Into The Vale of Shadows // Max Mayfield

II; xvii. the battle of starcourt

chapter seventeen
the battle of starcourt

     DEATH IS WHAT motivates us to achieve our goals, our dreams, it's the only thing making us want to live. Death is the last stage of life, every form of organisms that has life comes to this kind of end. Though it's normal, it's where we're all going, it still is mournful, a bit scary to think of, and lonely and dreadful when it happens to someone dear to you.

     Having death happen before you feels surreal. Raven remained just beside, close to Allie, waiting, hoping that she'd gasp for air and flutter her eyes open, and look back at her once again. But there was nothing, no matter how long she waited, no matter how many times she tried to feel for some kind of sign of life in the woman's body. Nothing. Nothing. Just this deafening silence that was filled with her own miserable sobs. It was just her. No Allie, just her.

     Raven buried her face on the crook of the limp woman's neck, hugging Allie close to her. Raven felt the woman's warmth slowly fade into coldness, it had saddened her much worse. She whispered, called several times for the nurse's name. She expected the sweet soothing voice that would always ask her if she was all right, or if she needed anything. But then nothing came. Nothing. Nothing. Just her own sobs.

     She still found it hard to accept. Her mind was not registering the fact that Allie won't come back, that she was forever gone. She just can't digest the information. So everytime she would feel the woman's death just beneath her arms, she'd be sent into this grieving pit that she can't seem to escape from. It seems as though she'd come back to this feeling over and over.

     Every memory with Allie came flooding back into her like some kind of tsunami, destroying every structure she'd worked hard to build, every part of this wall she'd carefully constructed to block out this emotions from coming in, it all came to her. Like a natural fucking disaster. All came at once that it's too hard to handle, it became too hard for her to control, it has taken over. It was great Gorgon was there to help her through, to ease some of this heaviness within her.

     Raven felt this anger, then there was sadness, then came these feelings that she could not identify, all mixing, it felt ever so overwhelming. With it all, her tears continued to fall, seemingly endless for it kept on falling every second. She tried to surpass it, but then it was hurting her the more she tried to push it back. She wants it to stop. Make it stop.

     Raven heard this familiar roar from afar, echoing loudly to her ears, fueling this feeling inside. She wanted to stay, to guard the now peaceful woman's body out of any further harm. But she knows she have to get up, she has to get up if she wants it to stop, she has to get up to make it stop. So she got up, settling Allie's back against the wall she'd cornered herself to, making sure that the body was comfortable, even in its limp state. She took one last glance of the woman, wiping away the tears from her face, muffling her sob that tried hard to escape. Then with a heavy heart, she left.

     With her weak knees, she walked through the familiar halls, steering herself into the direction that would lead her to the heart of the mall where she heard the noise from.

     As she grew nearer, the louder it got. There was this sting in her head that was ignored, she kept going. And soon enough she'd reached a familiar door, opening it to see herself in the familiar back room of Scoops Ahoy, lacking in light. She walked straight to the other door that would lead her to the main mall, leaning her weight on the door as she gripped the knob.

     Are you okay? asked Gorgon, voice dripped with worry and concern.

     "You know damn well I'm not," Raven sighed, having her forehead against the wooden door, blinking away the tears that was built from the lid of her eyes.