A Distant Dream (Eyrie's POV) Pt. 3

Curses. I promised Father that I would take care of my siblings.

My heart clenched. "Carlos! Are you okay?"

Carlos shook his head with difficulty.

Biting my lip, I urged myself to crawl towards him and took his injured hand.

There was now foul-smelling, yellowish-white pus flowing out of the wound.

My eyes shook as I frantically looked at Carol.

I don't remember anything about infected wounds and such from my high school classes since I was never a good student.

My sister, on the other hand, was a straight-A student. She should be able to help, or at least identify what the problem was.

At least I hope so.

Carol met my eyes, and she knew that something was up. Without a word, she arrived by my side.

"So… What is this? How can we heal it? What do we need?!" I could feel myself trembling.

But there was no answer.

Carol just stared at the wound with a stunned expression.

I was about to ask what's wrong when I realized something.

When we were younger and still lived in the Rochester mansion, Carol was the one that doted on Carlos the most.

She couldn't bear to see him upset or hurt, and always tried to shield him from all the dirty things in the world. She also supported Carlos blindly, no matter what he did or the consequences of his actions.

Even after going into hiding, Carol still terribly doted on our younger brother.

And this, this was the most severe injury that Carlos had ever gotten in his entire life.

I smiled bitterly as I tried to find words to comfort my younger siblings. "You'll be fine, Carlos. Carol, do you know any way to heal his injury?"

I watched as Carol snapped out of her daze. "Umm… This is a severely infected wound, so the best line of action would be to use antibiotics, but that isn't available, so for starters, we should clean the wound with some water."

She looked at me, expectantly.

Antibiotics? Water?

My mind blanked out.

Carol's look gradually turned hostile when she realized I wasn't replying. "Sis… Don't tell me you didn't bring anything."

I looked away.

Yep. I didn't bring a thing.

I was too busy feeling emotional, defending against the smell of rotten wood, and running away to remember that I had to take the bag of necessities on the table next to the bed my siblings slept in.

"This is no good…" My sister sighed.

I contemplated for a while.

What would be a good line of action for right now? It's not like we sit here forever until someone finds us, right?

"Guys, why don't we try moving around first? To see if we can find living people? Or maybe a water source? Or a living space we can rest in?" I thought out loud.

I saw Carol glance at Carlos with some hesitation. "How long can he last?" I asked.

She scowled. "Don't put it like he's going to die..." Her eyes softened. "H-He'll be just fine. Just fine..."

'Everything will be just fine.' I wonder how many times have we said this phrase in this hour?

"Carlos, can you walk? Your legs didn't get injured too, did they?"

The young man grimaced as he stood up with our help. "I… I'll just follow behind you guys."

He seemed so crestfallen.

I patted his back. It will all turn out all right. It definitely will.

Definitely.

"Wait, guys, isn't that Fei?!" The young man's voice had gotten brighter, and he gestured for us to look.

I followed his line of vision.

There was a dark figure a few meters away from us, but I couldn't see their exact features.

Could it really be Fei? I squinted my eyes. "Maybe. Should I go and take a look?"

Fei was one of the people instructed to wait for our arrival at the entrance of the manhole. However, with so much time that passed and not a glimpse of her, I had about given up.

"Yeah su—"

"No. Don't do it, Eyrie." Carol interrupted before Carlos could finish. "It's suspicious why a person is roaming around in the ruins. Let's go hide somewhere first."

"But—" Carlos began again.

"Eyrie, listen to me. Something doesn't feel right. Let's go!" My little sister shook my shoulders.

I furrowed my eyebrows. What should I do?

If that person was really Fei, then she could help us get out of here. If it isn't her, then we could in a lot of danger.

I hesitated.

No. W-We… We shouldn't take the risk.

I pulled on my siblings' sleeves to head in the direction of a random fallen building.

But it was too late.

The blurry figure rapidly advanced in our direction, and by this time, I could clearly see the electrifying blue eyes.

Carlos smiled. "Fei! I knew it was you! Hehe. Where did you come fr—" Before he could finish speaking, Fei had arrived in front of him.

With a slash of her weapon (she moved so fast I couldn't see what it was), Carlos' head rolled to the floor – with his face still smiling.

As if that wasn't enough, the Success lifted her other arm equipped with a knife and stabbed multiple times into my brother's heart, as if to make sure he was truly dead.

It happened so fast that I couldn't react in time.

"KYAAAA!!" Beside me, Carol screamed hysterically.

She pulled at my arm with shaking hands, trying to get me to run away with her.

But I couldn't move.

I had frozen with fear.

With another crash, I observed from the corner of my eye as my little sister's body flew in the air after receiving a punch from Fei.

I doubt she survived that.

Wait.

S-S-S-S-S-S-Sur... survive?

She didn't survive. So didn't Carlos.

The reality of it suddenly hit me, but despite knowing that the being in front of me was no longer sane, that it was a pure monster, I couldn't help but refuse to believe it.

"Fei?" My hoarse voice was like a stranger's; I could hardly hear myself, with all the white noise ringing in my ears.

I continued staying in place as I saw Fei's head turn robotically towards me.

Her eyes were filled with a cold blue light, and her face was streaked with blood.

Where did that blood come from?

From my brother?

From my sister?

From all the other people she probably killed?

The success licked at the blood at the corners of lips as she rushed at me, holding her weapons up high.

…

Eyrie opened her eyes in shock, finding herself unable to breathe.

She sat up on her bed, gasping for breath.

Where am I?

Am I dead?

Alive?

Yes. I'm alive.

I'm Alive!

Her hands were shaking as she touched her neck.

She had closed her eyes for barely a second when she felt a pair of blue eyes staring at her.

Panting, the young woman opened her eyes again.

With messy brown hair spilling all over her face, she tightly gripped the bedsheets, trying to make sure that this was reality.

This wasn't a dream.

She didn't die yet. Her heart was beating wildly as a testament to that.

Eyrie's eyes wandered around the unfamiliar room, before landing on the handsome man sleeping next to her.

Her husband.

A torrent of memories came back to her, and she gripped the bedsheets even tighter, struggling to breathe.

Oh Eyrie, Eyrie… What have you done?

How could you get yourself so attached to Fei? Even after knowing what would happen if you allowed that mutant to stay in your family, you still so foolishly sided with her against your father.

It's a good thing that Father found out that Fei did not belong to the Rochester family, why were you so upset?

Did you think history won't repeat itself just because you are reincarnated?

Have you forgotten what vile things that mutant had done to your family? Just because you haven't had any nightmares reminding you of it?

Eyrie shivered.

She burrowed her head into her hands.

What has she been doing this whole time?