Eventually giving up on opening the door, I crawled toward the opposite wall, which was bare of any objects. Over here, not just the items but the wall itself was covered with white cloth.
As I groped my way across it, my fingertips brushed against something hard. Pushing the cloth aside, I felt what seemed to be a small window.
I wanted to pull the cloth back, but it was hard to find where it started. So, I grabbed the fabric and tore it. As the cloth ripped, my body lurched backward and I tumbled onto the floor. I was covered in a cloud of dust, but I had no time to care about that right now. I groped along the window revealed between the torn cloth. The frame was stiff and wouldn't open easily.
Pulling with all my might, the window suddenly flew open, and something bounced inward. Coming to a precarious stop right in front of my nose was a thin branch with white flowers. I had no idea how it managed to fly in, but fortunately, sunlight spilled in along with it. I urgently crawled over to Vincent.
"If you go toward the window, it'll be a little less dark."
Groping for his face in the darkness, I found it drenched in cold sweat. Seeing him struggle this much in such a short amount of time, it seemed he really was having trouble breathing. I grabbed his hand, which was scratching at his throat, and pulled him toward the window. Fortunately, he followed without resistance.
Leading him to where the light seeped in, I could finally see his face. Just as I thought, his complexion was pale and slick with cold sweat. I wiped the sweat away with my sleeve and gathered the golden hair plastered to his forehead, smoothly tucking it behind his ear.
"Are you feeling a bit better?"
"……."
No response came from him. It wasn't so much that he refused to speak, but rather that he lacked the presence of mind to do so. He seemed a bit better than a moment ago, but his condition was still poor. Especially his breathing...
He had been like this in the past, too. Had his body still not fully recovered? Back then, there had been a small device to help him breathe. Wondering if he might have it on him, I groped through his trouser and vest pockets, but found nothing of the sort.
What should I do? It would be a disaster if he fainted like this. Of all places, the storage room had to be inside this room. If the person hiding was nowhere to be seen, everyone would eventually search together, but I couldn't confidently say they would look inside a storage room that didn't even have a doorknob.
Outside the window, the sun had begun to set.
"Someone will find us soon."
Hide-and-seek doesn't end until everyone hiding is found. So they will definitely find us. I pulled him into an embrace, patting his back as he seemed to be struggling.
However, no one came to this place until the sun had completely set.
A moon rose in the black sky. It was the only source of light. The space, abruptly cut off from the chirping of birds and the joyful voices that had been echoing from somewhere, was dead silent. The night air was bitterly cold.
While the sun was still up, Vincent's condition had fortunately seemed to improve. His breathing was unsteady, but he hadn't fainted.
Once his trembling subsided to a certain degree, Vincent pulled away from me. He put distance between us as if he had never clung to me in the first place. Moreover, he even turned his head away, refusing to look in my direction. His posture as he sat there somehow felt rigid.
Fearing that he might avoid me and start panting in the dark again, I was the first to pull my body back.
However, as the sun completely set and night fell, his condition worsened again. It was likely because his surroundings had grown truly dark.
Fortunately, the moonlight enveloped him now. He wasn't gasping for breath or showing signs of agony like before, but I could see his fingertips resting on the floor trembling slightly. He was clearly a large man, yet right now, he looked smaller than me.
"Are you afraid of the dark?"
"No."
A nonchalant answer slipped out. My gaze was still fixed on the tips of his left hand. As if sensing my stare, he curled his fingers inward, hiding the trembling.
Liar. Even though you're scared.
Only now did I understand his behavior from the middle of the night the last time I saw him. He was terrified of the dark.
Vincent, who could now see, was no longer a man who did nothing but cower in his room. He could walk on his own without anyone's help and lead a normal life. His fleshed-out body had grown larger, and his neat attire gave him the appearance of an authoritative noble.
But the Vincent in the darkness was the man I knew so well. A man who feared the dark so much that he hid himself away in even deeper darkness. That man was right in front of me. I could see his huddled body trembling.
I quietly observed him for a moment, then shifted myself closer. His body flinched.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm afraid of the dark."
"……."
"I'm a coward, you see. So please let me stay by your side."
I thought he would tell me to get lost, but he didn't say anything. The petals from the branch that had bounced in through the window earlier fluttered down. I followed the petals drifting to the floor, then lifted my head to gaze at the moon in the sky. Looking at the soft moonlight, it felt like I was sitting in his room five years ago. It had been so difficult back then. I had even risked my life just to survive somehow. I had wanted to live that desperately. Up until then, I had thought I wanted to die, but ironically, the moment death approached, I thrashed about, desperate to live.
Thinking about it now, Vincent's attitude had softened a bit since that day. I glanced at him sitting beside me. I wanted to ask him. Do you no longer want to die?
"Why are you looking at me like that."
"Pardon?"
"Do I look that strange?"
He smiled bitterly. I quickly shook my head and glared out the window. His bad habit was about to resurface. So he was staying quiet, only to mentally berate himself with all sorts of self-reproach.
I let out a silent sigh and leaned my body back. Staying huddled up had made my body stiff. Something hard poked my waist. Rubbing my side because of the pain, I felt something in my pocket. Digging through it, I pulled out a few pieces of candy.
"Would you like some candy?"
Seeing the sweets, I naturally held them out to him, but for a moment, I panicked. It was a habit that had slipped out unconsciously because I knew he liked sweet things.
He glanced at the candy in my hand. I fully expected him to refuse, but to my surprise, he reached his hand out, asking for it. I handed it over in a daze, and he unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth.
His cheek bulged out roundly, then caved in. It was somewhat amusing.
"Is it delicious?"
"No."
Another lie. I know you find it delicious. I subtly covered my mouth with my hand and secretly smiled.
I unwrapped a piece of candy as well and put it in my mouth. It was a bit sticky, likely having melted slightly. Feeling the sweetness cling to my teeth, my anxiety faded a little.
How long do we have to stay like this? Rolling the candy around in my mouth, I took in the sight of the moon. Though the silently shining moon was beautiful, it approached with a sense of dread. It was a sign heralding the night.
Night...
That day was a night, too. When I had been beaten unconscious by my father and woke up, night had already fallen. I painstakingly dragged my body up and gathered the laundry, damp with the night air. Barely managing to move my hands—swollen and torn from being trampled under enormous feet—I gathered the laundry when I saw a figure approaching from afar. At first, I thought I was seeing things. It was my second sister, who had been sold to the red-light district.
My second sister’s attire was bizarre. The dress, held up by barely there thin strings, was practically in tatters, and her hair was a tangled mess. Her face, heavily caked in makeup, looked filthy. She didn't seem like the sister I once knew.
'Sister...'
'You... how?'
As I approached with a startled expression, my sister smiled and reached her hand out. Her wrist, exposed under the moonlight, was frighteningly thin. My sister called out to me. Sister, sister. I tightly embraced her body, which flickered like a candle on the verge of burning out.
'Sister, sister. Eldest sister.'
'Ho-how did you come here? Huh?'
'I, I just came. Just... I was, scared.'
Her small hands grabbed onto my clothes, clinging desperately. She just kept repeating that she was scared. Unable to even fathom her pain, I held her in my arms as if trying to hide her away.
'Please sa-save me.'
'It's okay.'
'Sa-save me. Save me. Please, me...'
'It's okay. It's going to be okay.'
A wicked girl offered the cruelest comfort. There was no way it would be okay. Nothing was okay. This vicious poverty, my father's cruelty, our lives crumbling as they were crushed beneath his hands—not a single thing was okay. Yet, those were the only words I could say. Because nothing was okay, I had to pretend that it was.
Even as I comforted my sister, I trembled in fear at the sight of the bruises covering the back of my hand.
'Sister...'
'I'm sorry.'
'…….'
'I'm sorry...'
Right then, my sister's body was abruptly yanked backward. Startled, I snapped my head up, only to see my father glaring viciously as he grabbed a fistful of her hair. My sister's face contorted in pain. Her fragile body shook violently within his massive grip.
'Why did this bitch come here! How unlucky!'
'Father! Stop it!'
I grabbed my father by the waist. He shoved me away, tossing me aside. The moment I hit the floor, I scrambled back up and clung to him. He threw me down again and kicked me.
Shielding my face with both arms, I checked on my sister. Even as her hair was wildly tossed about by his brutal grip, she reached her hand out toward me instead of screaming.
'Sister, sister.'
Like a child who knew nothing else to do.
'You bitches, seriously!'
After kicking me in the stomach, my father flung my sister onto the floor. Her fragile body crumpled against the ground easily. I dragged myself over to her, limping. My father stomped down on one of my legs. My vision spun. As I clutched my leg, screaming, my father hauled my sister up by her arm.
Footsteps approached. Two burly men walked toward us. They glanced dispassionately at me and my father, then spotted my sister and walked over.
'It'll be troublesome if you take her away like this.'
'Oh my, this bitch came on her own. I was just about to send her back.'
My father obediently handed my sister over to them. She rustled as she resisted, but it was a feeble effort. The men grabbed her far too easily and dragged her away. She reached her hand out toward me, as if I were the only person she could see. I reached out toward her as well, but one of my legs wouldn't move.
'Sister, sister.'
'If you come here again, I'll kill you all!'
I crawled forward, my fingertips scraping against the floor, but they had already disappeared with my sister. Behind me, I heard my father scoff. He didn't feel an ounce of remorse for what he had done.
How, how could he be like this? She was his own flesh and blood, how!
'How could you do this! Are you even human?! Even beasts treasure their own young!'
'You fucking bitch!'
My father kicked me again. I sank my teeth into his leg. He screamed, then grabbed me by the collar and slapped me across the face. Refusing to back down, I flailed my arms and shoved him away.
'What, do you want to be sold off too? There are plenty of bastards with twisted tastes out there, so someone might just take a fancy to an ugly wench like you. If you feel so damn sorry for her, I can send you off with her!'
The demon bastard had ultimately crushed even my soul. I couldn't say a single word in response to my father's threat. He smiled viciously and threw me back onto the floor.
'If you don't want to be sold, then shut up and go to sleep!'
Spitting on the ground, my father turned his back. Seeing him head in the opposite direction of our house, it seemed he was off to gamble again. Using the money he got from selling his own child.
Even after my father left, I sat slumped on the floor for a long time. From somewhere, I heard a low, chilling wail. Only then did I snap back to my senses and try to stand. My leg was in bad shape, but I forced my body up and stumbled forward.
Perhaps knocked down during the commotion, the cleanly dried laundry was strewn about the floor.
'I have to... wash them again...'
Bending over to gather the laundry, I finally collapsed with a thud. There must have been a stone on the ground; my knee scraped against it and bled. But it didn't really hurt.
'Ugh, ha. Haha.'
For some reason, I felt the urge to laugh. My current situation was just so absurd. I wasn't sure if 'funny' was even the right word to describe it, but that was how I felt.
A father selling off his child was funny. My own helplessness, unable to do anything even when my sister begged for help, was funny. My selfish heart, turning a blind eye because I didn't want to be sold myself, was funny. Just, just... everything, everything...
'Ahahaha!'
Did my mother know? Is that why she threw everything away and ran?
I was the real demon bastard.
A demon bastard born from a demon.
'Aaaagh—!'
The misery I could no longer contain finally burst from my lips.