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Each trudging step down that narrow staircase felt like bricks piling atop of Echo’s shoulders. His mind felt utterly blank, yet clouded with a million different thoughts all in one. Truly a spectacle how someone so empty could feel so full. So alive and yet so dead.
Stepping from that final step to the cool, cherry wood floor sent shivers down his spine. The sense of death still lingering in the atmosphere.
Am I being self centered if I feel guilty over this? He so desperately wished to ask, although he knew no sound would come out of his mouth no matter how hard he tried. Of course he knows deep down he wasn’t involved with the actual murder, yet the fact he felt compelled to even go along with the plan…
That alone stabbed her so much more than what that bunny had to offer.
To stand there as they faced their death.
Someone who, no matter what was going on around them, always met Echo with a cheerful grin. Someone who always gave off the impression they were happy although it was clear to Echo that they weren’t. Someone who acted like the light when all everyone could see was dark.
Someone who could have, even for a moment, understood Echo.
She exhales, focusing on the sound of crushed leaves beneath the soles of her shoes. On the numerous trees surrounding her, ranging in sizes. On the tiny hill she can see in the distance slowly coming into view.
When did any of those get here?
Echo knows they should be cautious; one screw up and it’s game over for them and Chris. The last thing they want for Chris to lose on account of their mishaps. To be a failure to him. Yet something tells them that they’ll be fine.
They aren’t quite sure whether they should believe that.
Echo’s ears perk up, sensing the presence of another person up ahead. His fight or flight rapidly kicked in; ff he wasn’t being cautious before he definitely was now.
His hand strayed upwards, resting on the hilt of his sword. Maybe my gut was wrong. Maybe it’s just trying to get me killed. Maybe it’s no different from anyone else on this server. I can’t even learn to like myself.
In the middle of that never ending stream of thoughts she suddenly stopped in her tracks, her hand falling from its unknowingly tight hold on her sword.
On that tiny hill she had noticed earlier was a person. Simply just sitting, staring out into an abyss Echo had long since seeked comfort in.
They looked so small. So vulnerable while having their guard up all at once. They were so still, almost not breathing. For a second Echo couldn’t even tell if they were real.
This mysterious person — though Echo knew them all too well — appeared to be deep in thought, Echo notices as they inch closer, maybe even lost. Their usual smile is contorted into a face akin to a stone wall; completely unreadable, indistinguishable from all the rest.
They can’t help but notice the way their fluffy hair glistens in the moonlight.
Echo seems to hesitate for a moment, unsure whether the choice she wants to make is good or bad. Yet she makes it anyway, sitting down beside the other. They’re not too close, but there isn’t exactly much distance between them either.
She fails to notice the torn petals of alliums and tulips scattered around them.
She wants to say that it feels comfortable. That it feels comfortable to sit down next to them even if it was unprompted. But if she herself doesn’t know what comfort feels like, how can she label this once in a lifetime occurrence as such? How can she label it as such when the person beside her probably hasn’t even acknowledged her arrival?
There’s a moment of silence. Whether the silence was tense or full of levity, he had no clue. No thoughts suddenly flashed out in his mind to disrupt him, no sounds of nature to keep the peace, no breathing to remind him that lives are at stake, nothing.
And yet when that sing-songy voice breaks it, breaks him out of a trance he hadn’t realized he was caught in, he holds no resentment.
“Have you ever danced before?”
Echo blinks once, then twice.
“N.. No… No I haven’t,” she stutters.
The other suddenly stands up, staring up at the moon for a split second that feels like an eternity, before turning to extend their hand out to Echo with that bright smile she’d been unknowingly yearning for.
“Care to try?”
And who was she to refuse?
No amount of reassurance and gentle guiding hints could override the clumsiness in Echo’s steps. The small slips and tumbles she’d do with each movement. The way her hand would slowly tighten around his in fear that she’d fall.
It all made Ghost giggle.
“You’re so tense! Loosen up,” he teased, his signature bright grin plastered all across his face.
Echo huffs. “I’m trying… Never exactly done this before, y’know…” She mumbles.
That just made Ghost laugh more.
For a moment it felt as though the world had just stopped spinning. Everything around them just paused. As if her and Echo were the only two people left alive.
That wouldn’t be such a cruel fate..
Ghost’s neck cranes up to look at Echo. She sees the way the canine quickly averts their gaze out of embarrassment — oh, how easy it was to tease Echo. It all but made Ghost’s grin grow wider.
Echo looked mesmerizing. They always did, but something today felt different. Maybe it was the way the moon shone down, highlighting every single detail on their face. Maybe it was the way their hair was unkempt with strands flying all over the place from the wind and from their sloppy movements. Maybe it was the way their hand tightened around Ghost’s. Echo’s touch felt warm and comforting.
Ghost wasn’t sure he knew what it was like to feel comfort. But this, whatever Echo was making him feel, was coming very close.
The two stop in their movements. Ghost’s left hand stays latching onto Echo’s back. Her right falls from its shared tight clasp around Echo’s, inching up slowly to touch his cheek.
She feels Echo flinch for a moment when her cold, gloved hand meets his face. And she feels the way he melts into her touch shortly after.
“You’re really pretty Ghost…”
The two pause, a look of shock crossing both their faces.
But Ghost doesn’t back away, doesn’t let go of Echo, doesn’t flinch. Her shocked expression fades into a soft smile.
“You’re pretty too.”
Echo’s sure it’s genuine.
His eyes slowly close. He continues to lean into the bunny’s touch. Cold or not, it still felt warm to him.
The two stayed like that for a while, at one point getting so close they were practically embracing one another. Echo’s never felt so close to anyone before. But that’s not to say he doesn’t enjoy this feeling.
It feels nice to feel cared about. It feels nice to feel wanted and looked after.
So she can’t help but frown as she feels Ghost and her warmth slowly begin to slip away from her touch.
“You’re leaving already?” Echo hates how desperate she sounds.
There’s silence for a moment.
“You’ll find someone else.”
And suddenly her presence is gone, replaced with the eerie chill of the wind.
When Echo finally opens their eyes, they’re back underground. Surrounded by blood. Ghost’s lifeless body rigid on the floor.
Echo wonders when she’ll be able to join her.