Midnight Harbour

Three

⊱ 3 ⊰

Three morning shifts in a row? Seriously?" Kayne slumped back into his chair, his voice brimming with disappointment that he missed out on yet another opportunity to have a long weekend away at a private resort with his girlfriend.

"Well, at least I've got your back," I chortled, "and don't speak too loud if you want Sister Judith to march in and give you a whole dressing down session now."

Kayne was the Enrolled Nurse (EN) that I had been working for with for the longest time. Whenever it came to rostering, he'd try to match his offdays with mine just so that we could have a higher chance of working on the same shifts together. I didn't mind it at all—the man was capable and we could always leave on time, getting our tasks done and not leaving more work for the oncoming shift's staff.

We were chatting blithely in breakroom during our dinner break, which was about an hour later than usual today due to some unforeseen rescheduling of appointments for our patients. Kayne was exhausted, and he was really looking forward to his offday tomorrow.

On the other hand, I was more concerned how I still had tasks to do after work, my side hustle, if you'd call it that.

The more I ruminated on the thought of Lillian guiding the night hunts, the more my fists trembled with rage.

In all honesty, I deserved thay position more than she did. With the powers I had, even I could kill her if I wished.

But my bloodlust wasn't that intense.

Withering ligules...

I shut my eyes and all I could see was crimson and agony written all over the faces of my victims.

Open.

The flower, crumbled to dust from lack of nurturing and care.

Just like how my parents abandoned me.

"Yo, I've been calling you for the last five minutes, Yuka..." Kayne waved his palms in front of me and snapped me out of my daze.

"Oh?"

"Geez, what are you daydreaming about?"

Killing.

"We've got a few nightshifts together once we come back from offday, remember to bring a jacket—" His words trailed off into silence; a perpetual ringing silence in my ears.

As if I could tell anyone who I really was. They would never accept me.

I was ever so consumed by my thoughts, wallowing in a dark, bottomless pit of constant overthinking and sadness.

I watched, aghast, as the dandelion plant by the window crumbled. Its seeds barely had the chance to sail in the wind, before my negative energy penetrated into the atmosphere and wilt it to the ground. My helpless, outstretched palm grasped towards it in vain, only to be clenched back into a shaking fist of hatred for myself.

I hated who I was. I didn't deserve to be loved, given how many lives of the turners I had taken with my own hands.

Trust. Love. And hope.

These words had long been buried by the blizzard and frozen inside my heart.

"Yukaaaaa..."

I held my hand against my head and rubbed my temples in a circular motion. "Sorry, I'm feeling a little tired..."

Lies.

The thing I was best at spewing since young. Anything but the truth to conceal my true emotions. Sometimes things like these are better kept hidden, buried beneath the depths of my heart rather than stringed into sentences that not everyone can comprehend.