Shrouded in Shadows

Chapter 2

As the folder opened, a sense of dread washed over Xavier like waves rolling onto shore. The images that greeted him were nothing short of gruesome and terror, depicting the brutality of the crime scene before him. Each photo was hauntingly brutal, the next one worse than the last. It painted the picture of a mutilated body lying in a pool of blood in a dark alleyway all alone. The limbs seemed to be dismembered, with skin hanging loosely from the bones. The ground was littered with light yellow fabric, the same fabric that made up Reo's mother's dress before she disappeared unexpectedly. Her body was so deformed that the fabric was the only identifying feature that it was her. Quickly, Xavier shut the folder and shoved it back into Reo's arms.

"I wouldn't open that if I were you," Xavier urged, shuddering as he couldn't get rid of the images floating around in his mind, "some of those images are horrific."

"It can't be that bad, right?" Reo murmured to himself, "I need to see for myself. I can handle it." Despite his words, uncertainty tinged his words. He hesitated, his gaze shifting to the folder clasped in his hands. One part of him longed to uncover its contents, while another whispered caution.

The violinist shook his head, his face grim. "No, it's worse." Taking a step back, he let the raven-haired boy take in the images and see for himself the true horrors masked behind what the police labeled as a "freak accident."

Reo trembled as he opened the folder, his body a cluster of shuddering leaves battered by an unforgiving wind. As much as he wanted to look away, his gaze clung to the morbid canvas before him. It was the truth of what happened that fateful night, but deep down, he never wanted to know. He wanted to live in a delusional world where he could tell himself it had never happened. Tears, like silent sentinels, gathered at the brink of his eyes, threatening to cascade down his cheeks. Yet, they didn't, as if they were refusing to yield to the weight of his sorrow. In the quietness of the room, he held the folder with shaky hands. "Who did this to you, Momma?" he thought, his heart aching.

His emotions churned and churned like a raging tempest within and the clash between acceptance and denial sent him into a panic, one that had been clawing beneath his skin from the very beginning. For years, Reo clung to false hope... the delusion... that his mother's absence was merely just a game of hide and seek. The thought that she might still be out there, somewhere, kept him going this whole time, a lifeline in a sea full of uncertainty. But now, as he stared at the stark evidence laid before him, that lifeline was snapped like a pair of scissors cutting through the last thread holding it all together.

In the darkness of his sorrows, he found himself sinking. His heart was weighed down by the burdens he carried and the burdens to come, but just as the shadows threatened to engulf him, a hand reached out. The hand was firm and reassuring, pulling him back from the brink of god knows what. Emerging from the depths of his mind, Reo was enveloped in a warmth that chased away the chill of his despair. There, in Xavier's comforting embrace, the tears he had long held back finally spilled over, tracing silent paths down his cheeks.

"I've been telling myself for years that she might still be alive," Reo sobbed softly, his voice trembling as he let go of his best friend, "everyone told me I was delusional for thinking that way... I wanted to argue back, to yell at them, but... in the end, they were right."

Xavier gently wiped away Reo's tears, his voice soft and tender as he spoke, "It's okay to hold on to hope. It's okay to believe in the possibility of miracles. You're not delusional for wanting to believe that she is still out there somewhere." He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in before continuing, "but it's time to let go of the pain of uncertainty. It's time to find peace, for her and for yourself."

Reo's eyes flashed with anger as he pulled away from Xavier's comforting touch. "Peace?" he spat out, his voice tinged with madness. "I'll never find peace as long as that monster who took my mother away from me is still out there, living and breathing as if nothing happened." He glared at Xavier, a scary look in his eyes that made his friend take a step back. "I'll never rest until I find justice for her. I'll never rest until I make sure they pay for what they did."