THE CRYSTAL RITE

Do you know the weird quietness of afternoons? It was afternoon. When the winds were flowing but not cool like always. And do you know when the sun is the only heat around your body? The same fate was going to be written when the sound of a crack came, like someone had stepped on a dead branch. Someone was outside? In the forest? Yeah, there was someone.

A little girl of maybe around 12 was there. A yo-yo swung in her hands, and its string wrapped around the neck of a small, white, furry, rabbit-type Quarn. It had a thin, white, loose band on its neck. Soon the Quarn was no longer white but patched with red, as its head was separated from the rest of its body. A black, viscous liquid was reforming into itself again and again beside the little girl, like it couldn't wait for its lunch.

"Morkk," the girl said, while an ugly smirk formed on her face. "I knew you were hungry for it."

Her head turned toward the black liquid. She had bangs almost covering her eyes and a hairstyle of two small buns. "What are you waiting for?"

The black liquid took over the dead body of the small Quarn, dissolving its flesh and taking it in. Soon, nothing was left but that Quarn's skin full of fur, looking like empty gloves. Even its bones were sucked in by Morkk, and they were visible on Morkk's body surface, although it didn't have a true body. Morkk formed a humanoid shape to stand beside the little girl.

The little girl crouched, folded the skin, and put it in a black bag. The head was already consumed by Morkk. The skin was just evidence of her work. She swung the yo-yo again and again as she stepped away from the forest. That forest belonged to a government-run school, which meant it was their responsibility to protect every form of nature within it. Most importantly, they had to safeguard the Quarns in these areas, keeping them safe from big and small groups of smugglers.

The forest. The forest looked so dense, with green trees mixed with dead trees. Dried bushes covered the landscape as far as Lumia could see through her classroom window. Some Quarns were busy collecting berries from trees with the help of other Quarns. In return, what would they give them? Maybe shelter? Or food in winters?

She wished she could understand the language of Quarns. Some legends say that they know the languages of over a thousand Quarns. They say it helps them connect to nature, which gives them peace. Some say you don't need to learn the languages of Quarns, just form a true bond with them. But how is that bond formed? Just by hanging out with your Quarns? If yes, then she should try it. It was all her mind was filled with.

Rabby. Rabby. Cutie Rabby. She loved Rabby's white fur. She could brush it the whole day if she could stay in school. Rabby was a Quarn that came under the protection of the government, so she couldn't take her home. But still, she would spend her whole lunch time playing with her, making ponytails of her fur and sometimes using clips to experiment on Rabby's long rabbit ears, to see if they could form a heart.

She used to give training to her by holding both of Rabby's ears together. Her classmates would laugh at her, so she would take Rabby into the shade, where maybe no one would be able to see her. She had even bought a soft fabric white band for Rabby. It was a thin white band with "rabby–lumia" written on it.

Lumia spotted Rabby in the forest below, sitting still beneath a tree, quietly eating a carrot. Around her, other Quarns chased each other through the grass or slept bundled together between the roots. Rabby ignored all of them.

Good, Lumia thought. Stay there. I'll be out after class.

"Lumia!"

The teacher's voice cut through the room like a ruler on a desk.

Lumia's spine straightened fast.

"Whatever is happening outside that window clearly matters more to you than this lesson." The teacher's voice was flat, not unkind, but final. "Would you like to go join them instead?"

A few students were smiling at her. The smile which forms when you realize you are above others. That smile!

"No, ma–ma'am." Lumia looked down at her notebook. "I'm sorry. I was listening."

"You weren't." The teacher set down her marker. "And Lumia, apologizing after every mistake isn't the same as not making them. 'Sorry' is just a word. You've been hiding behind it since the beginning of term. I am telling you, if it continues, I will have to talk to your parents!"

Lumia didn't answer. What could she even do? She knew no one in class would ever talk to her without a motive. No one would ever help her without accepting a return. No one would. Then why was she supposed to feel embarrassed in front of those 'no ones'?

She lowered her head and stayed silent, which was the only thing she knew how to do properly. The teacher turned toward the board again with a sharp exhale. The room seemed to settle. Only seemed. Because kids were still staring at Lumia, whispering something in each other's ears, giggling at her actions. It affected Lumia, knowing they didn't want her, but it didn't affect her because she knew they didn't want her.

Lumia looked back toward the window. A cold wind slapped her face, and it went pale.

The white band was on the ground between some trees.

It was barely visible, but enough for her to recognize it.

Just lying there. In the grass. Where Rabby had been sitting a minute ago.

Stained red.

Red.

Blood?

Her veins were tensed as she stood up, kicking off her chair and making a loud sound. And she cared, but not cared. At least not now.

"Lumi—"

"I'm sorry," she said, already moving toward the door. "I have to go. Rabby is—"

The teacher stepped forward and caught her arm.

"You are crossing your limits now!"

Lumia looked at the hand on her arm. Then at the teacher's face. Then back at the window, where the band was still lying there, still red. Still.

"I am sorry," she said quietly, and pulled free.

She ran. Through the corridors painted white. Bumping into faces she recognized but didn't know. The main gate of the school. The watchmen tried to stop her but couldn't. Cameras saw her going outside without permission. She still ran into the forest. She saw something white between two trees.

Her heart surged.

She ran toward it, and slowed.

It was another Quarn. Smaller than Rabby. No band. It looked up at her, blinked twice, and bolted in the other direction.

Her hopes, her denial of what she had assumed, of what she wished would be wrong: that hope was shattered, but not completely. She didn't realize how her heart was trying to burst but her ribs were trying to hold it, how her feet had no surface to walk on but she was running, how her limbs wanted to drop like those of a broken old doll, but a little hope was a nut for the little doll. For her.

She reached the spot where she had last seen Rabby through the window: dried bushes and trees with little green patches of grass.

Her eyes moved to the ground. The band that used to be white was now red. The thread of friendship she had tied to her now told her that Rabby was dead in every language. In every beat. In every breath.

The words were still written on it.

rabby–lumia

But it was covered in wet blood, shining in the sunlight.

"This…" Her voice came out barely above a breath. "This can't be…"

Her throat closed.

Tears came before she could stop them, blurring the forest into green and shadow. She couldn't even say sorry this time. All she could do was blame herself and the teacher, as if, had she not stopped her before, she could have done something to change the reality. To change the present or future. She placed the band on her chest. She stared at it, then her shoes, her hands, her body. And she could see nothing but a red, blurry vision reminding her it was all her fault. But still, she was covered in the color of blame more than any shade of blood.