A Monster Was Born ✔️

Your Shining Light (Part V)

Suri sat down on the bench, frozen in shock. She had no idea what to think or say. This was the first time she was told she had been wrong. Before, nobody would even get close enough to tell her that. It stung her and pained her like a bullet zipped through her chest. Did she do something wrong? Was she not supposed to say those things to Kana, not believe in the things she had always believed in? Was she supposed to simply agree to kill the man who had killed Kana's parents? No, that wasn't it. Suri knew it from the start. Kana wasn't cruel or malicious, she would've understood it if that were the case. The reason Suri had hurt her was because she made her feel as though she had no right to her pain. It was because she judged her and lectured her on what she personally thought was right and wrong, even though she wasn't entitled to do that. Kana must have felt betrayed because she was told by someone she barely knew how she should've felt, as though emotions were just objects that could be controlled at any time.

Suri felt sick. She had hurt someone again, and it was someone who she had just known for less than a day. Guilt poured into her heart and soul, threatening to drown her in her own body. And yet...

And yet, she couldn't let her do it. She couldn't let Kana kill him, to engage in an endless cycle of violence and animosity. She couldn't let her become a murderer. If this was the path she chose, she would stop her no matter what, no matter how much Kana despised her afterwards, even if she was in the wrong for not letting her take vengeance.

Suri scrolled through the messages on her phone. Assuming this man was still in the restaurant, she could get there in time before Kana makes her next move. With those thoughts, Suri ran through the streets, hoping against hope she was not too late.

When she eventually got there, she saw him staring at his plate of pizza, barely touched, looking down as though emotionless. Suri had to warn him of the upcoming murder but she must also somehow get him in prison at the same time, so that he would avoid hurting someone else. How should she accomplish that? Why did things get so complicated?

As Suri pondered her frustration, she saw one of the service workers approach him and talk to him about something. He nodded, put some change on the table, and left his seat with the slice of pizza still there. Suri panicked. She didn't think he would be getting up to leave so quickly. Just as she thought it might be best if he didn't see her, he called out to her.

"Hey, what are you doing there? Wait a minute..."

Suri wanted to run away, but if she did, she might lose him and then Kana would catch up. So she stayed firm to her position. He couldn't do anything to her here; it was daytime and there were people watching. No reason to be nervous.

The man approached her until they were only a few feet away. His face was intimidating and his brown hair looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks as he ran his fingers straight through it. A murderer. An organ harvester. Suri would not forget who he was, even when she tries to help him.

"Someone will kill you in a couple of hours," she blurted out. It seemed to startle him, catching him off guard. "It's because you've hurt them, killed their family, made them live like an animal rather than a life of dignity. Because of that, the person you had hurt will try to kill you, the only reason being that they hate you. This is just a warning to be careful."

Suri turned to walk away but the man shouted at her to stop. When she didn't, he grabbed her, making her gasp.

"Please, stay," he told her. "I can't do this anymore. I need to show you something."

Confused but curious, she followed him. He led her to a bus and gestured for her to get on. Suri hesitated, unsure of what to do.

"I understand if you don't trust me," said the man. "Take any precautions you wish but this is very important."

Reluctantly, Suri stepped on the bus and sat next to him. She took out her phone and emailed her mom her location and a picture of the man. This way she would know if anything went wrong. The bus rode on. They passed buildings, bridges, lakes and seas, but the man was quiet and looked as though he was concentrating on something, not wanting to talk. Suri was silent as well, and stared nervously at the floor as the bus continued from stop to stop.

Eventually, when the bus made a stop, the man next to her got up and walked to the front. Suri followed him as they arrived at the stop together. She looked around at the sky and grass and soil around her. They had arrived at a graveyard.

"This," he said, tapping his foot on a piece of earth, "is my brother. Before he died, it turned out he had lung cancer. He was my only family when our parents died, and yet he never takes care of himself. The doctor said his organs were already beyond repair, that unless they were replaced by some miracle, there was no chance of him surviving." He chuckled. "I guess you know what happened next."

"But what does this have to do with Kana's parents?" Suri asked. "It's not like they can use organs from any random person..."

"That's another story," the murderer replied. "When I heard the news, I was more than devastated, heartbroken. I went to a last resort, a place that, under normal circumstances, would've never gone to. It was only because of pure desperation that I would think of going there. At that place, a woman told me there was a way to save my brother. But for her to perform the operation, she would need organs from someone who is healthy. What blood type, what size the organs were, doesn't matter. She said she would find a way to fix all that when performing the surgery. She showed me what she was able to accomplish in the past, and I...believed her."

He began to sob, and wiped his tears with his hand. "But when I got to her with what she needed, it was too late, because my brother had already died."

As he began to cry harder, Suri put a hand on his back and tried to comfort him with her words. He began to ramble, because every time he told her something, it was like that compelled him to say more. Hours passed. Before long, Suri knew all about his brother's smoking addiction, his drinking habits, the time he got suspended, how much the siblings depended on each other after the car crash that killed their parents. Suri tried her best to acknowledge him each time he expressed his pain. Little nods, some "that must've been hard for you" sprinkled here and there, or she would just stay silent and let him speak. But on the inside, she felt disgusted by this thing that used to be human, who wouldn't even mention the people he had harmed in his long exhausted tirade.

When he was done, he couldn't even move. He simply stared at the soil before him, soil that, no doubt, had his brother buried deep within it. He stared at it as though he were in some trance.

At that moment, Suri felt something. She turned around and saw Kana behind her, blond hair blowing in the graveyard breeze and loose black clothes floating around her body, all translucent under the afternoon sun. She hovered there, smiling. Then, she was gone, collapsing into smoke and dust.