HANS
He couldn't breathe. There was no air. He was drowning, but this time there was no surface he could break. He was never going to breathe again.
Hans was gasping as he stumbled out onto the front steps of the Aensen palace. The night was cold and biting, but he was glad for anything to numb the feeling in his body. He felt it. He felt it in his heart.
Kai was gone. Just...gone.
Hans wanted to scream into the empty night. It was as empty as his heart. If it was empty, why did it feel so heavy? Half of him had just been ripped away, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He stilled. He couldn't think. He couldn't feel.
"Hans?" He could hardly tell whose voice it was that called him back. Was it Min? There was a hand on his back, gentle. He couldn't feel it.
He heard footsteps. "What happened?" That was Rika, loud and harsh. "You caused a big scene in there. Where did Vanessa run off to?" There was a pause. Then, "Are you okay? Min, what happened?"
No. He was not okay. There was no okay. He was never going to be okay."
He stared out into the darkness. It was so empty.
"Hans?" Coralie, now. She sat on the steps beside him and took his hand. He knew his hand was cold because hers was so warm. He didn't look at her, just stared out.
He didn't want to feel anything ever again. He didn't want to feel if Kai couldn't feel. He didn't want to live if Kai couldn't live.
Kai was gone. He wasn't just gone; he was dead.
He was never going to open his eyes and get up ever again. He was never going to laugh, or cry, or say dumb things ever again. He was never going to grow up. Never, never, never.
Everything was just dark. There was never going to be light again.
He tasted salt and was aware of tears on his face. He licked them off his lips.
He couldn't imagine a world where Kai didn't exist anymore.
"Hans, just breathe." He wasn't even sure who was talking anymore. "Just breathe, okay?"
He wanted to scream that he couldn't. There was no more air. There was just a cold nothingness, and he was sinking down, down, down. He didn't want to be saved from this. He couldn't be saved from this.
His mind couldn't focus on one thing; there were too many thoughts running through his head, thoughts and memories racing past before he could catch them.
Coralie started to hum. Then she was singing, her hand still clutching Hans's. He closed his eyes, and there was nothing but darkness.
ŞİMDİ OKUDUĞUN
Under the Roses
FantastikTen years ago, one woman led a revolution that ravaged a kingdom and broke apart an empire. The kingdom of Ailthe has long since been abandoned, cities and skeletons buried beneath the rubble and lingering effects of magic. But the mysterious ruins...
