"The Question Left Unanswered"

Dylne’s voice cracked as she tried to hold back the storm of emotions threatening to spill over again. The tears had subsided, but the ache in her chest felt deeper, sharper now. She stared at Father Maverick, her gaze filled with the raw pain of years of unanswered questions. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides as she finally let out the words she had been holding back for far too long.

“Do you even know what it was like for me after you left?” she began, her voice trembling but growing stronger with each word. “You were my teacher, my mentor, the one person I thought I could trust to see me. To really see me. And then you disappeared.”

Her breath hitched, and for a moment, she looked away, unable to meet his eyes. The memories came rushing back, vivid and suffocating—the long, lonely nights, the suffocating silence, the weight of expectations she couldn’t carry alone.

“I waited for you,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “But you never came back. And then one day… one day, I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Her words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of what she was about to say. The wind swirled around her, tugging at her coat, but she hardly noticed. Her mind was trapped in the past, reliving a moment she had spent years trying to forget.

“I was fifteen,” she said finally, her voice breaking. “Fifteen, and I felt like I was dying. Not just inside, but really dying. I tried to end it, Father. I tried to… to make it stop.”

She raised her head then, locking her tear-filled gaze onto his. The pain in her eyes was undeniable, cutting through the cold night like a blade.

“Where were you?” she demanded, her voice shaking with anger and despair. “Where were you when I needed you the most? When I was on the edge, ready to give up, where were you?”

Father Maverick’s expression faltered, his composure slipping as the gravity of her words hit him. For a moment, he said nothing, the silence between them stretching unbearably. His jaw tightened, and his hands curled slightly at his sides, as though he were grasping for something to hold onto.

“I didn’t know,” he said finally, his voice low, almost pained. “Dylne… I didn’t know.”

The words felt hollow to her ears, though she could see the regret etched on his face. She shook her head, her tears returning as her anger boiled over.

“You didn’t know?” she repeated, her tone sharp, accusing. “You didn’t know because you weren’t there. You left! You abandoned me when I needed you the most. Do you have any idea how much I blamed myself? How much I hated myself for being weak, for not being good enough, for… for everything?”

Her voice cracked again, and she took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself as though trying to shield herself from the memories. Aciscars mewed softly at her feet, but the sound barely registered.

“I begged for someone to save me,” she continued, her voice softer now but no less anguished. “And no one came. I thought maybe… maybe you’d hear me somehow. That you’d come back and tell me it would be okay. But you didn’t.”

Father Maverick took a slow step toward her, his face a mix of sorrow and guilt. “Dylne,” he said quietly, his voice heavy with emotion. “I’m so sorry. I failed you. I… I didn’t realize how much you were struggling. If I had known—”

“But you didn’t,” she interrupted, her tone biting. “You didn’t know, and you didn’t care enough to find out. Do you have any idea how long it took me to crawl out of that darkness? To even want to stay alive?”

Her breathing was ragged now, and she wiped at her tears furiously, angry at herself for breaking down in front of him, angry at him for being the cause of it all.

Father Maverick’s shoulders sagged, his usually composed demeanor completely shattered. He looked at her, his eyes filled with regret, but he didn’t try to offer excuses.

“You’re right,” he said softly. “I wasn’t there when you needed me. And for that, I’m deeply sorry. There’s nothing I can say to undo the pain you’ve been through. But please, Dylne, believe me when I say that if I had known, I would have done everything in my power to help you.”

His words, though sincere, did little to ease the ache in her chest. She turned away from him, hugging herself tightly as she fought to steady her breathing. The memories still clawed at her, but for the first time, she had said the words she had kept locked away for so long.

The wind carried the faint sound of bells from the distance, signaling the approach of midnight, but Dylne barely noticed. Her heart felt heavy, but there was also a strange lightness in speaking the truth, in letting the pain escape into the night.

“I don’t know if I can forgive you,” she said finally, her voice quiet, almost hollow. “But I needed you to know.”

Father Maverick nodded, his expression somber. “And I will carry that knowledge with me, Dylne. For the rest of my life.”

The night stretched on, cold and unforgiving, but something had shifted between them—something raw and fragile, but undeniably real.

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