Aaron hated mornings. Having to wake up was such a routinely unpleasant experience, and everything that ensued was even worse.

Slowly stumbling down a flight of stairs, with one misplaced step throwing you so far into the painful pits of hell you’d wish you were never born.

“How am I still alive after all those tumbles, you may ask? Well, they say that... I’m somewhat of a miracle worker myself. “Who’s they?" I hear you ask? Me.”

Exposing his body to the cruel whims of the outside world, Aaron made a move on towards Lea and his normal meetup point.

Along the way, he saw several pieces of graffiti slothfully clinging to a few drab walls, enlisting a smile upon his face.

Thinking back to the times when the trio had gone around town and created one piece of graffiti after the next, his smile morphed into a deep frown.

“I can’t imagine how much she must have suffered... And that bastard! The things I’d do to him if I could just get my hands upon him! But... it seems like Chlo beat me to it.”

He had to admit though, the thought of the frail and kind girl that he knew snuffing the life out of someone shot shivers down his spine.

“Even though he did the things he did to her... killing someone... I dunno... Killing someone seems a bit extreme… no?” He sombrely pondered, shoving his hands into the warm pockets of his jacket lest they get even more battered by the miserable weather.

Pushing the thought to the back of his mind, he chose to pick up his pace, wanting to reach his destination as soon as possible. The longer the time he had to spend with Lea, the better.

Turning another corner, a small figure scuttled behind the male, her remaining eye trained upon Aaron’s sluggish demeanour.

Her scarred lips bent upwards into a deformed grin, mind ablaze at what she should say when she “coincidentally bumped into him on the way to school”.

“Everyone else is no good. They all treat me like a monster... Now that I’ve gotten rid of... that I’ve given Lea peace... I can finally show Aaron that I’m still the Chloe that he knew!”

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Impatiently tapping his foot against the concrete below, the brunet—for what seemed to be the millionth time—pulled out his phone from his pocket, eyes staring at the built-in clock.

“Where is she...? It’s not like her to be so late. Aaron mumbled, his eyes darting towards the road that the crimson-orbed girl usually used.

Normally, if Lea couldn’t meet up with him, she’d call him before hand to give him ample notice... but she hadn’t today.

Aaron leaned up against a colourful wall, a large skyscraper reaching towards the heavens and connected to the deepest pits of hell, supporting his weight.

Hearing a familiar voice, Aaron’s emerald orbs widened slightly, his head snapping to the origin of the sound.

And there she was.

There… There she was...

Well, at least most of her was.

“Fucking hell. My god. That bastard.”

Unconsciously tightening his hands, he attempted to put on a smile for his best friend who had suffered so much but ultimately failed, his countenance downcast equipped with a large frown.

Chloe remained unperturbed by his expression, jumping on the boy and enveloping him in a hug, her short arms struggling to encompass his whole body.

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Speechless, Aaron slowly tilted his head downwards towards the orange-haired girl who was currently clinging tightly to his body, sensing how her hands trembled, and her remaining eye began to well.

Aaron’s mind grew frantic under the pressure of trying to find what to say to the girl, eventually deciding to just hug her back, slowly combing her long locks with his fingers.

“He can’t hurt you anymore, Chlo. Good job surviving it all.” He finally eked out, his mind calming as he felt her relax in his grasp.

Chloe—buried deep within Aaron’s chest—let out a small sob, a large smile hidden from his softened gaze.

“Ah… I wonder how long he’ll let me stay like this... If I continue showing him such a fragile state, then it should be for quite a considerable amount of time.” Chloe contently sighed inwardly.

“I was... so scared... Aaron! Everyone… They treat me... Like a criminal! Like a murderer!” The small orange-haired girl wept, somehow tightening her grasp on the male even further.

Aaron’s eyes flickered up towards the sky momentarily, inwardly admonishing himself for the thoughts he’d harboured not too long ago. He’d been completely wrong.

Chloe was still the same old frail and scared girl that she had been for as long as he knew her. And he was sure that being ostracised by everyone around her would have had a large effect on her.

After all, Chloe had never been a social person in his eyes. Without his literal pushing and prodding, she might have never made even a single other friend.

But she did.

And that’s what led to this mess in the first place.

“If only… If only we never excluded her... then... maybe she wouldn’t be in such a horrific state, treated like a heinous criminal after surviving an encounter with a demon from the deepest pits of hell.”

Aaron shifted slightly, an immense feeling of guilt washing over his senses as he ground his teeth together.

“I’m so sorry Chlo. If only… I’d never left you alone. I promise you… It’ll never happen again. We’ll be together forever. I’ll always be your friend,” Aaron choked out, burying his head into her hair as he closed his eyes, wishing that by some miracle he’d go back in time and stop all this from having happened.

Alas such a thing would and could not occur. Now, all he could do was help the girl recover from her mauled body and mind.

But, at that moment, Chloe was the furthest thing from being sad or in despair.

Her mind ground to a halt, her mouth wide open as her cheeks grew warm.

“Aaron… me and Aaron will be together forever? He’ll never leave me alone again?”

Supressing the urge to break out into a euphoric fit of laughter, Chloe’s small body shivered with delight, making Aaron hug her tighter, thinking that she was still scared.

“Ahh… I knew it! I knew it! Aaron would never abandon me! See you fucker! We’ll be together forever! You died for nothing! The light at the end of the tunnel! I’ve finally obtained it! Now that that wench has disappeared forever, there is nothing standing between me and my Aaron!”

“I’m sure Lea will feel the same way! We’ll both be with you forever!” Aaron reassured the scarred girl, feeling her body stiffen in his grasp at some point during his sentence.

Chloe’s wide grin dissipated slightly at the mention of the other girl’s name, recovering quickly after remembering how she had already dealt with the problem.

“There’s nothing that can stand between us now~!” She sang within her mind, her mood slightly dampening as Aaron lightly pushed away from him.

“On that topic, have you seen Lea recently at all? I haven’t heard from her at all since yesterday,” Aaron queried, pressing his lips into a thin, firm line whilst wondering what could possibly be the reason behind her sudden lack of communication.

Chloe visibly stiffened at the question, her face hardening before quickly correcting herself and equipping a small smile before replying.

“I haven’t seen her in ages.”

Staring at the disfigured and ashened body that stood behind Aaron, orbs fixed upon his stature, Chloe’s orange orb dug into its elongated body, causing the monster to jolt back, equipping a painful expression as if it had just been stabbed.

“I’d really love to see her again.” She added, her smile growing by the second.

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That night, Chloe returned home with a medium-sized black carpet. Laying it over the giant section of crimson carpet, she hopped in the shower after cooking something simple.

The three figures followed her around, two of them equipping a neutral expression while Nathanial seemed to have a small smile drawn upon his visage.

Apparently, he wasn’t affected at all by her gloating earlier on in the day, as if he knew that all her words held no value.

After all, at this point, he didn’t even have to do anything more than what he had done. The hourglass had started to pour, and the girl hadn’t even noticed, going about her day like everything was fine.

“Oh, how wrong she is... Well, it doesn’t matter to me anyways. Either way, I’ll see her suffer.” He leisurely thought, a long smirk equipped upon his face as he admired the marks he’d made on her body, beads of water slipping down her fragile body as she stepped out of the shower.

“I should become a tattoo artist in my next life… Ah, who am I kidding… There’s nothing but hell in store for me now. And that’s the way I like it.”