Leiloni's POV
Dear mom and dad,
If you're reading this I'm probably dead by now. I'm so sorry but, I can't take it anymore. Every single day I receive harsh words from other people whether friends, classmates or people that I don't know. I realized that words hurt so much than physical pain, that every time I go to bed I can't help myself but cry. I didn't share this with any of you because I don't want you guys to get worried about me. I'm tired of crying and I'm tired of everything. Well, maybe they're right about me, I'm coward, useless and weak. I'm so sorry mom and dad but I want to end this suffering, I can't continue living like this. Please don't forget how much I love you mom, dad, and please take care of Lei. Thank you for everything.
-love Adam
Those eyes... it was just like my brother. Full of sorrow and fright, I once again remembered the letter my brother have written back then, a suicide note, and how he ended his life in front of me.
"Adam what are you doing?!" I asked in terror but he just flashed me his sweetest smile and suddenly, he slit his throat using a knife. I just froze there staring at my lifeless brother, laying on the floor covered in blood. I screamed and burst into tears but no one heard me, mom and dad are not at home and I didn't even do anything to help him.
The guy on the corner of the room slowly moved the knife closer to his neck. No, don't do it. The guy looked at me with tears running down on his cheeks while I just stood there frozen.
"Michael stop... Put that knife down," Troy calmly commanded as he slowly took a step forward.
"I-I can't take it anymore..." He cried, "I-I'm scared, we're all gonna die anyway," He gripped on the knife he was holding with his hands shaking, closed his eyes and moved it closer to his throat.
"No stop! Don't do it, please... Your sister Kellie... she's waiting for you back there," I said and thankfully, he didn't continue what he was about to do, "you don't need to be scared, we're here to rescue you," he opened his eyes and dropped the knife that he was holding. He burst into tears sobbing and fell on his knees on the floor. I walked in front of him and hugged him tightly trying to comfort him.
"Ending your life is not the answer to your problem Michael... Suicide was never a solution to any problem," I patted his back as he continued to cry.
Minutes have passed and Michael already stopped crying. It's already dark outside so we decided to stay here for the night, we will not risk our lives getting out there in the dark, especially that we have a scaredy-cat in our company. We immediately called Kellie and told them some good news and she was so glad that her brother was doing great. And as for Melissa, well, they told me that she's doing fine by now but she's still taking a rest.
We decided that we will leave before sunrise so that we could leave school early in the morning. I took out all the food that I've brought from the cafeteria and shared it with Troy and Michael. I know it's not enough for the three of us but we don't have much of a choice, we need to eat something so that at least we can gain enough strength to defend ourselves from those creatures outside.
Michael is a very talkative person, he shared random stories and he even told us some silly jokes. I didn't know that a suicidal person like him could be this jolly. I should've known better, only if I was brave enough, I could've done something to stop my brother from ending his life. If only I could turn back the time.
"Let's take some rest, we will leave tomorrow before the sun sets," Troy said and Michael agreed with a nod.
"Good night guys... and thanks again for going all the way here to rescue me," Michael flashed his warm smile that made me smile too. He stood up and aligned five armchairs in the center of the room and I guess he'll be sleeping there. I'll sleep on the floor then, well, I tried sleeping on armchairs before but it's not very comfortable for me.
"Are you okay?" Troy asked so I looked at him and I just smiled in response. "You should really get some rest," he added and I just nodded and started to put some curtains on the floor that I got from the cabinet. It's not dirty but the smell of it though, it seems like it was stocked inside that cabinet for months. Troy finds himself some comfortable place to sleep and ended up laying on the floor near the board, using his bag as a pillow.
The room was covered in silence as both of them fell asleep. But as for me, thinking about dad is making me wide awake. I unlocked my phone but I still haven't received any messages or calls from him. I tried to call him but his number is still unavailable. Tears started to form on my eyes and I can already feel my face getting warm.
Dad, please tell me you're safe.
I sent it as fast as I could and waited for him to reply. I sent it again and again but I still haven't received any replies from him. I burst into tears and started sobbing quietly covering my mouth so that I can't wake them up.
"Lei?" I quickly wiped my tears and fixed myself trying to act normal. I looked at who it was and it was Troy.
"You okay?" I forced a smile and looked away.
I cleared my throat and nodded, "I'm perfectly fine." I said with a nervous laugh.
"Is it about your father again?" He asked and I nodded again as an answer. He sat in front of me and held my hand. I looked at him and his face looks so worried so I just sighed.
"I'm just... I'm scared to lose someone I love, again."
"Again?" He asked.
"Yeah, last year, it was Christmas break and that was the time that I lost my older brother. He committed suicide in front of me and... and I did nothing. I only stood there frozen and screamed and doesn't know what to do. Mom was so angry at me and blamed me for doing nothing, and told me that it was my fault my brother was gone forever. Then, Christmas day came, the day my mother died because she was drunk and got in a car accident," tears started to run down my cheeks but I immediately wiped it off with my hands, "I really, really wish that I could turn back the time and save my brother from dying and maybe, maybe my mom is still alive by now. My brother left a note saying that he's tired of everything because he was bullied every single day. I don't know why people bullied him because all I know is that he's the nicest brother you could ever have. He's the only sibling I have actually and I really, really miss him so much," my voice broke and I started crying again. Troy hugged me tightly and caressed my back trying to comfort me but my tears started to burst even more, "that's why I can't lose dad and Lauren, they're the only family that I have left."
"I lost my brother too when the chaos has started," Troy suddenly spoke still hugging me tightly," He saved me from my friend who has turned into one of those monsters. I don't know why I but that time I got so scared and just watched my brother while he was devoured by my best friend and did nothing. I called my dad yesterday while we were at the cafeteria and told me that... that my sister and my mom already turned into one of those monsters too. And that he was also bitten and slowly turning into one of them. I haven't even said how much I love them before the call ended." He stopped talking and I can feel that my right shoulder is starting to get wet. Is he crying? I faced him and he really is crying. He started to laugh and wiped his tears using his hands while shaking his head.
"Sorry... I got carried away." He still continued to chuckle and I just smiled. As he stopped laughing, the room was again covered in silence. I looked at him and his face got serious.
Both of us just stared at each other while the surrounding is still covered in silence. Slowly, he leaned his face towards me. What is he doing? My heart raced as I felt this very strange feeling inside of me again and within a blink of an eye, our lips made contact that made my heart pound almost getting out of my chest. I softly pushed him away stopping him from kissing me. I stared into his chestnut brown eyes and it was glistening, full of hidden words that I can't decipher.
"Lei, I know this is not the right time and not a perfect place to say this but..." He stopped and brushed my hair then smiled staring right into my eyes, "The very first time I saw you, I felt something strange, and I always feel that every time I'm with you. I started to like that strange feeling and today, I realized, I think I'm falling in love with you," he confessed that left me speechless and the weird feeling inside of me, this familiar feeling of happiness is taking in again, like a drug starting to kick in throughout my body. He waited for an answer but I just held both of his hands and smiled.
My smile triggered something from Troy that made him start to kiss me again and I was totally taken aback. I don't know why but instead of pushing him away, I pulled him closer to me and kissed him back. I felt his body getting hot as he started to insert his hands on my back, softly caressing it, sending wild tremors through my nerves.
"Ahem!" A voice behind us made us stop whatever we are doing and I unexpectedly pushed Troy away from me in panic, making him fall and hit his head on the floor. And Michael, who was standing behind us, burst in laughter.
"Oh my god! Troy, I'm so sorry," I said helping Troy get up from the floor who's in grimace rubbing the back of his head.
"Sorry for ruining your, Uhm, what do you call that?" He said rubbing his forehead trying to look like he was thinking, "Ah! Yes! Flirting," he said emphasizing the last word and chuckled.
Both of us glared at him and he immediately apologized. He told us that he woke up after hearing me cry and tried to get back to sleep but he can't.
"I even tried not to disturb both of you but you started kissing," he said trying to defend himself, "so I took immediate action to stop both of you before I could even witness live porn," he frankly said and flashed us his smug look. Well, I can't really argue with that, he's totally on point.
"Yeah, thank you very much," Troy said sarcastically while Michael just shrugged and smiled.
After the commotion all of us finally decided to take a rest, even though Michael is having a hard time going back to sleep, we can't let ourselves go out there tomorrow while we lack energy.
Lei...
I opened my eyes and sat on the floor. I roamed my eyes around the room and Troy and Michael are still asleep.
Lei...
That voice again, it's from a man's voice and it's so familiar but I forgot whose voice is it.
Lei...
The voice that's calling my name is getting louder but I don't know where it came from. I looked at Troy and Michael again and they're still asleep. Suddenly, there was a loud banging sound inside the cabinet across the room. I don't know why but I suddenly stood up and slowly, my feet moved by itself walking towards the cabinet and halted in front of it. The banging stopped so I slowly opened it revealing a familiar man standing inside the cabinet, it was my brother, Adam.
"Lei..." He whispered.
A tear suddenly fell down my cheeks but I did not wipe it off. I opened my mouth and tried to say something but there is no voice coming out of my mouth. I looked at my brother again and this time, his face went pale and his eyes were covered in white. His lips started to form a wide grin and uttered only one thing.
"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..." I got confused, but my heart started to race as blood started to come out of his eyes and mouth and did not stop making those weird noises that made the blood coming out of his mouth started to bubble. But all of a sudden he stopped. The whole place was again covered with a deafening silence and the only thing that I can hear is my heart's continuous pounding. But that silence broke when my brother, who's covered in blood, groaned still flashing his wide grin and suddenly, his mouth started to move.
"Run..."
After saying that word his body suddenly jolted making a sound of cracking bones. I tried to move my body but I can't so I looked down, and it looks like my body is totally petrified. I looked back at my brother and he was still grinning and all of a sudden, he quickly grabbed me inside the cabinet and all I did was scream in horror.
I woke up panting, I sat on the floor with my heart still pounding and I can feel the cold sweat run down my body. I took a deep sigh and thank god it was just a dream.
I looked at Troy and he's still sleeping beside me. Oh yeah, I forgot, earlier before we went to sleep he asked me if he can sleep beside me and guess what? I said yes. I roamed my eyes around the room but I noticed that Michael is not inside. I glanced at the door and it was already wide open.
"Oh shit!" I mumbled and was about to stand up but Michael rushed inside the room and looks terrified.
"Where have you been?" I worriedly asked.
"You should really see what's going on outside."
"Why?"
"Just wake him up and look for yourselves." I just sighed and tried to wake Troy up. I gently shook his shoulders and thank god he immediately woke up. I slowly exited the room and looked at my phone. It's already 4:53 in the morning, we should really get out of here as soon as possible. As I step outside the room, a cold breeze brushed my skin. The sky is still a bit dim but it's already enough to see the surroundings. Michael was already outside leaning on the metal railings while looking down. I wonder what he's looking at.
I pulled myself close to the railings and I felt cold metal in my hands. I also looked down and what I saw made my Jaw drop in shock. Holy shit! There are so many of them.
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AN: Hi everyone! I don't know if anyone is still enjoying this story but I'll do my best to finish it. Any thoughts about this chapter? Please let me know, I like reading all of them, it motivates me.
Ciao! :)