LACUNA [ THE DARKLING ]

07. - please don't go

Aleksander searched for her.

He had just arrived home after a long day of serving the king whom he hated. His arms were opened wide, waiting for a figure to jump on him and a pair of arms to embrace him, but it never came. So he started to search around the house, opening each door while calling her.

He thought that it might just be one of her hide-and-seek games but when he realized that he had been searching for an hour with no result, he started to panic. He wanted to make sure she was safe.

"Ravenna!"

He slammed the back door open while shouting her name, thinking that she might find a clue where she might be gone. She always loved to tend the garden, with the different colors of irises planted there. But he never found her, only Baghra who was standing in front of Ravenna's flowers.

Cautiously, he approached her, unable to comprehend her purpose there. "What are you doing here?"

Baghra turned around to meet his eyes but kept silent.

"Where's Ravenna? What did you do to her?" he said in rage. If Baghra purposely separated them, he swore he won't even feel a single speck of guilt from killing his own mother.

"You killed her, remember? When you made that fold years ago," Baghra stated.

Tears started to well up in his eyes. He couldn't believe what Baghra was saying, "No, I did not kill her. I did not make that fold to kill her,"

"But you did. You did kill her. Don't you remember?"

"No, I didn't-" his voice got so small and helpless and choked up by the sea of his own tears.

Endless amounts of tears spilled from his eyes as he suddenly remembered. He collapsed to his knees, punching the ground and screaming at the sky. He had hoped when he has seen her again, her eyes would look at him with a gaze full of adoration and love. Her lips would be swollen and tender after he gave her heart-warming kisses that will take her breath away. She would still be alive and her heart would still be beating.

"I killed her. I created the fold that- I killed her," he tried to cry out, but it only came as a whimper. "It's all my fault."

Overwhelmed with the intensity of all of his emotions, he just started to sob and shout at the same time. The rage, despair, guilt, and grief. It was all unbearable.

Aleksander woke up from his sleep, gasping for air. His eyes are wet from tears and his heart raced about a mile a minute. He sat up in bed with the morning sunlight slightly peeking through the thick curtains hanging before her window. His hand grasped his chest as he tried desperately to catch his breath but no matter how he tried, he couldn't seem to get in enough air.

Startled by the sudden movement, Ravenna woke up. She opened her eyelids slightly to see what was going on, it opened wide when she found Aleksander gasping for air, seemingly crying about something. She never sees him like this. She sat up quickly and hold him securely against her body, trying to calm him down and make him feel safe. His fingers grasped her biceps tightly as if he was holding her for his dear life.