he's gone

Night blanketed the old rental house in a suffocating stillness. Snow fell slowly, piling on the windows and roof like a cold blanket that cared little for troubled hearts.

Asher stood in front of Athena's bedroom door. The wooden panel was shut tight. No sound came from inside. He had knocked several times earlier, waited in silence, but never received the answer he had hoped for.

His face tensed. The calm in his eyes now carried the shadow of deep disappointment.

"Maybe I've just been a burden to her all this time," he whispered to himself. "We're married, but she's not even sure if she wants to sponsor me out of this mess. Maybe I never really mattered to her. After all, I'm just some foolish guy."

Asher let out a deep sigh, as if surrendering the last thing he'd been holding onto. He walked to the couch, grabbed his worn-out black jacket, slipped it on, and stepped outside.

The cold wind bit at his skin immediately, but he didn't care. His feet carried him aimlessly down the snow-covered streets.

With every step, flashes of Athena walking beside him haunted his mind, her sweet smile, her calming words echoing in his ears. All of it made his chest feel tight. He never thought it had all been so temporary. Now, his wife was ignoring him.

He kept walking and walking, until suddenly, his steps came to a halt at the edge of a frozen river. The surface was white and slick, stretching as far as his eyes could see. Above it, the moon shone brightly, forming a perfect circle in the dark sky.

Asher looked up. His eyes locked onto the moon.

For some reason, something warm stirred in his chest. It was as if the moon was calling out to him.

Then light.

His eyes glowed.

A stream of white light poured into his pupils, and the world around him shifted. He could hear whispers. Not from the wind. Not from the snow. But from within himself.

"You've returned…"

"Rise, Heir of Light... You don't belong down there. You've done what's right."

Asher stumbled. His head felt like it was being bombarded with a thousand voices from every direction. He clutched his ears, but the noise wouldn't stop. It grew louder. More chaotic. His face turned pale. His breathing became shallow.

"What is this… stop… Stop!" he cried out.

He ran, away from the riverbank. His feet led him to the center of the frozen lake. Snow crunched under his shoes. He dropped to his knees, staring at the faint reflection of himself on the icy surface.

"Who… who am I?!" he asked in a choked, almost tearful voice.

The whispers wouldn't stop. Foreign names, strange images, flashes of light and screams, beautiful celestial women, it was all too much. His mind felt like it was about to explode.

In desperation, he started banging his head against the hard surface of the ice.

Dark red blood stained the pure white lake. But even that didn't silence the voices.

"Draxiel…" a faint voice echoed from nowhere. But by now, he couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. The world spun around him. His breathing was labored. His body was losing control.

At last, in a half-conscious state, he lay in the middle of the frozen lake, trembling, gasping, eyes staring at the moon as if it were staring right back at him and then, everything went dark.

The Next Morning

A pale shaft of sunlight slipped through the thin curtain in Athena's room. She stirred beneath the blanket, but her body felt ice-cold, like she had been sleeping inside a freezer. Her eyes opened slowly, squinting against the light.

"Why is it so cold," she mumbled.

She turned and was startled to see the window wide open. The winter wind blew in, carrying flakes of snow that scattered freely inside, forming small piles on the floor.

Athena quickly got up, brushed her messy hair back, and hurried to shut the window, shivering. Her breath fogged in the freezing air.

As she pulled the blanket tighter around her, memories of the previous night began to return, her conversation with the officers, the fact that Asher had no identification, and his request for her to be his sponsor. All of it pressed against her chest like a stone, heavy and suffocating.

With slow steps, she climbed out of bed and slipped her feet into her worn pink Hello Kitty slippers. She walked out of her room.

The moment she stepped into the hallway, she was met with lingering cold air. The living room was still dim, lit only by the faint light filtering through the window. Athena looked toward the table. The dinner Asher had prepared the night before was still there, barely touched. But…

Her expression shifted to concern.

"Asher?" she called softly, glancing around.

No answer.

He was usually still asleep on the couch or sitting quietly near the kitchen by this time. But now, the space felt empty. Too empty.

Athena hurried to the kitchen, opened the cabinet doors, peeked under the table.

"Asher?" she called again, louder.

Still nothing.

She looked toward the bathroom, kicked the door open.

Empty.

"Don't mess with me…" she whispered, panic creeping into her voice.

With ragged breath, she flung the back door open. The wind struck her face. Her eyes scanned the backyard garden, now nearly swallowed by the heavy snow. No footprints. No sign of life.

"Asher!" she called again, this time her voice shaking.

She rushed to the front of the house, yanked the door open, and looked out across the empty front yard. No Asher. No sound. Only silence and snow.

Athena froze on the doorstep.

Her heart thundered in her chest. Her breath came in short gasps. Then, her body slumped against the wall, her head bowed low.

"He's gone…"

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"I pushed him away with my indecision. He came to me asking for help… and I just stood there. I made him feel like he was alone, even though I was the one who dragged him into this marriage to protect myself from Carlos. God, I've been so selfish…"

She bit her lower lip until it almost bled. Her eyes welled up with tears, but she held them back.

"If something happens to him… I'll never forgive myself!" she muttered bitterly. She darted to her room, grabbed her blue jacket, and threw it on in a frenzy.

The morning wind whipped against Athena's face as she sprinted out of the house. The cold tore through her, but she didn't care. Her feet pounded against the snowy path, and the door slammed shut behind her.

"Asher!" she called, scanning both sides of the street. Everything was still blanketed in snow. Only the crunching sound of her steps accompanied her down the main road.

A few neighbors were outside, clearing snow from their rooftops. Athena rushed to one middle-aged man knocking snow off his garage roof.

"Sir, excuse me, have you seen my husband?" she asked urgently.

The man frowned, then shook his head. "No, I didn't see anyone last night. The snow was too heavy. Everyone stayed inside."

Athena gave a brief nod, then ran to the next neighbor. An old woman in a red scarf and snow shovel watched her with concern as Athena asked the same question.

But again, the answer was the same, didn't know, didn't see, didn't hear.

Athena started losing her breath. "Oh God… Asher… where are you?" she whispered, voice trembling.

She kept running down the street, cutting through the cold and snow that froze her fingers. Her hair was a mess, her eyes red from tears that now streamed freely. Until, in the distance, an old green car pulled up and came to a sudden stop at the roadside.

"Holy crap!" Lucy shouted from the driver's seat. She rushed out and ran toward Athena, who was still stumbling through the snow, breathless. "Athena! Why are you running around like Carlos is chasing you?!"

Athena paused, breath catching in her throat. "It's… it's not about Carlos…" she replied weakly, her voice shaking. "It's about… Asher."

Lucy's expression turned puzzled. "Asher? What happened to him?"

Athena opened her mouth, but no words came. Instead, the tears fell faster. She lowered her head, biting her lip. Her body trembled, and soft sobs escaped her throat.

"I… I think he's mad at me… because I couldn't give him an answer about sponsoring him last night… He probably thinks I don't care…" her voice cracked. "But that's not what I meant… I was just scared… I…"

Lucy quickly pulled her into a hug. "Hey, hey… breathe. We'll find him together, okay? He can't be far."

Athena closed her eyes in Lucy's arms, trying to calm her racing heart. "I have to find him… I can't lose him, Lucy… I'll do anything to make him happy if I find him," she said with guilt so deep, even the officer's words about Asher's neglected past echoed in her mind, fueling the ache in her chest and the urgency in her soul.