Divided heart

18. Friend

"Like a cup of coffee, each glass gets a different amount of sugar; if it's too little, you'll taste the bitterness of life."

-Sin-

The clock ticked loudly in the silent room, echoing a steady beat. I blinked, taking a sharp breath as pain jolted my jaw.

My hands were stiff and sore, with scratches on several of my fingers. I looked around, surprised to find my body slumped in a chair at the dining table. The remains of a meal – a half-bowl of meatballs and a fallen spoon that had spilled some oil – were also there.

I exhaled heavily, smelling the scent of meat on my breath. Sin had been enjoying this meal while I was unconscious.

"Rendy..." his name slipped out. Slapping me with reality and memory.

"Rendy...!" I cried out in panic.

Fear gripped my heart tightly. What had happened to my friend? The wall clock showed 9:00 PM. Almost 5 hours had passed.

I grabbed my smartphone from my pocket and called Rendy. The ringtone kept ringing, but no one answered. Answer, Ren, please answer. My heart pounded uncontrollably. I repeatedly called Rendy's number after the call dropped. Again and again, I repeated the attempt, many times. Nothing. Rendy didn't answer.

He couldn't answer, or maybe he was no longer able to answer. Imagining Rendy's blood-covered face almost made me vomit. A chill ran down my spine, making me rush to the door and pull it open with all my might.

I don't remember the last time I ran in such panic in my life. It felt like my whole life depended on it. Straight from my flat at the far end, I turned right towards the stairs, jumping two steps at a time until I almost slipped. Then I approached the security post on the right side of the lobby.

Mr. Joni shouted in surprise at my sudden appearance.

"Loki, what's wrong?"

I grabbed the old guard's shoulder. "Did you see me with a young man? He was a little taller than me, his hair parted on the side, and his skin was somewhat dark." I gasped, speaking hastily.

"Weren't you upstairs, in your flat?" A confused expression appeared on Mr. Joni's wrinkled face.

"What? Upstairs?"

"Yes, as far as I know, you haven't come down yet. Now you're down here alone, where's your friend? Why are you asking me?"

I nervously ran my hands through my hair. That meant Rendy was still upstairs, but clearly, the young man wasn't in flat number twenty.

Without answering Mr. Joni, I started running back to the second floor. Once upstairs, I was confused about where to look. Everything was so empty; it was impossible to knock on every door one by one and risk raising suspicion.

On the one hand, I was afraid for Rendy's safety, but on the other, I was also a coward, afraid of being caught. What if Rendy was already dead, and my actions aroused the suspicion of the Marina apartment residents.

My head throbbed again; I had to focus. Otherwise, that dark entity would surely take over my body before I could find Rendy.

Was Rendy hiding in Candy's room? The idea popped into my head. Candy seemed to be cooperating with Sin, whom she thought was Heil. Clearly, the girl was expecting Heil to appear, not me. It's possible Sin manipulated her to help him this time as well.

I ran as fast as I could to my flat, flung open the door, ripped off the sticky note on the wall and pressed my eye to the peephole.

Candy was slumped on the floor, her asshole of a father standing over her, one of his massive feet planted on her head. Several parts of Candy's body were bruised, especially her arms and face.

"Are you just going to lie there like this?" Candy's father pressed down on his foot, making the girl's cheek redden further.

"How did you get to know the young man in the next flat?" he asked angrily.

Candy sobbed and didn't answer. Her small arms clutched at her father's large legs.

"Loki, should I interrogate that young man directly? Do you want me to interfere? Did you help him distribute the meat? Do you think I haven't heard the neighbors' gossip?"

Candy squeaked. "No, it's not Heil's fault."

Candy's father snorted in annoyance. Kicking Candy's head as he withdrew his foot, he strode to the dining table, grabbed a pack of cigarettes, lit a match, and lit the poisonous stick.

My heart pounded. I shouldn't be worrying about Candy right now. Rendy's fate should be my top priority, but my eyes couldn't tear themselves away from the peephole.

Candy had no one to defend her. No one would know she was in danger, except me. How could I ignore the girl's condition?

My mind was a whirlwind of conclusions about Candy. Good or bad, innocent or even naive. My weakness was reading people's characters. Clearly, this time she wasn't involved in Sin's evil schemes.

"Heil again, how long will you keep remembering that silly missing child? he's gone, or maybe he's already dead, following in his mother's footsteps. There's nothing left of that pathetic family. How do you think that weak child could survive in this cruel world?"

That sentence gripped my heart tightly, sending an unbearable pain through me. I didn't know why my tears just fell. Mother... Mother... the word echoed in my mind.

If Heil and Sin were part of me, then their mother was also my mother. I shook my head hard, pushing that terrible thought away. Hoping it was just a figment of my imagination. I didn't cause Mother's death, did I?

My breath hitched. I took a step back, replacing the sticky note. No, I couldn't bear to listen to their conversation. My hands trembled violently. Please, don't go," I whispered, faintly hearing the child named Heil's heart-wrenching cry. I could reach her flickering consciousness. The child was wrapped in a shroud of regret.

"Heil, Heil, can you hear me?" Like a fool, I spoke to myself.

"Heil, you have to help me find Rendy. Otherwise, Sin will take control of our bodies. I know you don't want this to happen, that's why you created me." My words now made sense.

The despondent Heil had created me, antisocial. Someone not easily influenced by the world and who dislikes socializing with others. To protect her mind, to shield her anger from wounds caused by others. Without anger, Sin wouldn't appear.

"Heil, please help me." I pleaded miserably.

The child's consciousness whispered to me, "On the ceiling."

How stupid I was. How could I forget that terrible place?

I quickly climbed onto the dining table, slid a section of the ceiling aside, and braced myself to climb up. The space was cramped; Heil's memories of Candy and herself playing together created illusory images. Like smoke, they swirled, forming the figures of the two children. I knew this was all a hallucination from Heil. The child was trying to send Rendy's location through fragmented memories.

I walked with my head down, the smoke swirling with me, dancing and intertwining fingers, then turning into a wide gap, a space where two people could walk side-by-side.

My eyes widened. I saw Rendy bound helplessly there. His face was bruised and battered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as I removed the tape. His condition immediately filled me with guilt.