Chapter 7.

Tired of the chaos happening on the planet, she immediately went out into her small backyard behind the house upon returning from the academy. It had various kinds of wildflowers and one huge tree, whose canopy provided enough shade for her wooden bench. She was near the tree and had a good view of the entire yard. Settling down, she started the music player. Slowly, she lifted her head towards the stars peeking through the dense branches. On her player, the song Daylight by David Krusher began   a trigger for a sea of different thoughts. She felt guilty about the mess reigning on the planet. The planet Syrinx had lost its shine. All around were various destructions. It was burning. Flames were rising. Nothing was like before. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden reappearance of the black butterfly. Quite unexpectedly, it became part of her view of the stars. Her eyes began to follow the tangled path of its flight. Now she had more time to study it. It was beautiful, magnificent, and special, despite the darkness it was shrouded in. That very darkness made it seem so unreal and different. She was telling a story — a story with enormous weight, which few wanted to study and understand in detail. In the next moment, it performed its magic again...

***

Meanwhile, Orion, tired from the summoned gathering, returning to his attic apartment, threw himself onto his bed. His eyes were fixed on the roof windows behind which countless stars spread. His playlist was already playing on the music player. Songs interwove, time passed, while he, along with them, descended into the chambers of the mind’s prison. The song Daylight by David Krusher started. Painful and traumatic images of childhood surfaced, becoming clearer and sharper. All that father’s abuse, violence, and criminal acts had left deep traumas and scars on him that would forever be on his heart. He never had a carefree childhood at any point. His story was always terrible. His life was shit. He couldn’t be a good leader; he couldn’t find a solution for the mess. He again found himself in a total abyss. Again, he was a tiny black dot, an intruder in the vast cosmos. A black dot filled with sorrow and lack of happiness. But, despite that tragic story and darkness, the black butterfly decided to come to him again. It joined him. Accepted him and his story. With its dark wings, it fluttered close to him and performed magic...

***

The magic that once again created Orion and Arabella in that very same library. Now they stood facing each other, between one of the many rows of that library. Orion’s abyss magically disappeared when he met the girl who turned his whole world with her presence. A special creature that occupied his scarred heart.
On the other side, she was completely stunned when she saw his tall figure in front of her again. Her heart started to beat. He looked at her more than he should. His eyes, now with drastically less hatred inside, created a darkness surrounding them. They looked at each other without words. But Arabella decided to get out of it, because it was making her heart beat faster than it should.

– You again! – she said.

– Obviously – he replied.

– I wonder what mistake happened again in this universe that we ended up in this same library together?! – Arabella continued, studying Orion in detail.

– Stop looking at me like that! As if I’m some serial killer that you managed to find from the masses searching for him – he complained, still looking at her.

She let out a small sigh of disapproval and then moved deeper into the row they were in. She had a feeling that this library appeared for a reason. They discovered it when the Deathower thing started. She considered it a kind of sign.

– Where are you going, assistant? – Orion asked, following her every step.

– If I’m stuck in this library, then I’ll at least explore it usefully.

– Listen, you’re not the only one in a terrible position right now. The same applies to me.

She continued to explore, without looking back at him.

He kept following her through those long labyrinths. He followed her graceful steps and her getting lost between shelves full of books. Silence reigned. Time stood still again. The search process was long. They persistently searched until Arabella noticed a strange phenomenon. For the first time, she saw the black butterfly in this library. It was above a part of the shelf they were currently passing. It had a barely noticeable light that fell over that part of the shelf. She lifted her gaze to the top from where the light came and noticed an interesting book.

It was completely black, unlike the others, which had the typical look of covers. She stretched, hoping to reach it. But hope and such an act were futile. She still couldn’t manage it. Watching her attempts to reach the book, Orion took just a few steps toward her, standing very close. Since he was taller, he easily grabbed the book. Arabella reflexively turned toward him and faced his eyes, which were just a few millimeters away from hers when he handed her the book. Her heart started pounding again. Strands of black hair covered his eyes, where countless sparks danced. His jaw was relaxed. His full, slightly pink lips were just a few millimeters away from hers. She jerked away from the moment and sharply spoke while her heart kept pounding in her chest:

– O.K.! Now leave me alone so I can study this book.

– What if I don’t want to? – he moved his body even closer to hers.

Her bangs fell over eyes that looked at him murderously.

– You know, not everything you hear is really true – he said softly, pushing the bangs from her angry eyes to look at her directly.

Looking at the fire in her eyes, he slowly turned and walked away along their straight path. Shocked and shaken by that, she obediently followed him, carrying the unusual book in her hands.

– What do you mean by that?

– I don’t know... to tell you the fucked-up details of my life I’ve never told anyone before.

– Go on – she gently nodded in approval.

– My father was a beast – he sighed shortly and continued with his story... A cursed beast... He destroyed everything that was beautiful. He destroyed my mother and her life. He destroyed me and my life, which I’m still trying to fix to this day, but unsuccessfully... It totally fucked me up.

– I’m here to listen to you. I want to hear your story – she said gently to calm him down.

– My father was a killer... He killed five creatures and brought their remains to our house. I still remember all the parts of the dead bodies.

– Did he go to prison then?

– No. The cursed beast skillfully hid every possible trace of his crime.

– Could you have done something about it?

– No! I couldn’t! I was afraid of him. Besides being a killer, he was also an abuser. He abused my mother and me. He caused her painful physical injuries every day. Mostly, he abused her mentally. He was totally disturbed. And I watched all that until I decided to fight against him.

– That’s when an even bigger mess started. I was ten years old when it all began. He tried to kill me twice. Meanwhile, my mother left me without a single word... I fought him. I opposed him. I tried to escape, but it was hopeless. He caught me running away and tortured me for two full days because of that...

– And after years and years of suffering, a war started, in which I saw the only bright spot.

– How could a war be your bright spot? – she asked curiously, still intrigued by his story.

– I saw the war as an escape from all that shit. I joined the Syrinx inhabitants’ army to get away from that monster. I signed up for their army without his knowledge.

– I was useless as a soldier because I avoided killing our people and causing any harm to them. It only mattered that I was far from him and that I managed to escape.

– No matter how much I ran, he caught up with me. He chased me again. He found me and forcibly took me home where he continued the torture.

– But since I had grown mentally stronger and more resilient, I handled it much better.

For the first time, he shared his hidden burden with someone and immediately felt better. She had to know all of that.

He didn’t want her to look at him the way others did. He couldn’t allow that. He wanted her to know every pain and every suffering of his.

Even if she was his “enemy” and a creature who “hated” him.

He told her all that as if she were the closest to his heart. And actually, she was...

She was the first to touch his heart that no one had ever been able to reach. He distanced himself from everyone, but not from her, even though he constantly provoked and oppressed her.

He wanted her so much near him. He hated her in a completely different way.

– A very creepy and chaotic story... But the past doesn’t define your future. You’re not to blame for anything. You’re now the driver of your own happiness. You can start and achieve it yourself. It’s still not too late. Your life has just begun, and you shape it now by your own measure.

She spoke gently as they walked between the shelves. They reached the table Arabella saw when she first came here.

She was still holding the strange book in her hands and now stood opposite him.

– Thank you for believing in me and my ability to create a “life full of happiness” after all the shit I went through – he said softly, not taking his eyes off her face.

They continued standing like that, as if everything between them had quieted down because they were among those connected in a million other ways, stories, and experiences. They understood each other through the depths of their hearts, because that silence, their silence that enveloped the small distance between them, was filled with a million unspoken words.