Shades of the New World

Chapter 82: The incident

Evin wondered what would happen to him after he went insane. He was never conscious during his lapses of madness, so he was quite curious about what he did. He patiently awaited for the memories to arrive.

But contrary to his expectations, the following memories were completely unrelated to Layla. Evin saw his past self sitting next to a group of campers around a fire in the middle of a dark forest. There were five men, and they spoke in a language that Evan never heard before, but somehow he could understand every single word they said.

Looking at the situation, Evin was astonished.

It was the exact same spot he regained consciousness after his first bout with madness. He clearly remembered this part even after so many years, because it was just so shocking.

'Even the potion can't show me what I did during those times?' he thought with a puzzled expression, as he continued watching.

The confusion Evan felt at the time could not be described simply. He even thought he was alive again for a few minutes, before he noticed that none of the campers took notice of him.

He gradually started remembering the details before his madness. His death, his time with his parents and his time with Layla.

"Layla!" Evan shouted out and frantically looked around himself in panic. Only the eerie dark of the forest could be seen around.

Long story short, Evan had somehow ended up three thousand kilometers away from Layla's house and as far as he could tell, five years passed without him knowing it.

Evan then departed on a long journey back to his love. It took almost three months for him to find his way back, but it was all worth it, since the familiar house came to his view once more. He slammed open the door to finally see his beloved but a gut-wrenching sight greeted him.

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His beautiful Layla sat on a wheelchair, a gigantic scar running through one of her eyes. Her pale arms were covered with a bandage, and the shape under it did not resemble those of a normal human hand. A gloomy smile was plastered on her face as she recited to her two adopted children the knowledge that her father taught her once. The knowledge that she could never perform herself.

Zack and Penelope were following their mother's instructions on a big wooden doll. Penelope's permanently sharp gaze stayed, but the girl now showed a variety of other expressions as well.

Zack would sometimes glance at Layla's arms, and a hint of guilt would appear in his eyes.

Evan wished to know what happened, but the topic seemed to be a taboo in the house. The frustration of not knowing what happened was eating at him alive. But the biggest reason he was so agitated was because he thought that he could have prevented everything somehow. Zack saw him once, so someone else could've seen him as well!

There must've been something he could've done to affect the situation.

But halfway through the speech, he realized that he was starting to delude himself again. He was dead, and he had to make peace with it somehow. Even if he loved Layla like no one else in the World, Layla herself had never seen him before.

Evan took another look at Layla's pitiful figure. Even if he couldn't help, he had the right to know what happened. Since the house did not wish to discuss this matter, he went to the nearest police station and started rummaging through the case reports there. Finally, he found what he wanted.

[ Case No: 50 9463. Layla Lockhoover, Report for assault ]

He hurriedly opened the report, but there was nothing inside, no summary of events, no list of injuries, no list of accusees, nothing. Only a single sentence was written on the bottom of the report.

[ Conclusion: Reporter fell from the stairs and falsely reported that someone pushed her ]

A silent rage brewed inside Evan's heart. The culprits were the ones who were paid to bring justice. Evan was very familiar with how they changed case reports according to their wishes. He saw it happen inside Layla's house hundreds of times.

But even after he realized what happened, Evan felt empty. What could he do? Everything happened already, and even if he was together with Layla at that time, he could've done nothing and it wouldn't have helped Layla in any way. He could only go back to his old ways To silently stare at the female coroner, his love.

Evan never felt bored with this task back then. All of her actions were alluring to his eyes. The way she stared into the distance when she thought, the way she held her cup and took a sip from it as silently as one could, and then slowly gently putting the cup back on the table. Making no noise whatsoever in the process. After accomplishing her task, she would smile lightly with satisfaction.

But now, Layla did not have her slender, but nimble fingers she once had. Instead, she now had two lumps of limbs that could only be used to hug something, as a way of holding them. Evan soon saw what had happened to her hands, when Penelope was changing the bandages. It was thoroughly mutilated with no hope of recovery. Her palms were smashed inside with a hammer and two of her fingers were missing.

Penelope would do her best to change the bandages as fast as possible, because her mother would cry silently after every instance she looked at the state of her hands. The wounds would evidently hurt quite badly, as Layla would wake up in the middle of the night sweating and groaning from pain.

The ensuing few years were the most difficult of Evan's life. Looking at Layla in such a state reignited his trauma and memories of his sisters would constantly reappear from deep inside his head, adding on to his torment of having to witness his love's suffering every day. The futility and uselessness of his existence stabbed at his heart every time his eyes fell on Layla. So many times he wished to leave, to refuse to see these heartbreaking sights every single moment of his existence.

But he wanted some kind of closure, a proper end. He felt indebted to witness her finale. The death of the coroner. He felt that it was getting closer and closer. A glint of determination was apparent inside Layla's eyes. An acceptance of some sort. Evan knew that she planned to end her life.

A mess of emotions filled his entire heart as he waited for what might happen. Worry for Layla, Curiosity of what would happen after she died, Disgust at himself for awaiting someone's death, and most of all, Hope for he could finally have a chance to meet her in the afterlife.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye. The two children had learned everything they could from their mother. Instead of working as forensic scientists for the police, the family of three began a funeral business for the wealthy. Aside from the normal funeral services, they also offered services of embalming, or mummifying important people at the requests of their families or the dead themselves.

Zack and Penelope had grown splendidly as brother and sister, and both of them were close to marrying their beloved. No more misfortune fell on the family, but the aftereffects of the previous one still lingered persistently.

Layla's condition had never gotten better, and her looks were becoming more and more haggard. Her blonde hair had completely turned white by the time she turned thirty, and the constant grimaces of pain lead to deep lines of wrinkles to take root on her forehead. She spent the last few years dictating a book to Penelope, who was tasked with writing everything down.

Evan stayed with the family for most of the time, while occasionally visiting his parents to see how they were doing. He had become much more adept at controlling his thoughts and did not fall into a state of madness once more.

And one day, Layla gathered the two children and began her talk.

"Zack, Penny, come here for a bit," she gestured towards the two children.

The two approached their mother with a look of love and care. They did not know what she wished to talk about, but their mother's serious attitude forced them to stay silent.