Chapter 46: Liberation in Despair
They were gone, gone, gone.
And I was free, free, free.
Not really, of course. If anything, my days were probably numbered. They always have been, obviously, but now... now Zero and Mickey were out there, preparing to start their demented crusade, and who knows how many wraiths were about to become the collateral damage.
Who knows how many, but certainly me.
Or maybe not. Maybe, somehow, I'll slip through the cracks and survive, again. After all, I have until now, and the odds were never in my favor. But really, it didn't matter. Despite all logic, despite the direness of the situation, I felt free.
Because I knew now. No matter how sad, and horrible, and heartbreaking the truth about my mother's fate was, I finally knew what had happened, and how. The pain didn't subside, and the darkness didn't lift, but at least now I knew. And perhaps, soon, I'll be able to begin to heal.
I paced. I solved my Rubik's cubes. I played the piano. I tried to eat, and couldn't.
In the end, I put on my jacket and went outside.
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It took me a few seconds to recognize the man who opened the door after I knocked. He looked at me expectantly, a polite smile on his face.
'Can I help you?'