26 Ashes of the Living

26 Ashes of the Living

“Tears flow from the sky

Those weren't rain,

Instead, those were blood.

Blood of every victim

Being devoted to this so-called cure.”

What happened today was unexpected.

No one had expected that to happen.

One loss, equivalent to all losses.

Life is exchanged by that so-called cure that became the source of their greed.

They began to eat one by one, skin by skin, flesh by flesh, until blood hadn't been spared.

How did it happen?

Being sick is not something someone could just make an excuse for.

Excuses became a curse.

In exchange to save one person, everyone has been sacrificed.

“That's the only thing I found in their whole system. Just a single page of the journal from the dead Ronulfo Timothy.” Trevor said as he gave me the printed copy of the journal of the grandfather of Illeon. My Late grandfather’s host.

“So the death of Ronulfo wasn't just a disease.” I mumbled and shook my head. Did the Timothy couple also know about this?

“Ronulfo? He is your grandfather.” I sighed. I never saw Illeon's grandfather, not even a single picture has been in Illeon's memory. It only makes sense that Illeon bore a hatred towards him.

“Trevor, there is something that concerns me more.” I pointed out the time in his wristwatch.

9:45pm

“It’s quarter to 10… I don’t like new rumors added to my worst image again.” He nodded and packed his things.

“Then, have a sweet night,” He said and walked towards the door of my room. “ My dear client.” He said with a smile.

Urghhh. He really loves to call me names. Damn.

As he closed the door, I crumbled the printed information he sent me and threw it in my bin. “The traps are now setting for me.”

Mrs. Lourdes, Illeon’s grandma, would never leave just information that easy. She already knew Trevor’s expertise. She did a good job making the poor man work hard in this long night. However, ‘that watch’ is keeping me in check. I never expected her to think so highly of me to have hired Trevor to watch me.

“I don’t know how this world runs, I bet they also want my life as my fate has already started to be trapped in this place.” Even though I had tried to leave this place, my soul was still bound to remain here.

“Ordinary people might call your life reborn, some will also say, this is your second life. However, for someone who witnesses numerous deaths, You are just extending your karma.” I chuckled as he said that.

Right, The guardian of Death’s assistant, has been resting in my place. However, I’m the only one who can see him for now. He put his remaining energy to hide his presence to recuperate peacefully. But it seems like his plans to have a peaceful rest will be canceled.

“Karma just makes me alive, even my million wishes is death, karma curses me to live.”

“Death comes around, it is not just your time. Physical body might rot, but the soul still remains.” Did he mean my old body is my first death?

“You sound like I already made my wish come true.” He never responded, he just opened the window and jumped down, leaving me behind.

“Urgh, Why am I the one annoyed with all men today?!" I closed my opened window.

Hella I would jump.

My room is on the third floor. I’m not gonna waste my energy just jumping to have broken bones.

I grabbed my cap and jacket from the stand and quickly put them on. Moving silently, I cracked the door open and scanned the hallway. Once I was sure no one was around, I slipped out, keeping my head low. From my pocket, I pulled out the signal jammer I had prepared and pressed it, disabling every surveillance camera I passed.

"Stop!"

I quickly hid myself as the guard’s voice rang out. He was calling out to two female students who had just stepped out of their rooms. They froze for a moment, caught in the act.

"Where are you going at this hour? Curfew is almost in effect... Are you trying to sneak out again?"

I tilted my head slightly to get a better look. They were blocking the hallway — right in the path I needed to take. There was no way I could slip past them without being seen.

"Hand over your IDs," the guard demanded.

"Run."

My eyes widened in shock as I realized they weren’t girls at all — they were boys disguised in female uniforms. As the guard stepped closer, they suddenly shoved him into a nearby door with a loud crash that echoed through the hallway, loud enough to stir the girls from their rooms. Doors creaked open, curious eyes peeking out to witness the commotion.

"Damn!"

"Tsk."

I clicked my tongue and shot a death glare at him when he appeared right in front of me — the assistant to the Guardian of Death, back again, determined to drag me away before anyone else could notice.

"Relying on mortal skills has made you weak," he said coldly.

And just like that, the next thing I knew, I was already standing in the shadowy hallway of the school, swallowed once more by darkness.

"We're in the south wing of the school. I can sense an anonymous aura lingering here," he said, as flames flared from his hand, casting a flickering light across the darkness.

"This school feels like a living horror show straight out of a drama," I muttered.

All rooms are covered with darkness and what he said is indeed right. There is a chilling breeze of the wind. Not a simple wind, but a symbol for someone's deathbed.

“I smell blood.”

“Are they similar to what dad had made?” I questioned him and he nodded that made my heart sink in disbelief.

"Impossible... Are they really what Dad created?" I demanded.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he simply turned and led me toward one of the darkened rooms. With a flick of his power, the locked door creaked open, and he stepped inside without hesitation.

I felt a chill in my spine as my feet dragged me to follow him. As I already entered the room, he closed it with his power.

"Time reversal doesn’t happen without a price," he began, his voice low and steady. "We, the holders of death, are merely tools — here to help mortals accept their fate. Death is inevitable. But when time is reversed, it distorts real fate. A dead person, once claimed, can no longer exist in the same body."

As he let go of those words, I heard the creepy familiar sound again.

Nails screeched and scratched against the ground, creating a grating noise that made my skin crawl. Along with it came the brutal, sickening crack of bones being forced out of place. I froze. For the first time in this body, I felt the same paralyzing fear I once had when Dad revealed his deranged experiment.

I couldn't move, nor could I summon the energy to cope with everything I was hearing. My eyes widened in horror as it appeared right in front of me. Before it could get any closer, he stepped in and stopped it.

The fire in his hand lit up the darkness just enough for me to see what stood before me: a student. Her eyes were nearly white, save for a faint, pinpoint pupil. Her face was marred with countless scratches, the blood still fresh and oozing. She stared at me hungrily, grinding her teeth, as if she was desperate to tear into me.

“I-impossible.” Before, it was just a guess when I witnessed how Mrs. Lourdez was fighting against this from a distance. Now that it is in front of me, it slapped me hard because my guess is the fact that ‘KARMA CHASES ME’.

"Destroying the truth right in front of you was never the wisest choice," he said coldly. "But you abandoned it before you could even watch it crumble with your own eyes."

I remembered how I burnt that laboratory along with our house . My family, and my friends were all there, being burnt half dead and half alive in their state. I couldn’t even bring myself to kill my own life because, I know dad will resurrect me and make me like them nor I have guts to kill them a second time.

They became hideous because of me.

They turned into monsters because of me.

And now, they're all condemned to die young.

Dad had long since lost his grip on reality. Even when I begged him for a cure, he would only mutter the same broken words over and over again — like a man trapped in his own madness.

“But I accidentally killed him that day,” I said with confusion. My tears almost covered my sight as it was about to fall on my cheeks. “I surely killed him.”

"And fed him to them," he said.

My eyes widened in disbelief. I shook my head, refusing to accept it.

"Enough," I whispered.

"Because of that," he continued coldly, "you witnessed firsthand just how dangerous the things he created truly were."

{Tears flow from the sky

Those weren't rain,

Instead, those were blood.

Blood of every victim

Being devoted to this so-called cure.}

"I said enough!" I shouted.

But he didn’t stop.

"He came back to life — just like this poor student in front of you... clenching his teeth, staring at you with starving, devouring eyes. Even your beloved mother, twisted into something cruel and unrecognizable, looked at you the same way. And your friends... over time, their strength only grew as their hunger deepened."

He leaned closer, his voice like a blade.

"What did you really lose back then, Azilan?"

I couldn't hold it back anymore. Tears streamed down my face. I just cried — broken, helpless.

He wiped the tears from my eyes almost gently, only to force me to watch as he hurled the fire from his hand straight at the student.

She went up in flames.