123.Little star
Marcelline stepped away from the window, gripping her phone tightly.
For a moment, her finger hovered over the contact name.
Amara.
Her anchor.
Her closest friend.
The only person who could drag her back from the edge of madness just with a single glare.
She pressed call.
It rang once.
Twice.
And then—
"Elli?"
Amara's mature, warm voice flowed through the speaker like a quiet embrace.
Marcelline closed her eyes.
Her throat tightened.
She didn't trust herself to speak immediately.
Amara sensed it in an instant.
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Is Leo hurt?"
"No."
"Is Mia safe?"
"Yes."
A relieved sigh came from the other side.
"Then why," Amara said softly, "do you sound like you're about to break?"
Silence.
Then Marcelline whispered, voice trembling, "Amara… ten people died. Because of me."
Amara's breath hitched. "Elli—"
"And an entire family," she continued, swallowing harshly, "is drowning in fear. Because of me."
Amara didn't respond immediately.
She let the silence sit—heavy but comforting.
Then she spoke, voice calm but stern, like someone who has seen war thousands of times.
"Elli.
Listen to me very carefully."
Marcelline clenched her jaw.
"You did not kill those people."
"That thing came for you," Marcelline snapped, guilt bleeding through. "And it couldn't find me, so it—"
"So it attacked randomly," Amara cut in. "You didn't command it. You didn't invite it. You didn't unleash it."
Marcelline sank onto the sofa, eyes burning.
"But they suffered," she whispered.
"And I'm… responsible."
"No."
Amara's voice sharpened.
"You are responding to the aftermath. You are not responsible for the evil actions of something monstrous."
Marcelline bit her lip, hands shaking.
Before she could argue again, another voice chimed in—small, sleepy, angelic.
"Mommy…?"
Marcelline froze.
"Auntiiii...Elli??" Mia's soft voice suddenly filled the call. "Auntii Elli! I heard you! Is that you??"
Her heart… cracked open.
"Mia…" Marcelline whispered, breath trembling, "little star…"
"I missed you!" Mia said instantly, her tiny words bright and genuine. "Are you okay? You sound sad. Did someone hurt you? Should I bite them?"
Even Leo, standing nearby, let out a choked laugh.
Amara groaned, "Mia, we don't bite people."
"But if they made her sad—"
Marcelline couldn't hold it anymore.
A trembling, fragile smile touched her lips.
This little girl…
This tiny ray of existence…
Always healed her without even trying.
"No one hurt me, Mia," Marcelline whispered. "I'm okay."
"You don't sound okay…" the little girl murmured, wise beyond her years. "But it's okay. I give you a big hug. From here."
Marcelline clutched the phone tighter, tears finally gathering in her eyes.
Amara spoke again, softer now:
"Elli… come home if you need. Or let us come to you. You don't have to carry rage alone. Or guilt. Or fear."
Leo watched his sister—her shoulders finally relaxing, her breathing easing, her eyes no longer burning with the same destructive fury.
Marcelline whispered, "Thank you… both of you."
"We love you," Mia said happily.
Marcelline closed her eyes.
"I love you too, little star."
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