The Fateful Encounter

Emma

I checked my make up through my phone’s front camera. Why am I feeling this nervous? It’s not like this is my very first, first date.

Oh there he is. I gave him a small wave as he approach our table in the restaurant. I stood up and gave him a hug.

“Hey Em or should I call you Emma?”

“Hello David, oh no Em is fine”

“You look really beautiful by the way” he spoke as we both settled back into our chairs. I felt my cheeks are turning red.

“Thank you and you look good too” I replied with a smile.

“So, we are finally on a date” he said

“Yes we are”

“Still can’t believe you agreed to it. You were like, well I have to see I have work and stuff.” He said making an impression of me and it made me laugh.

“Hahaha okay but I came” I said as we continue to chat and laugh as we eat.

“So you live with your sister,” David asked as we begin to eat.

“”Yeah, my parents died five years ago and Celia have become second mom to me ever since. So tell about yours.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, but you are lucky to have a sister like that. My parents now live in Greece both of them are retired, my brother is with them he works there and my sister and I usually visit them for every holiday.” He said with a smile.

“It sounds like you guys are pretty close,”

“Me and my family? Yes they are fun and really loving. Who knows may be I might take you with me to see them this Christmas.” He said with a wink and we both laugh at it.

“First let’s see whether we can survive till next date.” I joked back.

“Of course we will” he replied while taking a sip of his wine.

As the night proceed I found myself relaxing into David’s charm. His presence were clam he has this way of getting all the nervousness out of my body. We shared stories about our favorite movies, hobbies and even embracing stories from our childhood which made us both erupt with laughter.

“So what is your idea of a perfect getaway?” he asked, leaning in slightly.

I paused for a second, pondering my thoughts “Honestly it depends. Sometimes I would prefer to go somewhere close to home, you know book a cabin in the forest and spend the weekend but sometimes I go to Spain, I love Spanish culture. Arts, music and dance and food. What about you?”

“Count me in for your next getaway to Spain, I don’t know anything about dancing but my grand dad used to say same thing about Spanish food.” He laughed. “Also for me I love to ski. When I was in NYU my friends and I used to go on this annual trip to Switzerland and we would have the time of our lives. Those were fun times. We still go but it’s not an annual trip anymore, with all of us are now busy with our work and stuff.”

“Yeah I can understand, I don’t ski, but I’ve been to Switzerland twice…um with my parents…”

David noticed the shift in my mood instantly. “Hey it’s okay, we don’t have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable, and it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I understand.” He reassured and placed his hand on mine for a moment.

“Thanks, it’s just…it’s still not easy for me to talk about them even though five years has passed” I said appreciating his sensitivity.

“Of course. I appreciate you being here and we can create new memories together, yeah?”

“Yes, that sounds perfect to me” I said, finding my confidence back. Rest of the meal passed with laughter and slight teasing.

 

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎

 

It was around seven in the evening when I returned back to my house. David seemed like a nice guy. We talked a lot. I can’t wait to tell all about it to Celia. She should be home by now I thought as I glance towards the clock. I wasn’t in the mood to make dinner when I left the restaurant after my date with David so I grabbed some pizza on my way home for Celia. I left pizza boxes on the kitchen counter and went to my room. I am desperately waiting for a text or a call from David.

I was done with my night routine and laying on the bed when I finally heard Celia calling my name from downstairs.

“In my room, I brought pizza” I shouted back too lazy to go back down.

I heard footsteps coming up.

“Hey I came for the tea” Celia gave me the look and settled on my bed.

“Okay so it went well”

“Ughhhh just give me something more than ‘it went well’, tell me, how is he? Did he arrived on time? Is he a creep?”

“No no no…and yes he showed up on time and we talked. Like a lot. You know I usually don’t talk much when I’m meeting someone for the first time, but with him the conversation flows easily…” I went on. Celia nods as she carefully listen to me.

“I think that’s actually a good start, I mean you feeling comfortable with him, but since you two have gone on only one date it’s still too soon to predict anything else. Just go with the flow.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Ok then I’m going to bed, we had a hectic day at the office.” She said as she stretched out her body getting up and walking out of my room.

“Good night C”

“Night kiddo” She said and left. Laughing, knowing how much I hated it

“Hey! I’m not a kid1” I shouted.

“To me, still you are!” Celia shouted back.

 

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎

 

It has been two days since I last saw David. We are going on a second date this Thursday. Celia has been working until late hours. I can’t wait to introduce him to C. maybe we could go on a double date, C, Mike, David and me. But it is way too soon to think about those stuff. I put my focus back on the carrots I’ve been washing. I’m making a vegetable soup for dinner. Celia is all about eating healthy these days. She and Mike are getting married in next summer. So she want to stay in shape.

I was setting the table when the doorbell rang. I opened the door thinking its Celia but it was David who is standing at my doorstep holding a bouquet of tulips.

“Hey” I was still surprised to see him but in a pleasant way. I’ve told him he could come over to my place few times but he doesn’t seem to take up on it and part of me was starting to think maybe that he wasn’t that interest in me. Now he’s here standing in front of me.

“Hey you! You look surprised, is it a bad time?” he asked, all of a sudden looking nervous.

“Oh no, yes I wasn’t expecting you, but surprised in a good way, come on in.”

“Flowers for the lady” he gave me the flowers with a cheeky grin.

“Make yourself at home, do you want some tea, coffee, a glass of wine maybe?” I asked while heading back to kitchen, I could hear his footsteps tailing behind me.

“A cup of coffee would be nice, if that’s not too much of a trouble. Oh wow! You’re cooking a whole feast?” he asked as he leaned over the counter and started to make his coffee while checking on the soup at the same time.

“Not a feast” I said laughing at his remark “Just soup with garlic bread, garlic bread would be for me of course unless you are planning to stay for dinner.” I said and gave him a playful wink.

“So Celia is not a garlic bread fan?”

“The opposite actually but these days she’s avoiding carbs as much as she can because of her weeding.””

David nods as I hand him his coffee “So, will I meet her tonight?” he asked looking nervous all over again.

“If you stay for dinner, yes. She might be on her way now and what got you all nervous? It’s just C, calm down” I said. A giggle escaped my mouth. He smiled too.

“Well she is your big sister and practically the one that raised you so of course I am nervous because I know her approval matters to you as same as getting her approval matters to me.”

I can’t help but to notice the way my heart warmed up when he said that getting C’s approval is important to him while also acknowledging and accepting that my sisters approval on him going to matter to me.

Our chatter continued while I continue to finish preparing dinner.

It was half past eight when we came back to the living room. “C is late, she’s usually home by 7.30, I’m going to give her a call and see, would you mind staying here for a bit?” I asked David. “Of course not” he replied with reassuring smile.

I left the living room and went to my bedroom to get my phone.

 

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎

 

When I returned I found David sitting on the sofa, skimming through one of those travel magazines we had. He looked up as I approach him. I sat across from him

“I hope you don’t mind” he said gesturing the magazine. I shake my head giving him a toothy smile. “Did you call Celia?”

“Yeah, she’s still at the office, said she’ll be late, told us to go ahead with dinner. C said she’s sorry that she couldn’t meet you.” I said while going to kitchen and starting to serve dinner into plates.

“Oh that’s alright, we can fix another day to meet her when she’s free, don’t worry about it Em.”

“Well yeah, but I was looking forward to introduce you to her, so bit disappointed.” I said start biting my bottom lip, something that I subconsciously do when I’m feeling down.

“Hey, hey, look at me.” he said locking his eyes with mine “It’s alright. Like I said it’s all cool and there’s always a next time and stop biting your lip now” He said giving me a wink and I cracked a smile.

“I’m not doing it purposely” I said while sitting down, my dinner looking delicious.

“May be not, but it giving me thoughts” he said.

“What thoughts?” I asked, playfully arching my brows.

“Wild ones” David replied with a smirk and I laughed shaking my head.

We continue our chat as we eat and David helped me with the dishes.

It was nearly 10 p.m. when David left. I shut the door and went to my bedroom. I lay in bed, smiling from ear to ear as I replayed the evening in my mind. The way he look at me, the way his eyes sparkle when his jokes made me laugh, his laugh, his voice and more importantly the way he’s putting real effort to get to know me, everything about him feels right. It’s nice to be simply myself with someone without having to overthink every little detail. I think I’m starting to like me better when I’m with him, he has a way of putting me at ease and I realized that my nervousness always disappear whenever I’m around him.

I turned to my side and reached for my phone, half expecting a message from C, but found nothing. It is unlikely her to stay out this late without sending me any updates. I drop her a quick text - [hey hope everything is ok, Hope you’ll be home soon, got lot tell ya.]

Setting my phone aside I let my mind slipped back to the wonderful evening I shared with David. His easy-going nature complimented to my more serious demeanor. I thing we balance each other.

As midnight approach, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that my life is changing. I could feel the way things are shifting a way that I hadn’t even dreamed of but for some reason the change felt right. For the first time after five years I felt genuinely excited and I closed my eyes with a sense of hope.

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎

 

Moring was bright and I’m in all cheered up mood. I stopped at Celia’s room to check whether she’s back but the bed was untouched and there’s no sight of C. As I climb down the stairs I dialed her number and to make things worst it says the number is out of reach. I started to feel anxiousness slowly creeping back to me and filing my mind with thousands of disturbing thoughts about why Celia hasn’t returned home yet and why her number is out of reach.

I went into the kitchen and leaned on to the island. As I try to collect my thoughts my eyes drifted to tulips David brought last night which are now in the verse on the middle of the dining table making already perfectly sun lit kitchen even brighter. The sight of them brought the memories from last night which slightly lifted my mood. I finally made a decision to call C’s office friend Gina to check.  However I was met with a disappointment when the call went straight into a voice message. I rang three more times and each time I was met with a voice message.

Since I didn’t know anyone else from Celia’s office I decided to call her office’s number. The phone rang for a second before a high pitched cheerful female voice answered me.

“Good morning! This is National Graph how can I help you?”

“Hi…um…my name is Emma, um…my sister work at National Graph, I want to check whether she’s still at work…she didn’t came home last night and…ehh she’s not answering her phone”

“Miss, can you tell me your sister’s name and the department she’s working?” lady at the other end asked in a clam tone.

“Yeah, yeah her name is Celia Ray and she writes sports articles to the paper” I managed to say without trembling but I could feel tears are already pooling in my eyes. I was desperate to hear C’s voice, to lady on the phone to tell Celia is still at her office because they had work to get done.

“Okay Emma let me check, please wait for a moment.” She said and line went silent

 I drummed my fingers on the kitchen counter as I wait for her to come back on line.  Suddenly the sunny morning felt too bright for my liking and cozily warm temperature of the house stated feel too hot. I was too deep in my own thoughts which I didn’t notice the lady on the phone was back.

“Miss, are you still there? Umm Miss?”

“Yes yes”

“Miss I think there have been some kind of a mistake because there’s no one call Celia Ray in the sports department.”

“WHAT!? What does it supposed to mean”

“Miss calm down. Okay your sister’s name is Celia Ray, correct?”

“Yes, Celia Mari Ray” I conformed as I try to hold back my tears.

“And she works at sports, right?”

“Yes.”

“Again Miss. Rey there’s no record of a Celia Marie Ray in here. I checked other departments as well. I think there has been some sort of a mistake.”

“No my sister work at your office, check again!” I couldn’t help but to scream at the lady on the phone, I know I’m being rude but at the same time I didn’t care.

“Madam, I’m sorry but I think you are calling the wrong number.”

I couldn’t take it anymore so I hung up and started crying. Then my phone started ringing, I grabbed it quickly desperately hoping it to be Celia but caller ID read as “David”, and for a second I thought about declining the call because I wasn’t in a state to talk with him but then I decided to answer anyway.

“Good morning sunshine!” His cheery voice greeted me from the other end.

“He…hello” I managed to say. My lips trembling.

“Hey, is everything alright, are you crying? Are hurt” His tone changed. His voice suddenly laced with concern.

“Ye..ah…I’m not hurt, physically fine…Celia...” I leaned against the wall taking deep breaths and trying to calm myself. I could feel the cool surface of the wall against my t-shirt cladded back.

“Celia?” He repeated softly. His voice still sound calm which helped me to calm down a little and control my sobs. “What happened?”

“She…She’s not home yet, her phone is out of reach and…I…call…office…her off..i..ce and they...they…said there’s no one named Celia Ray working at their office….”

David was silent for a moment. I could hear the faint sound of his breath then a ruffling sound.

“Okay let’s take a deep breath first, alright?” he said in a soothing tone “Just focus on my voice…take a deep breath in…and now exhale. Good, now let’s think clearly okay babe? Was there anything strange going on with her lately?”

I nodded even though he couldn’t see me “No, nothing out of the ordinary except the fact that she was excited for her wedding. I’ve been trying to reach her since yesterday evening but nothing and….now...this...I don’t…know…what if...David what if something bad has happened to her? ”

“Hey, hey,” he interjected gently with a calm and reassuring voice “Let’s not jump into conclusions. Is there any possibility that her office had mixed up the information? You said she work for the National Graph, right?”

“Yes she’s been working there for seven years now, I can’t believe they don’t have her ID in their system!”

“Okay let’s not panic and Em it’s possible that office system isn’t updated or maybe they are having some sort of a system error” David’s voice was steady and firm. “Let’s look at this rationally. Did you try to contact any of her staff, her friends at the office?”

“I only know Gina and yes I try to call her but she’s not answering her phone” I said, letting out another sob. I could hear the sound of keys jingling on the other end

“It’s okay, we’ll figure this out together, okay. I’m on my way to your house, stay calm okay and if you don’t mind I can go to National Graph and ask them since I’ll be passing by it anyways”

“David, I can’t ask you to do that, I don’t want to drag you into this.” I said even though part of me longing to his comfort.

“You’re not dragging me into anything. Listen, I care about you and Celia is your sister, let me help, alright?”

Tears continue to spill down on my cheeks as I hung on to warmth and comfort radiated from David’s voice.

“Okay then. Um her full name is Celia Mari Ray, age 32 and she work at sports department.”  I said

“Got it, I’ll go to National Graph and see what I can find, then I’ll come straight to your place, alright?”

“Okay” I mumble.

“Hey, everything’s going to be okay, let’s not lose hope.” David said with a reassuring voice. “Keep your phone near and see whether you can contact Gina, okay, I’ll see you soon. Bye.”

“Yeah I can do that, bye.”

And with that line went dead. I couldn’t help but notice that David’s reassurance has lit a flicker of hope in me and I cling into the warmth of it hoping that this nightmare would end soon and everything would fall back to normal.

 

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎

 

David

Soon as I reach National Graph I walk straight to the reception desk. The receptionist greeted me with a warm smile. 

“Good morning, how can I help you?”

“I’m looking for Celia Ray, she’s working at sports. I’m David, her sister’s boyfriend”

“Okay sir, give me a second”

“Um are you sure you’ve given me the correct name, because there’s no Celia Ray working at National Graph, Mr. David.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes sir, I checked twice”

I felt knot tighten in my stomach as I let her words sink in. This is ridicules. Something starts to feel seriously wrong here.

As we talk a blond lady walked in, and the lady I’m talking with turned to her “Alicia, is there a Celia Ray working here?” the blond lady stared at the other receptionist for a second before her eyes landed on me.

“That’s surprising because few hours ago a woman called me and asked for the same person” she told me “She said she’s her sister, are you anyone related to them?”

“Yeah I’m her boyfriend and yeah she called me and told me what you’ve told her”

“Yes sir, there’s no one named Celia Ray working at National Graph” Alicia replied.

I felt shocked, I didn’t know what else to ask, this is becoming even messier. I took a deep breath and try to collect my thoughts.

“Are you sure? Maybe under a different name or in a different department” I asked

But the first receptionist shook her head “Mr. David we understand that this is frustrating but we have a comprehensive employee data base and there’s no one under that name”

“Well um right. Is there someone named Gina here? Because my girlfriend told me that Gina is friends with Celia,”

“Yes Gina Thompson, politics”

“Can I meet her for a moment?”

“Let me see Mr. David.” Said Alicia. She picked up the phone e and pressed few a buttons and after what it felt like an eternity she spoke to the receiver “Can I get Gina Thompson on the line please, we have someone who’s asking for her” after hanging up she turned to me with a apologizing look on her face.

“I’m sorry Gina is on business trip to Milan, they said she’ll be back by next Friday.”

Next Friday! That’s week from today. Ugh this is no use, I better get back to Emma’s so we can figure out what we should do next. As I turned to leave Alicia called my name.

“Mr. David wait!”

“I was skimming through past employee records and there is a Celia Ray”

“So she work here, wait you said past employee records, am I right?”

“Yes sir she has worked here from 2015 to 2022”

I paused. My heart was raising. However I was reviled to receive some sort of information rather than no information at all even though that information doesn’t made me thrilled.

“Wait what? So she doesn’t work here anymore?”

“No sir.”

“Why? Like does the record say why?”

Alicia hesitated for a minute before answering “We are sorry but the record we have only got the name of the past employees and the years they were present at the magazine”

I felt disappointment washed over me. It seems like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.

“No phone numbers or anything mentioned? I mean family members or anything like that?”

“There are two numbers, here let me show you” she said and turned the screen towards me, my eyes darted towards the screen. It read “Celia Mari Ray, Editorial Assistant – Sports, 2015-2022”

There were two numbers, I recognized Emma’s number, and the other one is under someone named Mike Daryl. Wait, this Mike has to be Celia’s fiancée. I quickly saved the number to my phone and thank two receptionist and make my way out of the National Graph headquarters.

I got into my car and dialed Mike’s number and to my relief the person at the other end quickly answered.

“Hello” a male voice greeted me.

“Hello is this Mike Daryl?”

“Yes, who’s this?”

“My name is David Richard, I am Emma’s boyfriend”

“Oh, right, right…um how’s she doing?”

“”She’s doing good but um…okay man this is going to sound seriously fucked up, but Celia hasn’t returned home since last night and I went to her office after Emma called me to che…” but I got cut off by Mike.

“Whoa! Whoa! Dude, are you kidding me!? Because if you are, this is not funny man” He said. His voice sound firm and annoyed.

“No dude, what do you mean. My girlfriend called me saying her sister hasn’t return home since last night and when I go to her office they said she hadn’t work there since 2022”

“Of course she hasn’t!”

“What do you mean?”

“Because man..Oh god…because man Celia died three years ago”

The weight of Mike’s words settled as I felt like air had been sucked out of the care, suddenly it felt too hot despite the fact that I’m in an air conditioned car.

“What do you mean…Celia died?” I mumbled, still trying to process the shock “I mean Emma called her last evening”

“David listen to me, I was at her funeral three years ago. It was car crash…Dude I thought you knew, Emma might have mixed up her words or something man…” Mike’s tone was laced with anxiety and grief.

I felt the urge to pull my hair out “Jesus! This can’t be happening” I said more to myself. “So are you saying Emma is being hunted by Celia’s ghost!?” I laughed uneasily but the horror in my voice betray me.

“This is not a joke man!” Mike’s tone was sharp “You have to find Emma and talk to her, I don’t understand why she lied to you”

“Okay I’m on my way” I said as I started the car. My heart is pounding while my mind is racing. As I drove I replayed all of my conversations with Emma in my head. Whatever was happening I’m only sure of one thing. That is I was diving into a world full of questions that demand answers and the answers that might change cause of everything between me and Emma.

 

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎  

 

It was about 3 in the afternoon when I stepped into Emma’s house. Its look like she had been crying.

“Any news?” she asked with a voice that was barely audible.

“Um yeah, um let’s sit and talk okay” I said trying to figure out how to drop this bomb while trying not to scare her off because she got the answers to all of my questions and I need to be easy going if I need to her to let it all out.

I lead us both into the living room. I sat on the sofa while she sat one the chair across from me.

“What’s going on? Did you go to her office?” Emma asked in a steadier and sharper tone this time.

I took a deep breath, trying gather my thoughts before answering her.

“Yeah, I went to her office” I cleared my throat. The weight of the situation is pressing down on me. “Well, um..They said Celia hasn’t work there since 2022.”

Her whole body stiffened. Her face holds an expression that I couldn’t read.

“No David, that’s not possible…I spoke with her last evening and I’ve been living with her until yesterday morning”

“Emma, she’s dead.” I blurted out. Words hang heavily in the air between us while I noticed Emma’s facial expression started to change. She stated crying

“You’re lying! David, how could you?” tears started to stream down on her face. She stood up pointing a finger at me. “How dare you say such things about my sister!?” she furiously screamed at me.

“Emma calm down, please, let’s talk things thr…” I didn’t had time to finish my sentence. Out of nowhere she launched herself at me. “YOU LIED TO ME! HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH THINGS ABOUT MY SISTER?” She started hitting me and I struggled to get her off of me.

I don’t know when it happened but all of a sudden I felt her hands tightening around my neck like a vice I gasped, the shock of her sudden reaction clouded my thoughts. I tried to pry her hands off of my throat but her hold was too strong. Suddenly I felt she loosen her right arm. I decided to use that opportunity to get her off of me, but at the same time from the corner of my eye I noticed she grabbed something from the tiny table that’s between the sofa I was sitting and the chair she was siting.

My whole body went numb with terror when I saw the object in her hand. Pair of kitchen scissors. And with one swift move she drove it right through my chest.

A sharp pain radiated through my body as I hold on to the sofa with one arm for support while clutching the wound where the scissors had pierced my flesh with the other. All I could hear was dull roar in my ears mixed with Emma’s sobs.

“What did you do?” I managed to croak out. I could feel pain spreading though my body like a wild fire. I gasped for air, the world around me starting to get blur.

“I…I don’t..I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry” Emma said sobbing violently. “I..I..”

My vision started darkening, that pain was getting too much to bare “Emma…you need to call for help…please”

But she just stood there. Frozen. Eyes wide. I could see her mind racing. The fear and panic written all over her face.

“Emma please…” I struggled “call 911”

“NO! NO! I CAN’T!” she screamed. “They’ll think I’m a murder. They’ll put me in prison! “Her voice trembling.  She just stood there watching me while I struggled to stay conscious.

“Emma.. Look, Celia was dead” I spoke “you can’t keep holding on to something that isn’t real” as I speak I realized that Emma’s grief has turned her mind into dark labyrinth where the line between reality and delusion had blurred.

“Call…help…and you…deserve to be free”

That was the last thing I could convey before darkness swallow me and my vision faded into black. In the distance I thought I heard sirens but it quickly faded away while I let myself slip into sweet nothingness.

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎

Emma

 

Two months later

St. Anne’s Asylum, Maryland.

 

Dear Celia,

You have to believe me. I am not crazy and I didn’t kill him. And, I am definitely not crazy. Please you have to believe me.

Love,

Emma.

I quickly wrapped up my letter as I heard footsteps approach my room. The door opened and a nurse came into my room. She placed the tray of food she brought on my bedside table and looked at me with that plastered smile.

“Good evening Miss. Ray, how are you doing?”

“Very well, thank you…Nina” I replied after I read her name tag.

“It’s time for dinner Miss. Ray, I will be back in half an hour to give your medicine.” She again gave me that smile and left the room.

I looked at my plate. Soup and three slices of bread. “Soup soup soup always soup” I thought annoyingly. I pushed the bowl away and return my attention back to the letter. I’ve written to Celia countless times. I need her to understand the truth. I need her to know I wasn’t crazy as they say and what happened that day wasn’t my fault.

Suddenly I hear the key jingling outside the door. I was able to hide my letter under the pillow just as the door cracked open and a doctor stepped in with Nina by his side.

“Good evening Miss Ray” he sounded like a robot I thought, voice that is flat and clinical “I hope you’re feeling better” He tried to sound enthusiastic but failed miserably.

“Better?” I scoffed “This place is like a bloody prison!”

He gave me a nod while jotting something on his clipboard.

“So, Miss Ray, have you thought about what happened two months ago?” he asked looking directly at me. I felt like his eyes are piercing through me.

I nods and took a deep breath “I didn’t do it. You have to believe me!” I said, half pleading.

His expression remained the same, simply marking something on his clipboard. And then gave me a nod “I’ll be back tomorrow Miss Ray.”

As he turned to leave I felt the waves of anger and desperation rising from me “You have to let me see Celia!” I screamed “She’ll understand. I have to talk to her!”

But the doctor left without giving me another glance. Nina following, locking the door behind them.

Once they left my eyes drafted back to the letter hidden under my pillow. Tomorrow I would find a way to send it even if it meant drafting another plan in the dark shadows of this gloomy asylum. I refuse to give up and I will find a way out. Soon.

-The End -