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Chapter 6: Ari's Backstory (Part 2)
The night was silver with moonlight, the kind that made the house glow faintly as though it were wrapped in a dream. Ari had been awake for a long time, curled up on the sofa with her blanket and bunny, listening to the quiet. She had promised herself she would sleep, but her eyes kept drifting to the tall windows. The outside world always seemed bigger at night.
Then she heard it.
Not a creak of the old house. Not the wind this time. Something different — heavy, sudden, like the earth itself had sighed too hard. A faint thud, far off but close enough to make her sit up straight.
Ari pressed her nose against the glass, fogging it with her breath. At first, she saw nothing. Just the dark garden stretching out, the fountain in the middle shining pale under the moon. But then… movement. Something was lying on the grass. Something that hadn't been there before.
Her heart thumped, but not with fear. Curiosity tugged her forward. Without thinking too hard, Ari slipped off the sofa, bunny in one arm, blanket trailing behind her as she padded to the door. The night air rushed around her when she stepped outside — cool, damp, and carrying the faint smell of earth.
She tiptoed across the stone path, her bare feet cold, her long nightgown brushing her ankles. Her bunny bumped against her side with every step.
And then she saw him.
He was lying there on the lawn, as if the sky had spat him out. His clothes were torn, his skin pale in the moonlight, and his body so still Ari thought for a moment he might be a statue. But statues didn't have horns. Big, black, curved horns that caught the light. And statues didn't breathe but she saw the faint rise and fall of his chest.
Ari's green eyes went wide. She crouched down a little, tilting her head the way she did when she found an injured bird. "Hello?" she whispered. "Are you sleeping outside?"
The boy didn't move. His face was shadowed, but even so, Ari thought he looked lonely. Not scary maybe just… lost.
She hugged her bunny tighter, then straightened up suddenly as though remembering something important. She darted back into the house, the door swinging wide as she ran inside. When she returned, her small hands clutched a single thing: a cube of ice from the freezer, already melting against her palm.
Kneeling carefully beside him, Ari reached out the ice, her curls falling over her face as she leaned close. "Here," she said in her soft, serious little voice. "Ice makes everything better."
And that was the first thing she ever offered Ace. Not fear. Not questions. Just ice... just to think.... this is the beginning of Ari and ace story....
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