CHAPTER 58: CURSE IN BLESSING

Extra Chapter for completing the 100 collections goal.

-----

"Hah..." She took a deep breath and looked at the wall with determination.

’Now or never,’ she thought.

And stepped inside.

As soon as she did so, she fell on her knees, and blood started to drip out of her lips.

’HUH?!’ Anna, confused by sudden events, looked down, and there she saw that vines had pierced her abdomen and blood was seeping out of it. Now even more confused by the sudden events, Anna looked all around her, and what she saw horrified her.

Bodies. The whole floor was littered with severed pieces of flesh, limbs, and whatnot. The lifeless bodies of her classmates filled the floor. Anna, who saw that, turned pale as her body started to tremble, and tears fell down her face. Her eyes filled with pain and horror.

"W-what’s g-going o-on?" Anna asked, her voice shaky, and her words were breaking.

Even after seconds passed, her body continued to tremble, and at last Anna turned her head around to look behind her and what she saw nearly made her lose consciousness out of shock and horror. She looked at the lifeless body of Elise, which had a look of utter shock and confusion. It was like her killer was more shocking than her death itself.

Why wouldn’t it be? After all, Anna’s dagger was plunged into her heart.

"How?!" Anna questioned, her tone was low and full of dread.

"It can’t be me... I would never do this..." Anna said as she looked at her dagger, but her voice had no hope. The words she had heard when she was within the dark sea made it clear that it was indeed she who did it, but why?

However, just as she was about to lose herself, golden warmth covered her, bringing her back, but it took away something, and Anna felt it... her emotions... they were slipping.

’It’s just like how I felt when I killed Sakura...’ Anna’s thought shuddered her after all, if she was right, then her trait could strip her of her emotions... stripping her of her identity as a human.

"Take her away," came an ambiguous voice; its tone was full of authority.

Hearing that, Anna asked in a flat tone.

"Whose there?"

But no answer came in return.

’Can they not hear me? Is it because of the wall?’ Anna questioned herself.

Anna suddenly felt an emotion of rage and fear within her, but that only confused her.

’Why am I acting like this?’

Anna turned her head around to look at the person who had said that, but what she saw made her frown because she could only see a hazy silhouette, which was hard to identify. One could not even guess its gender or age, let alone its features.

Anna turned her head around as she slowly stood up on her feet, and then she looked at the vines which had pierced her abdomen.

’A Midnighter?’ Anna thought.

Anna followed the vines and soon found a lifeless body, which was held by the vines, and the perpetrator came out as a shock to her. After all, it was Hanna.

"Hanna?" Anna called out in a voice full of confusion.

"How can this be?" Anna questioned; she knew that Hanna was not a Midnighter because if she were, Damien would never have let her come near Anna, let alone become friends.

"All of this could just be an illusion..." Anna concluded.

But doubt was still there... it still lingered... haunting her.

"But... What if this isn’t?"

"What if this is real?"

"What if... it was me?"

Anna, who always considered her powers as a blessing, was stumped because no matter how she looked at it, it was no blessing but a curse, a curse so harrowing, so cruel that it took away everything from her.

Everything and everyone.

Anna shook her head, and she thought.

’This might as well be an illusion. Don’t give up, Anna.’

Anna took a deep breath and looked all around her. Soon, she furrowed her brows as she said.

"White, he is not here..."

"How is that possible?" Anna said with a confused look.

"This has to be an illusion."

Seeing that White was not there, her conclusion that all of this was an illusion became stronger, but soon she frowned as she noticed that there were only corpses of female students.

"I see..." Anna mumbled, her eyes had no pity or sympathy.

*Crack* *Crack*

"It’s time, huh..."

The sound of cracking glass filled the space as Anna’s head started to spin, and her vision blanked out.

***

Hanna looked at Anna as her thoughts ran wild. She had found out about Anna being a Midnighter a few minutes ago, and it wasn’t a joyous event because of how Anna had started to tremble in agony.

"Hah... What should I do?" Hanna heaved a sigh as she contemplated.

"Should I call brother Damien?" Hanna mumbled as she looked at Anna.

A few moments passed, and Hanna took out her phone, ready to make a call to Damien, but she found out that there were no signals.

"Huh? No signal? But how is that even possible?"

Anna, who was lying on the sofa, suddenly sat up as she breathed heavily.

"Huff... Huff..."

Her body was pale, and her face was grim.

Hanna moved towards Anna as she called out.

"Anna?"

Anna turned towards the voice, and as soon as she saw Hanna standing beside her, she stood up from the sofa. Her steps shaky and unbalanced, she nearly fell as she walked towards Hanna.

Hanna, who saw Anna acting strangely, called out.

"What’s wrong, Anna?"

Anna, however, didn’t answer and hugged Hanna; her head fell on Hanna’s shoulder as tears started to pour out of her eyes.

"Hanna... "

"What’s wrong?" Hanna replied with a confused look, but she didn’t push Anna away; instead, she hugged her back.

"I am scared, Hanna. So, so scared." Anna cried out as she tightened her hug, Hanna replied as she started to pat Anna.

Hanna didn’t know what was wrong, but she still consoled her.

"Everything’s fine, Anna," Hanna said with a gentle and reassuring tone.

Anna nodded, but her tears didn’t stop.

Both of them hugged each other as they stood there in silence. Each had their burdens and scars. One who had always thought of her powers as a blessing now looked at them as a curse, and the one who always cursed the heavens for making her like this felt relieved that she was not alone in this. Yes, it was a selfish thought. But she never cared about what others might think of her.

Under the soft moonlight, both friends stood hugging each other, finding peace in each other’s presence.

A few minutes passed like that, and they parted as Anna finally called out.

"Hanna..."

"Hmm." Hanna let out a sigh as she nodded.

"I am a Midnighter..." Anna revealed, but soon she felt stupid.

’Stupid Anna, how would she even know about Midnighters?’ Anna scolded herself for saying that.

But what Hanna said next shocked her.

"I know," Hanna replied with a nod, her tone calm and sweet.

Anna was shocked, but then she remembered the vision she had seen after she entered the wall.

"It was real, huh... You are really a Midnighter." Anna said as she lifted her head and looked at her face.

"Yes, it is... but I truly hope that all of it was just a bad dream," Hanna replied with a bitter smile on her face.

Anna gazed into her eyes for a few moments, after which she nodded and said.

"I know... this power is both a blessing and a curse, and I intend to use it as a blessing."