His foots ached as he ran to the same quaters that he had read on the letter. The summer heat followed by the distant place, added to it was the sheer panic and frustration. How did she even survive this?! Didn't this even make her want to stand back?! For even a bit?! He thought to himself while stopping a short distance away to catch his breathe.
She walked through this entire route without thinking back? Without a sense of time and without a second thought? He looked up to the place in front of him, then recalling the face she had made before he left her room. No... She did have a second thought... Then what powered her forward?
The smell of blood hit his nose instantly, making him get disgusted and feel like nauseating. He stood straightened, staring directly at the blood stained grounds with complete shock and irritation. Maybe she is as bloody as Lewis describes her as... Only a psycho, serial killers and maniacs can co-operate this to place a death trap on themselves. But speaking of which... She is always injured... So I guess she has grown used to it by now. I won't judge... She chose to kill herself through indirect means.
He continued walking towards the abandoned alleys, which was sending a fear up his spine that any time now, someone would shoot a sniper at his direction without him knocking. Either ways, he needed to hurry and solve this problem as soon as he could, before the mission is on the move unlike what they said in the letter.
"But even if I did kill myself... Why would you want to stop someone who isn't even your own biological sister."
Her words flashed into his mind as he squinted his eyes to keep the headache from taking over. Well does it matter if you aren't a biological sister?! Who wouldn't try to stop you when they have seen you break down right in front of them?! He thought to himself. Even if you aren't my biological sister... I would still view you as one... I have always seen you as my own younger sister as if you were born to our mother...
He came to a sudden stop, while pulling off his spectacles to wipe his eyes, which held unshed tears. I don't understand why... But I have a fear of losing you... I feel like once you leave, I might be the one to lose my sanity... Why does even an adopted sister like you feel like you belonged to this family since the start?
Just as he looked up and ahead to the streets, a single person's footsteps sounded before him. The leader of the hitmen stepped forward while bowing his head in a different type of respect. "I was expecting that you would arrive." He spoke with a polite voice. "I had the letter specifically directed to you because I knew that your sister would be desperate when it came to taking her life. If we said 'delay', she would say 'immediately'... So I wanted to directly hand the matter into your hands."
George stared with blank eyes at the man. "The hire! Can't you cancel it?! ... You said it yourself that she was a little too young!" He shouted without really knowing what else to talk about.
"Well you are fortunate. I canceled it the second she asked for it. I may be bad... But I don't kill someone who is the age of my own daughter... I won't like it if someone just chose to kill my daughter out of a brilliant, bright, blue day... And then finding out while heartbroken and grieving that she did it to herself..." He replied back, while holding the few bundles of cash that she had stacked up on the table just yesterday. "You can take back the money... I don't plan on using it anymore..."
"No! Keep it! I insist!" He shouted with relief. "I am truly lucky that some people like you still exist... I hope you have a blessed life in the future... I hope your family will strive... Nevermind... I will have the Imperial family specifically help you get off these streets."
"Oh no! There is actually no need for that!" The leader coiled back, while holding out his hands. "Well if you did want to do something in return for us... I would ask you to keep an eye out on your sister." He answered back while pocketing the cash to avoid the burden of the weight from changing his attention entirely.
"Why so?" George asked while finally calm, with his frantic and panicked thoughts subsiding.
"Because once a teenager like her starts to think that it is finally time to let go of her hopes and walk down the path of permanent solution... It is easy to say that she will continue trying to take her life using every possible chance she might come along with. I have seen a lot of teenagers like her before... Those who can walk down this alley and face a large group of hitman without a single hesitation or even the fear... They clearly don't fear death anymore... And she is one of them... Yesterday, even I was shocked and scared of her when she walked straight in there without a word and with a smile. I already knew by then that she was going to request something unresistable and painful to experience."
***
He returned to the palace, with the leader's words echoing in his mind in repetition. Does that mean... She will try it another time? He asked himself while walking past the guards and heading directly towards her room. His dark purple gaze stayed locked on the door he was walking to, without a single care to the world or how he probably stinks like the dried blood that he had walked on just an hour ago. Should I apologize? Ask her if she is alright? If she needs anything?
His hand stayed hovering over the handle of her door knob, with his mind flashing the image of her face when he was about to leave. Maybe I should ask her... She was hesitating... As if she didn't really want to die and wanting to stay alive for a little while longer and try to lead a life again... But also like she really wanted to avoid losing her energy on a second chance... And just let her mind rest in peace for once... But that doesn't change the fact that her hesitation matters more then her peace here... If she wants to fight back... I will help her recover anyway I can find...
He gritted his teeth and held onto the knob, but the door swung open from the inside. The duchess stepped out while shutting the door behind her and then grabbing him by his forearm and dragging him away from the perimeters of Aefia's room doors. He tried to speak, but his mother held out a finger in front of her mouth as if telling him to be silent. Finally, when she reached her room, he yanked him inside and then locked her doors.
"For the time that she is silent... Don't try to enter her room and think about fixing her mind." She spoke while stepping away form the door. "Anyways... Did they reject the request?"
"Yes..." He answered back with confusion as he narrowed his eyes into their calm position. "That's a huge relief then..." She breathed out while dropping her gaze to the door. "As for the time that you were gone... I managed to get her to spill a few things... But I still refuse to believe she has said the thing that caused her to decided her death as a final and best decision."
"Why not?" He asked while settling onto the sofa to avoid his weak knees from buckling. "Because she kept saying that no one will understand if she told them that she was trying to sacrifice her life to save the people around her... It clearly had a much bigger story to it... And she is refusing from saying it." She announced as a response.
"What is she doing right now?"
"I have managed to put her to sleep... Well, precisely... She fell asleep due to exhaustion." The duchess answered back while setting on the opposite sofa. "I am a bit confused though... If she really wanted a mother's advice... Why didn't she ask me for it a long time ago? She said that the day before yesterday... She came to talk to me... But I was with Lewis back then, and when I asked her to stay... She walked away by saying she was busy..."
George heard it, and immediately straightened up. "What did she say the reason was?" He asked while getting a gist of the situation now.
"She genuinely didn't want to interrupt the time that I was spending with Lewis... And thought that her interuption might become a conflict between me and him in the future. Although I do understand that part... But... Won't Lewis understand it if I explained it to him in the future?"
"Oh... Well... No... He won't." George sighed while bending forward and covering his face with his hands. "In fact, Lewis happens to despise Aefia by a bit, given that you are trying your best to give your attention to her and practically ignoring him. And when he finally got the time to speak to you... She thought it would be a better idea to let it be like then to solve two conflict at once... She was smart at that... But the timing was just too wrong to be correct."
"Why is the timing wrong?" The duchess asked while narrowing her eyes.
"Because around that time, she was completely aware that everyone was busy and she snuck out of the palace walls, refused to have anyone follow her, and then hire a hitman to shoot her from a distance without knowing." He answered back while standing. "And the leader of the quaters... He was a nice person that she had gone to... He said one thing though... That truly just puts me in a line of concern."
"And what is that?" The duchess asked while looking at him while still staying seated. Her fingers tapping frantically and hoping that nothing bad was about to happen.
"The leader said that since Aefia had chosen to attempt 'it' once... She might try to do it again... And she would be much more careful the next time and making sure that we all don't get to know or find a solution into this matter. She will try a much faster and more stable approach the next time... So I am in a fear about that..."
"It is true though." The woman spoke while standing up, pulling out a locket from her pocket that was the same one that she had given Aefia before they left for the vacation. "Since she is isolating herself... And acting as if it will be the last time she would be doing just anything again... It is possible she will try to kill herself again and this time, she will be more careful and measuring... But given that... I think I might have a solution but I am just not certain she will take the bait..."
"I just think there is a way to talk her out for this... But I might need alternate means at some points... I don't know about the specific way... But there is someone who could get her into thinking twice before attempting a second time... You know how much Henry and Lewis look after her like possessive siblings?" She asked while lifting her gaze at George, and then continuing to speak as he nodded.
"I will need to barricade her with them. But she can't be using her smart mind into this and it will take some time... And the possibility of it being affective is actually pretty low."
***
Aefia stayed laying on her sofa, the same way that the duchess had left her. The bloodied socks were replaced with a pair of new, and black socks, the ointment at her feet causing her to jolt awake with the burning sensation at her feet. "My head..." She whispered while placing three fingers at the side of her forehead and shutting her eyes.
"It will hurt if you cry to someone you previously hated... It think it is karma." Her mirror-self spoke to her from the corner of her room.
"I think you should shut up... That woman has been desperate for me to do that for a long time now."
"But was she desperate to get you to spill all your secrets?" The illusion asked back while clasping her hands behind her back and tilting her torso to the side to look Aefia, who was still laying on her bed.
"I do what I want to do... What is your problem with that?"
"Well now she knows the absolute details of your life!"
"Because I want her to know so she would stop torturing me for the remaining of the time I choose to be alive. Let me live with peace for once." Aefia answered back while sitting up.
"You will get enough peace once you have completed your missions and tasks but you have got to–"
"Complete handing everything else to the others before I leave permanently from both planets... Don't worry... I know." Aefia spoke while yawning. Which caused the mirror illusion to stare with shocked eyes. "Aefia... You are just... Too changed..." She spoke while narrowing her eyes and forming a calm smile at her face.
"Why not? I am almost sixteen years alive... Of course I will change in terms of mind and personality."
"Why are you so rude?"
"Does it seem that way to you?"
"You are also thinking about su*c*de unlike when back on Earth."
"And I have been in this planet for almost or one year of its calendar..."
"Aren't you going to do anything against that thought?"
"No... But I will try another more efficient method next." Aefia spoke while putting her shoes on, then picking up the book on her table. "It is my final decision to be able to keep the people around me safe and I don't choose to recoil back into a life that is draining me at this point..." She let out a breathe while tucking the book back into the shelve.
"And if anything... Am I supposed to lose a leg and a hand next? And then when I have only my torso left... Am I supposed to give it away too?" She asked while turning towards her own illusion. "That is the advice I wanted from a mother... Is it right to sacrifice till the end or sacrifice a whole to settle it fast?"