[ Camp-rose, night ]
It's past ten and Eda's still not home…
I'm worried about him. Was I too harsh on him? I've been very strict to violence and his safety.
[ I just want him to be save ]
The kitchen felt colder than it should at this hour. I could feel that winter this year will be harsh. I sat at the table, my elbows pressed against a mug that had long lost its warmth. The clock above ticked. Tick tick tick.
- - -
Tick tick
- - -
tick
- - -
I began tracing circles on the table with my fingertip, as if the motion could keep me anchored. Every creek made me lift my head.
- - -
The guilt in me sat heavier. I shouldn't have argued with him.
- - -
Then the moment I was waiting for. Two knocks could be heard. I got up and rushed.
Strangely a smile was on my face, relieved.
I got down the old stairs that made a faint creak every time but in that moment every distraction was gone. "Eda, I'm glad you're here. Just on time actually—Tonight in tcelebration of the crew's win, I made your favourite dish! Sauerbraten just like how mom made it when we were young"
I grabbed the door handle and twisted it.
"Eda—Welcome Back!—"
The cold air rushed in, and with it, two unfamiliar figures were standing at my front door. "Hello Miss.", the man greeted me. My smile faltered mid-breath, freezing into something awkward. "Hi…? How can I help?..", I could feel the corners of my mouth twitch, still trying to hold onto that warmth. My eyes narrowed, confusion pressing in, and I caught myself biting the inside of my cheek. "If you guys are here for the tavern, It's closed"
One of the strangers was a woman.
She stood in the doorway, the cold night air present clinging to her. My eyes first caught her arms, lean, with a touch of muscle beneath her olive tone skin. She wore a white tank top that stretched long against her torso, tucked neatly into her low-rise black jeans, her belt slung around her hips ruined the formality: a steampunk piece, heavy and loose, hanging like an ornament.
"You must be Maria, Eda's older sister and…guardian.", her lip glinted with a piercing, when she talked a faint shine catched the light like a glow. Bandages wrapped around her right wrist. My gaze climbed to her hair—half of it was shaved clean, the other side styled with care, strands brushing just above her shoulder. The purple dye was almost electric.
She moved forward and stopped on the threshold, her boots were heavy, crushing. I quickly tried to block the path.
— I'm here because he owes us a debt of 30,000 Vekos.
— What? My brother doesn't have any debts!
The other man grabbed the bottom rail with his boots, preventing me from closing the door. "Look here, miss." He signaled a gesture. "Pay us right now."
I stayed calm on the outside but I was shaking inside, frightened and confused. I tried hard to close the door. "You've got the wrong person."
Then the man pulled a sheet, "Look here at this paper. Is this not your address? Your brother's face. Name. Age. School name. Where he works. Everything is here. Documented. Your brother borrowed 30k and we've warned him so many times. Yet he always told us he'll get the money. 'Get the money'. Our boss demands it now."
Upon examining the document, with each line I read, my chest tightened. Disbelief, like the air itself has turned heavier. "This..can't be..". The thought looped in my head, "This is not something Eda would do! He doesn't. He wouldn't." Stubborn, refusing to let the image settle into reality. My mind feels split: one part cataloging every detail in front of me, the other rejecting it outright, pushing it away as if sheer refusal could undo what I'm seeing.
I paused, waited.
It's not panic. My pulse isn't racing, my hands aren't trembling. Instead it's a strange numbness, a pause where the world holds its breath. I whispered, "It's not him..someone else is using his name." The words taste hollow but I cling to them.
While I was lost in my own world, the woman inside grabbed me by my arms, pulling me outside. I screamed.
"We'll take it as a no." Said the man as he held me down.
— You're gonna come with us until your brother pays his debts. Let's go Joel.
I dragged my feet in the opposite direction. " Let go of me! You guys got the wrong person!! My brother is a VICTIM!".
I screamed as loud as I could hoping someone in the apartment would come out and help me.
But it felt like it was just me in this big world.