My dad came to escort me back to my room. I was still partially covered in Elena's blood; it had covered my hands, knees, and parts of my shirt. My father had to forcefully drag me to the bathroom to wash off the blood staining my clothes.
"You're fine. Lucy, don't worry, everything will be fine." He reassured me as he pointed the shower head at me and washed me using hot water.
"I didn't mean it." I immediately began making up excuses.
I hated it; I loathed myself for it. Why was I trying to come up with excuses? What did I do that was so wrong for me to constantly apologize? Why was everything my fault?
"I never wanted to hurt anyone!" I added, my voice was about to crack; I was fighting to hold back my tears as I looked at him, hoping for him to save me, in some way, to not make me feel as hurt.
"I know, I know. Don't worry about it; Mom will fix her up. By the time you meet her again, this will be nothing more than a bad and blurry moment between you two. Don't worry about it." He consoled me, hugging me tightly as he gently stroked my hair.
"I know you didn't mean to hurt her, but unfortunately, sometimes our actions can cause someone else to hurt, despite us not wanting to; you just have to learn from this experience so that this won't happen a second time." He later added as he took the showerhead and turned it on, testing the heat of the water.
"Take off your clothes for now; let's get you cleaned up and ready; we'll think about the rest later." He added as he began to take the soap and the shampoo and thoroughly began to clean my body.
He was a little rougher than usual, but I didn't complain since I was the one at fault in this situation; I simply accepted the pain and kept my mouth shut, no matter how prickly the steaming water was or how violently he was scrubbing my body clean.
Once he was done cleaning me, we left the clothes soaking in water and headed towards the small clinic present in the large building. It was located in the upper floors of that massive palace, which was divided into many sections, containing an elevator for each section.
I counted at least thirty floors in that elevator, but I didn't know how many sections that massive palace had, so I couldn't know how many floors it had.
I felt awkward; I knew that Elena was in safe hands, but on the other hand, I didn't want to meet her again, not when she was in that state. I felt guilty and scared because of her.
When the door of the elevator opened, I saw many nurses rushing left and right, carrying various blood bags and other medicinal tools, everyone following the blood trail left on the ground.
I… I don't think I can do this!
After taking a couple of steps forward, I turned around and immediately bumped against my father standing behind me.
"Dad…" My voice began to crack. I didn't want to see her; I didn't want to remember all the things that had happened, and more importantly, I didn't want to feel like shit anymore. I just wanted to ignore everything and go back to the old days.
He looked back at me with a warm smile as he gently patted my head back and forth.
"I don't want to, please, I just…"
I just want to stay happy.
He whispered something in my ear and slowly nudged me to her room, going slower and slower over time until I had finally collected myself once more.
Although I wasn't crying anymore, I still didn't feel ready; I felt as if I was ready to crumble at any second; my heart felt as if it was being squeezed in my chest. The hallways leading to her room felt never-ending, yet each step I made, no matter how small, made me feel like I was running through that hallway.
I turned around just around the corner to beg for one last chance, hugging my father as hard as I could, but he didn't stop; he forced me to take the last step forward, and we both stood in front of the door.
Elena was standing on the bed, with blood bags plugged into her body, crying silent tears of desperation as many demonic tendrils were making their way into her many cuts.
The small and fragile defensive wall around me crumbled immediately; my heart shattered at that sight.
"G-get out, please." Even in that state she didn't want me to see her.
"I… I don't want you to see me like this." Her weak, trembling voice felt like a stabbing knife.
"Why?"
What did I do that was so wrong? Why did I deserve to get kidnapped and dragged into the Fracture? I never bothered anyone; I always obeyed my parents no matter what and always smiled at the strangers.
"Why is it always my fault?" I inadvertently blurted it out.
Elena didn't respond to me; she simply turned her head the other way. I could hear her sobbing on her own.
I was also crying.
I could hear all the many voices around us screaming that everything was my fault, the many bloody faces stuck to the walls pointing their distorted arms at me. They were crying tears of blood, asking me why I had killed them.
Then, they began to manifest; the pristine white walls rapidly got covered in blood, and from that layer of blood, they emerged covered in blood, all of those anguishing souls ready to point their fingers at me.
"No, I didn't. I didn't; I did nothing of the sort." I kept repeating as their voice grew louder and louder.
"It was all your fault!" They screamed.
"Had you not used your demonic weapon, we would all be alive."
"Had you not made such a huge fuss about it, we wouldn't have had to suffer."
"Why couldn't you just endure?"
They all scream while inching closer.
When I saw their decomposing bodies emerge from the walls, I got tired of running away, but once again my father got in the way. I desperately got on the floor and squeezed in between his legs and ran away from there.
Wherever I walked, those faces would appear, crying, screaming in pain, and littering the building with their blood.
Some of them were terrified, some were crying, and some were now fueled by anger. Determined to shred my body apart.
No! No! No, it's not my fault. I didn't—
Suddenly an image of a drunk driver came to my head, smiling at me with purple glowing eyes, telling me it was my fault as I saw a giant spider wreck through a large populated city.
I tripped on the floor; I desperately got back up, scrambling to get myself together while taking a sharp turn, aiming to use an emergency exit. I launched my body against the door to push it open, and as I rushed past it, I ran into my mother, who was ready to embrace me.
In her arms, all of those demons had stopped pursuing me.
"What's wrong?" She asked me.
I couldn't even begin to describe what I just saw; my heart was beating out of my chest, I was crying nonstop, and I was holding on to her for dear life, fearing that those demons could appear again.
"Mom!" I kept repeating while wrapping my arms around her neck and squeezing her as much as possible; she, on the other hand, put her right arm behind my back and lifted me with just one arm.
In her arms I was safe; no matter how much they tried, none of those souls could possibly best the strongest. So they vanished.
Together we headed back to the room, avoiding Elena's room, leaving her in the care of my father.
"It's okay, everything's okay now; you've got nothing to worry about now." She whispered while pinching my cheeks and wiping away the tears.
"What happened?" She then asked me once we were back in my room.
She had just taken a bunch of towels to help me blow my nose.
"I—I don't know, I think… I saw… I saw people stuck in the walls." I confessed in tears.
"Did those people say hurtful things?" She then asked me, and I simply nodded back.
"Don't worry, Mom has the perfect way to deal with annoying people like those, a protective charm that will forever get rid of the bad people for you." Suddenly, in her right hand, a strange bracelet appeared.
A strange power came off her hand that rapidly compressed, forming a metal bracelet containing a bunch of green fragmented gems on the inside.
"It'll protect you from bad people and bad influences; you just have to keep wearing it; don't ever take it off." She warned me before handing the bracelet to me.
"Promise me." She said, looking me in the eyes as she put the bracelet on my left hand.
"I promise." I responded.