Reina yelped, which she cut off with her hand covering her mouth. Without her holding the curtain up, I lost the view. But I didn't hurry to lift the curtain again. My brain was still processing what my eyes had just seen.

  Then a conversation between Dr. Yap and Theodore played back in my mind.

  "You'll be taking a lot of risks, you know that, right?"

  "Anything for Reina."

  Theodore smiling face was replaced with the gruesome spectacle of tonight. I swear I heard the gunshot go off in my mind. Even though I didn't hear it from up here.

  "They..." I said, turning to Dr. Yap. "They killed him."

  Dr. Yap's face grew solemn. She let out a long sigh. "He knew the risk."

  She then went to Reina and wrapped in her in an embrace.

  She turned to me. "Help your friend upstairs. Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we're going to Biringan."

  I should have been excited. We're finally seeing my friends and Major Coleman again. But I wasn't. Words aren't coming to me right now, seeing Reina like this. So I just turned and helped Cana with Indigo up the stairs.

  Cana flipped the switch. This floor is as luxurious as below. There were two, double beds up here. We laid Indigo to the nearest one. Cana pulled the sheets over Indigo.

  "Was that my fault?" Cana whispered.

  "It was our fault," I said. Then I looked at Indigo who was fast asleep, unaware of the conversation we were having. "Us three."

  "Maybe we shouldn't have left the penthouse..." Cana ventured. Her voice threatening to break.

  "Maybe..." I said. "You did a good job with the bandage," I quickly change the subject before both of us spiraled. Even though I have absolutely no idea what makes a good bandage, good.

  "Just happy I can help for once," Cana said. She took Indigo's hand in hers. "For whatever little ways."

  This made me frown. "What do you mean?"

  "I'm just tired of not being able to help," Cana said. She let go of Indigo's hand as frustration bubbles up on her face. "I'm the daughter of a school doctor but I don't even know the first thing about applying first-aid."

  Okay. To be honest, I do find that a bit weird. "Your dad didn't teach you?"

  Cana shook her head. "I don't really like my dad’s job. It’s gross. It’s stressful. The long hours. And my dad understands. He never forced me to learn anything from his job. The closest he came to teaching me was when I had to interview him for career day in our class."

  "So he didn't want you to take over his career?" I asked. Because most Filipino parents decide what their kids are going to do in their life. Mine is like that. In fact, my parents wanted me to be a nurse. Because it's in demand abroad and I'll be earning top dollars or whatever.

  "No," Cana said. "My parents knew I didn't have the tiniest inclination for medicine. I..."

  Cana paused. She brushed a hair behind her ear. "I wanted to be a teacher..."

  Never in a million years would I have guessed that. "Oh? For high school?"

  Cana shook her head. "Elementary. Or even preschool. I like kids. So getting paid to talk to kids all day seems like a dream."

  "And what did your parents say?"

  "They're both very supportive of it, of me..." Cana said. I heard a tinge of regret in her voice when she said that. "That they never forced the issue. Now, it seemed like a huge mistake not making my dad teach me about his job. Even the most basic ones like dressing up wounds."

  “But didn’t you said to Dr. Yap that—“

  Cana waved her hand. “I lied,” she said. “They were the cultists…a-and I didn’t like that they accused us of hurting Reina, and then, and then Indigo was there, I—” Cana sighed. “I didn’t know what to say. It was just...”

  I kept quiet. I didn't really know what to say to comfort her.

  "I'm not a leader, like Eris, brave like Leo. I can't even cook," Cana continued. "But I could have helped in other ways if I had made my dad teach me, I could have helped Eris..."

  "Okay, now that's just crazy," I said. "Not even Major Coleman and his men, with their ambulance and medical supplies could save Eris. What were you supposed to do?"

  Cana thought about this. "Doesn't change the fact that I feel useless," she sniffled. "All I've ever done was to tag along with you. And now, I've got people killed." She said. Her voice breaking. "I hate being so useless."

  "You're not useless to me," I said.

  That got her to look at me. Her eyes were welling up with tears.

  "If it weren't for you, I would have not been able to pull myself together the first night enough to see what I'd see."

  I sat next to her on the bed. Our shoulders touching.

  "If it weren't for you, I would never have shared my theories about the tree, about the Shade. I would have convinced myself that it was stupid and I was overthinking it and not act."

  She had one hand on her lap. I put my hand over hers and held it, forcing her to pay all of her attention to me.

  "You were always there. You always seemed to know what others were thinking. Annoying me. Beating me up. Threatening me to act," I stared into her brown eyes. "The only reason I got this far was because I had you."

  The world stood still for a heartbeat. Nothing could be more important to me than this moment, that she understood how much I needed her. I stared into her eyes to make sure she got it. She didn't look away.

  The hum of the air conditioner filled the silence that followed. My face inches away from hers. I could feel her breathe on my lips, her warmth on my body. Now that we're this close, I could detect a faint scent of strawberries rising above the smell of sewer and citrus-y smell of the hotel. The sweet, strawberry scent she used on the first day that I sorely miss. I gripped her hand harder.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I've heard Indigo groan behind us. My head turns in her direction automatically. Her face was contorting. A nightmare, maybe? I wouldn't be surprised.

  "We should get some sleep," Cana said. "We don't want to wake Indigo up."

  "Sorry," I said. I let go of her hand. I didn't even realize I was raising my voice. I guess I just couldn't stand the fact that she thought she was useless when she had this effect on me this whole time.

  I stood up from the bed. There were only two beds here. Granted, both are double beds, so there is room for all three of us. But I offered Cana the other unoccupied bed and told her I'd sleep on the floor.

  "I can sleep with Indigo, you know," Cana said.

  "You feel this carpet?" I said, already taking the floor in between the beds. "It's incredible." And I really meant that. It's fluffy and soft, like wool.

  Cana giggled. "If you say so."

  I rubbed the carpet with my fingers. The carpet on the floor really feels nice. The cold air evaporates the sweat from my skin. Combine that with the hum of the air conditioning and the quiet of the room, this would be enough to make anyone sleep. With nothing to do, I tried closing my eyes, expecting that it won't be long before I am forced to open them again.

  Because of all this Shade business, we got used to being awake at night and sleeping in the morning. So we are not really sleepy. Especially with the events that just happened. My heart is literally still pounding.

  But the next thing I know, I was looking at a brown-skinned guy with spiky guy eating "Nilagang Baka" at the table. We were in the dining area of Biringan.

  "There's still some in the pot," he said, keeping his attention on his meal. His familiar voice brought a sense of comfort to me. I didn't even question the dream. I just went ahead and ladled myself a bowl.

  When I put the pot lid back, I heard choking behind me. I smiled.

  "Dude, are you serious?" I said, laughing. "Slow down, idi—"

  I turned around and the view was replaced with something terrible. A piece of wood pierced through Kent's neck. The tip of the wood was dripping his blood into his bowl, staining the yellowish broth red. That wasn't even the worst part.

  He then dipped his spoon in the blood-stained soup, drizzle it all over his rice, and spooned that part and eat it. He started choking again.

  He wasn't choking because of the wood. He was choking because he can't swallow his food because of the wood.

  "Vergil?"

  I awoke to darkness. Suddenly, my senses are on high alert. My eyes flit about, trying to find anything they can see in the darkness.

  "Vergil?" Cana said in almost a whisper. I could hear her gasping and breathing heavily.

  "I'm here, I'm here," I immediately assured her. I got up from my "bed" on the floor in a kneeling position. My eyes haven't adjusted yet, so I don't really know what I'm looking at. I reached out to where I know the side of the bed would be and sure enough my hand touched the mattress.

  "Cana," I said.

  "I'm here," her voice said. I heard the rustling of the bedsheets. I can only imagine her crawling in my direction.

  Then I realized my hands were shaking. My heart was pounding.

  And I know it's not just because of the nightmare. Usually, whenever I wake up from my nightmares, I am overcome with guilt and sadness instead of fear. I am reminded that I am alive and that the person who appeared wasn't.

  But this was different. I was sweating even though the air conditioner is on. My hand was still on the mattress so I felt it bounced up a bit when Cana jumped off the bed.

  I've heard her hurried, frantic footsteps and her hitting something hard. She groaned in pain. Her groan turned into a yelp when we heard something break. I squinted when she turned on the light. But when my eyes adjusted, I saw what made the loud crash. There was a table underneath the switch. On the floor was a shattered vase, just a few centimeters away from the carpeted area.

  I got on check on Indigo. Fortunately, looks like the noises didn't wake her up.

  "Are you okay?" I asked Cana.

  "I'm fine, I'm fine," she said. But she was rubbing her knee.

  I've heard footsteps ascending the stairs.

  "Everything all right?" Reina said.

  "Yeah," Cana said. "I just—The lights were out. Even though, we left it open."

  "Oh, it was me," Reina confessed. "Should I have not done that?"

  Reina saw Cana was in pain.

  "I'll get ice," she said and ran down.

  I went over to Cana. "Wanna sit down?"

  She shook her head. "I just bumped into the table. It's no big deal."

  Reina immediately came bounding up the stairs. And she brought Dr. Yap with her.

  "Let me see," Dr. Yap said. Cana removed his hand from her knee. "It's only a slight bruising. I wouldn't worry about that."

  She set a first-aid bag on the floor and unzipped it. She took a rectangular pouch.

  "What is that?" I asked.

  "Instant ice pack," Dr. Yap replied. She then twisted it and squeezed it. "It'll lessen the pain."

  Dr. Yap then placed it over Cana's bruised knee and had Cana hold it there.

  Dr. Yap looked at the broken vase on the floor. "What happened here?"

  Cana looked at me. And I take it to mean that I should tell them. I explained that weeks of living inside U.V. lights—the constant reminder that darkness is death—made us fear the dark at night time.

  "I'm sorry," Reina said, hugging Cana. Cana didn't resist. But she didn't return the hug. "It never crossed my mind," Reina said.

  "It's funny," Cana said. "Even though I know that the Shade no longer exists."

  "You've associated darkness with the Shade," Dr. Yap said. "It's only natural. But if you knew that, why didn't you ask for our searchlights?"

  Cana shook her head. "No, you've done plenty for us. And still doing plenty for us," Cana looked down. "Even though we made quite the mess out there."

  "I'm sorry," Cana choked. This time, she returned the hug. "We didn't mean for any of these to happen. We just—"

  Reina broke away from the hug and hold Cana's shoulder with both hands. She looked Cana in the eyes.

  "Look, we get it," Reina said. "Last thing you remember was losing consciousness. Then you woke up with total strangers claiming to be the very cult the city feared. You distrust us."

  "And it's not like you kids were wrong," Dr. Yap added. "They had a way of tracking you kids."

  "But...it was short," I said. "It wouldn't have reached the penthouse. You didn't have to end up killing your friends."

  "You said it yourself," Cana added. She sat down on the bed, next to me. "Your hands were forced."

  "Well," Dr. Yap said. "Like you said. What if it wasn't short? Or it got stronger as the night grows and was able to reach the penthouse. At least now, we had Theodore's sacrifice to make sure it doesn't reach us here."

  "I don't understand why you're trying to comfort us when we got your friends killed," I said.

  "Because whether you want to believe it or not," Reina said. "What you did, forcing us out of the penthouse, was the right call. Even though, right now, it doesn't feel like it."

  She's right. It doesn't really feel good.

  "I'll get the searchlights," Dr. Yap offered and went down.

  "So you're okay with Theodore dying?" I asked Reina. "He seemed like...someone you care about."

  Reina looked down. "I will mourn him in my own way," she said. "Then I pick ourselves up. At least for now. Because if I don't, if I stop and break down and give up, then their deaths would truly have been in vain."

  "I can't believe you're the same age as us," I said.

  "You seemed so mature," Cana added. "Compared to us."

  An exhausted smile appeared on her face. "I had to."

  That was all she said. But really, no more words are necessary to express what she feels about her situation. It was the same as us, so we understood. We were forced into this situation. We didn't ask for it. But here we are. And it changed us. Or rather, we had to change and adapt. Because what's the alternative?

  When Dr. Yap returned, she had two searchlights with her. "Would this be enough?"

  "I don't know, honestly..." Cana said. Dr. Yap set the two searchlights down on the floor beneath Indigo's bed.

  I looked at Indigo. She was still sound asleep among all this. No. Sound asleep sounds too peaceful. More like knocked unconscious of this terrible night. She made me remember when I woke up in the penthouse. My sleep was blissful. I don't remember my dreams, if I had any. But I am sure I didn't had any nightmares. And I woke up fully rested. Which we will need to be in the morning.

  "Hey, doc" I said.

  "Yes?" Dr. Yap said. Her foot was already on the first step of the stairs. Her neck turned towards me.

  "Is it possible for us to have whatever you gave us that knocked us out?" I said.

  "Oh! Can we?" Cana said. "That thing worked. I didn't wake up screaming. It was just...nothing."

  Dr. Yap studied me. Then Cana. Then she relented with a sigh. "I'll give you a smaller dose. Just enough to help you sleep. "

  She went close to us.

  "Listen," she said. "Under normal circumstances, I would be against this. But what you kids had gone through is anything but normal. So tonight is an exception."

  "We cannot thank you enough," Cana said.

  "I'll help carry," I volunteered.

  With the help of Dr. Yap and Reina, the second floor became a poor imitation of our rooms in Biringan. I must say, the effect on me is immediate and noticeable. I am no longer anxious about sleeping tonight. I drank the watered-down medicine Dr. Yap gave us and went to my bed on the floor.

  Tomorrow. We're finally getting back to Biringan. To our friends. To Major Coleman.

  These were the last thoughts I had before the drug took effect and I drifted off.