Chapter 286: The Eyes of the Angel [2]

Chapter 286: The Eyes of the Angel [2]



It was as if two hands were clasped against her throat, squeezing tightly and doing their best to deprive her of all of her oxygen.

The sensation felt vaguely familiar.

It reminded her of what had happened the day prior.

She felt suffocated, and her eyes continued to trace the black tear that dripped down from the corner of the statue's eyes.

Kiera blankly stared at the stature for what felt like forever until...

"Hey."

She felt a nudge on her shoulder and she snapped out of it.

"Uh?"

Looking around, Kiera's eyes eventually fell on Aoife who looked at her with a strange look. Kiera felt sweat trickle down the side of her face as her chest heaved up and down unevenly.

".... You really are hungover, aren't you?"

"Ah, no..."

Kiera squinted and blinked her eyes before shifting her attention back to the statue. As she attempted to point out the tear that was trickling down its cheek, Kiera froze.

||

Her eyes widened as she looked at the statue.

That was because... the tear. It was gone. As if it had never been there to begin with, the statue remained on top of the building, quietly looking down at the plaza that was starting to fill up with people.

"T-this."

With trembling lips, Kiera rubbed her eyes.

"This doesn't make sense.'

She could've sworn that she had seen it. Could all of this have been some sort of hallucination? Perhaps a product of her not being able to sleep well?

In hindsight, this could very well be the truth.

Especially since the suffocating and strangling feeling she felt reminded her of what her aunt did to her.

Swallowing her saliva, Kiera calmed herself down.

"I think I'm fine."

Kiera rubbed the side of her neck while addressing the others.

"...I'm fi—"

"Wait."

All of a sudden, Aoife grabbed her hand which was rubbing her neck. Surprised, Kiera looked at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Stop for a second."

"No, the hell...!"

"...!"

Aoife's expression changed as she looked at Kiera with a stupefied look and stepped back. "What?"

Surprised, Kiera tilted her head, finally managing to pull Aoife's grip away from her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Aoife remained silent before turning around to look at Evelyn who squinted her eyes and shared a similar look to hers.

Noticing the looks on their faces, Kiera started to get annoyed.

"The fuck is wrong with you two? Say something. Don't blue ball me like that."

|| ||

The two still didn't answer. They appeared to be conversing with each other through their eyes, and just when Kiera felt her top blow off, Aoife sighed and took out a small mirror which she flipped to show her.

"What's t-"

Kiera stopped the moment her eyes fell on her reflection.

Her hair clung to her pale face, and her lips quivered slightly. Two glaring black circles appeared beneath her eyes, making her look exhausted and haunted. Despite her disheveled appearance, it wasn't that that made Kiera's expression change.

What made her expression change were the deep hand imprints on her neck.

At first, Kiera associated them with what her aunt did the day prior, but it took no longer than

a second glance for her to realize something.

The imprints...

They were fresh.

Gulp.

And as the realization dawned on her, Kiera's head slowly lifted to stare in the direction of the

statue.

Standing at the top of the building, it looked down on everyone beneath.

With its hands cupped forward, the angel embodied grievance.

With its wings spread wide, the angel embodied rebellion.

With its face downcast, the angel embodied sorrow.

With its...

Snap!

As Kiera stared at the statue, she heard something 'snap' from within her, forcing her head to

jolt back.

"What the hell!?"

It creeped her out making her body shudder, but as she checked her body, she found that there was nothing wrong with it.

Holding onto the side of her arm, Kiera finally took her eyes away from the statue.

With uneven breathing, she nibbled her lips.

.....Fuck, not again.'

***

"It's in plain sight."

Walking into the plaza, the first thing I noticed was the Hand of Independence. Cracks filled its surface, and around it was a small barrier that blocked anyone from approaching it.

Evidently, it was very fragile.

"

I felt like I had to stare at it.

"What next?"

".... Is something going to happen now?"

The moment the man on the balcony left, the noise started to return to the plaza. Everyone started to talk about the speech, wondering about what was going to happen next. I

stood in silence while raising my head above the stature to stare at the white sun that hung

above in the gray sky.

The noise grew progressively louder by the second, and as it did, I eventually drowned out the noise around me and closed my eyes.

I felt something prickle at the back of my consciousness.

My mind emptied, and as it did, I noticed something within my darkened vision.

An Angel.

It lingered in the distance, its gaze fixed on me. It looked like it was trying to creep up on me

but stopped as I noticed it.

I stared back at it for a brief moment, studying every detail of it. As I did, the features of the

angel started to fade from within my mind before completely disappearing.

||

"I

Opening my eyes, I closed them again and tried to feel for the angel, but it was gone. As if it

had never been there in the first place, all I was met with was darkness.

'It's gone.'

Of this, I was sure this time but the thought that it would reappear at any second continued to

linger at the back of my mind.

But it never did, and soon enough, I realized that I may have driven it away by noticing it.

Yet again, I looked at the main statue.

Drip...!

A black tear traced down its cheek as its gaze remained on the plaza beneath.

Funnily enough, I knew that I was the only one who could see this as nobody showed any

reaction to the strange sight.

That's when I turned to look at Leon who looked back at me.

"What is it?"

"....Do you notice the statue up there?"

"Yes...? The Angel of Sorrow? I've heard that it's a famous statue. I didn't pay much attention

to it."

"Do you see a black tear?"

"Uh?"

Leon looked at me strangely, but that was all that I needed to know.

'Looks like I'm right.'

Only I was able to see the tear.

I was just about to tell Leon of the situation when I stopped. Not just me, but everyone around

me stopped. As if everyone could sense the same thing, heads started to frantically turn.

"What's going on?"

"Do you feel it?"

"...Ah!"

Shwup!

A figure disappeared from the crowd leaving everyone stunned.

Shwup! Shwup! Shwup!

But he wasn't the only one. Sure enough, right after the first person disappeared, the next one

also disappeared, and it didn't take long for more and more people to disappear.

Chaos followed their disappearance, but I was able to stay calm.

"Ah, shit."

Covering my face, I looked at Leon who stared back at me.

He also understood what was happening.

"It's starting."

Indeed it was, and shortly after his words fell, my world turned dark.

Shwup!

The moment my vision returned, my sinuses clogged up as a result of the smoke that lingered

in the air. It forced me to cough several times as I brushed the smoke away and cleared my

vision.

"Cough..! Cough! W-where am I-"

My words stopped the moment I managed to get a clear view of the sight before me.

I found myself standing amidst the ruins of a city unknown to me, confused by the peculiar

architecture of the buildings. They appeared to belong to a distinct era, unlike anything familiar to my own.

No, I was familiar with the architecture.

My heart squeezed out of my chest.

In fact, I was familiar with the sight that greeted me.

Because...

"Ah, T-this."

...I was now standing in the exact place where the first vision took place. The place where

Julien Dacre Evenus was stabbed by Leon and died.