REANIMATION

[28]

Rain fell from the sky in a decent amount. Personally, it was preferable for no rain to fall, but this was a significant upgrade from the storm that had hit two days ago.

It had been a while since Leafy and Liy had reached the cabin-like house that stood tall and vacant in the middle of the woods. It was fairly decent, despite the unsettling dried blood stain that was splattered across the front porch. Liy half expected the stain to have washed away after the storm, but it stuck on strong. The stain alone gave the impression something not too decent happened around here.

Even with the rain coming down at that very moment, it showed no sign of fading.

"Liy?"

Liy perked up in her seat, eyes traveling toward Leafy who had just entered into the room.

"Good morning," Liy's voice was soft in greeting, "are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Her smile didn't waver.

"Oh, I don't know.." Liy said, "just checking."

"Yeah, I'm fine. And you?"

"...I..." She paused, "I don't know."

Leafy's smile began to falter, "What's wrong?"

"It's the Bracelety thing again," Liy admitted. She had let Leafy in on her concerns after the Barf Bag incident, and Leafy seemed to share the concerns to a certain extent, but she insisted that with no leads, they couldn't check to make sure if she was safe and sound. The conversation ended there, but Liy's worry never subsided. If Leafy had thought about it too, she did a damn good job at hiding it.

Leafy flinched backward from that response, eyes filling with sorrow, "I'm sure she's safe out there, wherever she is."

"I can't rely on blind optimism, Leafy." Liy's words hitched in her throat, "I... I need... ans..wers..."

Leafy seemed conflicted, "I know...! I know... but we can't do anything as we are...! We have no idea where she could be, and I don't want to put you in danger."

"Put me in danger?" Her voice broke under the pain and stress, "She's in danger! I can take care of myself, Bracelety is small and she can't defend herself!!"

"You can defend yourself, but for how long...?" Leafy's once soft and friendly voice was beginning to harden, "Death catches up to everyone."

Liy visibly flinched, tears welling up in her eyes only for them to be wiped away in a moments notice.

That sentence reminded her of what she tried so desperately to forget.

She wasn't gonna live until the end of summer.

Leafy seemed to notice the silence that had followed her statement, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine, I know you didn't." Liy interrupted her. She pushed herself up onto her feet, leaving where she stood and making her way over to Leafy, all the while still making sure to leave a fair distance between the two, "My current state doesn't change a single thing. I still need to try and find her, no matter the costs."

"It doesn't need to cost anything, Liy." Leafy insisted.

Liy paused, feeling her legs tremble beneath her. She had what she wanted to say next laid out clearly in her head.

So why was it so hard to say?

     Her friend noticed her hesitance.

     "Liy...?"