The rain rained hard, soaking the dark street in a chilling, suffocating mist. Cassian's legs burned with every step, but he kept running. His breath came in ragged gasps, mixed with the noise of rain hitting the cracked pavement under his feet. It was an odd street ghostly, washed-out building towering to the sides, a maze with no end in sight. But that didn't matter. Nothing did anymore.

They were gone.

It made him realize that his parents, who had been present for all of it, had actually opted for death rather than the thought that tortured their minds. Over him. The truth hurt as much as a punch to the guts. No running would make it less. It hollowed him out, an empty feeling that left him adrift, just like a boat tossed about in a storm with no shore in view.

Lightning crackled through the sky, casting a momentary glow upon the world around him, now empty. The street glistened wet and treacherous, but Cassian didn't slow. He had to keep moving—keep running from what had just happened.

'Why?'

The question echoed louder than the rain. He could hear their voices in his head: his father's heavy resignation, his mother's strained whisper. The world had broken them, and they chose to leave him behind to face it alone.

Tears mixed with the rain as he clumsily walked forward, the squelch of his shoes sucking up into a puddle. His eyes clouded over, but it wasn't because he was too tired. The storm raging inside him had let loose in full fury. How could they? How could they just walk out on him like that?

He crashed into the wall; his body gave in at last. Back bent, yielding to the ground, Cassian pulled his knees toward his chest, shivering with cold and with grief. The rain pounded on, giving no heed to his pain, as if taunting the boy who had lost everything.

Above him, the sky rumbled ominously, a fitting mirror to the turmoil in his heart. He clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms as he let out a broken sob, one that seemed to echo through the empty street.

'I wasn't enough for them.'

The thought tore through him, raw and unforgiving. Cassian wanted to scream, to curse the world for taking his parents and for leaving him in this storm. But all that came out was a whisper, barely audible over the rain.

'I'm still here.'