Embers

The day Jin collapsed, everything was too quiet.

Kira had just returned from another her fight, her thirteenth win in a row. Her knuckles were raw, and her heart beat in time with the dull ache in her bones. The air in the underground facility felt colder than an usual, the lights buzzing above her like they were losing power. She’d seen it before-the way the lights would flicker and die in places no one dared to go. But it wasn’t just the lights today. It was her.

She felt empty.

Another win. Another fight. Another week of food.

But when she reached their cell, she knew something was wrong. The door was open-just a crack. She never left it like that. Jin would never leave it like that.

“Jin?” She whispered, pushing the door open. Her pulse quickened.

He was lying on his cot, his back to her, a tangle of thin sheets around d his legs. His body trembled, his breathing shallow. Kira’s heart dropped into her stomach. She rushed to his side, her pulse a loud drum in her ears.

“Jin!” She said, her voice rising with panic. She shook him lightly, but he didn’t stir.

“Jin, wake up.”

His eyelids fluttered open, just enough for him to blink at her. His lips were cracked, his face pale. There was something wrong-something deep inside of him had gone terribly wrong.

“You won again,” he croaked, a weak smile flickering on his face. “ I knew you would.”

Kira took a step back, her chest tightening, “You’re not making sense. Jin, what’s happening? What’s wrong with you?”

His smile faltered. He tried to sit up, but his body seemed to betray him. His arms shook, his breath coming in short, painfully bursts.

“ I can’t…,” he gasped, his eyes glazed over. “It’s too much… The meds… They’re not working anymore.”

Kira’s stomach churned as she knelt beside him. Her hand hovered over his forehead. He was burning up-sweating through his shirt, his skin too hot to touch. She knew the signs. She had seen it before.

“Jin, no,” she whispered, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “You need a medic. They can help you.”

He shook his head weakly, but there was a faint, almost desperate laugh in his eyes. “It’s too late te for me. They”ll just take me to the White Room, like the others. The once they don’t want anymore.”

“No,” Kira said, her voice trembling.”You can’t-you can’t go to the White Room. We”ll fight this together. I won’t let them-“

But he cut her off with wheeze, his chest rattling. “You’ve always been strong, Kira. But you can’t save me. I’m broken. I’m already gone.”

She pressed her hand to his chest, feeling slow, uneven rhythm of his heartbeat. “Don’t say that. We’ll get out. I promised you, didn’t I? We’ll find a way.”

He managed a faint smile, but it was bittersweet. “You’ve already won, Kira. But me?” He coughed violently, and when the fit passed, he closed hiss eyes.

“ I don’t want to die here,” he whispered.

Kira didn’t know how to respond. She had no answers, only silence. A terrible silence that filled the room, wrapping around her like chains. She could feel the weight of the walls pressing in, like they were closing around her.

“Promise me something,” Jin said suddenly, his voice weak but insistent.

Kira leaned closer, her eyes desperate. “Anything.”

“Promise me you’ll look up,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “ when you get out of here, look up at the stars. See them. They’re real, Kira. There’s a whole world out there efe waiting for you.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away. She hated promises. She hated lies. But for Jin, she would make one.

“I’ll look up,” she whispered, she voice shaking. “I promise.”

Jin’s hand fell from her wrist, limp. His breathing slowed, become quieter, until there was nothing.

Kira set there, holding him’ long after we the life had left his body. She could feel the ache in her chest- the pain of something lost, something that could never come back. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed there, frozen, but eventually, she stood.

Jin had been her only friend. Her only family. And now he was gone.

But she wasn’t. And she wasn’t going to let his death be for nothing.

She wasn’t going to stay in this cage forever.

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