Chapter 11: Henry's Past 5
715 Words
Lilith never imagined life could twist this way.
After losing Wendy, she kept telling herself, “At least Auntie is still here… at least I still have someone.”
But fate seemed determined to hurt her again.
It started quietly.
Her aunt would say, “Ah, Lilith, I’m just a bit tired today,” and force a smile.
But Lilith could hear something strange in her voice… like her strength was drifting away little by little.
Days passed, and her aunt’s health dropped frighteningly fast.
She grew pale, lost weight, and her laughter — the one Lilith always loved — slowly faded.
One evening Lilith called her and said softly,
“Auntie… are you really okay? You don’t sound fine.”
Her aunt hesitated then whispered,
“I don’t know, baby. I’m trying to be strong… but something feels terribly wrong.”
Lilith’s heart broke hearing that.
She wanted to run to her, hug her, sit by her bedside — but everything was happening so fast.
Her uncle did his best.
He cooked for her, cleaned, sat by her all night, held her hand and whispered,
“Don’t leave me… please stay with me, love.”
But grief was already standing at their door.
And then…
Auntie passed away.
When Lilith got the news, she dropped her phone.
She felt her chest tighten so painfully she couldn’t even breathe.
She kept repeating,
“No… no… Auntie can’t be gone… she was just here… she was just laughing with me…”
She cried until her voice cracked.
It felt like a piece of her heart had been torn away.
But the pain didn’t stop there.
The nightmares started — sharp, cold, and haunting.
Every night she saw Wendy standing in the corner of her dream, eyes swollen like she had cried too much.
“Lilith…” Wendy whispered, the voice trembling.
“You left me… why did you leave me?”
Lilith reached out in the dream, desperate.
“I didn’t, Wendy… I swear I didn’t. I tried. I tried to talk to you…”
But Wendy always faded before she could explain.
Sometimes Lilith saw her aunt too — silent, staring at her with eyes full of something she couldn’t understand.
And then there was the boy.
A little boy she had never met… always crying, always reaching out like he wanted to be saved.
Lilith would wake up shaking, tears on her pillow.
“What is happening to my life?” she whispered into the empty room.
“Why is everyone disappearing?”
Meanwhile her uncle sank into despair.
He spoke less and less.
He stopped shaving, stopped eating properly, stopped believing tomorrow would be better.
Lilith called him one night.
“Uncle… please, talk to me. I need you. We lost Auntie, but we still have each other.”
His voice came through the phone rough and tired.
“I’m finished, Lilith. Everything I had… she was everything.”
He sniffed, then added in a broken voice,
“Tell me… how do I breathe now?”
Lilith swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Uncle… please don’t talk like that. I can’t lose you too.”
But she could hear it in his tone — the hopelessness, the grief, the emptiness.
A few days later, she received the call she feared.
Her uncle had taken his own life.
Lilith collapsed onto the floor, shaking uncontrollably.
She couldn’t even scream — the pain was too deep, too sharp.
It felt like someone had torn her soul open.
She whispered through tears,
“Why? Why does everyone I love leave me? What am I doing wrong…?”
And then she remembered something horrifying:
Everyone she had touched recently…
Wendy.
Her aunt.
Her uncle.
Every single one of them was gone.
She sat in the darkness of her room, hugging her knees, tears soaking her clothes.
“Is it me?” she whispered, trembling.
“What is happening to me? What am I cursed with?”
The nightmares felt closer… watching her… blaming her.
Wendy’s voice echoed in her mind.
Her aunt’s silent stare lingered like a shadow.
The little boy’s crying became louder with each passing night.
Lilith felt her world collapsing.
And for the first time in her life, she was afraid of herself.
- Writer
