If only....

"Mael… What… Have you done?" Broken and husk was the voice that echoed through the stillness of the alleyway.

Patter-patter

Pitter-Patter

Drip-Drop

Gone was the overwhelming downpour that once bathed the earth, in its place an incessant eerie, yet calming drip-drop against the cobblestone.

Kelt before an isolated path of an alleyway, her blue eyes glittering like diamonds with shed tears, was a girl, a young girl at that, her clothes drenched with rain, her long black hair, sticking to her back and face as she took in the scene before her.

It was…. A massacre

Spread out before her were the lifeless bodies, or rather, corpses of those she once knew.

Spawled in the pool of their own blood.

But….

…. This was not what horrified her the most.

…. It was the scene preceding that.

Right there, beyond the scattered corpses, was a young boy, barely fourteen, his blue eyes fixed on the limp body of the young boy in his grasp, his grip vice-like, clutched onto the young boy's collar, who at this point appeared lifeless.

The young boy in question was a bloodied mess, his nose twisted in a way that shouldn't even be possible, his lips swollen and broken as blood dripped down his chin, his face? a canvas of blood and snort, and so appeared his once flaxen hair which was now dyed with the red of his own blood.

Thud!

The young boy who she referred to as Mael, spun, and as he released his grip on the lifeless body, his raven black hair fluttering in the wind, and his blue eyes narrowed slightly.

He gazed at the girl before him who appeared lost, tears flowing through an isolated path down her cheeks even with her drenched face, his squinted slightly before his lips parted, "Why do you appear so….. sad?" he wondered out his thoughts, his head tilting ever so slightly as he wiped his bloodied hands on his drenched shirt.

"Can't you see what you have done?!" She cried even more, regretting the decision she made.

If only she hadn't been impatient.

If only she hadn't gotten so jealous just because another girl kept clinging to him.

If only hadn't gotten so… desperate.

Perhaps if only…..

Then… It wouldn't have gotten to this point.

He…. Wouldn't have lost himself trying to 'protect' her!

"But, they tried to harm you, isn't it logical I did the same to them?" he asked again, this time appearing a bit confused.

If only that were true then, perhaps….

… She wouldn't feel this overwhelming guilt she felt.

 "I am so sorry mael…. I didn't mean for it to end this way, I only wanted my love reciprocated…" crying she staggered towards him, tripping over the bodies scattered about, desperate to reach him.

Unlike the emotionless young boy, she knew the gravity of the situation.

…. Taking someone's life?

She knew he would never be free.

He was bound to be taken away from her.

And that… made her heart bleed even more.

 "What do you mean? Weren't they… trying to violate you?" frowning in confusion, he tilted his head even more as she now held his hands in hers

"I…. I am so s-sorry" was all she could offer and before the young boy could retort, he felt his body reacting strangely.

He looked at his hands and found her injecting something into him.

"Huh? Selene, What are you….?" He muttered, but before he could even process the situation, he collapsed, the last thing he saw was a slender hand placed on his cheek.

"I will always love you, Sam…. Even if you never will," he heard and darkness claimed him.

He had no idea why.

But…

He felt something….

It was so strange…

Was this... Pain?

---

The darkness was endless. It swallowed everything in its path, a void so deep and profound that it felt as though even the concept of light could not exist within it.

And in that void, a scene unfolded.

A boy stood there—his hair as white as freshly fallen snow, his amethyst eyes hollow and vacant. He didn't move, didn't speak. He was a statue, trapped in place, unable to resist the nightmare that surrounded him.

Before him loomed an abomination.

The creature had no true form, only an endless mass of writhing appendages that reshaped themselves with each passing moment. Its presence was suffocating, malevolent. Its countless tendrils reached out, wrapping around the boy's arms and legs, fastening him in place. He was nothing more than a mannequin in the creature's grotesque game.

The boy, once full of life, now stared blankly at his impending doom. The creature's gaping maw opened, rows upon rows of jagged teeth forming a vortex that led to a place far beyond comprehension. 

It was going to devour him.

And he... could do nothing to stop it.

Fwoosh!

Suddenly, the darkness was pierced by a brilliant light. The entire cave seemed to tremble as a figure emerged from the shadows, its presence commanding.

"Stay your hands away from my prey, you foul creature!"

The voice was sharp, filled with venom. And with it, the abomination was torn apart, reduced to a grotesque mass of flesh.

"Finally," the figure sneered, standing over the boy's limp form.