The Zone of Spirals

Chapter 31

"Wake up big brother, wake up!" Julliet yelled from downstairs to wake her sleepy brother up. Aito open one of his eyes and then both at the same time. The sunny light from outside made him feel mocked. He got up and looked at his reflection. His usually nicely combed hair was now everywhere and cuts aligned all over his face.

Aito felt like smashing the mirror but he knew that it would only make Amber stronger. No, instead he walked downstairs to the fresh smell of bacon and eggs. The lovely smell was mocking him. His mother looked behind herself and smiled when she saw her son, "Ah dinner will be ready in a moment."

Aito tilted his head in confusion, "dinner?" It was clear that she was out of it. This wasn't the first time she has done this. Sometimes she would mistake Aito for Hwan and began throwing things at him and call him a man whore or a pig. It would take thirty minutes to an hour for Aito to prove to her that it was actually him.

"I'm sorry dear, I mean breakfast...." She turned around and eyed the food on the counter, "may you help me dear?"

Aito nodded his head unconsciously since he never once denied her a favor. After all, he needed to be her knight and shining....

Knight and shining armour....

The thought alone made his heart clench and he felt like throwing up. How could he do that to her? He's no knight and shining armour when he can't even protect his loved ones.

No he wasn't a knight and shining armour. They're brave, selfless and patient. He was cowardly, greedy, and angry to everyone around him.

He was simply a monster behind a beautiful, shiny shield. A monster who couldn't save Matthew, Janet, Mary and... Airi.

"That's great, just cut up the onions so we can grill them with the eggs." Aito obeyed her and took out the three onions he needed to cut. The first one was easy but by the second one his eyes started to flame up. He ran to the dining room where Julliet was to wipe his eyes with a towel. She giggled and walked up to him, "here, let me help Aito."

Aito let her and she began to dab his eyes softly with the towel. When she was done, she handed him the towel and left to go watch something on the telly. Aito walked back in the kitchen to see Ume on the floor hyperventilating.

Another panic attack he guessed. He walked towards her and attempted to console her. However, she pushed him back with hatred in her eyes. "Stay back you monster." He could hear Airi's voice in her and he held his head in despair.

"No I'm not a mon-"

"You took everything away from me! I hate you!" Yet again, his mother's voice was replaced by sweet Airi's voice. He plugged his fingers in his ears to block out the hurtful words but it just rang in his head.

"Monster. Evil. Cruel."

He turned around to see Julliet at the doorway holding a teddy bear.

He was about to ask her what she needed but Julliet began to speak, "you wanted to save me? Ha! Don't make me laugh! You're a spineless villain that can do anything right! You let your own emotions control your logic. You can never be a hero in the fairy tales." However it wasn't Julliet's voice. The pitch was lower and he swore he heard an accent... ah... it was Olivia.

He rose from the ground and ran to the sink to wash this all away. He made sure the water was ice cold and began drowning himself in it. While doing so, he noticed the reflection in the water. It was Amber, mocking him.

He screamed in absolute terror and turned around to see corpses everywhere. Janet's was indented into the counter, sinking lower and lower. Her eyes still screwed shut from him stabbing them.

Matthew was faced down on a plate of food holding onto his neck, eyes wide open. Aito wanted to look away but couldn't. After a while he scanned the room until his eyes landed on Mary who was burning in the fire place. They were mocking him. They were all showing his mistakes, they were making him feel like a monster!

"No no no no! Go away, go away!" He landed beside the wall and held onto his head looking at the corpses that were mocking him.

"Even me?" He looked up and saw Airi smiling at him.

"Yes... especially you. I hurt you in so many ways and I don't want to see your face again." He said in a monotone voice.

Airi laughed bitterly before looking at him, "oh so you killed me and I get the 'leave me alone' speech? Un-fucking-believable." Airi bent down before slapping him, "don't act like your the victim in this situation. You're the monster not the protagonist. You're the person the true knight in shining armour has to beat."

Then it hit him like a stone. She was right, he needed to be defeated since he was the monster. He suddenly hugged Airi before heading towards the kitchen where Julliet and Ume was.

"Hello mom, hello little sister!" He said in his chipper voice. They awkwardly said hi back weirded out that he was saying hi when he was downstairs for ten minutes now. He hummed the tune he only knew; jolly tunes that lifted someone's spirit.

"Hey mom I'm done with the onions by the way." He announced with a sunny smile that matched the weather outside. Ume quietly said thank you before showing Julliet how to season the bacon.

It was time to defeat the monster wasn't it? Aito lifted the knife that he was cutting the onions with and raised it up. His hands were shaking but he had to.

He was only going to hurt more people if he continued on like this. He might fall in love again and hurt them as well. Yes, this was the only way.

Even with the little prep talk his hands were still shaking in fear. No, no he couldn't let that overwhelm him like anger. So before he had any second thoughts he impaled his throat and slowly slid it across. Blood poured out of his mouth and he felt darkness over take him.

His line of vision began to blur, but not before he saw Julliet scream in terror and Ume drop the fork she was holding. He couldn't hear anything though.

He suddenly felt droplets on his cheek from Julliet. He caressed her cheek before splurging out, "what a bad day for it to rain."