CHAPTER-I THIS IS HOW IT ENDS
The cold wind bit at my skin as I sat on the edge of the cliff, legs dangling over the void. Below me, the town glittered like scattered stars, its streets alive with celebration. Fireworks painted the sky in bursts of red, gold, and violet, their echoes rolling through the hills.
I tightened my grip on the frost-covered rock beneath me, my thoughts tangled and heavy. Another year. Another cycle. The ache in my chest was unbearable tonight, sharper than the winter chill, and I wondered—not for the first time—how it all might end.
"How many more New Year's will I sit here?" I murmured to the darkness, the question swallowed by the wind. "How much longer can I keep going?"
"Hey, you!"
The voice startled me, pulling me out of my thoughts like a stone breaking the surface of a still pond. I turned my head slightly, just enough to see her—a girl standing a few paces behind me. Her hair was a wild mess, half-hidden beneath a knitted hat, and she was holding a pair of heels in one hand, a nearly empty bottle of sake dangling from the other. She was barefoot, her toes red from the cold, and the soft crunch of frost beneath her feet told me she'd been stumbling around for a while.
"Do you know how to get down to the town?" she asked, her voice carrying a strange mix of urgency and carelessness. She swayed a little, squinting at me like she wasn't entirely sure I was real.
"You're barefoot," I said, ignoring her question entirely. It wasn't a statement of concern, just an observation. Who climbs cliffs barefoot in winter?
"No kidding." She wiggled her toes, flashing a lopsided grin that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Heels and cliffs don't mix. Who knew?"
Her laugh was light, almost musical, but it carried an edge of something darker—desperation, maybe. I knew that look, the way her smile faltered when she thought no one was watching. She wasn't just drunk; she was trying to drown something deeper.
"You'll freeze before you make it halfway down," I said, turning my gaze back to the glittering town below. "There's a trail further down the ridge. Safer. You should take that."
"Trail?" She looked around, wobbling slightly on her feet. "Sounds boring. I'll take my chances."
"Suit yourself," I muttered, expecting her to stumble off into the night. Instead, she plopped down on the ground beside me, the frosty grass crunching beneath her as she set her shoes and bottle aside.
"What are you doing?" I asked, more annoyed than curious.
"Taking a break." She hugged her knees to her chest, shivering but clearly pretending not to feel the cold. "That trail you mentioned? Too far. And my feet hurt."
I sighed, glancing at her. "You're drunk."
"Brilliant observation, Sherlock." She grinned again, tilting her head back to look at the fireworks exploding overhead. "So, what's your deal? Sitting out here all alone, looking like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders. Don't tell me you're one of those broody philosopher types."
"I'm not anything," I said flatly, turning my gaze back to the town. I didn't owe her an explanation. I didn't owe anyone anything anymore.
"Hmm." She studied me for a moment, her expression unreadable. "Well, mystery man, thanks for the advice, but I think I'll stay here for a while. The view's nice. And you're not the worst company."
"That makes one of us," I muttered, but she only laughed, a sound that, despite myself, felt oddly warm against the freezing night.
"So," she said, breaking the silence, "what's your name, mystery man?"
"Does it matter?" I replied, keeping my gaze fixed on the town below. I wasn't in the mood for small talk, especially not with a drunk stranger.
"Of course, it matters," she said, poking my arm with a finger. "You've already saved me from not getting lost. The least you could do is tell me who I'm talking to."
I sighed. "It's Ren."
"Ren." She let the name linger in the air as if testing how it felt. "Nice name. I'm Aiko."
"Great," I said dryly, still not looking at her.
She ignored my tone, instead tilting her head to study me. "You're not very talkative, are you? That's okay, though. I can talk enough for both of us."
"I've noticed."
"So, Ren," she continued, "what brings you up here? You don't exactly scream 'New Year's party enthusiast.'"
"I like the quiet," I said simply.
She laughed softly, though there was a sadness in it. "Quiet's overrated. You sit with it too long, and it starts screaming at you."
I glanced at her for the first time, surprised by the weight in her words. She caught my look and shrugged. "Don't mind me. Just a drunk girl rambling on a cliff."
"What about you?" I asked, surprising myself. "What are you doing up here?"
Her grin returned, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Me? Oh, just living out my dream of being the town's biggest idiot. Climbed up here thinking I'd get a better view of the fireworks. Didn't really think about how to get back down."
"Barefoot," I added.
"Barefoot," she agreed, wiggling her toes again. "I'm a disaster, I know. But hey, what's life without a little chaos?"
"Safer," I muttered, but she only laughed.
"Safe is boring," she said. Then her smile faded slightly. "Besides, sometimes it's easier to just... run."
Her words hung in the air, and for a moment, neither of us spoke. The distant sound of fireworks filled the silence between us, the colors reflecting faintly in her eyes. She hugged her knees tighter and looked down at the town below, her playful facade cracking just enough to show the pain underneath.
"Running from what?" I found myself asking.
She turned to me, her grin returning, but this time it felt more like a mask. "Now, that would be telling, wouldn't it?"
I didn't press her. It wasn't my place, and besides, I wasn't exactly in a position to lecture anyone about running away. We sat in silence after that, watching as the last of the fireworks lit up the sky, the new year quietly settling in around us.
"You can't stay up here," I said finally, pushing myself to my feet. "You'll freeze."
"Oh, concerned now, are we?" Aiko teased, looking up at me with that crooked smile. She didn't move, though, her toes curling against the frosty ground.
"I'm not concerned. I just don't want to deal with someone falling off a cliff." I extended a hand to her. "Come on, I'll walk you down."
She stared at my hand for a moment, as if debating whether to take it. Then, with a theatrical sigh, she placed her cold fingers in mine and let me pull her up. "You're surprisingly chivalrous for a broody loner."
"Don't get used to it."
We started down the trail I'd mentioned earlier. It wasn't far, but the uneven ground made it tricky in the dark, especially for someone barefoot and tipsy. I kept a steady pace, glancing back every now and then to make sure she didn't fall behind.
"So," she said, breaking the silence as she wobbled over a patch of loose gravel, "you live around here?"
"Something like that," I replied vaguely.
"Not much of a talker, are you?" She sighed dramatically. "Fine, I'll go first. I just moved here from Tokyo."
"Why would you leave Tokyo for... this?" I asked, gesturing at the sleepy town below.
"Long story," she said, her voice carrying a hint of something she didn't want to share just yet. "Let's just say big city life isn't all it's cracked up to be. I needed a change of pace."
"And you thought climbing cliffs barefoot was the way to do that?"
She laughed, the sound lighter now. "No, genius. I meant moving here, to this tiny little town where everyone seems to know everyone else's business. My parents used to bring me here in the summers when I was a kid. It's different now, though. Quieter. Lonelier."
"Maybe you're just not used to being alone," I said without thinking.
She stopped, and for a moment I thought I'd offended her. But then she smiled faintly, her gaze fixed on the lights below. "Maybe. Or maybe I've just been alone for a long time, even when I wasn't."
Her words struck a chord I hadn't expected. I glanced at her, the carefree mask slipping again, revealing something raw and real beneath it. I knew that feeling too well.
"What about you?" she asked, looking at me curiously. "Why are you up here all alone on New Year's Eve?"
"I like the quiet," I said again, but even I knew it wasn't the whole truth.
"Hmm," she said, as though she didn't believe me but wasn't going to press. "Well, Ren, thanks for saving me from a very embarrassing obituary tonight. I owe you one."
We reached the edge of the town, the trail leveling out into a paved street. She slipped her shoes back on, wincing as her feet adjusted to the cold leather. "I'll see you around?" she asked, her tone casual, but her eyes held a question I couldn't quite place.
I didn't answer, just gave a small nod before turning back toward the cliff. As I walked away, I heard her call out, "Happy New Year, Ren!"
The words lingered in the air long after she was gone.
The streets grew quiet as I walked back toward the hill, the sound of Aiko's voice fading into the night. The cold deepened, the air sharper with every breath. The temple at the top of the hill had always been my refuge—a place where the world seemed to pause, letting me escape my thoughts. But tonight, something felt... different.
The usual sounds of the forest were gone, replaced by an eerie silence that made the hairs on my hands stand on end. I paused, scanning the shadows ahead. Then I saw them—golden eyes gleaming in the darkness, one pair, then two, then more, until the outline of a wolf pack emerged from the trees.
Their growls rumbled low and menacing, vibrating through the still air. My chest tightened as the lead wolf stepped forward, its dark fur blending into the night, and its teeth glinting like shards of ice. They were starving, and I was their prey.
"Not tonight," I muttered under my breath, clenching my fists. My feet shifted slightly, testing the icy ground. Running was pointless—they'd only catch me faster. But standing my ground against a pack wasn't much better.
The first wolf lunged without warning. I jumped to the side, barely avoiding its snapping jaws, but the movement threw me off balance. Another wolf rushed from my left, its claws scraping my leg as I stumbled backward. The growling grew louder, and the pack closed in, its movements coordinated and predatory.
One lunged at me from the front. I could do nothing much and I was on the edge of the cliff. The next attack came too fast. The wolf leaped straight at me, its weight slamming into my chest. My feet slipped. I reached out blindly, grabbing for anything to hold on to, but there was nothing. The cold wind roared in my ears as the ground disappeared beneath me, and I plunged into the darkness below.
For a moment, there was nothing but weightlessness. The stars above blurred, and the pain in my chest dulled under the adrenaline flooding my body. I closed my eyes, letting the cold night swallow me whole.
Then, the ground hit me hard. My body slammed into the earth, pain shooting through every bone, every muscle. My head spun. I tasted blood, filling my mouth as my limbs went limp. My vision blurred, and the world tilted dangerously.
But even as I lay there, broken and barely conscious, I could hear them—the wolves. Their feet pounded against the earth as they descended the cliff, drawn by the scent of blood. The leader of the pack was the first to reach me, its golden eyes gleaming with hunger. Before I could move, it sunk its teeth into my leg, the pain so sharp, so agonizing that it forced a scream from my throat.
The pack followed, tearing at my body, raking their claws, and gnashing their teeth. I could feel every tear as they tore into me, and I couldn't escape. The agony surged through me like fire. It was unbearable, the pain suffocating everything else in my mind. I tried to fight back, but the pain was too much. I feel my body breaking, as though I were being pulled apart piece by piece.
Every breath felt like my last breath. The wolf pack was gone and left my body smashed and covered in blood. I closed my eyes, surrendering to the darkness that was slowly swallowing me whole. The pain, the cold, the sharpness of the night—they all faded, and all I could feel was the quiet...
"This is how it ends," I whispered to myself vomiting blood, my voice barely a breath in cold air. And for the first time in so long, I felt something resembling peace, a release from the endless pain that had defined me. All I could think was the end of my suffering.
XXX