The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

All around Aiko were people just going about their own lives in the city. They were full of life, and some were even smiling. She hated seeing those smiles, especially when she could not muster up one herself. After losing her hold on Reed, the only thing she could hope to do was frown as her mind tortured her with the constant reminder of Reynard's threat to her life. Now that she had failed to keep Reed at her side, there was no saving herself from the possibility of death. She swallowed hard, struggling not to cry as she sat herself down on a bench. Her hands went up to her face in an attempt to conceal her tears from any people passing by on the sidewalk. If anyone she knew saw her crying so pathetically, she would never be able to get over it. But, what she had failed to recall was that it didn't necessarily matter. In only a matter of time, Reynard would surely find her and then fulfill his threat. A broken smile came across her face as she dropped her hands in her lap, then tilted her head up to the sky.

"That's a relief," A voice came from the left of Aiko, startling her. She turned her head to see that an old lady had sat down next to her, "I was beginning to think that pretty face of yours could only manage a frown."

Aiko stopped smiling and averted her eyes from the old lady and to the dirtied sidewalk. "If you were hours or even minutes away from death, I doubt you would be smiling your saggy ass off," Aiko muttered.

"All of us are bound to die one day," She simply shrugged, "There's no use in troubling ourselves over it, not even when you get to my age. I know I don't have much time myself." Despite this dreary sentence, she laughed, "I probably only have a year or so left in my heart. That's alright though. I'm still living now, aren't I? All that matters is that we're alive. Don't go searching for death when it isn't your time, little one."

"Thanks for the unwarranted words of wisdom, but I'm not searching for death. It's searching for me," Aiko scoffed, annoyed that she was possibly spending her last few hours talking to a practical fossil.

"Oh," She breathed out as she slowly stood up, "Well, I do hope it does not find you. You're far too young to pass on."

A sigh of relief left Aiko when the old lady began to waddle away, only for her to suddenly come to a wobbly stop. She turned slightly to look at Aiko.

"I almost forgot." She pointed one shaky finger toward Aiko, a move that made Aiko's stomach twist into knots. "A handsome young man asked me to relay this message to you: your time has run out. I'm not sure what it..."

The voice of the old lady grew to nothingness as Aiko bolted up from the bench, frantically taking off in a sprint down the sidewalk. In her waiting moments for death, she didn't feel anything, but now, she felt everything. Strangely enough, as she ran down sidewalks, crossing streets without any regard to the cars honking at her, she felt more alive than ever. Her heart pounded faster than it ever had before, her lungs took in and expelled more oxygen than she thought was possible, and her mind raged with one too many thoughts. Those were all signs of life, but, soon enough, it would all stop.

"Please let me live, let me live, let me live!" Aiko yelled out into the open air as she stumbled, barely managing to catch herself before she fell.

"How'd you know I was a sucker for begging?"

She looked up at the person who had just spoken to her. Those awful glowing eyes and that beastly smile were not to be mistaken. It was Reynard. As soon as this realization came upon her, she should have started running again, yet she froze in place. Her mind screamed at her to run but nothing happened, not even when Reynard struck his hand right into her, sending her flying across the street. Her body cut through the air like it was weightless. Everything blurred past her in a series of darkened blobs. She couldn't grasp onto anything, no matter how hard she tried to stretch her arms to grab onto something that may stop her. A sharp pain erupted across her back, quickly spreading across the rest of her limbs as her body rolled to a stop in a desolate alley. This filthy alley that smelled of garbage, rat feces, and her own blood was where she would die. Through her teary eyes, she saw him walk toward her slowly, as if to mockingly tell her, 'There's nowhere for you to run'. Although it was laughable and pathetic, she attempted to drag herself up with the use of a nearby pole on the ground. Grunts of pain left her as her body, along with the pole, slammed back down to the ground.