In My Hands, Know Suffering

41: Don't Let Go

Nothing could make up for a bad day than feeling the one that a heart so adored be right beside you. It can either wipe away all the worries or be an added burden, but that solely depended on how one handled it.

But time wasn't always the ghost to give chances where hearts collide. There would always be an equal trade for every ounce of pleasure, and that would often land on a terrible turn of unforgiving fate.

The spring break was about to close majority of the campus grounds soon. Fate would be welcoming them into the final year of their stay in the university. What student didn't want their education to end anyway? Although some would disagree because life, as a whole, was ever the constant educator of experiences untold.

In the weeks that followed after the accident, word quickly spread the wildfire around the campus about what happened at the courtyard, calling the attention of those who have seen it themselves. The school took their own measures and paid their respects to the families, explaining something that even they cannot comprehend. Cries of mourning were heard, and angry voices would soon drown into the archives of unsolved cases.

They would never know what caused it or how to bring justice to the five lives that were taken in the blink of an eye. There was ever the unrelenting force playing with the precious lives of unworthy human beings.

Abrielle, who was ever the suspicious person, immediately shot a look of concern at Castellone over the news. If the authorities had no lead to how it happened, given how the victims had no issue with their mental state, she can only guess one other thing that remained unsolved.

Castellone understood the accusing gaze she was giving him. "You do know we were together most of the time, right?" That was one thing he was sure of. The only time they weren't together was when he had to go home on weekends to check up if Kerxis was doing fine, or during the late hours of the night when he would prefer working on his papers alone or even when he had to rest.

What he told her was true. She wanted to believe in him, but she couldn't shake the feeling that it was the same like what happened to Siniyah somehow. Either he was lying this whole time, or he can't remember giving the order. She wasn't sure if amnesia came with giving the word for death.

Just like what she felt from within him, the entity had either gotten stronger or weaker, she still couldn't really understand which. She feared it was slowly taking hold of him without emanating enough force to swallow him whole just yet. And Castellone did mention that it wanted her. He was obviously the bridge for the entity to get to her.

She reached out to touch his hand and tighten her grip on his. She tried to feel the energy of Specter within him, but like usual, it was either of her two speculations that prevailed. The entity's energy was balanced. She didn't know how that can be and what it meant and it scared her for not being able to know. It wasn't one of her options, but she knew one person who would know. Yustaine.

"Is something wrong?" Castellone asked when she gave him a deeper look of concern.

She shook her head and smiled to hide her distress. She remembered that almost all students had already left the campus grounds and had rendered it lifeless for a few days earlier than expected. They were the giddy recess seekers. "You have any plans this vacation?"

He leaned back against the chair, his gaze shifted to look at the luggage piled around Abrielle's bed, some of them were Reesa's stuff that got left due to rushing. "We planned to go to Clawde, visit Rius. But to be honest, I'd rather stay. You?"

She didn't really have anything set for recreational activities, but she had something else in mind. After shaking her head a no, she just stared at him for the longest time. Abrielle knew he should have already left the dormitory and be back in his hometown but chose to stay a little bit more. Obviously because she was still around.