"Don't speak, Savannah. I'll listen to everything you say after we get out of here, okay? Just don't say anything right now." Lucas was terror-stricken from all the blood pooling on the wooden floor; even after wrapping the bedsheet, there was just too much, and Savannah's sudden words only made everything worse.
"Let me see your face, Lucas." Savannah was at tranquility with the situation; however, she only wanted to see Lucas one last time so she could remember him, even in death. Lucas, in a swift motion, took off his face mask, which used to be white but had gotten incredibly dirty in the past few days. He also removed the black baseball cap, causing his hood to fall off his head. Lucas's reddish-brown short hair fell onto his straight eyebrows, and his barely black eyes shone with the tears welling inside them.
Although it was not a crystal clear view of Lucas due to the dim surroundings, she could still see the face of the only person she loved in all her somewhat of a short-lived life, illuminated by the streaming moonlight that flowed from the wide window in the bedroom. She was satisfied with her ending.
"Lucas, promise me..." Savannah willingly pulled her protesting body up and took Lucas in her arms. "You'll live and see all the things I missed out on for me. I'll be watching you, so don't you dare try to come back to me unless you die of old age. You hear me?" Lucas nodded with a tear streaked face and hugged her back. He gently patted her soft hair. He was afraid that his hold might cause her pain, so he held her ever so tenderly.
"I'll always love you, Lucas," Savannah said as her body slowly started to slip from his embrace. Lucas tried his best to collect anything left of her, but her figure had turned into glitter-like dust, which flew away with the wind and became one with the air. He stared at the empty ground, which had only two things: the blood dripping from his own palm, which was suspended in the air, and the tears which were dripping down uncontrollably.
Nova and Kai were watching the scene with a grieving expression from nearby. Xerxes couldn't watch anymore. He turned around, visibly shaking with lost eyes. He beat himself mentally.
What were you saying? You didn't care about whether you lived to see the next day or not, right? So why... why do you always hesitate at the last moment? Coward! Loser!
Xerxes fell to his knees after he felt like he would fall from the lightheadedness.
If only I had been a second earlier... if only I had just gotten right back up and...
Xerxes's spiraling thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his back. He looked back unsteadily. Nova was horrified by the dead-looking face he held. Not a single trace of liveliness.
"Are you hurt badly? Where does it hurt?" Nova worriedly searched for a visible injury, but Xerxes only had internal damage, which was invisible to the naked eye.
"Xerxes!" Kai sniffed and ran to Xerxes's side. He seized the hold of his right-hand pinky finger resting on his left knee. "Xerxes, please don't leave me alone." Kai might have not reacted like a kid, but in truth, he was still a child at heart. He instantly became fearful at the thought of Xerxes being injured and disappearing like Savannah.
Xerxes was confused by them. He didn't know why they were worrying over him. He wasn't even worth their concerns. "I'm fine. Lucas seems to be in more pain. Why don't you both go over to him?" he dispiritedly replied.
Nova and Kai exchanged glares and looked at Lucas, who was stuck in the same position. Only his open hands had turned into fists. Both of them reluctantly left Xerxes alone and went over to Lucas.
Nova wasn't good at comforting. He looked at Kai for a miracle, but he also seemed clueless as to what to do. Kai could only say a few words anxiously, "Lucas, your hand is bleeding a lot."
Nova was also thinking the same. He was already ripping the other end of the bedsheet, which was still somewhat clean, after taking a considerable size. He went to Lucas. "Open your hand so I can bandage it," he requested.
Lucas listened to him without any complaints. He opened the large slit on his palm as his hand slowly opened, the poor hand had such deep cuts on it. Nova was astonished he could still move it around. He didn't have anything to clean the gash, and a great amount of blood was oozing out, so he quickly wrapped it in a somewhat tightly dressing, which immediately became red from white due to heavy bleeding.
Xerxes felt even more useless sitting there, so he dragged his body over to the kitchen to get Lucas a glass of water. At least Bailey and Elise weren't in the living room anymore.
Bailey probably went upstairs to avoid Savannah...
When Xerxes saw her, she already looked ready to run, so it was within expectations. He didn't blame her. She had a baby in her arms to protect.
"Here, drink some water," Xerxes passed the glass of water to Lucas, who was still on the blood-soaked ground. But he was listening and doing whatever they told him to. They moved him to the couch. After drinking the whole glass of water, he sat there in silence. The whole house seemed quiet without Savannah...
No, it was too eerily quiet, which was too strange.
"Where is Bailey and Elise?" Lucas asked.
"I think they went upstairs. I'll go check on them," Xerxes replied as he got up to ascend the stairs. He was also just thinking about going to see their condition.
Xerxes called out to her a few times in the corridor.
"Bailey!"
There was no response to his calling.
No way.
A chilling thought crossed Xerxes's head.
What if one dead wasn't enough?