Chapter Text
“Sunny, for the last time, we have to practice before the recital! Do you want dad to be disappointed?”
Sunny was in no mood to practice. Sunny was in no mood to play at the recital. And most of all, Sunny was in no mood to play the violin. So as that voice shouted again for him to leave his room, Sunny saw nothing but red.
Storming out with violin in hand and slamming the door behind him, he heard that voice scoff from behind a wall. He paid it no notice. He was overwhelmed. He was sick of everything. He didn’t care anymore. Turning toward the stairs, he grit his teeth and threw the instrument with all his might, watching it crash down and explode into a million splinters. This, at last, made that voice go silent.
For a moment, Sunny took a breath. His hands shook, his sore and calloused fingers bearing scabs that perpetually threatened to reopen. He stared down at the shattered object, not quite grasping what he had just done, but satisfied in his deed. All the pain, all the heartache, all the not being good enough — it was finally over. But, it was only for a moment.
“Sunny! What did you do?”
There was that voice again. Sunny turned to see Someone standing furious at the end of the hall, getting closer with each step. That voice was yelling. It yelled about how they’d spent months practicing for the recital. It yelled about how long his friends had spent saving up to buy him that violin. But he couldn’t comprehend a word it said. He couldn’t comprehend the sound of quiet footsteps that snuck through its breaths. He couldn’t comprehend why it was angry. All he knew was that he wanted that voice to stop. Why is it putting me through this? Why won’t this just end? My pain... this is your fault. I just don’t care about it anymore. I don’t care! I hate you!
Instinct took over and he tried to run. But that voice was all around him now. It blocked the stairwell. He felt cornered against the wall. The yelling got louder. Why? “Don’t you run away! I’m not finished talking!”
He raised his hands as a stranger’s voice echoed through the house.
“Mari, stop!”
There was Something behind her. Arms wrapped around Mari’s waist and she was falling backwards. Sunny automatically reached forward, grabbing the air as she plummeted down the staircase and crashed down atop the broken violin. Suddenly, Sunny awoke to nothing but silence. His arms fell to his side and his vision cleared for long enough to see the blond boy lying on top of his sister.
Basil..?
“Basil? M-Mari…? Are-Are you okay?” Sunny stuttered. He was shivering. He heard Basil moan and watched him get to his feet, but Mari gave no answer. His heart sank into his stomach.
He trembled his way down the staircase and tried to understand. What happened? He struggled with Mari when she stopped him from leaving, she fell down the stairs, and Basil was on top of her. What was Basil doing there? When did he get here? Why did he get up, but Mari didn’t? Sunny wasn’t sure. His shiver worsened.
Reaching the bottom, he glanced at Basil, seeing the look of panic on his face gaping down, before he dropped to his knees beside his sister. “Mari? Mari?” he quavered as he grasped her arm. He used his other hand to sweep bits of wood from her body. She was covered in scratches. When she didn’t answer, he gasped for air and turned his sister on her back. Her eyes were mostly shut. She looked like she was sleeping… so why wouldn’t she wake up?
He hooked his arms under hers and hoisted her up. “Basil, h-help me,” he begged, while Basil trembled just as much as Sunny. Answering with nothing but a whimper, Basil bent down to hold her legs and they were carrying her upstairs. She felt lighter with the help. She just needs to lie down in her bed for a little while, Sunny thought… she just needs some rest.
It was another moment, and they were at the top of the stairs. Sunny’s heart was beating out of his chest, his head felt fuzzy, he was losing his vision. He thought he saw something black and fuzzy moving beside them on the floor, but he didn’t look. He backed through the bedroom door and they made their way to her bed. She’s going to be okay, right? This is just a dream, right?
Sunny laid her down on her bed as gently as he could with Basil’s help, and her head hit her pillow without the slightest bit of stirring or resistance. Soft black fur brushed against Sunny’s legs and Mewo climbed on the other side, staring in confusion at her unconscious owner.
The world around Sunny became a blur. His anguish compounded on itself as he shook her and called her name softly over and over. She never answered. His voice devolved into whimpers as the sunlight from the window — was it morning? — cast itself into the room, draping a shadow over her face. She didn’t react. He sunk his fingers into her arm and started hyperventilating.
He wanted to scream for help, but he couldn’t. He still couldn’t understand what happened! Why was she yelling at him? Why did she get in his way? Why did she fall?! Why wasn’t she waking up?! Why was Basil on top of her?! …Why was Basil even there? Sunny still didn’t know when he got there at all. He thought he saw someone else’s arms around her before she fell…
…was that Basil? Did he grab her? Did he pull her away?
No, no, there was no way that was true. Basil wouldn’t do something like that. Basil is a good person. A good person wouldn’t do something like that. He wouldn’t do anything that hurt Mari. This just wasn’t real. None of this was real. Why wouldn’t he wake up?
“S-Su-Sunny…” Basil whispered from behind him. Sunny slowly turned to look at him over his own arm through blurry vision. Basil was fluttering like a leaf, hands grasping the front of his shirt, and tears falling from wide eyes. He looked like he was going to fall any second, but Sunny made no attempt to get up and catch him.
“It-It was…” Basil sniffled. “It was… an accident…”
Sunny knitted his brows in confusion. Then his eyes widened and tears spilled with horrid realization. Nothing is going to be okay.
Basil’s life was over. Yes, he had survived the fall. But that didn’t change a damn thing - Basil killed Mari. I killed Mari. I killed Sunny’s sister.
And he was selfish enough to not even die alongside her. He was selfish enough to think he deserved to live. And now, Sunny hated him. He hated him with all his heart. Sunny would never forgive him for this. He would never understand, because there was nothing to understand. Basil was a monster. He killed Mari.
It was an accident, he thought. What a joke. What was he even saying? Stuff like this didn’t happen by accident. Basil had intervened on purpose. He had pulled her away on purpose. Losing his balance on the stairs was an accident, right? That didn’t matter. An accident like that only reinforced how worthless he was. As far as anything actually mattered, he killed her on purpose.
I was just trying to protect Sunny, he thought. But that was a lie. A dirty lie. He wasn’t protecting Sunny. He hadn’t been protecting anyone. He killed his best friend’s sister and now Sunny’s life was over. The only person who ever cared enough to understand the worthless bug of a person that he now knew he was. And so, less importantly, Basil’s life was over.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” he apologized, again and again, like it meant something. Sunny didn’t respond — Basil couldn’t even tell if he registered it, his head was buried in his arms. An expression of pure horror and desperation painted itself across the face of the boy who once thought he could call Basil his friend. Basil had never seen that expression on Sunny’s face before. He wished he never had.
Basil slowly approached him, shaking so much that just keeping his balance felt like some sort of twisted miracle. He placed his hands on Sunny’s shoulders, trying to provide an empty comfort - or, more likely, crying for attention he didn’t deserve. Either way, Sunny vacantly glanced up at Basil, his eyes red and cheeks wet in the dark of the room. Basil could barely speak. His throat was tight, his mind was racing, and what little sound came out was soft and choked. “S-Sunny…”
“What are we supposed to do?”
Sunny just hung his head, and they knew. There was no answer. Basil’s voice hitched with a quiet sob and he apologized again. His dozens of apologies now added up to zero.
…
…
So they waited. They waited there by Mari, as seconds, minutes, hours became all the same to them. Sunny laid curled up next to Mari the entire time without a sound, except for his muffled weeping. He kept almost completely still, only moving to intermittently shake Mari, screaming with desperate hope that she would wake up. Maybe that he would wake up. Mewo was curled in a ball against the other side of Mari’s neck, ears pulled back as if she already knew her companion was gone. Light traveled around the room, but never once fell on Mari’s face. Mari didn’t move.
Basil was anxiously pacing all around the bedroom, whispering mindless drivel and occasionally breaking into pathetic cries. Sometimes, he stood still when his breathing became too erratic, or to look at Sunny; he went completely ignored and went back to pacing. His fists wrung at his shirt over his heart and empty stomach and he couldn’t calm his hyperventilating or his throbbing head. He felt like he was going to pass out.
Basil couldn’t come up with a plan. He had no plan of what to do, he had no plan to fix things. In the back of his mind, he also still held onto hope that Mari would wake up. That he would wake up, that this was all just a dream. But he knew that wouldn’t happen. Deep down, he knew Sunny hated him, absolutely hated him. His friends — how selfish could he be to call them his friends after this? — would come by before the recital like they had all planned. They’d find them, they’d find Mari. Sunny would tell them everything, and they’d hate Basil, too. They would all turn on him and leave him completely alone. And he’d deserve it. Basil knew nothing would be the same. He knew nothing was going to be okay.
Basil halted in his tracks and stiffened when he heard a voice shouting downstairs. He couldn’t make out what it said, but he knew exactly whose it was.
Kel.
He heard a higher voice call out with worry, then a deeper, stern one.
Aubrey. Hero.
They must have found the broken violin. Basil found himself backing up, passing Mari’s bed and stopping in front of Sunny’s. Sunny forced himself to sit up, hanging his head and hunching his shoulders. He placed his hands on his lap and Basil could see him grasping his short legs. They both waited with silent dread as they heard their friends’ footsteps clamoring around the first floor, shouting indistinctly. What was clear was that they were worried for Sunny and Mari. That made sense; Basil himself was worried when he found that violin. Except he was on time to stop something from happening. How awfully he failed at that. He should have tried harder.
Eventually, the footsteps made their way up the staircase and there was a harsh knocking at the door that made both boys lock up. Mewo arose with a jolt and dashed under Mari’s bed. Mari didn’t move.
“Mari! Sunny! Are you in there?!” Hero called, his loud voice muffled by the closed door. The boys fearfully didn’t respond, until eventually Hero did. “Please, say something! Are you okay?!”
Basil‘s breathing started to quicken. Sunny let out a strained squeak. The next second, the door slammed open and the three of them ran inside. Hero’s arms were held out, blocking Kel from charging in further while Aubrey clung to the sleeve of his suit. They were concerned, cautious.
They all looked amazing. Kel’s hair was the nicest Basil had ever seen; in fact, Kel in general looked the nicest Basil had ever seen. Was this the first time he’d ever seen Kel dress up? Hero’s embroidered suit looked perfect on him; he was wearing the white rose boutonniere Basil had made him once upon a time. The brothers were wearing orange and blue respective neck ties, matching. Aubrey looked very pretty in her neatly brushed hair, shiny pink dress, black Mary Janes, and… Mari’s blue hair tie.
Back to reality.
“Oh, thank God!” Hero uttered with relief before taking control of the situation. “Sunny, what happened?! Your front door was open! Your violin… it’s on the floor! It’s broken!”
A soft gasp escaped Basil as Sunny slowly stood up with his head facing the floor. Did he leave the front door open? He couldn’t even remember. That was another world now. A world where he still deserved to live. A world where Mari lived.
Kel turned his head, pointing an eyebrow in Basil’s direction. “Basil, when did you get here?”
I’ve been here all day, Basil didn’t want to answer through hushed, shaky puffs.
“Sunny, is Mari okay?” Aubrey asked. Sunny and Basil grew taut as Hero and Kel laid their eyes on Mari. “Why is she lying in bed?”
Basil’s breathing got heavier and new tears built up as Hero rushed to Mari’s side, making Sunny instinctually back away with his hands clung to the hem of his shirt. Basil could see their oldest friend’s expressions clearly; his face was twisted with deep concern and confusion as his eyes landed on his girlfriend’s lifeless complexion. Hero gripped her shoulder and froze. Mari was really cold.
“M-Mari…?” he whispered. He shook her gently to stir her. Mari didn’t move. His distress became more visible as he shook her harder. “Mari, wake up!” he pleaded louder.
“Hero…?” Aubrey whimpered and took a small step forward, but Kel put a hand on her shoulder.
Basil could hear Hero muttering all of Mari’s injuries to himself with growing anxiety: several splinters, torn skin, a large gash across her temple. Basil was sure her ribs were cracked from his body crushing her, too.
“Hero, what’s going on?” Kel asked, clenching his other fist and taking a step in front of Aubrey.
Hero cupped her cheek.
“She’s not breathing,” Hero answered. Basil heard his voice waver.
“Not breathing?!” Aubrey shrieked. Kel gently gripped her arm and let out a soft “what…?”
Basil wanted to say everything, but nothing was all he could manage. His throat was tight. He couldn’t breathe.
“Mari! Wake up!! There’s no more time to rest, the recital starts in two hours…” Hero’s voice trailed off when he slid his hand down to press two fingers to Mari’s neck. Basil heard him whisper, “what the h—” before he touched the other side of her neck with his other hand. He immediately turned pale.
“Her neck is broken,” Hero shuddered. His composure was quickly fading. He began to heave and grasped at the sleeves of her dress to ground himself.
“Huh?” Kel said, sweat beginning to drip down his forehead. “Hero, I don’t understand…”
“Her neck is broken,” Hero repeated louder, more wavering, but it didn’t look like he said it to Kel. He whipped towards Sunny and looked between him and Basil, eyes unblinking. “Her neck is broken!” His voice was unsteady. “What happened here?! Sunny, Basil? Why is she lying here like this?!”
“G-Guys…?” Aubrey stuttered as her eyes started to water.
“Guys, what happened to Mari…?” Kel fretted as he looked between his two friends, begging for an explanation.
This was it. This was the beginning of the end of Basil’s life. They were all terrified. Aubrey was about to cry. Kel couldn’t understand what was happening. Hero very rarely raised his voice, but now he did so with terrified desperation. There was no hint of anger from any of them. That wouldn’t last long. Once they knew the truth, they would all be enraged. They would let him know the depths of their newfound animosity of him for taking away their beloved Mari. His beloved Mari. Sunny’s beloved sister.
Sunny gulped and took a deep, shaky breath. Basil hung his head and tightly shut his eyes, tendrils of darkness slowly wriggling around his body and intensifying his anguish. He couldn’t bear to see the betrayal on their faces. What a coward.
This was it.
Basil opened his mouth. And the tendrils of darkness fell to his feet.
“I killed her.”
Everyone turned to Sunny.
Basil’s life ended again.
Shadows cast across his friends’ expressions of shock and horror.
Nothing was going to be okay.
“Uh… Sunny? Wh-What are you talking about?” Kel asked with a puzzled smile. “You’re kidding, right?”
“It was an accident…” Sunny continued as if he didn’t hear the same question Basil had. “I didn’t want to perform at the recital…” His voice filtered in and out. “She was yelling…just wanted her to stop…”
Basil was stunned into silence. He couldn’t hear what Sunny was saying anymore. He couldn’t see anything but Sunny. What… what was he talking about?! He killed Mari?! Did he actually believe that? Or… or was he just trying to protect Basil? But why?! Why was he throwing his life away for him?! Why would he do that after he just murdered his sister?! This wasn’t happening, was it?
“And Basil was there…” The mention of his name brought his hearing back. “I don’t know when he got there, but… I pushed them both down the stairs. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.” Those last two words came out choked.
No. No no no, that wasn’t what happened at all, I intervened, I pulled her away, you didn’t do anything—
Hero yanked Sunny’s collar and hauled him up on his toes. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” he lashed out as he glowered at the boy. Hero was yelling. He was furious now. Furious at the wrong person. “You pushed her down the stairs because you were angry?! You can’t be serious! Who does that?!”
Basil jolted and turned when he heard a devastated screech. Aubrey was on her knees up against Mari’s bed clutching at her dress and shaking her body. She was wailing, rivers of tears pouring down her face and onto Mari’s pale arm. “No, no!!!”
Hero didn’t stop. “If you were so angry, why didn’t you talk to her about it?! She would’ve listened to you, you should know that!”
Kel was frantically looking between Aubrey breaking down and Hero grabbing Sunny, unable to decide who to help.
Sunny did nothing but silently cry as Hero continued to scream in his face. “I can’t believe this! How could you?! How could you do something so horrible?! This isn’t something you can take back, Sunny!!”
This couldn't be happening, this wasn’t what was supposed to happen, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Basil couldn’t speak. Why couldn’t he speak?!
“You killed Mari!! You killed the only girl I ever loved! She’s dead, she’s fucking dead!!” Hero panted for a few seconds, veins on his forehead bulging, face red, eyes red and constricted, tears rolling. Then he snarled something unimaginable.
“Why wasn’t it you?!”
Basil would’ve finally spoken up if Kel hadn’t run beside Hero and grasped his arm. “Hero, stop!”
Hero gawked at Kel. “What?!”
“What do you mean, what?! Did you hear what you just said?!” Kel managed to pry Hero’s fingers off of Sunny, letting him land back on his feet, before Kel got in front of him to stare his brother down.
“Kel, get out of the way!” Kel, stay there.
“No! You just said Sunny should’ve died instead of Mari! How could you say that?!” Yeah, I should’ve been the one that died instead of Mari.
“He killed my girlfriend!” No, he didn’t.
“That doesn’t mean you should wish he was dead, that’s awful! He said it was an accident, Hero!” That was awful, he should be saying that to me.
“Who cares if it was an accident, Kel, she’s still dead!” He was right, too, it didn’t matter if it was an accident.
“Y-Yeah, but…! It does matter! Even if he did do it, he didn’t do it on purpose; it’s obvious that he regrets it!” Kel glanced over his shoulder at Sunny behind him. “Don’t you, Sunny?!”
Sunny nodded. His chest was hitching with quiet snivels.
“See?!” Kel glared back to Hero. Hero’s fists were tight. “He feels bad enough, so stop yelling! You don’t need to say something like that!”
“Stop yelli— are you hearing yourself—”
“He’s already feeling—”
“Shut up, Kel—”
“Didn’t you listen to what he said—”
“Yeah, I listened, that’s the problem, I listened, he—”
“You don’t get it—”
“I don’t get it?! Mari’s corpse right behind me—”
“Yeah, well, she isn’t innocent here!”
That got Hero to shut up. Basil still didn’t say anything, though. And he didn’t begin to comprehend what Kel said.
“What.” Hero said. “What the hell are you implying?”
Kel gulped at Hero’s dark tone, but he stood his ground. “You heard Sunny! He-He said that he wanted to get away from Mari cause she was yelling at him, but she got in his way! It makes sense that he pushed her away! He just didn’t notice they were still by the stairs—”
Hero shoved him against Sunny, which knocked them both into the wall. “Are you fucking insane?!” he exploded. Sunny held onto Kel’s shoulders and Kel held his arms out to shield him as they both shrunk under Hero’s fuming figure. The blood vessels in his eyes looked like they were about to burst. “Are you really trying to paint Sunny as the victim here?! How?! He’s the one who killed her! There’s no justifying that!”
Suddenly, Hero was pointing at Basil. Basil locked under his finger. “Not only did he kill Mari, he almost killed Basil, too! When he had nothing to do with the fight! He just happened to be there!” Sunny buried his face in Kel’s shoulder and let out an audible sob. No no, Sunny, don’t, don’t cry for me, don’t cry.
“He could be dead, too, and it would be Sunny’s fault! Mari’s dead and it’s Sunny’s fault! So stop defending him!”
“Stop it!!!”
At last, the room went silent and everyone’s focus turned to Basil. Hero lowered his arm, as did Kel and Sunny. Basil noticed just how many tears were in Hero's eyes for the first time. Kel wasn’t far off, his eyes and body were trembling with fear and adrenaline; he did not understand why this was happening. Aubrey didn’t even look at Basil, her face still buried in Mari’s side and only locking up in some instinctive reaction to the sudden silence. Mari didn’t move.
The misery on Sunny was an expression Basil had never seen him wear before.
As the moment came to an end, words began pouring out of Basil’s mouth faster than he could find them. “I killed her, okay? I killed Mari! I cut into their fight, I pulled her down the stairs and I killed her, I did it! I’m sorry! I’m so, so, so sorry! Just leave Sunny alone, he didn’t do any of this! I don’t want you to hurt him anymore! I don’t want anyone to hurt him anymore! I ruined his life!”
Basil fell to his knees with a thud, tears dripping down his chin as he gasped for air. He spoke to the floor, voice already so lost that his words were almost unintelligible.
“Please… stop yelling at Sunny. Sunny didn’t kill her. He wouldn’t do something like that.”
“I’m the one you should hate.”
Basil looked to Sunny. His face bore an emotion Basil didn’t recognize.
The world should’ve been real again, but it wasn’t. Sunny just couldn’t process what Basil was saying. Basil… killed Mari?
Those words just didn’t make sense in that order. Those words couldn’t happen in that order. They didn’t go together. He… he was there. He saw me do it. He said he knew it was an accident. Was he trying to protect me? Does he think I wanted this? That I wanted our friends to hate the wrong person?
Sunny laid eyes on Hero as he appeared in front of Basil. It was a different moment now. But Sunny’s mind just kept repeating that same question.
Basil… killed Mari?
He couldn’t have done it. Basil’s a good person. He wouldn’t do something like that… right? He wouldn’t…
It had to have been Something behind him.
But Sunny wouldn’t let Something hurt Basil like that.
So then… Something behind him killed Mari. And Sunny let it happen.
So Sunny would take the blame. Because he knew that Basil didn’t do it. That just wasn’t something Basil did. Even if none of this was real. Basil didn’t kill my sister. It was Something behind him. And Sunny did nothing to stop it. It was an accident. I didn’t notice it until it was too late. But how could he not have noticed it? It was all around them now… it was his fault. Please be a dream.
“Basil, are you hurt?” Sunny heard Hero ask calmly. Back in his normal, controlled big brother voice. He was kneeling in front of Basil now, hand on his shoulder. Basil was looking at him; his eyes were tired, his cheeks were wet with tears, his broken flower was askew.
“Huh?” he sniffled as he wiped his nose. “N-No…”
“Okay, good. That’s good.” Hero took a deep breath. “Basil, you don’t have to do that, alright?”
“What…?” Basil frowned and lifted his head higher. He looked at Sunny, then back at Hero. “What do you mean…? I-I don’t have to do what?”
“I mean, you don’t need to lie about what happened.”
Basil’s eyes widened as he sat up straighter. “What?” he exclaimed. “Wh-What makes you think I’m lying? I really killed her!”
“Hey, hey,” Hero soothed and gripped his other shoulder. “I get it, Basil, I do.” He sighed. “I know you can’t believe what happened. I understand that you tried to intervene in their fight, but you pulled Mari away and you both fell? That sounds like you’re just trying to protect Sunny.”
“N-No, no I’m not, Hero!” Basil got louder and he grabbed Hero’s arms. “I mean, yes, I’m trying to protect him, but-but not like that! He really didn’t do it! I cut into their fight cause I saw Mari yelling at Sunny and I’ve never seen her that mad at him before and I-I wanted her to stop—”
“Basil—”
“So I cut in and pulled her away from him, but I ended up taking her down the stairs and I landed on top of her! I’m telling the truth, Hero, guys, you have to listen to me, I’m telling the truth, I killed her!”
Basil sounded hysterical. He whipped his head in his direction and bore his eyes into someone in front of him. “You believe me, don’t you, Kel?!”
Kel. Kel wouldn’t believe him. Kel knew what they all were and weren’t capable of more than anyone. He knew Basil wasn’t capable of hurting Mari. Sunny could feel himself gripping his tan friend’s arm waiting for an answer. He thought he saw Kel running his other hand through his hair.
“I-I, uh…” Kel stuttered. Hero gave them a threatening look. “Basil… You wouldn’t… you couldn’t do that…”
“But Sunny could?!” Basil argued. No anger, no contempt, just desperation.
“He… he did it… on accident…” Sunny felt a sweaty hand clutch his.
Basil was apparently finished with him because he diverted his attention to the bed where his sister lied. “Aubrey! You know Sunny wouldn’t do something like that, don’t you! You know that!” Hero was looking back at Basil, trying to get his attention.
Aubrey. Aubrey’s known Basil longer than the rest of them. She knew how gentle and kind he really was better than any of them. She knew he could never hurt Mari. She was kneeling right next to her, hanging onto her. Refusing to let her go. She didn’t answer.
“Basil—”
Basil looked back at Hero and implored, “Hero, please, you can’t blame Sunny, he didn’t do anything—”
“Basil, Basil!” Hero snapped as he put a hand on the back of Basil’s neck. Basil stopped talking and responded with a gasped sob. “Basil, breathe. Okay?” Basil made an attempt to steady his breathing, even if they all came out as shudders and whines still escaped him.
“Stop trying to take the blame. You almost—” Hero swallowed and sighed. “You almost died. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
No, he didn’t. Basil shook his head and tried to object, but Hero stopped him again because Hero was right. Basil didn’t do anything wrong. Like Hero said, Basil almost died. Something almost killed him.
“He-Hero…?” a soft voice wept. Hero, Kel, and Sunny turned in the direction of the voice. Basil kept his head down. Aubrey wiped her face with her wrists and looked at him with puffy eyes. “Wha-What are we gonna do with… with Mari?”
There was a long stretch of silence. Sunny bit his tongue in an attempt to wake up one last time, but it was no use. He was still here. Hero closed his eyes, took one more deep breath to steady himself, wiped his face, and got on his feet. “Kel, help me take Basil and Aubrey downstairs, we need to get them out of here,” he coached his brother as he bent down and held onto Basil’s elbows to get him up.
“What about—”
“Now, Kel!” Hero’s tone left no room for argument and Kel quickly made his way to Aubrey, making him let go of Sunny’s hand. Sunny already missed the comforting sensation.
In an instant, Kel got Aubrey up and was holding her hand in his own; he was always good at looking after her. Sunny barely paid any attention to her at all until now. She looked beautiful. And she was still sniveling. She didn’t deserve to feel like this. What did she think of him and Basil now? Who did she believe?
Kel looked over at Sunny. He was crying; Sunny’s never seen Kel cry like that before. He opened his mouth to say something, but dropped his gaze to the ground and said nothing. It seemed like he didn’t want to leave, but in the end, he bit his lip and took himself and Aubrey out of the room.
Sunny scurried up against the wall and hung his head when Hero passed him, his hands on Basil’s shoulders to guide him out. Hero’s face was tight; he looked like he made it a point to avoid even sparing a glimpse at Sunny.
Sunny kept his head down, but as they reached the doorway, in the corner of his eye, he saw Basil stop. Sunny hesitated and looked up; Basil was peering over his shoulder. His eyes were narrowed and full of needless regret. Neither said a word to each other before Hero pushed Basil out of the room.
Sunny was left alone with Mari.
He robotically dragged himself to her bed and stared at his sister’s body. The moonlight shining through the window engulfed her as she laid perfectly still.
He suddenly realized none of this was a dream. All of this was real.
He turned around and slid to the ground, leaning back against the bed. Once again, he brought his knees to his chest and buried his face in his arms. He could faintly feel the moonlight on him and the softness of Mewo’s fur against his head, but he paid them no mind. Nothing is going to be okay…
Everything around him appeared dark. The shadows slithered around him. Nothing that’s happened made any sense, even if it was all real.
Mari was dead. Aubrey was crying. Kel was crying. Hero and Kel yelled at each other. Mari was dead. Something behind Basil killed Mari and almost killed Basil. Basil was trying to take the blame. Mari is dead.
Nothing is going to be okay… nothing is going to be okay…
Sunny’s head started to feel fuzzy and he shut his eyes tight.
Basil didn’t kill Mari.
He sunk into a crevice of his mind. After a minute, he opened his eyes.
Sunny was in an empty white room.