Unfading Shadows [2]

46

Rayan, his attention consumed by his concern for Miray, was slow to react. He had forgotten about the object he had concealed in his back, a small handgun. He didn't even realize that Miray had taken it until her actions caught his peripheral vision. His heart skipped a beat, and his fear and worry skyrocketed.

As Miray held the gun in her hand, her eyes widened, and she stared at it as if it were an alien artifact. Her voice wavered as she finally found words to speak.

"W-what... Why d-do you...?" Her voice cracked, and her mind raced with a whirlwind of questions. "W-why did you.... what w-were you doing? What were you going to do... w-where were you going?" Each question tumbled out of her in a jumbled rush, reflecting the chaos in her thoughts. Her gaze darted around the dark beach, searching for answers in the shadows.

Rayan's appearance mirrored his inner struggles. His eyes were filled with nervousness, fear, and worry, and his features were contorted in an expression of desperation. Sweat formed on his forehead, and his body felt hot and clammy.

"Miray, please, just give it to me and I'll tell you everything, just...." he struggled to find the right words, his voice quavering. "-just give it to me, come on," he urged, desperately.

Miray, however, remained unyielding. She was deaf to his pleas, consumed by her need to understand why he had a gun in the middle of the night on a desolate beach, accompanied by a small boat and rocks. Her heart raced as she demanded answers, her shock and confusion feeding her determination to know the truth.

But did she really want to know the truth...?

Miray's desire to uncover the truth was in a constant battle with the fear of what that truth might entail. She stood there on the dark beach, holding the gun, staring at Rayan with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. The air around them was heavy with unspoken words and unanswered questions.

In that moment, Miray felt torn. She wanted to trust Rayan, to believe that there was a reasonable explanation for everything. But at the same time, the presence of the gun had shattered her sense of security and left her with a lingering unease.

"You better tell me now." Miray suddenly asked shakily, her mind already grasping what Rayan was going to do but a tinge of hope was still clinging for Rayan to come up with a logical explanation.

A better explanation.

But Rayan wasn't able to come up with anything except for demanding her to give him the gun back.

"Goodbye Miray."

As those words echoed in her ears, Miray couldn't help but ponder if this was indeed what he meant by goodbye. Tears streamed down her face as she bit her quivering lip.

She didn't even know where he had obtained the gun. She was aware that Steven and her brothers had authorized firearms, but did Rayan steal it from them?

Regardless of where he got it, what he planned to do with the gun was the big worry. . Miray's sobs intensified in the absence of any explanation, and the bitter truth was so stark that even deaf people could sense it and so glaring that even blind people could perceive it.

Miray had been in that place before.

She was sure of it.

She could see it in his eyes that seemed to have given up a long time ago. Perhaps that's why he couldn't meet her gaze while saying his goodbye.

"Why?" Miray sobbed, her question now focused on the reason. What he intended to do was painfully clear, yet Miray couldn't fathom why.

Ren swallowed hard, feeling the pressure of the moment, uncertain about how to proceed. All he wanted was to grab the gun from her hand because the sight of Miray holding it was driving him to the brink of panic.