The kingdom of Arameth forbid using magic to kill even a supernatural who had committed a grave sin. And it was not because the Armethian officials were merciful people. But because they believed that no sinner should experience death for it was considered the easiest sentence in the world, the reason why they wanted me alive so I could suffer my whole life.
That’s why I have no objection to whatever my best friend was planning to do. It was my first time seeing him after I was sentenced and got thrown away by the Armethians. I was even glad that Everett finally stood up for his daughter’s death. It was about time. I would have been greatly disappointed in him if he would just stay in Arameth and would not attempt to execute me. Everett would be put behind bars for months for what he was about to do to me that’s why I want him to make the most out of this.
And once Everett was freed from the prison, I was hoping that he could finally gather the will to begin again. I would never stop praying for it, even if I was not sure if my prayers could still be heard after all the crimes I committed.
I spread my arms open to welcome death. In my head, I could still hear Everett crying and begging me to save his only daughter’s life. I shut my eyes when I saw myself choking his lifeless daughter. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think of doing that. I treated Lara like my own daughter. But the little girl’s blood was all over my hands. Everett who was freaking out with wrath on his face was the next thing that I remembered. And he would have died in my hands, too, if only the Ministers did not arrive to save him.
Not long after and I felt Everett’s car hit my body. Because of the strong impact it inflicted, my body was thrown off the ground. There was that searing pain in every fiber of my body, but it was not enough. The pain in my heart still hurts more compared to the pain in my body.
“Is this the best you can do, Everett? This is nowhere near enough,” I whispered as blood dripped from my mouth. “You have to do more.”
Everett fulfilled my wish. Soon enough, I heard the sound of the engine which meant that he would attack again. Out of all the Armethians who were willing to cross kingdoms just to kill me, there was only one thing that I kept wishing over and over again. I wished for them to succeed. I was not terrified of death, I was terrified of living life.
“H-hit me h-harder this t-time, Everett. M-make sure to k-kill me t-this time, I b-beg you. I-I want to die n-now.”
But for some reason, I did not feel the car hit me the second time. When I tried to open my eyes, I saw the back of the woman standing in front of me. She was shining so much that it was almost blinding. And she bravely blocked Everett’s car from hitting me. When he did not succeed, his car vanished in a blink of an eye.
And then the woman rushed towards me. Her voice was shaking when she spoke.
“Y-you have to be alive, Mister. H-hold on, okay?” she said before grabbing my hand. She was holding me tightly as if she was the one who needed comforting and not the other way around. “I’m going to take you to the hospital. You are going to survive this. You need to.”
I shook my head. “I d-don’t want t-to. W-why did you stop him? How d-dare you do that, little girl?”
My eyes watered. This human had no idea of the countless sufferings I would face in the future all because she meddled in my affair. She had no idea of how desperate I was to die. That was the reason why I hated myself more because I could not die no matter what the Armethian people did to me.
The Armethians hated me for my strength. If only they knew that I hate myself for being strong, too. Now would have been my chance to finally die since I’m already wounded. But this mortal took that chance away from me. Contrary to what she was thinking, she did not save me. She only prolonged my suffering.
“H-how dare you t-take away m-my last c-chance to d-die?”
The stranger raised her voice. “And why would you die?”
“Y-you don’t understand. I’m so s-sick of this world. I’m so sick of it all.”
“No matter what you feel, you have to live!” Her voice was trembling and the nervousness and fear written on her face cannot be denied. I don’t know why but her eyes seemed to be familiar. But what amazed me was the emotions in her eyes. She seemed terrified… but only with the thought of me dying. It was her compassion that surprised me all the more. She does not even know who I am. I was just someone she happened to see on the road. But she was worrying too much for me.
But then again, you don’t get to see a dying man on the road every day. It must have been her first time to witness an accident, and to see a bloody man lying on the street.
“Masarap pa ring mabuhay kaya kailangan mong mabuhay,” she told me in a language that I hadn’t heard before. But she quickly translated those words to English. “It’s still nice to live in this world. I don’t know what you are going through, but you should not give up on your life because I wouldn’t give up on yours.” She quickly took out her phone from her pocket and called 911. After informing them about our location, she ended the call and held my hands again.