MAY

Prologue

Do you hear it? I hear it.

The deafening ambulance’s sound that shatters my eardrums. I can hear voices from different people but I don't understand a word. Have you ever been under the water and you cannot hear everything vividly? That's exactly how it feels. It feels like I am under the water and my ears are filled with water that I don't understand what they were saying.

The sky, I see the sky. It was bright—too bright that it blinds my eyes. I see unfamiliar faces staring at me, but I couldn't identify any of them. They were too blurred for me.

My body. I couldn't feel a thing; I can't feel my own body like I was numb.

What's happening? Where am I?

“FREYA!”

Perhaps, I went out under the water. That's the only thing I heard clearly. Slowly, my eyes landed on a very familiar woman crying over someone. Along with the loud sound of the ambulance, her shattering voice and cry invaded my ears as if she was mourning. I couldn't move, not even my fingers. The next thing I knew, I was being moved as if I was flying in the air.

I looked beside me while the sky vanished from my sight. It became a ceiling filled with tons of unclear bright lights. All of a sudden, as I felt like dying, tears fell beside my eyes as I saw her covered with blood.

“F-Freya,” I mumbled.

It was the last thing I knew before everything suddenly shut down; everything just went black.

“She killed Freya! I cannot forgive her for doing that to her sister,”

“Freya is an innocent woman. Why does it have to be her?”

“Excuse me? It was a car accident, Faith didn't kill Freya! She was also part of the accident! How can you blame Freya's death on her when they were together in the accident?”

“Exactly! They were together and she probably didn't save her sister! She only thought of herself, letting her sister die from that damn accident, Lily!”

“Lily, please don't meddle. This is our family's business.”

“How could you think of Freya without thinking of your other daughter? Faith is also your daughter. She also fought for her life,”

“And I wished she's just the one who died from the accident, not Freya!”

“What?”

What's going on? Am I dreaming? Why do I hear voices, fighting? I wanted to open my eyes, but I couldn't. They felt heavy as if something was preventing me from waking up. My body, I tried to move even just a little—but I failed. I don't feel anything as if I was a mere statue.

“That's enough, hon.” It was Mom, wasn't she? I know her voice very well.

With all my remaining strength, I gave another shot to finally see them with my own eyes. As I did, the blurry image of people inside the room invaded my eyes. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my sight.

“I will not calm down! I lost our daugh—”

“Faith!”

Lily, my best friend, quickly rushed towards me as soon as she saw me finally awake. Where am I? Why is everything in this room painted with the color white?

“Why did she even wake up?” My brows crossed.

What's going on? I woke up from what?

“Hey, can you hear me?” Lily asked. Finally, I felt something. I felt the warmth of her hand as it lingered on my hand.

I glanced at my parents who were only standing there. My mother was glancing at me, wearing her blank eyes while my father couldn't even look at me as if I was a dangerous thing.

In one snap, all my questions earlier were answered. Everything that happened began to flash in my head like the waves of the sea that smacked the shore.

“Freya, you can't drive! Mom will get mad at me if she finds out that I let you drive,” I said to Freya while she was being stubborn again and forcing me to let her drive the car.

“There will be no problem if they will not find out. Besides, I know how to drive. My friends taught me,” she winked at me and started the car's engine.

“What? You drove secretly? That's dangerous!” I was being hysterical already.

Freya has always been like this. She's often stubborn and playful. She loves adventure, doing everything that she thinks is fun to do.

“Come on, I'm still alive! Just trust me, okay?” I heaved a heavy sigh when she already drove and I couldn't do anything anymore.

“Be slow! You don't even have a license for god's sake.” I shut my eyes firmly. She's indeed a pain in the neck to me.

“Calm down, Fai—”

“Freya!”

That moment, I wasn't able to close my eyes. The blinding yellow lights of the huge truck greeted me as everything seemed to get slow. Time suddenly froze for a few seconds. Until the next thing I knew, Freya was painted with blood beside me and we were both bleeding inside the car.

“Do you remember everything, huh?” I became feeble, too weak to speak. I was lost for words while my hands began to tremble. Tears started to drip down on my face while I was having a short breath.

“F-Freya…w-where is she?” I asked shiveringly to all of them. My parents didn't speak, they were only eyeing me with those cold eyes.

“Faith,” Lily called beside me.

“L-Lily, where is she? W-Where's my sister, huh? W-Where's Freya?”

“You want to see where your sister is?” My father finally spoke.

“Come on, I'll show you where Freya is.”

“Uncle, please don't do this!” Lily exclaimed when my father suddenly grabbed me like a piece of paper on the hospital gown that I was wearing. I didn't know if I didn't resist or I was just too weak that he was able to drag me in one snap.

“Faith!” Lily exclaimed and followed us.

“Where are you taking her, Sir? You can't drag her like that,” the Nurse intervened and tried to stop my father.

“Get out of my way!” He pushed the nurse away and didn't stop from dragging me like a piece of cloth. My eyes couldn't stop from pouring tears. Why does he look mad at me as if seeing me fills rage into his system?

Morgue.

I became feeble even more and shivered when I saw what's written in the room where Dad brought me.

“Please, don't do this to her! Let her rest, for god's sak—”

“You shut up, Lily! You don't get to defend her!” My mother exclaimed and shut Lily up who was crying a river while watching me.

I was stunned. I froze and I couldn't move a little when I saw someone covered with a white sheet.

“W-Why did you bring me here, Dad? Freya isn't here,”

His eyes were filled with rage towards me. But why? Why me? He burst into tears as his finger pointed out the dead body lying down in the morgue.

“Why don't you check that out, huh? Check it out and see what happened,” he said firmly.

It couldn't be Freya, right? I shook my head. It can't be. I walked beside it, and with my trembling hands, I slowly pulled down the white sheet that was covering it entirely. I was filled with extreme fear as I did so.

“F-Freya,” my voice shattered. Everything shattered—my world shattered into a million pieces.

“No…No, no, Freya. It can't be! Wake up, come on, Freya!” I tried to shake her and wake her up, but nothing happened.

“Get away!”

“Faith!” Lily exclaimed. My lips parted immediately when my father pushed me so hard that I hit the wall. I glanced at him with so many questions running in my head. His eyes were burning as if he could kill me any moment.

“You killed your own sister, Faith! How could you? Are you so insecure about her that you let her die, huh?!”

My brows crossed, trying to absorb everything in my head. I killed who? Freya? What is he talking about? I shook my head multiple times in front of them.

“Why are you saying that, Dad? I didn't kill her…I didn't kill Freya.” I stood up and tried to reach them.

“Dad, it was an acci—” I paused when his hand landed on my cheek. I felt how it burned from that hard slap.

“Please, stop!” Lily exclaimed and shielded me from them.

“I can't bear to see you in the house with us,” my father said as if he was disowning me.

“D-Dad…it's not what you think. Let me explain…I didn't kill Fre—

“I will arrange your marriage today so you can leave our house,” Mom uttered beside Dad, giving me those coldest eyes.

Wait. Why do I feel like I am the villain here? Why do I feel like I am a criminal who killed my own sister? It was an accident. I didn't want it to happen!

“M-Mom,”

“Don't you ever touch me!” She exclaimed when I tried to reach her. Those eyes, she was looking at me as if I am the most cruel person in the world.

“As soon as possible, you will get married.” My father declared, putting an end to everything.

“I will marry her then,” all of us paused as we heard that voice.

It was him, Elijah Gray Luciero, walking towards us and eyeing me with his cold and blank eyes.

“What are you saying, Elijah?” Lily asked, stunned.

“I will marry Faith,” he announced very clearly as he went closer to me.

“I will make you regret everything you did to Freya, Faith.” He whispered.

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