Grave night

Grave night


Chapter 80

The silence inside the room was almost visible.

Elara was still on the floor, her shoulders trembling, her face buried in Selena’s arms. The quiet sobs came out in uneven waves, breaking the still air. Selena just held her without saying a word, one hand stroking her hair gently, like she was trying to soothe a child who’d lost everything. Her own tears streamed in a thin line down her face. She just stared in the distance, her gaze lost and dead. Her usually candid and stone expression faltered, expressing sadness that cut deep.

I froze in the doorway, not knowing how to approach the situation. It wasn’t until Ciel took the initiative to step forward, walking into the room that I found myself finally able to enter the room without feeling some way. I took a few slow steps in, following behind Ciel. The faint creak of the floorboards marked our presence, Only Selena looked up to acknowledge us. However, that didn’t change anything.

For a long while, none of us said anything. Ciel and I just stood there, each of us subject to the heavy grief that submerged the room.

I wanted to say something. I wanted to comfort Elara, but Ciel’s words earlier as well as the heaviness of the situation left me hesitant. In the end, I decided to wait. Elara was still going through it at the moment, it was only fair that I didn’t intervene and just let her be.

Elara eventually lifted her head after it felt like forever. Her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks streaked with dried tears. She looked at Ciel, her gaze void of anger; only pain and hurt were reflected in her eyes.

Her expression was hollow, mirroring the look of someone who’d lost their anchor in life. “Can I… see him one last time?” she asked, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Ciel’s expression faltered. He stepped closer, his tone low and careful. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I already buried him.”

Elara blinked, the words taking a moment to register.

“I had to,” he added quietly. “It wasn’t safe to leave him there. The hunters are crawling all over the city. If they found the house and saw… what happened, they’d come for all of us next.”

A fragile silence followed. Elara’s lip trembled, but she nodded slowly. The acceptance in her eyes hurt even more than her tears.

“Thank you,” she murmured. “For… taking care of him.”

Ciel only nodded, his gaze heavy. “I’ll take you to him. When things calm down. Both of you,” he looked at Zias who was still asleep as he said, “ I promise.”

Elara’s eyes flicked to Zias, still asleep on the couch beside Selena. His small face looked peaceful, oblivious to the world collapsing around him.

She brushed a hand over his hair and whispered something I couldn’t hear. Maybe a promise?

Maybe an apology?

I didn’t know.

Selena’s voice broke the quiet. “You’re not alone, Elara,” she said softly. “You still have us. You have me.”

Elara smiled weakly, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

Something tugged in my chest, and before I knew it, I moved to kneel beside her. I took her hands in mine, feeling the tremor still running through her. “And me,” I added, my throat tightening. “You still have me too. Icarus… meant everything to me. To all of us. I swear to you, Elara- I’ll give my life for you and Zias. Whatever comes next, I’ll always stand by you.” I said, expressing my heartfelt support.

For a moment, Elara just stared at me. My heart beat fast as I contemplated whether she thought I was guilty for Icarus’ death. Whether she thought it was my fault.

However, just then, she squeezed my hands back. The faintest smile tugged at her lips. Though a broken one, it was still something.

“Thank you, Alyssa,” she whispered.

Her words hit me harder than I expected. I felt tears sting again, but I forced them back. It wasn’t my place to break down now. Not when she was barely holding herself together.

Selena reached over, brushing a strand of Elara’s hair behind her ear, and gave me a small nod. It was the kind that said “we’ll hold her together,  somehow.”

The room fell quiet again after that. The kind of quiet that stretched endlessly, swallowing every breath and every thought.

Time passed without any of us really noticing.

At some point, the night grew darker, eyes grew tired of the long vacant stares and the mind became numb from the silence.

Elara eventually slumped against Selena’s shoulder, her exhaustion overtaking her grief. Selena herself drifted off soon after, still holding Elara. I watched this all, sitting cross-legged on the floor beside them. Until I couldn’t hold out any longer and found my head growing heavy despite trying to stay awake.

As my eyes drifted into slumber, I caught sight of Ciel in the corner.

He sat by the window, his silhouette barely outlined by the dim silver light of the moon outside. His eyes were fixed somewhere beyond the glass-- distant, and unreadable.

The faint flicker of the city lights reflected against his face, sharp and cold. I wondered what he was thinking. If it was about Icarus, or the hunters, or the pack that had turned on us all?

Maybe all of it…?

But more importantly, with the look on his face, I don’t think he’d be sleeping anytime soon.