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...When did it all go wrong?
Why Teruko? What did she ever do to deserve this?
Why, out of all the people that it could've been, why did it have to be the one Min fell for? Teruko was an amazing person, Min could tell the first time she laid eyes on her. Teruko was astoundingly pretty, with her deep brown eyes, slightly messy hair tied in a ponytail, and her smile— it was like the sun on a cloudy day, rarely showing, but bringing light and happiness when it did. And Min had been happy too, blissfully unaware of the cruel joke fate would play on her.
Maybe it was just bad luck. Maybe their fate could have been changed. Maybe Teruko could have lived.
So why…? Why was she collapsed on the floor of the computer room, bleeding from a wound in her stomach? Why did she have to end up as the first victim?
As for the person who killed her...
Min’s gaze shifted from the floor to Xander Matthews, who was standing over the body of her friend. Blood splattered his shirt and his hands, and wild red hair splashed across his face. A gloved fist clutches a knife, silver and shining in the dim light. For a moment, Min wonders if this Xander is human at all. Xander, sensing a presence behind him, spun around. Their eyes met.
Fear shot through her veins, burning like jolts of electricity, Frenzied gray eyes, completely devoid of any last bit of humanity, stared back at her. As Min fought back a gasp and the sick bubbling feeling in her stomach, she realized that he would do anything to achieve his goal.
His goal of killing Teruko.
No… I won’t let you do that.
I’ll save you, Teruko…
She tightens her grip on the bucket of water she was carrying. Red-hot anger obscured her mind, leaving only her instincts.
The next moment, Xander was lying on the ground.
The clatter of metal echoes through the dark room as Min drops a metal pen onto the floor.
“Teruko…?” Her voice comes out in a hoarse whisper.
She stumbles over to her friend’s body, her shoulders sagging as if she were carrying the weight of a sky as dark as this forsaken room. Min puts her hand on Teruko’s wrist, feeling for a pulse. Good… she’s still alive. She turns around to examine Xander. Even if he wasn’t clearly visible in the dark, she could see how his eyes were staring into nothingness. Min feels a hollow sensation in her stomach, as if she were falling from a great height.
.
.
.
He’s dead.
She feels panic rising in her stomach. He’s really dead. Xander’s dead and I killed him. I’ll be executed, I’m going to die here…
No. I can’t die here… I’ll make it out alive…
Trying to calm her beating heart, Min picks up a knife, the same knife that was used to stab Teruko. It was nothing more than a simple mistake, exactly the same as the tests she was so used to taking. She could just simply fix it, and everything would be alright again…
It was just a mistake...
She remembers the twisted rules written in her E-Handbook, and a plan begins to form in her head. Min knew it would put Teruko in danger, but what else could she do? She hated to admit it, but she was desperate.
How far am I willing to go? Would I let her go for the sake of the whole world?
Would I sacrifice the whole world, just for one girl?
Would I trade my life for hers?
But no matter how hard Min tried, she couldn’t convince herself that everything would be alright. After all, denial was the easiest thing for her.
“Xander… I’m sorry… I never meant to kill you… Xander, Teruko… I’m so sorry… Please forgive me...” She keeps repeating these words, like they were a magic spell guaranteed to save her.
Teardrops fell to the floor, joining the puddle of blood slowly seeping through water.
I’ll save everyone. I’ll save myself.
A flash of steel, a splash of blood.
And at that moment, her fate was sealed.