Moon of The Afterlife

CHAPTER 14: Louise's Death

LOUISE is busy cleaning up a table when Dante came rushing through the door. He stopped upon noticing that the cafe was empty, but he knew he doesn't have much time to comment on that.

"Dante," Louise greeted with a wide smile. "I thought you're not coming," she added.

"Where's your brother?" Dante asked, panting and looking around to search for his figure, but he couldn't find him.

"He left an hour ago. Why?"

"I need to see him. Where did he go?"

Louise sensed Dante's nervousness when he glanced at the clock saying, 1:53 PM. She stared at him like he was a piece of art. His handsome face never failed to mesmerize her, and every detail of his perfectly sculpted face makes her fall for him deeper each time.

"Someone called him, so he left in a hurry--"

"Louise, just tell me where he is. I need to see your brother!" Dante impatiently said, slightly raising his voice in frustration and fear.

She stopped, and her face turned blank. The smile she was wearing faded.

"At the Police Station," she replied.

Dante's eyebrows furrowed. "Police Station?" he repeated.

His mind is in chaos, and everything keeps confusing him. The only thing that Dante knows is that Arche is in great danger, and he needs to save him. He felt his palm stung again, making him glance at the clock on the wall again. It's 54 past 1.

Dante was about to leave when Louise asked again, "Why are you in a hurry, Dante? What's the matter?"

Dante looked at her. "I don't have time to explain, Louise. I'm sorry,"

Louise stared at his eyes and saw his fear, making her pull the sides of her lips to smile bitterly. "Is he in danger?"

Dante looked away while biting his lower lip hard. She shouldn't know; He can't tell her.

"There's just something I need to discuss with him urgently."

"Then I guess you have to leave now, or you'll miss the chance, ..."

Dante gave her a forced smile before leaving the cafe. He couldn't just vanish in front of Louise, so he had to waste a minute to run until he was out of Louise's sight.

Louise watched Dante before looking at the clock. 55 past 1. She pulled out her phone to call her brother. His phone ringed for a few seconds before Arche picked up.

"How's the cafe?" Arche asked from the other line as soon as he answered.

"Manageable," Louise replied while still looking at Dante, who was running to save him. "Anyways, I called because I'm craving chicken,"

"Chicken?"

"Uhm!"

"How'd you know there's a chicken restaurant near the place I am at?" he chuckled.

"Just my instincts," Louise said, sounding happy as a drop of tear fell from her left eye. "Don't come here empty-handed. I'm warning you, Arche. ..." she added.

Louise heard her brother's quiet laugh, which made her gasp while trying not to move. The clock struck 1:57, two minutes before his death. Louise clenched her fist hard.

"Okay. I'll get you some," Arche said before hanging up.

Her hand dropped upon hearing the beep that indicates the call has ended. Louise felt her heart throbbing, but she fought the tears. She's battling with herself, and she knows who's winning.

"Stop," Louise hissed as her tears started blurring her vision. "I told you not to hurt him. Please, stop."

THE BLACK car continued approaching Arche's direction. The driver, who was the young man from earlier, glared at him as he drove at full speed, determined to kill the person that humiliated him. He is a psychopath, the hidden bastard son of the municipality's mayor.

Everything happened in slow motion. Arche glanced in the direction of the accelerating car, failing to realize his coming death. And before his final moment, he saw the driver's face before he realized what was coming. It's too late— almost— if someone failed to wrap his arms around him to keep him out of the way.

Everyone who saw what happened gasped in shock. The driver pulled over to look back and saw that the person he intended to kill was safe. He hit the steering wheel of his car in annoyance before driving out of the scene and flee.

Dante sighed in relief when the name on his palm vanished. His heart almost stopped from what happened.

"I thought I lost you again..." Dante hissed as he tightened his embrace. "... Libulan,"

Nothing from the near-death incident sinks in Arche's mind. Only the person who appeared during the last minute to embrace and save him from danger is the only thing that he knew. And the moment when he heard him saying his name, his heart dropped.

Arche pushed Dante away and looked at his face nervously. His hands were trembling, and he couldn't say anything. He took a step backward when Dante tried to walk closer. Dante stopped and looked at Arche, pleading.

"Li--"

Before even Sidapa could call his name, Arche turned around and left. He hurried back to his car and drove away as his tears fell from his eyes like waters from a broken faucet.

"He found me," he hissed. "He knew."

Arche drove back to the cafe to close it but saw no one there. No customers, and to his horror, he found Louise lying unconsciously on the floor.

"Louise!" Arche screamed as he ran towards her.

SIDAPA is a kind-hearted Deity despite being the God of death who sets lifespan to every living thing that exists. However, he couldn't just seem to let what happened pass and forgive the human who tried to kill Libulan, so he followed him to his house.

It was a huge mansion, and everything in it was luxurious. But, the elegance couldn't hide the gloomy atmosphere surrounding the house. A broken family lives there. And love doesn't exist in that place. It was a place built to display the owner's wealth rather than to provide a warm roof for the family to say underneath.

The young man went upstairs looking bored and annoyed by what happened. While on his way to his room, someone grabbed him by his left shoulder, and when he turned to look at the person, he found himself a few blocks away from the Police Station.

Sidapa wrapped his fingers around his neck as he glared at him, pushing the young man against the wall of a building. He's so mad that he's almost losing his mind.

"W-who are you?" the man asked as he tried his best to hide his fear from the dangerous-looking man holding him despite the confusion and surprise by the sudden change of location.

"M-my f-father is powerful. Y-you c-can't do this to me." He said again as he tried his best to take Sidapa's fingers off his neck.

"His power will become useless once he dies. Do you know how precious that person is to me? The person you tried to kill," Sidapa asked with evident anger.

He had sworn that he would never hurt a human or shorten their lifespan due to personal reasons. Hence, he cannot kill him.

"W-who are you?" The man asked, trembling.

Sidapa looked at his eyes to let him know who he was.

"I gave you a long life to live, and I can always take it back if I please. You, human, almost took something I cherished the most. How would you like to compensate me? Turning yourself in and confess that you killed multiple people then tried to kill someone, or giving me back the years I have given you to live?"

"W-why would I b-believe you?!" he yelled, stammering. He's scared, but he still finds Sidapa as a person who's just trying to scare him. "A-are you saying t-that you're not human? Absurd."

Sidapa smirked and pulled him closer. "Fine. I'll take your remaining years, then. You only have an hour to live," he said and then showed the man the name that appeared on his palm. The man's eyes widened when he saw his name, age, time, and cause of death written in it.

"N-no. Please, l-let me live longer. I'll turn myself in. P-please don't kill me!" the man cried as he kneeled in front of Sidapa to beg for his life.

Sidapa sighed and closed his eyes.

"You only have an hour to turn yourself in, or else you'll die. Go." Then the man wasted no time and ran to the Police Station.

Dante rushed to the cafe to see if Arche went back there. He was still a few tens of blocks away when he saw Arche leaving the cafe. He was carrying his unconscious sister, Louise, to his car and he didn't even bother to close the cafe.

"LOUISE!" Cathy shouted as soon as she made it beside Louise's hospital bed, alined with the other patients in the first hospital ward. "Oh, God! What happened, my baby?" she nervously asked and then examined Louise's body, checking if she's hurt.

"What happened, Arche?" Arnold asked when he arrived a few seconds after his wife, Cathy.

Arche sighed before looking at his parents. "I went out for a while, and when I came back, I found her lying on the floor," he answered.

"You're overreacting again, guys," Louise said as soon as she opened her eyes. She sat up from the hospital bed and took off the thin tube attached to her forearm. "I'm fine."

Cathy stopped her daughter hen she tried to walk past her, pushing her back down to the bed before saying,

"Sit here, and tell me what happened,"

Louise sighed and rolled her eyes. She hates the hospital so much. The smell of medicines is making her dizzy, and the fact that it is a place between life and death makes her hate it more.

"I just felt dizzy, Mom. I haven't eaten lunch. That's it,"

"What?" Cathy looked at Arche with her eyebrows forming a single line and asked, "You didn't feed your sister?"

"No! It wasn't like that, Mom. The cafe's too busy. In fact, I asked Arche to buy me chicken." Louise looked at her brother. "Speaking of chicken, where is my chicken?"

"Seriously, Louise? You're asking about chicken?" Arnold butted in, with his voice sounding a little angry. "You're being such a brat. We told you not to work since you've just recovered from your illness. Are you trying to kill yourself, Louise?" he added, slightly raising his voice.

"Dad--"

"If things like this happen again, both of you will have to pay for it,"

Arche sighed and smiled weakly before nodding at his father. "I understand, Dad. I'll take care of her better next time."

"You better, Arche,"

Cathy smiled before looking back at her stubborn daughter and giving her a nice hit on her forehead with her knuckles, making Louise wince in pain and frown.

"Ow!" she complained.

"We hate hospitals as much as you do, so try your best not to be sick or hurt so no one would have to come here. Got it?"

Louise pouted while rubbing her head and nodded. "Yeah," she replied.

***

The family went out of the hospital not long after. Arche is not going home with them since he still has to close the cafe.

Dante is watching from afar. He watches the family. And seeing how the couple hugged and kissed Arche before leaving, Dante realized another reason Arche wants to stay and live as a human— his family.

Libulan lost his family, and he found another with those humans. He found the love and safety that he needed in the arms of his loving family— something he could never provide.

Sadness hugged Dante's heart when he realized that there are some things he couldn't offer him. He thought he was powerful and capable enough, but he was wrong.

Arnold opened the door of the driver's seat after giving his son a one-arm hug; Dante's still watching them. Then Arche walked closer to his mother and kissed her cheeks before turning to his sister, Louise, to pinch her on her right cheek. Dante saw her wince and glare at Arche. The way Arche laughed didn't escape his eyes, too. But among everything Dante saw, one thing made him stop.

Blood. There is blood.

Louise's death is within a few weeks, and blood will splatter on that day.

Dante exhaled loudly as if his breath got blocked for a few moments. He clutched his chest tight as he took a step back as if the wind just punched him by the chest. He looked at the family again and saw their bright smiles that are bound to fade in less than a month.

Louise's death is coming. He had finally seen it.