"BUZZ… BUZZ…"
The relentless buzzing buzzed in my ears, distant but insistent like a swarm trapped inside my skull.
My eyes cracked open, but the world swam before me, heavy and unfocused.
Pain sprawled through my body, sharp and dull all at once, like every bone and muscle had been shattered and stitched back wrong.
Through the haze, I caught my grandmother's tear-streaked face. Her eyes, swollen and red, held a sorrow that felt endless.
"You need to rest," she whispered, her voice trembling like fragile glass. "Let your body heal."
My mouth tasted of ash and dust. My head pounded, a drumbeat threatening to burst through my skull.
I fought to stay awake, to hold onto the thin thread of consciousness, but the shadows pulled me under again, merciless and cold.
When I woke the second time, the air around me was colder.
Grandpa sat quietly nearby, eyes empty, gazing into some unreachable place.
"Grandpa… is Mom okay?" My voice was barely a whisper, brittle and raw.
He blinked back tears, voice breaking. "She's… she's good. Very good," he said, but his smile was thin, fragile as cracked porcelain. "She's joined her soulmate now. What could harm her?"
His hand brushed my hair, warm but distant, before he quietly left the room.
The silence that followed wrapped around me like a suffocating shroud.
I felt hollow, like the pieces of me were scattered and lost.
A soft voice broke through gently and cautiously, like a lifeline thrown across a chasm.
"Are you feeling unwell, Ryu?"
I said nothing. My gaze fixed on the wall, somewhere far away.
She tried again, softer this time:
"I'm sorry for your loss. I knew Richi in college. I… I wanted to ask about the case. Only if you can. Please don't push yourself."
I turned slowly to look at her, but the edges of her face blurred as the memories crashed back....
The blood, the screams, the night my world shattered forever.
Ryu's House
The single lamp threw long, thin shadows that seemed to reach for me, cold fingers creeping across the walls.
Outside, the city murmured loudly and was indifferent to my pain.
I curled into the corner of the couch, the blanket wrapped tight like armor against the cold that gnawed inside me.
My knees pulled up, clutching what little strength I had. My eyes glazed over, staring but not seeing.
Johnny stood silently in the doorway, watching me with quiet concern, his presence a fragile tether to a world that felt like it was slipping away.
He moved slowly, as if afraid to break the silence, and settled beside me without a word.
"I made some tea," he whispered, lifting the mug with hands trembling just like mine.
I accepted it without looking, my fingers shaking as they closed around the fragile warmth.
Silence settled between us, thick and heavy.
"I don't know how to do this," I whispered, voice cracking like fragile glass. "How to live… without them."
Johnny didn't offer empty words. Instead, his hand found mine steady, real, grounding.
"You don't have to do it alone. I'm here. For everything. For nothing. Whatever you need."
I let myself lean into him, finally releasing a fraction of the crushing weight I hadn't even realized I was carrying.
His arm curved protectively around me, a lifeline in the storm.
"It's okay to cry," he murmured.
And I did.
Soft, shuddering sobs breaking through years of silence.
Time slipped by in whispered stories and fragile laughter—the kind that hurts but also heals.
"You remember when you almost burned down the kitchen trying to cook?" he smiled.
I smiled faintly, tears still wet on my cheeks. "You saved it with the fire extinguisher."
He nodded. "Even when things go wrong, we survive. Together."
I breathed out slowly, feeling grief loosen its grip... just a little.
"I don't know what I'd do without you," I whispered.
Johnny pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead.
"You'll never have to find out."
Days Later…
We walked slowly, cautiously, through a world that felt too sharp and overwhelming.
One afternoon, Johnny's eyes darted behind us, brows knitting with worry.
"What's wrong?" I asked, heart hammering in my chest.
"I think… we're being followed."
Before I could react, figures emerged, men wielding bats, faces hard and unyielding.
Johnny stepped between me and danger, voice steady but fierce. "We don't know you. Who are you?!"
He shoved me aside. "Run. Now."
My legs obeyed before my mind could catch up, dizzy, breath ragged, panic clawing at me.
When I again reached the location from the police station, only found it deserted. Pools of dark, glistening blood stained the floor.
My knees gave out. The world blurred and stretched away.
I'd already lost my parents.
I couldn't lose him, too.
I collapsed, chest heaving, trembling uncontrollably.
Someone's arms wrapped around.... warmth and safety amid the chaos, carrying me into the infirmary, where pain met mercy.