt like my lungs were failing. The memories flashed though my mind again and again. Sa-Rang.. she was dead.
I heard screams from somewhere. They were loud, pained.
Who's screams are those?
I felt hot tears go down my face. My throat was hurting a lot.
Father burst through the door and ran to me. "Son! Are you okay?" I didn't have the energy to look up at him. I grabbed my sheets and gripped them with all my might.
Sa-Rang..
"No, no no" I heard someone scream.
"Son, please stop screaming!"
No, no I'm not screaming.
"Sa-Rang! Father, SOMEONE KILLED HER, RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES! SOMEONE KILLED HER! WE-WE NEED TO-" Father interrupted me.
"SON! Are you out of your mind? Who is Sa-Rang?"
What?
I finally looked up at him and saw his expression full of concern. My hands went numb. My shoulders started trembling. I felt a chill run down my spine.
What do you mean, "who is Sa-Rang?"
"Father, I don't have time for this, I need to go to the police-" I attempted to get up but a Father pushed me back. "I'm not letting you anywhere near the police, you aren't stable right now." He said, his grip tightening on my shoulders.
"I'm stable enough, LET ME GO!"
"NO!" he bellowed. "I'M NOT LETTING YOU GO ANYWHERE! YOU START SCREAMING AND CRYING, TELLING ME SOMEOE NAMED SA-RANG HAD DIED, AND NOW YOU NEED TO GO TO THE POLICE OFFICE?!"
I felt anger boil up inside of me. "Father, you KNOW SA-RANG!" I screamed back. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO MARRY HER NEXT YEAR! YOU INTRODUCED US TO EACH OTHER AT THE AGE OF 9, AND NOW SUDDENLY SHE DOESN'T EXIST?!"
I had never shouted at Father, nor had I ever talked back. He stared at me in shock as silence descended between us like a fog in a swamp.
"I'll call a doctor, you just stay right there, you hear me?"
"FATHER-!"
"STAY EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE, SANG KIJA!"
He walked out of the room and locked it from outside. I tried moving, but my limbs wouldn't let me. I tried screaming, but my voice was already hurting. I tried everything, but nothing was working.
"That thing, that thing that killed her.. I'm gonna destroy it. I'm gonna rip it to shreds, destroy every single atom on it's body," I said manically. "I'm going to kill it. Give it the most painful death and carve out it's insides." I vowed to myself. I felt my nails dig into the flesh of my skin as I put my hand in a fist.
Blood flowed generously from my hand, and I lost all the energy in my body. I felt my the back of my head hit the pillow and my eyes started closing on their own. It was then I realized the those grief-filled screams I had been hearing were mine all along.
"Oh, what a pitiful being you are, Sang~"
Where was I? It was pitch black. An endless abyss that stretched for what seemed like forever.
"Sang, are you going to pretend to not hear me?" The voice was strong. So strong I started to cough up something. My ears were ringing.
"Who are you?" I tried to sound intimidating but my voice paled in comparison to the voice in my head.
"Forgive me, it seems as though your still not strong enough to withstand my voice. And I thought the being with the greatest fragment of my old vessel would be stronger than this." The voice chuckled.
Suddenly, about two meters away, a familiar figure with a dagger stood, surrounded by a gray light. It's hood was covering it's face, and the dagger was in it's pocket. It slowly took a withered hand and lifted up it's hood until I could see it's mouth.
"There, is that better?" The figure had a shadow covering it's face, but it's mouth was still visible. It was smiling from ear to ear. The hand suddenly looked smooth and young.
"Now that I've assumed human form, let's talk!" It's voice was light and enthusiastic now, it's overwhelming edge suddenly gone.
Suddenly, I remembered Sa-Rang's lifeless corpse on the floor. He killed her right before she agreed to be with me. He killed her right before she could finish her damn sentence.
"You need to call me by a name, right? You can call me αἰώνιος!"
I stared at the figure with nothing but hatred. Resentment. Rage boiled in the pit of my stomach. I tried moving towards the figure, trying to kill it with every fiber of my being.
This was my fault. It was my fault she's dead. Had I not suppressed my power to Level. 3, I would've been able to protect her. I'm the reason she's dead. I let her die.
I broke the promise. I failed to protect her.
It's my fault she's dead.
Tears started to stream down my face. I need to kill it. Now.
I tried to move, but my limbs were frozen in place. I struggled and fought against the invisible bonds that restricted my movement.
"Oh, wait, what year is it again? I think I gave you my name in Ancient Greek," It said with a flustered smile. "My mistake, I always mix up the era's here on earth."
It smiled even wider, and I got the urge to stab it in it's mouth and kill it right then and there.
Damn these legs.
It spread it's arms and looked at me straight through the hood.
"You can call me Eternal"