Twilight Requiem

Please Help Me

Nyx groaned as the warmth of the sunlight hit her face. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Still groggy from sleep, she paused when she heard rustling around her, accompanied by the chirping of birds.

She opened her eyes, and she was stunned to see that she was on the forest ground. The place was awfully familiar, like the woods close to where the party was last night. Then her eyes fell on her hands, and she gasped loudly when she saw that they were stained red.

She tried to rub the stain away, but it was no use, and the coppery scent of that stain made her gag.

It was blood.

At that moment, a chill ran down her spine as she wondered why her hands were stained with blood. She looked around her, trying to make sense of her situation, and when she turned to her left, she saw Edward slumped against a tree.

Nyx narrowed her eyes at the guy, and then her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw that his throat was ripped out; blood drenched his neck down to his waist; he was dead.

Her hands went to her mouth, terrified of what she was seeing. Then she looked at her hands that were covered with blood, and that’s when she thought that she must have killed him.

Nyx felt like the whole world had dropped on her, scared of what had happened and what would happen. She thought of the possibility that she would end up incarcerated because she killed a person, and that’s when she started to cry.

She frantically looked around, and a foot away from her, she saw her phone. She crawled towards her phone and grabbed it. The rectangular gadget had drops of blood on the screen that she nervously wiped against her shirt.

She unlocked it and was sort of relieved to see it still worked. She thought of calling her friends, but she then decided against it as she didn’t want them to be implicated in what she had done. Instead, she called someone whom she trusted.

Nyx called Celestino.

The man answered on the third ring.

‘Nicola?’

“Celestino, I need your help.”

Nyx cried.

Celestino paused as he heard the urgency and fear in her voice.

‘What is the matter, honey?’ he asked.

“Please help me.” Nyx started, sniffling.

‘Alright, alright. I will help you; tell me what happened,’ Celestino responded.

Nyx cried and answered.

“I-I think I killed a person.”

There was a short silence from the other side, except for rustling.

‘Where are you right now? I will come to you.’

He told her, and Nyx cried harder.

“Celestino, I don’t know what happened. I don’t want to go to jail.”

Nyx cried, and then Celestino hushed her.

‘Don’t worry. No such thing will happen. Tell me where you are, and we will figure this out,’ Celestino said.

Nyx sniffled before she told him where she was.

‘Alright. I will be right there.’

The call ended, and Nyx glanced at the lifeless body of Edward. Then flashes of what happened the night before came back to her. She remembered Edward following her into the woods, and he attacked her.

She remembered fighting him, trying to run from him, but he was able to restrain her; he even hurt her. She recalled writhing in pain while on the ground, but after that, she had no recollection of what happened.

Nyx thought that maybe someone else killed Edward, but she couldn’t think of anyone, and she also wondered why she was covered with his blood, especially on her hands. It's not like she ripped his throat with her bare hands.

She looked down at her hands once again and cried. She couldn’t comprehend what had just happened and why it had happened. She then walked over to a tree and sat down, leaning against its trunk. She hugged her knees and buried her face against them and cried.

Time passed, and Nyx remained there, waiting for Celestino.

Soon, she heard hurried footsteps coming. She perked up, frantically looked around, and contemplated whether she should run or hide. She feared that the people coming would be the authorities looking for Edward.

When she saw who came through the row of thick ferns, Nyx was relieved. She slowly stood up, holding onto the tree trunk to steady her weak legs. Celestino, with his bodyguards, came in, and he was looking around for Nyx. When he saw her covered in blood, he felt a tug in his heart, and he rushed to her, pulling her to his arms.

“Hush now. No need to be afraid, I am here,” he whispered against her head.

Nyx cried as she hugged the man back.

Celestino rubbed her back, consoling her, and when she finally calmed down, he pulled away and held her at arm's length.

“Tell me what happened,” he said.

“I don’t know. I just woke up here, and he was there dead.” Nyx paused and showed him her hands.

“I think I killed him.”

Celestino straightened his back and turned to look at the body. He let go of Nyx and made his way towards it. He crouched in front of the body and looked at its injuries.

Looking closely, aside from the gaping hole in his neck where his throat was, there were other obvious injuries on the boy’s body. There were cuts on its face and arms. Based on Celestino’s observation, they were scuff marks. He stood up and looked at Nyx again. She, too, had some bruises on her face and arms.

Celestino then turned to his men. He spoke in Serbian, giving them orders. The bodyguards nodded their heads. As one of them pulled out his phone to make a call, Celestino approached Nyx.

“Come with me and get yourself cleaned up,” he told her.

“But how about Edward? His parents and friends are surely looking for him, and then the police will get involved. I can’t go to jail, not when I am close to being free from the hell I am living in.”

Nyx stressed.

Celestino walked over to her and grabbed her arms.

“Niccola, listen to me. It is important that you are not here and create a solid alibi. Regarding the body, my men will take care of it and clean up the whole place. If they have to sweep the whole woods, they will,” he told her.

Then Celestino looked at her straight in the eyes and spoke.

“You were never here, you hear me?”

Nyx was shaking when she looked back at him; then she nodded her head. Celestino sighed, and then he put his arm around her shoulder before turning back to his men.

He once again spoke in Serbian, and they all nodded their heads. Then Celestino ushered Nyx out of that place. He took Nyx back to his place and asked his helpers to help Nyx get cleaned up.

While Nyx was being taken care of by the helpers, Celestino made a call. He was anxiously tapping his foot on the floor as he waited for the line to connect. He stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, thinking about the scene he saw in the woods earlier.

Then the call connected as it was answered on the fifth ring.

“Boss, it seems like Niana was right.”

Celestino said, and then he looked down at his shoes as he listened to the person at the other end of the line.

“Something happened, and it was awful. She is shaken, especially since she doesn’t even remember what happened,” he replied, and then he once again listened to the person on the other side of the call.

“It seems like we really need to take her in. What happened today is just a start, just like what Niana said.”

Celestino said, and then he listened before he nodded his head.

“I agree. I think it is time for her to know the truth.”

After he spoke to that person, Celestino called his men that was left in the woods.

“Are you done?” he asked, and the man he was talking to replied.

“Make sure you sweep the whole place. There shouldn’t be anything there that can put Nicola in that place. Dispose of the body,”

Celestino said, and his guy asked him what they should do with the body.

“Take care of it just like how we usually take care of garbage. Do it properly,”

Celestino then ended the call, just in time for Nyx to come out of the room. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt. Her hair was wet from showering, and there was no trace of dirt and blood on her, though now, her injuries were more visible to Celestino than earlier.

Celestino let out a sigh when he noticed that Nyx was still shaken. He then told the helpers to prepare food for Nyx. As the helpers made their way to the kitchen, Celestino approached Nyx.

“You should take a seat and tell me everything you remember,” he said, and Nyx nodded.

Celestino led her to the couch and made her sit. Nyx sat down, her head hanging low, just looking at her hands on her lap. Celestino observed her as he set down the armchair across her.

“Tell me, Nicola, what do you remember happening? I need to know so I know how to help you,” he told her.

Nyx clenched her hands, and then she slowly looked at the man sitting across from her.

“I was at a party last night.” She started.

“My friends took me there.”

“Where was the party?” he asked.

“It was a classmate’s house, the victim’s house.” She answered, and Celestino was taking everything in what she was saying.

“Did you drink?”

Celestino asked, and Nyx shook her head.

“I didn’t get to drink or eat anything. We just got there when…”

Nyx trailed off when she remembered the reason she left the party early.

“Natalia told me that her mother is cleaning out my stuff. I was scared that she would toss my important stuff, including my acceptance letter, which is why I rushed out there. I even took the shortcut that was in those woods,” she narrated.

“Are you and the boy close?”

Nyx shook her head in response to what Celestino asked.

“He is just a schoolmate, a pretty popular one. He is the son of my dad’s friend, and when he came with his dad to our house for dinner, he started bothering me. He never once gave me any attention during school. He even invited me to the party,” she said.

Celestino leaned back and crossed his legs.

“So, he’s not a friend, a suitor, or a boyfriend?” he asked, and Nyx once again shook her head, and then she ran her fingers through her wet hair.

“He followed me in the woods last night.”

She blurted, looking at Celestino with wide eyes. Celestino, on the other hand, looked cool on the outside, but he was worried and infuriated on the inside.

“Did that boy do something to you?” Celestino asked, and then he pointed at the bruises on Nyx’s face and arms.

Nyx looked at her bruised arm, and her hand went to touch her cheek.

“He attacked me. I remember him attacking me in the woods. I tried to fight him; I almost escaped him, but he grabbed me and held me back.” She paused as her hand went to her stomach, as she remembered how Edward punched her in the abdomen.

“He hurt me and then I…”

She trailed off.

“I think I blacked out. I don’t remember anything.”

Celestino was quiet and just nodded his head.

“What am I going to do? I don’t want to go to jail,” Nyx said, tears beginning to well up around her eyes.

Celestino looked at her intently.

“You are not going to jail. You were never there in the first place. As far as I know, you called me last night, and I picked you up. You stayed here in my place and have been here ever since,” he said.

“But how about Edward? His family and friends will be looking for him.”

Nyx asked worriedly.

Celestino looked at her and gave her an assuring smile.

“Don’t worry about him. He is somewhere no one, not even the dogs, can find him.” He told her.

Nyx stared at him and didn’t know what to say or how to react to what he said.