Prologue

The darkness of the night envelops the entire town as the sun went down and there he saw his parents dead on the floor. He screams in agony while holding the medallion the girl gave her. The entire living room is shrouded in blood, he saw nothing but pain and anguish. The grandfather clock was stuck on 12 and the bell keeps on ringing, and every single ring stings his head. The Midnight Channel was off for today and the static from the television hurts his ear even more as if his sense of hearing is heightened. He held the medallion tightly as that was the only thing that gave him comfort. He was crying and waiting for someone to pull him out of this crestfallen reality.

It was the summer of 2009, The 5-year-old Liam Clarke eventually woke up to his bedroom, beside him is an alarm clock that's been ringing for the past 2 minutes. "What a terrible dream," he said to himself. From outside the room, he can hear his mother calling him.

"Liam! Breakfast's ready!"

"Coming!" Liam called back. He walked down the wooden stairs and saw his father adjusting his tie in front of the mirror, his mother in the kitchen was doing the dishes. called back. He walks down the wooden stairs and saw his father adjusting his tie in front of the mirror, his mother in the kitchen was doing the dishes.

Liam's father looked towards the clock, looking a bit confused. "Has the clock always been like that?" his father asked.

"I think it's just today, it's a shame; the thing's brand new as well."

"I thought it was passed down."

"It is, but I had some of the parts replaced. Oh Liam – come here sweetie, we're gonna have a little chat," his mother said.

"What's wrong?" asked Liam.

"Your mother and I are going out to town, we'll be leaving you with Edith's family as usual," his father said.

"This is her last day after all, so be sure to give her a proper farewell," his mother added.

"I know," Liam said wistfully.

"Now finish your breakfast, Edith said she'd come later in the morning so better get ready," his father said.

"Yes, Father."

"Good, now don't stray too far off, okay? It's not safe for a 5-year-old to be playing that deep in the woods," ordered his father.

"But we found a big abandoned house the other day! And we even get to take some—"

"Then you fell down a hole and Edith called the house for you," his mother said.

"Well yeah, but we had fun," Liam said.

"Sweetie it's okay to have fun, just be safe okay?" his mother kindly asked.

"Okay." Liam said in a polite and apologetical tone. Just after that, the door rang twice.

"Oh she's quite early, could've sworn that she said she'd come at 10. Open the door for her, will ya lad?" his father asked.

Liam got off his chair and walks towards the door. He opened it slowly and just enough for him to peek through the small gap. It was indeed Edith. He then fully opened it and saw Edith in her usual casual outfit. Edith was Liam's childhood friend, even though they just met this summer, as close as ones who had been friends for years. She's a bit taller than Liam and they're both at around the same age as each other. She was as beautiful as ever, Liam thought to himself. He then wondered why she was so early. He decided to ask her.

"Uhm, morni—"

"Morning! Oh, am I too early today?" Edith cuts him off before he could ask the question.

"That's okay, just let Liam get ready for a few yeah?" his father replied to Edith.

"Okay! Oh sorry! Were you about to say something?" Edith asked.

"Oh, uhm — nothing. I'll go get ready," entranced by Edith's looks, he stuttered a few of his words.

Liam rushes upstairs to his room, and he slams the door behind him. Sweat runs down his forehead "What's up with her?! She looks prettier today?!" He hurried to his closet looking for the best clothes that would deem fit for their last day together. He then chooses what he thought was the best one, a plain white T-shirt with a tiny logo of their favourite cartoon in the upper left side of the T-shirt and a pair of dark blue trousers. He then went downstairs to meet with Edith and said, "Let's go."

"Yeah!" Edith nods and heads off with Liam. For their last day, they explored a lot more of the countryside, they went fishing in the nearby lake, ate lunch at the shopping district and went on a hike. Liam was having fun, but not only that, he also admired Edith's beauty and he can't have his feelings bottled up anymore. They're both having the time of their lives, and are planning to spend their last time together to the fullest.

And not so long after, it was already nightfall. Liam's preparing to say his goodbyes and turns to Edith "Hey, Edith. Thanks for the times we've played together, and I'm glad that we met" Liam said thankfully, "but before we part I want to tell you something," Liam continued.

"What do you mean? We have tons of more stuff to do! I have one more thing planned," Edith said.

"But my mother would worry, I promised her to be back before sunset," Liam replied.

"Oh come on, I already planned everything out! It's my last day so your parents might let you get away with it," Edith begged.

Liam planned to tell his feelings right before she leaves, but he agreed nevertheless, "Okay I'll go. Where do you wanna go?" Liam asked.

"Yay! Then let's go!" Edith took him by the hand and started dragging him.

"Whoa! Wait!" Liam was surprised and flustered at the same time. But even then, he didn't have the time to do so as he was admiring the beautiful, starry night sky that illuminated their path. Edith's hair was flocking, following the direction of the wind as if it was one of the waves on the sea of the cold breeze. He can't help but feel thankful to God that put her fate beside his. As soon as he realised he was thinking about Edith, he got flustered for a bit, but he didn't mind as she dragged him to her destination.

The place that Edith was talking about was a remote hill that overlooks most of the forest and Windsor Town. "Hey, let's sit over there," Edith said while pointing at the mat that she already prepared. Both of them sat on the mat, and he gazes the beautiful view that's in front of them. "So what do you think? Do you like it?" Edith asked. Liam was so much in awe, the hill gave such an alluring view of the entire town, the forest beside it, and the starry sky. He was looking at the view too much, he didn't even notice Edith asking. "I guess I'll take that as a yes then."

Liam finally noticed Edith and asked, "Where did you fin– How do you know this place?" His voice stuttered a little.

"My grandmother took me here once, she said it's the place where my grandfather proposes to her," Edith then pauses for a moment to admire the view.

"So Edith, I want to tell you something–"

Edith then interrupts Liam, "She told me to bring someone special, if I had one that is."

"Wait, does that mean– " Liam asked. Although he was confused, he felt a small jolt of happiness.

"Yes, you're the one that's special to me," Edith said truthfully like it was from the bottom of her heart, it was purely sincere. Liam's face went bright red as a beet, and he couldn't think of anything to say to her. "And I've been wanting to tell you that I'm in love with you." Edith continued her confession.

Happiness was coursing throughout Liam's body when he heard those words came out of Edith's mouth. He wanted to get the upper hand by confessing to her first, but in the end, Edith was the one that came out on top. At this point, he felt happiness and admires the lengths that Edith went through just to express her feelings to him. He felt blessed that he fell in love with Edith, and goes on to speak his mind, "I feel the same way."

Edith was extremely happy, she smiled and said, "I'm glad that you do," she then takes something out of her pocket and gave it to Liam. It was a medallion– two actually– one for Liam and one for herself. Liam took the medallion and gave a closer look. The medallion that she gave him is extremely similar to Edith's with the only difference being the colour of the outline, Liam's medallion was blue and Edith's was a pink-red. "Here, take a look at this," Edith said while taking his medallion. She lined up both of them and put it under the moonlight. The combined medallions revealed an image of a dove. "If we ever meet each other again, we can still recognise each other using this," Edith then gave it back.

"Thank you, Edith, I'll promise you that we'll meet again," Liam assured her.

"You better keep it okay?" Edith looks him down in the eye, then she took a step back and looked up to the sky, "Even though we'll be miles apart, I am certain that we'll meet again. I can feel it, so make sure you don't forget it!"

Liam smiles and sighs, "Don't worry, I don't think I'll ever forget about a person like you,"

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Edith pouts all the while looking at Liam's face. She then smiles and turns around. "Okay, I'll believe in you. How about we call it a day for now?"

Liam then went back to the mat and sat down. "Can we just stay a little while?"

"Okay then." Edith sat down beside Liam, and she rests her head on Liam's shoulders. The night went by as the stars were shining down, the chill breeze of the forest blew both of them gently; the distant noise of the nearby crickets were all a delight. The calm atmosphere the hill gave, harmoniously blended with the warmth that Edith gave. In the end, both of them cherished their last day happily. It was getting late and Liam walked Edith back home.

Liam went home after walking Edith back. He felt sad, yet satisfied at the same time. His entire summer was spent with Edith and professed his love for her. He thought to himself that he can't have a better summer, even though it ended in their separation, he was determined to keep his end of the promise and find her again in the future.

He arrived back home, getting ready to be scolded by his parents. As he walked along the front porch, he noticed that the gate's lock was broken, it looks like it was forced open but never once did the thought cross his mind. He walked towards the door and opened it gently. He took a look inside his house and found out that most of the lights were turned off, even though it's almost midnight.

He stepped inside and calls out for his parents, "Mum? Dad?" But no one answered, the only thing that was somewhat audible was the static noise of the TV coming from the living room. He then walked further towards the living room hall where he sees both of his parents sitting idly on the sofa. He looked down on his feet as guilt surges in his entire body, "Mum! Dad! I'm sorry for being too late, it's just that Edith asked me to go out," but they didn't respond. "Uhm... Mum? Dad?" Feeling confused, he ran to them, circling the sofa to face them directly.

It was just like his dream, his parents lying on the sofa lifeless. "Mom! Dad!" He shakes his parent's lifeless body, begging for them to wake up. "Wake up! Please!" as soon as he got closer to them, he noticed that their face was all red. Liam then stopped and stepped back. "No, it's a lie, it can't be like this," both of his legs are trembling and eventually gave on him. Tears started dripping down his cheeks, "It can't be." It's past midnight, the static of the TV and the chimes of the grandfather clock was all that he could hear. It was like an endless nightmare, a long and painful nightmare. He crawled up into a ball, put his hands over his hear, he only has one thing in his mind: STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT. Sick of the reality that brought him, he's begging for someone to save him from this wretched, ugly truth.