Gacha Story (Mature Readers Only)

Gone

"Oh no, oh no," said Arya as she saw Colt through his window. She happened to be passing by when she noticed him, hanging in his living room motionless. A burst of energy hit the window, which smashed into thousands of tiny fragments, each jagged and sharp. Hopping through the window, she fell by his side, watching his body remain suspended in the air, held by a rope.

It wasn't fair. He had done nothing wrong.

His eyes were still open, fixed on the ground. Arya did not resist crying, letting the tears flow down her face and fill her eyes.

Does Lily know? Arya wondered, but to be honest, she did not want to know the answer. It only frightened her to think about her reaction.

Slowly, she stood up, making her way back to the window as she jumped out of it, using light magic to fix the window after she left. However, someone was watching her.

The black and blue haired girl moved closer, with a raised eyebrow. "Arya?" Lily asked. "Did you break into Colt's house?"

Her eyes widened. "Uh..."

She frowned, eyebrows furrowed. "Why?!" She demanded. "You don't live in the forest anymore so why would you need to steal from him?!"

"I wasn't stealing from him!" Arya yelled back, frantically, but Lily approached the window as she pulled her back by the hand, stopping her from getting closer. Lily turned round and glared at her. "Don't go in!"

"Why not?!" She wriggled her hand free of Arya's grip and ran past her, smashing through the window of Colt's house as she rolled onto his living room floor. When she stood up, she saw him.

Arya ran in after her, but it was too late. Nothing could take back what Lily had just seen.

Colt was just hanging there, suspended by a rope, that had snatched everything living away from him. Lily was crouched on the floor, feet surrounded by the broken shards of the broken window, and Arya was still outside, staring through the hole in the wall.

Lily said nothing and Arya did not want to disturb the silence, even though she was longing to say something, anything to help her feel better.

Her heart was black, soulless eyes staring at the empty shell of her boyfriend that was left hanging there, stuck in this grey world, a brown snake matted in blood wrapped around his neck. His fingers, just like the rope, was slick in blood - it was evident that he had been struggling, clawing to stop this rope take his life, before he was silenced, and for him, death did not come so easily.

"Lily..." Arya spoke faintly, but Lily couldn't hear her over the sounds of her own heart thudding painfully, bashing beneath her ribcage.

Her world was cold and grey, the colours dying out, the dim pigment of Colt's skin turning black, the same colour of his clothes. The room that was once so bright and vivid was torn away, the broken lenses of her eyes unable to see clearly, obscured by a shadow that refused to fade away. Devastation crashed down on her, and that was all she could comprehend, her knees on the carpet sinking down, her body heavy and stiff as she collapsed by his feet suspended in the air.

Arya hopped over the window pane and fell by Lily's side, white tears rolling down her white cheeks. Pulling her in, Arya cradled her, letting the tears sink into her black hoodie. Arya moved her head back, to look her in the eyes, dark brown eyes that were covered by a misty layer of tears. She blinked and they fell.

"You knew..." Lily whispered, voice cracking, betrayal washing over her, crashing with the hurt and guilt and failure. "Why... why didn't you stop him...?"

Arya shook her head dismally. "I -" Her heart was thudding too, so loudly that she wondered whether Lily could hear it too. "I was too late... I... I tried to stop you..."

"You failed."

She didn't deny it, tears swelling in her eyes. "I know," she said quietly and looked back at Lily, whose eyes were fixed on Colt's black shoes.

"Can you... can I have some time alone?" Lily asked, still not looking up. "Please?"

Arya didn't want to leave her, but she felt she had little choice. Lily was broken enough, so the least she could do was respect her wishes. Arya stood up, letting go of her best friend before she jumped out of the window. "Come find me if you ever need to talk, okay?"

Lily didn't reply but gave a stiff nod as Arya sighed and evacuated the home, the window fixing itself again.

Lily could hear Arya's footsteps quietening, getting further away, but Colt... Colt was still there, not moving in the slightest. The stillness and silence made her uneasy as she pulled herself up from the ground, her knees peeling off the floor. There was rope lying on the floor, wear Colt had cut some off before tying it up to the ceiling. Lily reached for it, the length of the rope long enough for her to use.

It was all too strangely perfect.

She tied the rope up next to where Colt's was before she pulled a stool over. She stood up on it, the legs shaking a little as she held onto the rope, wrapping it's cold tail around her neck tightly, like vines clutched around a tree trunk.

Grey. The room was still grey.

Colt was a black figure by her side, and she was turning black too. Her eyes fell on him, fixed permanently on him only, as she stepped to the edge of the stool. It toppled over as she fell, feet slipping and kicking through the air, before she stopped falling, held back by the neck, the rope keeping her up in the air.

She was not wide-eyed or taken by surprise; she had been anticipating it, and it all went according to her plan. He had suffered, but for her... it was too simple. Too quick and too painless.

Her once paper white skin was turning black like his, body becoming as stiff and rigid as his, dark shadows consuming her, life sucked out and replaced by death.

Both of them were gone, gone just like the others who had died, asleep in a coffin. Time would devour them, and it wouldn't be long before they'd be forgotten, because only legends get remembered when they die, and Colt and Lily were just another two ordinary people who took their own lives, for a reason that was not worth it in the end.

They would be remembered for now, but when the days turn to months and the months turn to years, everyone would be used to life without them and they would be forgotten. Memories buried with their bodies.

Gone, buried and forgotten.