Only A WishWritten by: Udon T.E. And Abigail K.T.

Chapter 34: Kolonia

Chapter 34:

Kolonia

"How did she die?" My jaw hung open, eyes wide and hands trembling.

The extremely pale Solaris said nothing but instead beckoned for me to follow her. I lurched into a sprint out of the room, Cora instinctively trailing me, but Solaris threw out a hand to stop Cora, shaking her head and turning to catch up with me.

A few times, I had to slow my pace to stay semi-behind Solaris. The two of us kept running, Solaris occasionally nudging me in the right direction.

When we arrived, the sheer reek of the site was enough to drive most students away. Whoever had done it, did it a while ago.

The body was a mess, completely mutilated- to the point where if you didn't know Hansley well before, you wouldn't be able to tell it was her. Her mouth was sliced open, her delicate throat cut- likely to make her choke on her blood. And her torso. Bloody ribbons hung about, both shirt and flesh ripped to shreds.

The worst part, however, was the words; scrawled in her blood next to her;

Let your flame burn bright.

A sick, twisted, way of showing her flame had burnt out. It had been doused with blood.

I knelt next to her, the reek of decay already laced around her. I breathed it in, my eyes darting from her stomach to face, stomach to face. She was pale, more so in the near-blinding moonlight. I glanced back down at the words. ...Let your flame burn bright...

The ancient saying- the one that had been long since abandoned for more popular and flashy ones. Flicking my gaze back up to her face, I noticed her eye was left open. ...eye. The other one had been brutally torn out and was nowhere in sight. I could practically smell her fear, lingering even after death. After assessing the bloodied corpse, I stood up, faced Solaris, and gently said "Good riddance."

Solaris breathed a laugh, -not because it was particularly funny, but because she was so done with being here, breathing in the scent and trying not to gape at the sickening sight of the body- she would probably take any excuse to leave. So I let her go, but not before telling her to keep her big mouth shut and to meet me back here tomorrow, with Nia. I stalked back to my room, threw open the door, sprinted past Cora to the bathroom- and promptly vomited. Over and over, seeming to spill out my guts. Cora stood above me, holding my hair and looking away. It was all she could do to help.

All she could do to spare my pride.

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Word Count: 450 words

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