The day after hearing the news of Rosabell's suicide, Lunarey barely managed to wake herself up. Sleep didn’t come easy the night before. She kept wondering if she was to blame for what had happened. She said I gave her courage… courage to take her own life.
As the rays of the sun washed down the streets, Lunarey stared down at them from her window in Kelia's room, looking at that cursed alley where she first saw her. Everything was quiet. Cynthia was busy in the kitchen, and Kelia was still at school. She mentioned that today the school would have a special ceremony in honor of Rosabell. The thought of that ceremony disgusted her. No one at that school was willing to help that poor girl, so why all of a sudden do they act like they cared about her?
Lunarey's head, which was once filled with questions about her past, her identity, her injection mark, her expensive shoes and the ominous list of murder victims, was now only filled with thoughts about the girl who had killed herself. She wanted to rid herself of them. All she could hear in her head was her own voice, questioning again and again if it could have been prevented. She was filled with anger and confusion, and knowing that keeping it all inside would drive her mad, she decided to act on her impulse and make sure that at the very least, Rosabell would be honored the right way at that ceremony.
She left the apartment, throwing a random excuse at Cynthia, and headed towards Kelia's school. Luckily for her, she knew exactly where it was thanks to Kelia's many detailed school stories. It was a 10-minute walk from Kelia's house, and with the streets empty of any soul, that walk was as silent as it could be.
Once more, Lunarey found herself walking through the unappealing streets of St. Cyprian. The litter that ravaged the pavements and poorly-conditioned buildings told a sad story of a place that has long been neglected by its people. She saw several homeless people lying on the curb during her walk, each one looking dirtier and more hopeless then the previous one. Brontspil is one of the poorest districts in Alataria, she reminded herself. Graffiti also seemed to be plentiful. On her way, Lunarey saw one that said: "Fear only two." She recognized that phrase. Most criminal organizations like to have their own dictum, and this one is Lady Dread's. Fear only two. There are only two things you have to fear in this world: God and Lady Dread, or, at least, that's what their dictum says. She recalled what she had read about that organization. Lady Dread is a very frightful group of people. They say they torture their victims horribly and use grizzly techniques to make them suffer. Sunyula Trife, the ringleader of the organization, is said to be a very influential person. Rumors have it that politicians used to approach her during election times so she could turn the crowd's favor toward them. That was said to be achieved using brute force, ruining rivals' campaign tours and even threatening people into voting for whoever it was that was giving her the money.
Once the walk was over, Lunarey finally found herself at the gates of Kelia's school. It seemed that she had arrived in time, as the crowd of students was just beginning to gather outside, in front of a large stage, on which stood a couple of microphone stands and a large picture of Rosabell, with flowers decorating its frame. She could hear a lot of noise coming from the crowd, but couldn’t see Kelia anywhere among the mass of people. She decided to move closer, walking through the open gates, and eventually mingling with the crowd.
Wearing a white shirt and blue short pants, along with her high-quality shoes, Lunarey stood out among the uniform-wearing students. Some of the people around her were looking at her suspiciously, trying to figure out just who she was, yet none dared to ask her. Some of them laughed among themselves as they gazed at her, whispering jokes and insults in each other's ears. Lunarey saw that as most inappropriate.
She looked up at the wide stage and saw an older woman stand up and approach the microphone, dressed in a black suit and skirt. She had a serious, almost menacing look on her face. I guess she's the head principal, she figured. The big picture of Rosabell stood in the far back corner of the stage. In the picture Rosabell wasn’t smiling or even looking happy. She had a blank expression. She looked as miserable in the picture as she was in real life. Soon enough, silence had fallen on the crowd, and all eyes were set to the lady principal on stage.
"On this day," she started saying, "we honor the memory and life of Rosabell Finch, a girl who was taken from us too soon." She acts as if she knew her. "Rosabell was a kind, generous person. She was always smiling and willing to lend a helpful hand." She couldn’t possibly know that. "She was a girl full of life and joy, one that we could only look up to." She was miserable! For god's sake, she took her own life! How could you say she was full of life and joy?! Lunarey made her way through the crowd, placing herself closer to the stage. "Let us all treasure her memory. Let us never forget her." Lies! Everyone has already forgotten her! Look around! No one is even shedding a tear over her!
Lunarey continued making her way through the people. She walked closer and closer towards the stage until eventually her hand was gripped. When she turned around to see who was holding onto her, her heart dropped. "Lunarey?!" Kelia looked astonished. "What the fuck are you doing here?!" Lunarey wriggled her arm away from Kelia's clutch, ignoring her words and burning questions, and instead continued to walk toward the stage, until eventually she reached it and climbed onto it.
Whispers and gasps were heard among the crowd as they saw Lunarey grab the microphone away from the head principal and take the spotlight to herself. "I can see what you're doing here," Lunarey's voice echoed at the crowd. "You're all liars. You're all hypocrites. None of you truly knew Rosabell. None of you truly knew how miserable and lonely that poor girl was." Lunarey now turned to the head principal. Her face burned with fury. "Don't say kind words about her when you knew NOTHING about her!" her voice roared. "She took her own life because of all of you! The school wouldn’t help her when she turned to someone for help!" she turned back to the crowd, now noticing the four girls who abused Rosabell, grouped together on the right side of the crowd. "And none of you was willing to be a friend to her when it was the only thing she was missing in her life. Instead, you picked on her! You made fun of her! You fucking beat her!" More gasps were heard at the sound of the curse word. The head principal tried to grab the microphone from Lunarey's hand, yet Lunarey shoved her aside and kept on unloading at the crowd. "She was an angel. And you all killed her vicariously." Suddenly, something caught Lunarey's attention. Beyond the crowd that stood before her, clutching his hands at the school gates, looking firmly straight at her, was the same shadowed figure that she had seen in the alley before. Once again, the distance between them denied her from truly seeing his face, yet she knew it was the same person. Just as before, he stood there and watched her, religiously. It's him again… what is he doing here? Why is he following me around? She refused to let it distract her. Instead of paying further attention to the man, she turned back to face the crowd and placed the microphone close to her mouth. "I don’t know what makes us do these kinds of things. I don’t know why some of us feel this need to tease and pick on other people. But if we don’t change, Rosabell will not be the last person to end up like this." She felt the tears gathering in her eyes. "I know you probably don’t even get what I'm saying. I know that the minute I get off this stage you'll just forget about everything I've said, so let me make my message a bit more clear and real. Look around you!" she ordered them. "Look at the disgusting place that you call St. Cyprian! Everyone here knows how filthy and disgusting the streets look. So today, when you all go home, I want you to look hard at those streets. I want you to see the peeling walls and the masses of trash all around and KNOW that unless you change your ways, you are as ugly as those streets! This place looks like this because of the indifference and selfishness of people, and that indifference and selfishness is precisely what's causing girls like Rosabell to take their own lives!" The tears now streamed down her face. "I hope I've made myself clear enough. If no one ever changes this… then I guess St. Cyprian is the most appropriate place for you to live." Lunarey placed the microphone back on its stand, wiped away her tears and removed herself from the stage.
All eyes were still set on her as she walked away through the school gates. That was the only way I could truly honor Rosabell. I hope she finds some peace now.
Lunarey noticed that the shadowed figure was gone, just like before. She hadn't even noticed him leaving. Once again he just disappeared as if he was never there. She started walking towards home, wondering how the students that had just heard her would react to her words. A part of her knew that it was the right thing to do, and yet a part of her also knew that by doing that she had angered Kelia and risked exposing herself.
Before she had too much time to think whether or not it was worth it, she felt a large, coarse hand cover her mouth, denying her from making a sound. The next thing she felt was the barrel of a gun pushed into her lower back. "Finally got you, you little bitch," a crass voice whispered behind her. "Start walking," the man said. His hand felt slimy and sweaty. His fingernails looked dirty and rough. Lunarey didn’t dare to turn around and see the face of the man who held a gun to her back, yet she knew that it was the same shadowed figure who had watched her from afar twice now. She did as she was told as he led her, at the point of a gun, to a place she had never known before.
