CHAPTER 10 : Darkness

 

“It’s over…” Jennie sighed.

 

“You think I’d be taken down just like that!?” Bom’s voice was heard once again.

 

All of their eyes widened in shock. “N-No way!! She’s not dead!?”

 

From a distance, they could see Bom’s robot slowly standing up once again. Despite being able to stand up, Bom’s robot was in a very bad shape. Part of the body was destroyed and there were statics released all over its body.

 

“How is the robot still intact like that and standing!?” Rosé was confused.

 

“That’s the power of the Pink Orchid Crystal…” Jennie explained. “Bom’s the one controlling the movements of the robot with her own movements. She doesn’t need the control panels to move anymore.”

 

Bom chuckled. “Good thing the cannon on the torso is still intact, so I can fire the blast again. You did well blocking off the energy blast from the Pink Orchid Crystal… Let’s see if you can handle another blast! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Bom slammed on the button and released yet another powerful blast from the torso of the robot.

 

“Damn it!” Rosé pulled Lisa back and activated her holy shield again. This time, it was much weaker than the first one. It didn’t manage to cover the entire city so the edges of the city got destroyed completely. She could only hope for the people in that area to be evacuated already. Rosé’s nose started bleeding. Her hands trembled in fatigue from overusing her powers earlier.

 

“She can’t hold it any longer…” Lisa told. “At this rate, the shield will be broken very soon and we’ll all die a worthless death…”

 

“What are you-”

 

Lisa started walking to the front. “I will have to get out of this shield and destroy that robot before it destroys us all.”

 

Jennie then grabbed Lisa’s arm. “Lisa, if you get out there, god knows if you’ll survive it. Please think about it.”

 

Lisa immediately shoved Jennie’s hand away and raised her voice. “Chaeyoung is not capable of holding out a shield of that size a second time, Jennie! I have to stop Bom before the shield breaks! Or she’ll die! We all will!”

 

“...” After a moment of contemplating, Jennie decided. “Let me help.”

 

Lisa shook her head. “No… You wouldn’t stand a chance. This is a completely bad match for you, Jennie…” She then reached for her blindfold and pulled it right off. Her eyes were still closed. The ring on Lisa’s finger started emitting an incredibly sinister and powerful black aura, engulfing her entire body. Slowly, Lisa opened her eyes to reveal two completely black eyeballs and looked at Jennie directly in the eyes. “I will stand a chance if I go on full power.”

 

Jennie placed her hand on Lisa’s shoulder and nodded. “I respect your decision, Lisa. Please come back alive.”

 

“Don’t worry.”

 

Lisa finally came in front of Rosé and shocking the latter. “L-Lisa… What’re you doing without your blindfold?”

 

“Your nose is bleeding…” Lisa said in a worried tone and wiped the blood off her nose with her wrist.

 

“Please stay back. I can handle this! Don’t go!” Rosé begged. She couldn’t stop Lisa at all since she was still holding the shield up.

 

Lisa traced her fingers on Rosé’s face and smiled gently. “This is the only time I could take a good look at your face, Chaeyoung… It’s a rare case. I wish I could just stand here and stare at you forever…”

 

“Lisa please…” Tears started welling up in Rosé’s eyes.

 

“Don’t worry, Chaeyoung… I promise I won’t die. Just hold on for now.” Lisa then rushed out of the shield and towards the robot.

 

“H-Huh?” Rosé became stiff. Cold sweat started rolling down from her forehead. This seemed way too familiar. She once had a premonition about this. “No, wait!! LISA, COME BACK!!!! LISA!!!!!” It was too late.

 

As soon as Lisa stepped out of the shield, she felt her whole body burning from the heat of the blast. It was literally scalding Lisa’s skin despite being engulfed in her black aura. If anybody else was out here instead, they would have been vaporized instantly. “Ugh… This blast really is powerful…” Lisa then continued running against the direction of the powerful blast, trying her best to ignore the immense pain on her body.

 

“Ho… Seems like the Black Rose Crystal can withstand it… As expected from a demonic power crystal…” Bom smirked as she zoomed into Lisa. “Let’s see how much more can you take.” She turned up the power of the blast.

 

Bom’s Pink Orchid Crystal blast turned out to be way more powerful than Rosé expected. Her shield started cracking. She was starting to lose her consciousness. “Ugh…”

 

After Lisa was a distance away from Rosé, she halted and held onto the handle of her sword before getting into her stance. “…”

 

“HAHAHAHAHA!!! What were you thinking, trying to go against my blast!?” Bom laughed. “I’ve read about the Black Rose Crystal… Other than converting the black aura into destructive shockwaves, it’s pretty much useless! Now burn to death! Hahahahaha!!!”

 

“Useless, huh?” Lisa seemed to be charging up a really powerful energy on her sheathed sword. It was so powerful to the point where even the aura started boiling. The ground beneath her started to crack open.

 

“Exactly.” Bom looked at Lisa and chuckled. “You’re nothing but the size of an ant to me. No matter what you do with your puny little power of darkness, you will never be able to take this giant robot down, what more the powerful blast.”

 

“Let me ask you something…” Lisa looked up at Bom’s robot. “Do you believe in……monsters who dwell in the darkness?”

 

“Monsters?” Bom raised her brows and started laughing. “Hahahahahaha!! Monsters?? Only children believes bull like that! Hahahaha!!! The only monster around here is me!!”

 

Lisa then shook her head and smirked. “Pity…”

 

Bom frowned at Lisa’s statement. “What was that?”

 

“I’ll show it to you…” As soon as Lisa said that, a huge burst of black energy was released from her body signifying the trigger for the Black Rose Crystal’s full powers had been activated.

 

“Hmph! Don’t think I’ll be fazed by your-” Before Bom could finish her statement, she was interrupted by yet another huge energy burst from Lisa’s body, shocking her this time. “What the…”

 

“A second energy burst!?” Even Jennie and Rosé were surprised. “No wait…”

 

Just then, Lisa released a third black energy burst from her body. The third burst was devastating. Rosé screamed. “Lisa, stop! You’re overusing your powers!!”

 

The force was so great that it forced Bom’s huge robot to stumble back a little and caused the floor surrounding her to break open. “Monsters are real…” Lisa whispered. As soon as Lisa unsheathed her sword slowly from its cover, the sky turned dark and gloomy. The entire area started freezing over in darkness. “And they live inside of us……”

 

“!!!” Bom noticed something seemed weird about Lisa. A black colored aura started escaping from Lisa’s back slowly. At first, Bom thought it was only an aura leak, but as time goes by, the black aura seemed to be ‘crawling’ out of her back instead and it was resembling an entity.

 

“And the ones who have been through true fear and faced their darkness are the only ones who can ‘see’ the monster within.” Two large shadowy arms made out of Lisa’s black aura started emerging from her back with both palms placed on the ground. Then the shadowy arms started pushing itself off the ground and that was where things started getting freaky.

 

As the huge shadowy arms pushed itself off the ground, its monstrous body was being dragged out of Lisa’s back, slowly coming into sight and forming a humongous demonic entity. It started growling in its hair raising tone. Its eyes were redder than blood, claws and teeth sharper than knifes and body darker than black.

 

“W-What is that?” Jennie got the shock of her lives.

 

“W-What the hell is that!?” Bom started trembling from the sight of the giant demonic shadow monster formed above Lisa.

 

“That…” Even Rosé started trembling. “That is the manifestation of darkness within Lisa…”

 

The huge demonic entity formed above Lisa altered even her voice, giving her a double voice, a combination of her own voice and of a demon’s. “This……is the darkness within me… The true power of the Black Rose Crystal. The power to turn darkness in my heart into power…”

 

“T-That’s just a fluke! Oh, I know… you used your powers to create that illusion to scare me!” Bom turned up the power of the blast to the maximum to gain advantage over Lisa but to no avail. The shadow demon seemed to be up all the blast and growing larger instead. “What!? How can this be!?”

 

“Let me tell you why your Pink Orchid Crystal will never be able to overpower the Black Rose Crystal, Bom.” Lisa spoke with a demonic voice. For every step she took towards Bom, the demon monster aura started becoming larger and more sinister.

 

Bom started taking a step back. “S-Stay away!”

 

“The 2NE1 Crystals are nothing more than some powerful man made crystals. They have limitations. Whereas the BlackPink Crystals have no limitations… They are triggered by emotions within… The stronger the emotion, the stronger the power.” A menacing smile crept upon Lisa’s face. “The stronger the darkness within me, the more powerful I become.”

 

Bom was actually afraid right now. She had reached the point of fear where she couldn’t find the energy to take a step back anymore. “Stay back…”

 

“Oh? You were so full of yourself earlier… What’s the matter?” Lisa said in her demonic double voice and let out a chuckle. “Afraid of some…childish monster?”

 

Just then, Bom’s Pink Orchid blast went out of energy. “W-What!?” Bom desperately slammed on the button again but nothing happened. “Come on!!!”

 

Once she looked in front again, a pair of huge red eyes were staring directly at her. The sight of the demon staring at her shocked her. “Gah!!” She then attempted to punch the demon with her robot arm instead.

 

As the robot fist reached the demon’s face, it halted upon impact. The demon seemed completely unfazed. Lisa chuckled. “Your blast didn’t even work. Of course a punch like that would work…” The demon then opened its mouth and chomped Bom’s robot arm right off its body effortlessly.

 

“No!!!” Bom panicked all over again. She attempted to fly away this time, again to no avail. Lisa’s shadow demon grabbed onto both the robot’s legs and slammed it back down on the ground with a huge impact.

 

“Please let me go…” Bom begged. She was very afraid. “I’m s-sorry.”

 

“You’ve caused too much grief and sufferings to the innocent civilians.” Lisa pointed her sword to the sky as the shadow demon raised its right hand at the same time. “And you mocked the darkness that I grew up with and helped be become a stronger person. You should feel sorry.” She then swung her sword down, followed by the demon’s right arm.

 

“NOO!!!!!!”

 

With that, the demon slammed its arm right on Bom’s robot, causing it to explode upon impact from the immensely destructive black aura. This time, the explosion was larger than before. Rosé used every last bit of her energy to fortify her shield even further for that moment. The explosion was so great that Rosé’s shield still cracked, but it wasn’t destroyed.

 

“Ugh…” Rosé could only hear ringing in her ears for the first few seconds from the explosion. As she slowly opened her eyes and held her head in pain, she looked around and noticed that a huge part of the city was still intact. The premonition didn’t come true. There were still people being evacuated from the city. They managed to stop it.

 

Rosé’s skin however was smudged in dirt and ashes, covering her usual fair skin. She slowly limped her way towards Jennie. “Jennie, are you okay?”

 

Jennie was perfectly fine as opposed to Rosé’s premonition where she got severely injured. Jennie was still holding the unconscious Jisoo in her arms. “…”

 

Rosé immediately started healing Jisoo’s injuries. “Jisoo, wake up please…”

 

As soon as Jisoo started groaning, Jennie pulled Rosé’s hand away from her. “Jisoo’s fine now. She just passed out from overexerting her powers earlier. The both of us will do just fine. ” She then pointed at the direction of someone standing at a distance. “It’s her you need to worry about…”

 

Rosé looked over and immediately recognized the person. “Lisa…”

 

Lisa who was standing there silently with her sword unsheathed, and her back facing Rosé. She turned her head slowly to reveal two completely black eyeballs in her sockets with her blindfold laying on the ground nearby. “…”

 

“No…” Something seemed off about Lisa when Rosé got closer. Why does this look so familiar to her?

 

Lisa’s skin were completely scalded from the extreme heat of the explosion despite being coated with the black aura. The sword slowly slid right off her arm. She then lost strength in both her legs as her whole body tumble onto the ground with a loud thud. “…”

 

“NO!!! LISAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!” Rosé ran over and nudged her. She then placed her finger below Lisa’s nose. Her eyes widened in shock. “She’s not breathing…”

 

Rosé channeled her powers onto her hand and attempted to heal Lisa. Her scalded skin healed up but she still wasn’t showing any signs of breathing at all. “Come on!! Wake up!!”

 

“...” Lisa remained motionless with her eyes closed.

 

“Wake up, please!!” Rosé started bawling and nudged her non-stop. “Don’t die!! I’m begging you!!”

 

“...”

 

“Just wake up… You promised that you wouldn’t die so soon…” Rosé held Lisa tight in her arms and cried. “Don’t leave me…Please?”

 

“...”

 

Jennie was supporting Jisoo and helping her to move closer to Rosé and Lisa. The sight of Lisa motionless on Rosé’s arms made Jisoo’s knees weak. “Noo!!!!” Jisoo started bawling as she fell on her knees while covering .

 

Jennie was stunned as well. “Is she…”

 

“She’s not! SHE’S NOT!!!! SHE’S NOT DEAD!!!!” This was the first time Rosé got so agitated. Tears kept on rolling down her cheeks. “She can’t be!!”

 

Jennie clenched her fists in anger. “…”

 

“I told you to stay back, Lisa!! WHY WOULDN’T YOU LISTEN!? WHY!?” Rosé screamed.

 

“She even told me not to help…so that I wouldn’t get hurt…” Jennie punched the wall.

 

“I…can’t lose her, Jennie…” Rosé tightened her hug on Lisa’s motionless body.

 

“You tried your best, Chaeyoung…” Jennie consoled.

 

“I refuse to believe this! I just didn’t use enough energy…” Rosé charged up her white aura into her hands and started healing Lisa again. As soon as she healed Lisa, her nose started bleeding again.

 

“Chaeyoung, that’s enough.” Jennie tried to pull Rosé’s arms away.

 

“STAY AWAY! JUST STAY AWAY!!” Rosé pushed Jennie away violently. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” She then knelt down and continued healing Lisa hopelessly.

 

Jennie raised her voice. “Chaeyoung, you’ve done enough! You’re overusing your powers! If you continue, you’ll die!”

 

“THEN LET ME DIE!!!” Rosé screamed at the top of her lungs. Her whole body was trembling from holding in the extreme sadness within. “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH LISA MEANT TO ME!!”

 

Jennie twitched a little. “…”

 

“I’ve lost my loved ones before… I can’t lose Lisa this time… Do you understand?” Rosé cried.

 

Seeing Rosé in extreme despair made Jennie tear up a little as well. It was painful for Jennie to see her like this. All she could do was embrace Rosé and let the torrent of her tears to soak through her shirt. Jennie could feel Rosé clenching her fists, not knowing whether to be mad or to give up hope altogether. Rosé was screaming, suffocating with each breath she took holding onto her tears. Jennie ran her fingers through Rosé’s hair, time and time again, in an attempt to calm the war within her mind.

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

The memory of childhood is supposed to be filled with fun and excitement where you run around doing stupid things and not giving a damn about the world. It’s supposed to be an unforgettable memory where you would want to visit again and again just for laughter. But not everybody had that kind of happy childhood. There are some people who had bad memories from their childhood. As for Lisa, her memories from her childhood was a complete horrifying and never ending nightmare.

 

If she could describe her childhood as a house, it would be a gritty house made out of broken windows and broken wooden boards located in the middle of nowhere. Nails and screws scattered all over the floor with broken light bulbs. A house that she was forced to walk around barefooted with the vulnerability of stepping onto sharp nails and screws every day and the fear of being in total darkness. “Why am I the only one going through such pain?” is a question she asked herself every day.

 

She was only 7 years old that time. Again, she saw her mother crying on the bed. There were things scattered all over the floor. The sight of her being like this hurt Lisa so much. She decided to call out. “Mummy…”

 

She wiped her tears off desperately before turning around to greet her daughter. “Yes, Lisa dear?”

 

“Mummy, don’t cry.”

 

“I’m not crying.”

 

“I’m sorry.” Lisa apologized.

 

“No, why are you apologizing?” Her mother caressed Lisa’s cheek.

 

“Daddy was gonna hit me, but you covered for me. So he ended up hitting you instead. That’s why you’re crying, right?” Lisa asked in a sad tone.

 

Lisa’s father used to be normal. After he lost all of his money in gambling and scam, he became very abusive towards Lisa and her mother and lost some of his sanity. He would often get drunk and abuse them when he comes home or when he gets stressed at work. When Lisa’s mother wasn’t around, if Lisa does something wrong, she would be thrown into a completely dark room just because she had a fear of the dark. She would scream and cry till she loses her voice or until her mother came back and unlocked the door.

 

Most of the time, Lisa’s mother would always cover for her. But that didn’t last forever. Lisa’s mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness and lost her life in only less than a month. Lisa’s father didn’t even do a proper burial for his wife. He merely buried her in the backyard by himself. After her mother died, that was where her life started heading downwards. Her father became more aggressive and abusive towards her, going as far as slapping her face till she start bleeding from her nose and mouth. He hits her even when she did nothing wrong.

 

Year after year went by, Lisa’s scars on her body became more and more serious. She lived in the house in complete fear and not being able to step a foot out of the house at all. After three years, when Lisa was 10, she finally had enough. She was planning to run from home. She packed her clothes silently and attempted to run away in the midnight. When her father was sleeping, she sneaked into the living room and grabbed the bunch of house keys.

 

As she tiptoed towards the door, she slowly flipped the keys one by one to find the correct key. She fidgeted a lot with the keys because she was desperate to get out of this house. The keys then accidentally slipped off her fingers and fell onto the ground, echoing in the silent living room. She immediately gasped in fear. “!!!”

 

“...” After a few seconds stunned, it seemed like her father didn’t hear the keys fell. She immediately picked the keys back up and unlocked the door in the most silent way possible.

 

“Yes…” Lisa cheered silently. As she turned the knob and pulled the door open, her father pulled her hair and started wrenching on it hard. “Where do you think you’re going, huh!? WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING!!??”

 

“Ouch!!” Lisa tried to pry her father’s hand off but to no avail. “Let me go! It hurts!”

 

Her father pushed her onto the floor violently, causing her bag of clothes to be scattered all over. He looked at the scattered clothes and glared back at Lisa. “You’re planning on running away?”

 

“N-No…” Lisa was already crying and shaking in fear.

 

“COME HERE, YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE !! I’LL TEACH YOU A LESSON!” He started dragging her on the ground by her hair back into the house.

 

“Ouch!!! It hurts!! It hurts!!” Lisa was definitely in a lot of pain as she was struggling to pry his hand off her hair.

 

“Shut up!!!” He gave her a tight slap on the face, earning only cries and screams. He continued hitting her despite blocking her own face in fear. “I gave you everything and this is how you repay me!?”

 

“Stop! Stop! It hurts, daddy!! Please stop!!!” The little girl was crying and screaming her lungs out.

 

“WHY DID YOU RUN THEN!? WHY DID YOU RUN, HUH!? WHY DID YOU RUN!?” He pulled Lisa’s hands away and slapped her again. Her face and limbs were already filled with bruises but the hitting didn’t stop.

 

Lisa was still very young so she could never overpower him at all. Every block she attempted failed. She was literally in a lot of pain. “Please! I’m sorry! I’m very sorry!! Please stop!!”

 

He then continued dragging her by the hair and pushed her into the dark room. “You’re staying inside here for two days without food!”

 

“No no no no no…… Please don’t leave me here daddy!!! I’m sorry!! I won’t do it again!!!” She quickly crawled towards the man and grabbed onto his leg tightly before he could leave. “Please!”

 

“Let go!!!” He kicked Lisa on the face so hard that she started bleeding from her lip instantly. She rolled away.

 

“No…” She started crawling desperately towards the door before lifting herself up and ran towards it. She was too late. As soon as she reached the door, it was shut and locked completely. “NO!!! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! Let me out!! I’m very scared of the dark!! Please let me out!! Daddy!!! I CAN’T STAND THE DARK!!!” Her father knew very well that she was afraid of the dark, but he wanted to teach her a lesson. She slammed on the door hard continuously. “LET ME OUTTT!!!!!!!! LET ME OUTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE LET ME OOUTTT!!!!!”

 

After not getting any response from the man who locked her in the dark and gritty room, her phobia started kicking in. She started hearing voices and seeing objects in the dark. She was so horrified that she couldn’t stop trembling. “LET ME OUT!!! THERE’S SOMETHING IN HERE WITH ME!!!! I CAN HEAR THEM!!! I CAN HEAR THEIR VOICES!!! PLEASE LET ME OUT!!!!!!” Her screams of terror became louder and louder.

 

She closed her eyes and slowly crawled to the corner of the room. She covered her ears and swayed back and forth as if she had lost her sanity while mumbling the same sentences over and over again. “I will be a good girl… I’m not afraid of the dark… I’ll be a good girl… I’m not afraid of the dark… I’ll be a good girl… I’m not afraid of the dark… I’ll be a good girl… I’m not afraid of the dark…” Tears continued rolling down her cheeks without stopping.

 

“Hey…” All of a sudden, a random voice was heard whispering into Lisa’s ears. It didn’t sound human at all.

 

“NO!!!! YOU’RE NOT REAL! YOU’RE NOT REAL!!” Lisa kept her eyes and ears shut as tears kept flowing down her cheeks.

 

“You’re not afraid of the dark, are you? Hehehe…” The statement was followed by a chuckle. Despite covering her ears tightly, Lisa still heard the whispers in her ear.

 

“QUIET!!!! QUIET!!! YOU KEEP QUIET NOW!!!!! YOU DON’T EXIST!!! YOU DON’T EXIST!!!! PLEASE SHUT UP NOW!!! JUST SHUT UP!!!!!!” Lisa screamed at the top of her lungs and prayed so hard that whatever she heard wasn’t real. Truth be told, at this point of her life, Lisa doesn’t even know if she’s still sane or not. She couldn’t tell the difference between imagination and reality. Did she really hear the voices or was it all in her mind that already went insane? Her being in a completely dark room doesn’t help the situation any better. Lisa lost all strength in her body and fell on her side while still covering her ears and mumbling to herself. “You’re not real… You’re not real… You’re not real… You’re not real…”

 

“You should stop screaming…” The voice chuckled. “’They’ don’t like loud noises……”

 

“NO NO NO NO NO!!!” Lisa stood up and ran towards the door again. She slammed onto the door like a maniac would. Her desperation level was way off charts. This time, she even used her head to bang the door to the point where her forehead started bleeding. She was only 10. Imagine how much was going through her mind for a child that age to act like that. “PLEASE LET ME OUT!! DADDY!!!!! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE!!!! I’M AFRAID OF THE DARK!!!”

 

And then the unknown voice said something that stopped Lisa’s screams. “I can take your fear away… You want to be a brave person, don’t you?”

 

Sure thing Lisa was still trembling in fear, but at the same time she was curious about what the voice was talking about. “W-What?”

 

“I will remove your fears and make you into a braver and stronger person…” The voice whispered.

 

“Y-You can do that? H-How?” There’s something about this room for sure. It is always in this room where the voices were heard.

 

“All you have to do is find me…… I’ll guide you…” The voice echoed in Lisa’s head. “Just close your eyes if you’re afraid. It’ll be like sleep walking.”

 

“...” Lisa closed her eyes.

 

“But make sure not to step on the tail.”

 

That sentence sent chills down her spine. “S-S-Step on whose tail??”

 

“Mine……” A single word made Lisa almost pee in her pants.

 

“I don’t want to…” Lisa started crying again.

 

“You want to get out of here don’t you? If that’s the case then listen to me… I’ll guide you… Now, walk three steps forward…” The voice echoed.

 

Lisa hesitated for a moment, and then she made three steps forward. “…”

 

“Now turn right and walk all the way to the end.” The voice whispered.

 

Lisa turned right and walked all the way to the end as instructed. It was probably all in her head but Lisa could have sworn that she walked past something literally. Like the presence of a huge entity. The room was obviously empty when she entered earlier. “I-I felt something… Is there really something there??”

 

“Is there?” The voice chuckled. “Now lower your body and search for me…”

 

Lisa then lowered her body and started feeling the ground. It was mostly gritty and then she felt something solid. She grabbed it and started feeling it. It felt like a ring. “Wait… A ring?”

 

“Wear it…” The voice echoed.

 

“…” Lisa hesitated. “Who are you actually?”

 

“You still can’t see me?” The voice chuckled. “You walked past me earlier.”

 

Hearing that made Lisa turn back. She couldn’t see anything because there was no light in the room at all. “Don’t scare me please!!! I’m very scared!!!”

 

“Wear the ring……and I will take it all away…”

 

While trembling, Lisa slowly slid the ring into her finger. As soon as she wore the ring, the entire room started to brighten. “W-What? I can see now… It’s not dark anymore… Everything became brighter… How???” She then looked at the ring on her finger with a black crystal on it.

 

“The room didn’t become brighter…” The voice replied. “You’ve just gained the ability to see through darkness…”

 

“So that means I don’t have to be afraid of the dark anymore… Thank you so much!!” Lisa smiled finally.

 

“…” The voice was silent.

 

“Mister?”

 

“Poor child… Just how dark and horrendous had your life been to be able to sense me even before wearing the ring…” The voice then slowly faded away from Lisa’s head.

 

“What are you talking about? You haven’t told me who you are. Hello?” Lisa called out but the voice was gone. Now that the room had brightened up, Lisa wasn’t afraid anymore, so she sat down at the corner of the room and patiently waited for the door to be unlocked once again.

 

That night itself, Lisa had a dream where she was in total darkness, trying to find a way out. While she was running around aimlessly, she heard the growl that didn’t belong to a human. A loud growl directly in front of her face. Slowly, two blood red eyes emerged from the dark and stared at her directly in the eyes. For some reason, Lisa didn’t seem to be afraid anymore. It was probably thanks to the ring she was wearing. She slowly reached her hand out towards the monstrous entity and softly patted it on its face in awe. “Y-You’re real…… I can see you now…”

 

“That ring gives you the ability to tap into the darkness in your heart and I…am the physical manifestation of that darkness…” It voiced out.

 

“Manifestation of……my darkness? Like…a monster inside of me?” Lisa asked.

 

And then it replied with a quote that Lisa will never forget for as long as she lived. “I am here as a proof that monsters are real………and they live inside of everyone’s darkness… It is your own choice to let it engulf you or to use it as your own power…”

 

In a flash, two days had passed. The room door finally opened to reveal the man that Lisa despised the most. Lisa was leaning on the wall, extremely weak from not having any food for two days. It’s a surprise that Lisa lost so much weight in just 2 days.

 

“Now get out, you little ! Don’t ever let me catch you running away again!” Her father screamed at her.

 

“…” Lisa couldn’t even find the energy to respond, let alone lifting herself up from the ground.

 

“I said get up!” Her father dragged her up from the ground and pushed her out of the room.

 

“…” Lisa fell flat onto the ground and tried to stand up with the help of the nearby table this time.

 

That was when Lisa’s father saw the ring on her finger. “What’s that on your finger? A ring?? Where did you find that!?”

 

“…” Lisa still struggled in getting up.

 

“I asked you a question!” He smacked her on the head. “Where did you find the ring!? How dare you keep it from me!?”

 

“…”

 

“Give it to me so I can sell it for money!!!” Her father reached for her finger and tried to pull the ring out of her finger.

 

“NOO!!!!!!!!” Lisa pulled her hand back and punched her father in the stomach. She couldn’t explain how or where she got the energy from, but her father’s idea of taking the ring away from her got her completely boiled up inside.

 

“You punched me!? YOU PUNCHED ME!?” He grabbed Lisa’s hair and slapped her again and again before pushing her violently towards a window. The window broke upon impact with Lisa’s head as she fell onto the ground, growling in pain.

 

Lisa was grabbing her forehead in pain. “Ouch! Ouch Ouch!!”

 

Perhaps that action from Lisa was so preposterous that it made her father snap. Lisa had never dared to go against her father before. This was the first time that it actually happened. So he literally went crazy on her. He grabbed onto a glass shard from the broken window and attempted to stab her in the face. Lisa resisted hard. The tip of the shard was only about two inches away from her eyes. She was crying her heart out while holding onto her father’s wrist tightly in attempt to prevent him from stabbing her in the eye. Her hands were shaking a lot. She obviously didn’t have the strength to hold on forever.

 

A black aura engulfed the ring on her finger. Lisa then used it as a weapon to knock the side of her father’s head before he could stab the shard into her eye. Unfortunately, as Lisa knocked her father’s head away, the tip of the glass shard sliced through the front lens of both her eyes, causing them to start bleeding profusely. “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Lisa started crying in pain while covering her eyes.

 

Luckily the black aura on her ring increased the impact by few folds and her father was knocked out cold in one shot or else, this would be the end of Lisa’s life. Nevertheless, she was in a lot of pain. Trying her best to ignore the pain, she forced herself up and attempted to escape from the house before her father got up again. Lisa was going through a lot more than an adult could handle, but she was not ready to give up. Screaming and crying in pain for every step she took, she tottered her way out of the house and desperately moved her hands around to feel for objects. She couldn’t even tell where she was heading to, and then, her entire body just gave way and fell onto the ground unconscious. “…”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“…”

 

Lisa groaned and slowly lifted herself up from her deep sleep. She slowly touched her face and felt a cloth wrapped over her eyes. “…”

 

“You slept for almost a week.” A girl’s voice was heard. “Pretty serious injury you had there… If I didn’t have any knowledge on medicine, you’d be dead already… And for your information, I picked you up from the dumpster.”

 

“...” Lisa merely remained silent. She seemed to have a lot going through her mind right now.

 

The lady voiced out once again. “You look perfectly calm for someone who just lost their eyesight.”

 

“…” Lisa’s brain was already too tired to even react to her loss of sight. She had simply been through way too much in a short period of time.

 

“Nice ring. Is it yours?”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t tell me you lost your ability to talk too?”

 

“…”

 

“Mind telling me what happened?”

 

“…”

 

“Well, don’t need to tell me anything then. I know exactly what happened. You escaped from an abusive family, didn’t you?” Minzy was spot on. “Just letting you know that we’re on the same boat.”

 

“…”

 

“This world is already tainted with scums. It’s no surprise you ran away…” Minzy shrugged.

 

“Who’re you…” Lisa finally spoke.

 

“Me? I’m Minzy. A swordsman who kills these worthless scums to make this world a better place. And you seem to have a grudge on somebody I presume.” Minzy smirked. “Would you like to join me?”

 

And so that was the day Minzy and Lisa started becoming friends. She started guiding Lisa on how to use a sword to fight without the help of eyesight. Slowly, Lisa started adapting to her loss of sight and followed Minzy out to hunt for criminals. In a flash, years had gone by.

 

Who would have thought a day like this would come? Six years after the incident, Lisa met her father again by pure coincidence when she was walking by the side of the road. Despite raining heavily, Lisa could recognize his stench clearly. Lisa could tell that he was already insane from the way he was screaming at nothing. There were obviously nobody around. Lisa let out a sharp whistle to make sure of that already. That also attracted the attention of her father as he walked closer to her.

 

“Hehehe…” He was laughing when he stood in front of Lisa. He didn’t recognize her at all. Mostly because he already lost his mind.

 

Lisa was clenching her fists in anger. “…”

 

“Hehehehehe…”

 

“Six years had passed…and you’re still alive…” Lisa finally spoke out. “Only went insane…”

 

Her father slowly lost his smile. “…”

 

“Do you remember what you did?” Lisa choked a little from recalling her memories. “Do you remember what you did to me? To mom?”

 

His eyes started twitching. “…”

 

“Do you remember the pain that you’ve caused!? The grief that I went through as a young child!? The scars that you left on my body!?” Lisa shouted as a black and sinister aura started engulfing her body. “I’m going to make you pay for everything you did…”

 

“You…” He suddenly raised his hand. “YOU STUPID !!!”

 

Lisa immediately unsheathed her sword, grabbed him on his shoulder and stabbed him right through his chest, halting his movements. “…”

 

“Ugh…” He spit out blood from his mouth and started trembling in pain.

 

“…” She pulled the blade out of his chest and pierced it through his torso this time.

 

“Ugh…”

 

Sure thing, Lisa didn’t feel it was enough. “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” She pulled the sword out and stabbed him again…and again…and again…and again…and again…and again…and again, venting out all her anger at one go.

 

By the time Lisa was done, her sword and shirt was completely covered in blood and her father was laying on the ground dead with both his eyes still open. “…”

 

“Ha……haha…………haha……hahaha……… This is what you get for what you’ve done to me…… You’re dead now…… Nobody will ever hear your screams anymore! Nobody in this world will ever breathe the same air with you piece of scum anymore! You lived as a nobody and now, you’ll die as a nobody… Hahahaha…… Haha…… Hahaha… Ha…ha……” Lisa fell on her knees and dropped her bloody sword. Her choked laughter slowly transitioned into tears. It was her lifelong wish to kill that man but for some reason, she didn’t feel the satisfaction at all.

 

“Why don’t I feel right? Why don’t I feel better after killing him?” The water puddles were soaked in her father’s blood, slowly running to the drain. Lisa remained on her knees in front of her father for a long time. She didn’t know how to react to her sudden burst of insanity towards her own father. The black aura on her body slowly faded away.

 

“Hey, Lisa stand up!” Minzy then appeared and dragged her arm. “We have to go! We can’t stay here!!”

 

“…”

 

“Lisa, snap out of it!!” Minzy nudged her. “We gotta go!”

 

“...”

 

“Lisa!!”

 

“...”

 

“Lisa!!!”

 

Lisa’s eyes shot wide open and found that she was in a place completely filled with white. Something seemed odd. Lisa blinked. “I can see…” She blinked again and again. “Is this a dream?”

 

Just then, a bright light shone in front of Lisa. There was a lady standing there in the light. Lisa heard her name being called out faintly by the lady. She had no physical body nor could Lisa take a good look at her face because she was made out completely from light. “…”

 

“Hey, do you know where I am?” Lisa voiced out. “What’s going on?”

 

“You are where you need to be right now…”

 

“What do you mean by that? Who’re you?” Lisa asked.

 

The lady in the light chuckled a little. “I’m the light within you. You’ve done very well, Lisa. You went as far as sacrificing your own life for that girl’s sake. Rosé was it? Seems like you really like that girl a lot.”

 

“Right… I was fighting against Bom…and I went on full power…” Lisa just remembered. “So… Am I dead?”

 

“Are you?” The lady chuckled and held both her hands out. “Come, Lisa… It’s time…”

 

“Time for what?”

 

“It’s time for you to go, of course.”

 

“…” Lisa looked a little down. “Go where?”

 

“Take my hand and I’ll lead you there.” The lady reached her hand out towards Lisa.

 

Lisa suddenly hesitated. “…”

 

“Don’t be scared… I will keep you safe in your journey…” The lady smiled gently.

 

“I have no regrets. I’ve already done what I wanted to do. Everybody is safe now. You can take me wherever you want to.” Lisa finally reached her hand out.

 

“What about that girl Rosé?” The lady asked. “You’ve nothing to say to her?”

 

Lisa smiled a little. “No words are needed between us. Chaeyoung already knows how I feel.”

 

“Well spoken.” The lady then grabbed Lisa’s hand gently and slowly guided her towards the unknown bright light.

 

CHAPTER 10 : Darkness

END