Chapter 6 — The Weight of Ashes
All at once, the power cut out.
Total blackness swallowed the corridor.
Emergency lights flickered red, casting everything in hellish hues.
Mimi's phone buzzed again.
"You're next."
Her head snapped up.
A figure emerged from the far end of the hallway.
Black hoodie.
Gloved hands.
And something long and silver glinting under the emergency lights.
A knife.
Her lungs locked. Her legs refused to move.
"Mimi," the figure rasped.
That voice. Too familiar. Too real.
It wasn't just any stalker.
It was Haider.
Her ex.
Her nightmare.
Still alive. Still obsessed.
Still hunting her.
"You thought you could run from me?"
He stepped closer, the blade catching flashes of red light like blood.
"I told you," he whispered. "If I can't have you, no one can."
Mimi stumbled back, heart pounding so loud it drowned out everything else. Her eyes darted to the ICU door. She couldn't let him reach Itsuki.
No.
Not again.
Something inside her snapped.
She bolted toward him.
Haider lunged.
They collided.
The knife slashed past her arm, barely grazing skin. Pain lit up her nerves — but she didn't stop. She grabbed his wrist, slammed her knee into his stomach. He grunted, staggered.
He tried to swing the blade again.
She caught his hand.
"You're not ruining my life again!" she screamed, twisting with everything she had.
The knife clattered to the floor.
Haider shoved her back, furious, wild. He grabbed her hair, yanked.
But this time, Mimi didn't cower.
This time, she fought back.
She clawed his face, shoved her elbow into his jaw. He reeled. She kicked his knee — hard. He dropped.
Then she grabbed the knife.
Haider scrambled away, hands raised.
"You're insane—!"
"Get away from me!" she shouted, holding the blade toward him.
Sirens.
Footsteps.
Flashing red and blue flooded the hallway.
Police burst through the stairwell.
"Drop it!" one of them yelled.
Mimi dropped the knife.
Haider turned to run — but it was too late. Officers tackled him to the floor. He screamed, thrashed.
"I'll find you again, Mimi! You hear me?! I'll always find you!"
She collapsed to her knees, shaking, sobbing — but alive.
They cuffed him.
Dragged him away.
She stared at the blood on her hands.
Then—
"Mimi?!"
A sharp voice.
A slap cracked across her cheek.
Her mother stood in the hallway, her expression twisted in rage and disgust. Behind her, a nurse looked stunned, holding a clipboard.
"You had a boyfriend... and now you're in love with a girl?!" her mother hissed, voice dripping with venom. "You went from dating that disgusting boy to being a lesbian?! Are you trying to humiliate me?! The entire school knows — the entire city will know!"
Mimi flinched, her cheek stinging. "Mom—"
"You're no daughter of mine," she spat. "You've always been a disgrace."
"I almost died," Mimi whispered. "And she saved me."
Her mother's lip curled.
"Save your drama for someone who cares."
She turned.
Walked away without another word.
Leaving Mimi standing alone in the hallway, broken, breathless, shaking from more than just pain.
Later that night.
The ICU was quiet again.
Itsuki was awake.
Pale. Bruised. But her eyes were open, steady. And when Mimi entered, she smiled — soft and small.
"You're here," she whispered.
Mimi nodded, voice hoarse. "I'm sorry... I should've protected you."
Itsuki's eyes shimmered. "You did. I knew you'd fight back."
"I was so scared..."
"I wasn't." She reached for her hand. "Because I knew you'd survive."
Silence stretched between them.
Then Itsuki added, her voice barely above a breath:
"I fell for you, Mimi. Not when I hit the ground — long before that."
Tears spilled down Mimi's cheeks.
And then —
Itsuki leaned forward, her fingers brushing Mimi's cheek, tender, trembling.
Their lips met — soft at first, then desperate, like breathing after drowning.
The world vanished.
In that moment, they had no past.
No pain.
Only each other.
Their foreheads rested together after the kiss, breath mingling in the quiet aftermath. Mimi's heart thundered in her chest, but for the first time, it wasn't from fear — it was from hope.
"I was so scared I'd lose you," Mimi whispered. "I didn't even know how much you meant to me until—"
"You don't have to explain," Itsuki said gently. "I know. I knew. Even when you couldn't say it."
Their hands intertwined beneath the blanket, fingers squeezing tight like lifelines. The beeping of the machines faded into the background. Nothing else mattered but this — the moment they chose each other.
Itsuki smiled, faint but warm. "We made it out of the storm. And we're still standing."
Mimi nodded, leaning closer again, her voice steadier now. "No matter what comes next... I want to face it with you."
Itsuki closed her eyes, her thumb brushing Mimi's knuckles. "Then stay. Right here. Just for a little while."
"Always," Mimi said.
And for the first time in what felt like forever — she meant it.
No more running. No more hiding.
Just them.
Just love.
To be continued...