The sun was beginning to set when Elyra made her request. Her voice was quiet but firm, almost as if she had been thinking about it for a long time.

"Take me there, Caleb," she said, staring out the window, her fingers tracing the cold glass.

Caleb, sitting beside her, frowned. "Take you where?"

"Our childhood home," she whispered.

His stomach clenched. That house. The place where everything had fallen apart.

"Elyra…" He hesitated. "Are you sure?"

She turned to him, and for the first time in a while, he saw something deep in her eyes—a need to face the past.

"I need to go back," she said softly. "I need to remember."

Caleb exhaled slowly, but in the end, he couldn't refuse her. Not now. Not with time running out.

Without another word, he grabbed his keys.

The drive was silent. The roads felt too familiar, the weight in Caleb's chest growing heavier the closer they got.

And then, there it was.

The house stood just as they had left it—weathered, abandoned, yet still holding echoes of their past.

Elyra stepped out of the car slowly, her body weaker than before. Caleb instinctively reached for her, but she shook her head. She wanted to walk on her own.

She took careful steps toward the house, each movement laced with memories.

"This was where we used to play," she murmured, her eyes scanning the overgrown yard. "Me and her."

Caleb swallowed hard. "Elya…"

She ignored him, moving forward, her fingers grazing the wooden door as she pushed it open. Dust filled the air, and the smell of neglect hit them instantly.

But Elyra didn’t care.

She was looking for something.

Then, she stopped.

Right in the center of the living room.

"This was where it happened," she whispered.

Caleb didn’t need to ask what she meant. He already knew.

She knelt slowly, running her fingers along the floorboards.

"She fell right here," Elyra said, her voice hollow. "I still remember the sound. The way she hit the ground. The way she looked at me before she—"

Her voice broke.

Caleb clenched his fists.

He wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault. He wanted to scream that she had suffered enough, that she had paid the price for something she never even did.

But she wasn’t done.

Her lips trembled. "I—I tried to save her, Caleb. I tried." Tears streamed down her face. "But she stopped breathing before I could do anything. And I just—" She placed a hand on her chest, struggling to breathe. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Be Continued...