It was the kind of pain that engulfs you totally from inside out; the kind of hurt which you hope never ever existed. It was the amount of tears Crystal tried to hold it in but failed terribly. She could feel the slash behind her back, the way her skin split into two and then reveals the flesh out daringly. The rain drops strike her back mercilessly and with every step she took, she has to fight the urge that threatens to pull her body down into that bottomless pit and then never ever wake up again. But still, she struggles hard to stay awake against that drooping eyelid of hers. She looks like a mess, her hair down in a tangle and her shirt drenched by the rain and her own blood.

Mum, dad… Why don’t the both of you take me?

Why…?

She was sobbing hard as she thought to herself. Why would fate play such a hard game on her, letting her live one second and then almost dead at the other second? Crystal cried to her heart’s contend because the rain made it seem as though she isn’t crying. Hugging her body with her arms, she took small and cautious steps towards the direction of her home. The pain numbed her along the way and she stopped crying after a while, dazed at the figure near her broken house.

The rain seems to go softer and slower as Mark prayed silently. He was cold sitting out here in this lonely night. Hair tousled in a messy yet y way. The sudden sound of footsteps against the rock filled ground woke him up in his daydream and he stood up, eyes focusing on that one person standing in the rain, staring back at him.

Mark wanted to run towards her, hug her, caress her and do whatever it is that could fill up the emptiness and worried in his heart but stopped himself when the small figure started moving closer.

He kept quiet all the while because he didn’t know what to say. He figured he couldn’t possibly ask where she had been to or why she didn’t come to school and et cetera because it wasn’t his place to ask so. He instead, waited for the young girl to make the conversation but then a gasp escaped from his lips when he could clearly see the state she was in.

“Crystal…”

Crystal ignored him because isn’t that the right thing to do so? She has no idea what this man is doing near her cabin, drench in the rain when he could have slept the night in some expensive suit room or probably he has his very own mansion and water bed. Moving past the elder male, she stands in front of the door, inserting the key with her back against him.

“Crystal… CRYSTAL FOR DAMN SAKE CAN YOU ANSWER ME!?”

Mark’s shout echoed through the empty piece of land and the girl wearily looks up to the man that has just spun her around.

“What happened to you? You… You’re bleeding!”

“Mark, what are you doing here? You should just go”

Mark felt a pang in his heart and he was upset with how Crystal avoided him. Had he expected her to welcome him and rely on him when she’s in pain? Mark didn’t want to admit it though the thoughts revolve around in his mind very strongly.

“I-I… I was worried”

“Hmm?”

“W-we were worried”

“We? Mark… Stop this. I don’t know why you’re here but you should go back”

Mark was frustrated with the ongoing conversation that seem as though it had no end to it. Can’t this girl understand what he was thinking? Or at least take a look at the worried look that is written so obviously on his face? He closes his mouth when he was about to reply to her. The rain made her shiver and she hugs herself tight