Chapter 17: Living Nightmare
"Eirin."
The teenage girl stared at Bright after he called her name. She smiled as she slowly moved away from him and he gently let her hand go. Her eyes landed on the door where Ava’s mother entered, and she sauntered towards it while thinking that there was no way it was Ava. When she entered the room, she saw her dear mentor sitting on the cold and hard floor, weeping for her loss.
’There’s no way.’
Eirin’s gaze turned to the stainless steel in front of Ava’s mother, and she could not stop the trembling of her hands as her eyes went wide upon seeing the lifeless and pale face of her precious friend. Eirin huffed and dragged her feet towards the stainless steel.
"Ava," she called her friend’s name in a soft tone. "This isn’t the time to joke around. Get up there already. You’re making your mom sad," Eirin approached Ava’s body covered with a white sheet and she held Ava’s freezing hand, remembering how she was just holding it earlier. "I think I should wake up from this bad dream," the teenage girl scoffed after letting Ava’s hand go.
Eirin closed her eyes and whispered to herself, "Please end this nightmare already." Thinking that it was just another nightmare that would make her sweat buckets and weep after waking up. "There’s no way Ava would leave like this," her words echoed through the room alongside Ava’s mother’s sobs. Eirin stayed standing with her eyes closed, waiting for a miracle to happen, waiting to be woken up from this long nightmare.
"Eirin."
Bright grabbed Eirin’s shoulders, making her open her eyes. "She said we’ll be together forever," her voice cracked as she scoffed. "This is an awful joke. I don’t like it." Eirin went back and touched Ava’s cheek, but she flinched after feeling that the warmth had vanished from Ava’s skin. "No," Eirin’s mouth trembled as she said that. Tears welled in her eyes and her vision got blurry. As if something was stuck in her throat, it was too hard for her to swallow.
"No."
Eirin fell on her knees, making Bright quickly get a hold of her arms, stopping her from getting hurt. "This isn’t real. There’s no way this is." Her head spun as she closed her eyes.
"Eirin? Ei!"