"Of course you'll feel uncomfortable talking about a subject that is bothering you, but I firmly believe that telling someone about it will lift a great weight off your shoulders. Know that I will never hold you against your actions nor judge you for what you may have done. We all act impulsively at times. It is okay to open up instead of keeping it all bottled up on the inside."
Ace let out a shaky breath. "Thank you.." She shut her eyes. "The incident with ..Stephanie just reminded me of something. It triggered a bad memory, that's all."
"I see." A pause. "If you don't mind me asking, did you know the person who got hurt?"
"..Yeah. My best and only friend." She opened her eyes, tears beginning to stain her cheeks. "That is.. Until I met you and the other guys. As well as Faith and Akia." She brushed away her tears. "I'm so happy to have the privilege of meeting so many good people."
A second of silence. "I know how you feel. I, for one, had a very lonely childhood. I firmly believed that I could not trust anyone, despite their friendly facade. All they do is hurt you in the end. Maybe that changed when I was forced to live with four strangers. People whom I have never met before, people that hide their true colors behind a smile. I've come to realize that everybody has secrets to hide, but not everyone will manipulate and lie. Many people have good hearts, but they're hurt on the inside. Perhaps we both never got to experience the good nature of humans when we were much younger."
"I guess so." A small smile tugged at her lips. "I guess there are people that I could relate to on some level. I'm happy one of them is you, Raiden."
A gentle chuckle. "We're more alike more than you think. I hope that you feel better now that you've decided to talk to me about something such as this."
"..I should be the one thanking you for being persistent and listening to me."
"Of course. I'll always be here for you. If you need to talk about other things, I'll be here waiting."
"Thank you, Raiden."
"The pleasure is mine." A long pause. "Ace, I don't want to kill the comfortable atmosphere we've created, however, I must ask you if you would like to know more about what happened after the incident with Stephanie. Allian has contacts with his theater production crew. They had informed him on... Stephanie. It isn't exactly good news. Would you like to know? If not, I can inform you another day."
Ace drew in a breath, mentally preparing herself. "Yes. Please tell me."
"Okay. I'll begin with what happened after Stephanie was taken to the hospital. Her closest friends accompanied her to the hospital. The rest of the crew stayed behind. They cleaned up the mess and discussed the future of the theater production. The administration was informed of this immediately. Mr. Dardaswin has decided to cancel the play for various reasons- the main contributor being the incident. He believes that it is not right to continue on with the show, considering the entire team is currently in a state of grief."
"That's unfortunate..." She bit her cheek. "Wait.. you said grief..?"
"Agreed. Yes, grief. The grim news concerns Stephanie's well being." A pause. "She passed away an hour after arriving at the hospital."
Ace stared blankly at the wall. "She.. passed.. away..?" Her fingers tightened their grip on her phone while she dug her nails into the palm of her other hand. "You.. you're joking, right?"
"I wish that were the case." His voice was grim.
"H..how?" Her palm began to bleed.
"..The doctors informed us that Stephanie had many lacerations along with crushed bones and muscles, along with damaged organs. She had lost a lot of blood. There's no treating that many injuries in a short amount of time. The doctors tried their best. She passed away while they were operating on her."
Hot tears fell down her cheeks and splattered on her blanket. She bit her lip, her head lowered in defeat. She managed to find her voice. "No..body deserves this fate.. No matter how terribly they acted. She shouldn't have.. died." She croaked.
"Yes. Truly, a tragedy." His voice had reverted back to sounding monotone.
After she remained silent for a while, Raiden spoke up again. "This is heartbreaking news, so I'm sure you would like some time alone. I, myself, have to take some time to ponder over this situation. I'll see you soon, Ace. And remember, if you need to talk about anything, I'll be here for you. I'm sure the other guys will be there for you as well."
"Okay.. Thank you. See you later." She pulled the phone away from her ear, ending the call. She dropped her phone onto her bed. Her eyes bore at the wall in front of her. The whole world seemed a bit.. dimmer than usual.
Something wet and sticky began to bother her.
Looking down, she noticed the blood that had begun to pool up on her hand. Slowly, the girl got off of her bed and walked towards the bathroom.
Why..?
~
Putting down the phone, he glanced upwards.
The other males were gathered in the living room, all with neutral expressions.
A satisfied smile graced his lips. "Excellent. Everything is going according to plan. We must be patient for our next step."
YOU ARE READING
Fixation
General Fiction[Completed] "I thought I changed. Perhaps that was just an illusion I believed in." When Ace transfers to a new school, she sees this as a new opportunity to start a new life. After all, a new place where nobody knows who she is nor her past won't b...
Chapter 29: Comforting Words
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