The Mad Ҡìղց

The lost light

"Where's my baby? And the Unicorn?" Wang asked again, his voice weak but demanding. The urgency in his tone made his question feel like a command, yet it was laced with a tremble, as if his mind refused to accept what his heart feared.

Chang's lips trembled, her wrinkled face twisted with both pain and guilt. "Wang, please sit down," she begged, tugging gently on his arm. Her voice cracked with emotion, but Wang shook his head.

"No." His response was immediate and firm. His voice steadied itself as he pulled his hand away from his grandmother. He turned to face the small group, all of them staring at him with that look. That unbearable look of pity. "I've been lying in that same bed for 18 months," he said, pointing to the bed he had just risen from, his voice rising in frustration. "I think I can stand."

His body trembled under the weight of his emotions, but he forced himself to stay on his feet. His eyes darted between them, seeking answers. His grandmother averted her gaze, unable to meet his eyes. Duan Dan stood near the window, her face hidden in the shadows, but Wang could see the way her shoulders were slumped. Defeated. Wang's heart sank further.

"I'm strong enough now. Just... tell me what's going on. Where is my baby?" Wang's voice broke, pleading now. His dark hair fell over his eyes as he bent forward, clutching the edge of a nearby chair for support.

Duan Dan sighed heavily, running a hand through her greying hair. The silence in the room stretched uncomfortably before she finally spoke. "You... lost the baby a few months ago."

Wang froze.

The words echoed in his mind, not fully registering. His heart skipped a beat, then pounded in his chest, thundering in his ears. "No... no, no, no." He shook his head, a weak laugh escaping his lips, as if they had told him a bad joke. "That can't be right. My baby—"

"We didn't know what happened at first," Duan Dan continued, her voice low and filled with sorrow. "But later... later we found out it was a magic abortion. Someone... someone used dark magic to take your child."

Wang felt the world collapse around him. His legs gave way, and he fell to his knees, clutching his stomach as if he could still feel the life that had once been there. The baby. His baby. His little angel. Gone? Just like that? His breaths came in sharp, ragged gasps, his chest heaving as he tried to speak.

"My baby..." he whispered, his voice hollow. "No... no, no, no, no." His hands trembled, and his vision blurred as tears welled up in his eyes. "Please tell me you're joking."

"I wish we were," Meng replied softly. Her voice was thick with emotion, her face as pale as a sheet. Meng had always been the strong one, the one who held the family together, but in that moment, she looked as broken as Wang felt.

The weight of the truth crashed down on Wang all at once. His heart shattered into a million pieces, and the grief tore through him like a storm. The pain was unbearable, a gnawing emptiness in his chest that threatened to consume him whole. He clutched his stomach tighter, as though he could somehow reach the child that was no longer there.

His baby. His precious child.

Gone.

Forever.

Wang's grief quickly morphed into rage. His eyes darkened, fury rising inside him like a tidal wave. His muscles tensed, his hands balled into fists so tight that his knuckles turned white.

"Oh, little angel," Wang whispered, his voice thick with emotion, and then he screamed. It was a scream born from the depths of his soul, from the raw, unrelenting pain of loss. The air around him crackled with energy, and suddenly, a pulse of magic exploded from his body.