Death, Devotion, Dissonance

"Well, well. Look what we got here?" a smirk appeared on the man's face. "Seems we found the thief sooner than expected."

Fearful, Layla stuttered out a response. "I was just about to give this to the authorities."

"Sounds nice and all, but it's a bit too convenient, isn't it? We just went to your house to ask for the wallet, and now you're bringing it to us," the officer said. "

Humming, the officer snatched Zack's hand and produced a rope from somewhere.

"Heh. Well, words are cheap. I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of this soon enough at the police station."

"This is a misunderstanding," Layla insisted. "I know some of the urchins that live around here. I went there to check if they had it and sure enough, they did."

"Lying little rats. You better shut it, Layla, or you're gonna get arrested with him, you understand?"

"Bitch," the bulky man said and pushed Layla to the ground.

Evan rushed to help her, but in the end, he couldn't make himself touch Layla.

The officers then tied Zack's hands with the rope and pulled at it with an ugly smirk.

Layla couldn't really tell what was going to happen to her boy. The violent tendencies of cops were notorious these days, and there was also the fact that they hated her. She felt like they were always searching for ways to get at her, but couldn't do so without proper reason.

"It was me!" she found herself shouting. "I told him to pickpocket! I even went to the orphanage, searching for kids who looked like they had swift hands!"

"Wha-" Zack was about to protest, but the brawny officer punched him in the guts.

"Oh, what are you saying, Layla?" the stout officer smirked. "You're telling me you're rearing pickpockets in your smelly little house?"

"Yes… So it's all my fault. Zack there, he's just a dumb little kid. He doesn't know better."

"No…" Evan whispered.

His meaningless comments were gone, and a rare glint of sanity was resurfacing in his eyes. He couldn't help but guess at what the officers were trying to do.

"Heh. Well, what are we supposed to do now? I should bring you to the office to do a proper trial, but considering our acquaintance, maybe I'll be a bit lenient with you."

Layla frowned, hearing the officer's words.

It was a weird thing to say. Normally, the officer would be beaming at a chance to fuck up Layla.

"But don't look too happy," the officer smirked. "You did something illegal, so we have to punish you somehow. How about we do it the old-school way? Hey, you know how they used to punish thieves a thousand years ago?"

"They killed 'em," the other officer replied.

"No, no. Nothing so extreme. They cut off their arms, didn't they?"

"Aye."

He pulled out a knife from the side of his boots and brandished it haphazardly. The knife did not look sharp. Its edge was dull, and parts of it were chipped off. There was no rust on it, thank God, but it was going to be a while, if they planned to cut someone's limb with that.

"Stop, you fuckers…" Evan said, his voice cracking.

Layla took a step away, her eyes stuck on the knife. Zack was completely still. He was clutching at his stomach, but he was also staring at the knife with a look of shock and fear.

"Scream for help, you idiots," Evan urged.

The stout officer approached Layla with casual steps.

"But, of course, we're civilized men. We won't really cut off your arms," he smiled, taking the knife from the other officer. "Just… trust us, and put two of your hands on the ground."

"What?"

"Get on your knees, put your forehead to the ground, and hold your hands above your head. Oh, also, put a cloth in your mouth."

"Why?" her voice turned smaller and smaller.

"Heh. Well, it's your punishment, remember?"

He pulled out a handkerchief and tried to shove it into Layla's mouth. She first resisted, but couldn't overpower the man.

"Scream for help! Goddamn you!"

Desperation seeped Evan's voice. There wasn't just worry for Layla and Zack's safety in it. There was also the fear of his delusions getting shattered because of it.

The ever-proud Layla that he loved so much was shivering under the hands of the man, tears streaming from her eyes. She always seemed untouchable, but the sudden events of the day were too unfamiliar for her to deal with.

Evan was on the verge of pushing the officer back, but just before he could make contact, he would flinch away grimacing.

"Fuck! Why aren't you fighting back?!" he shouted again. "It's just pickpocketing! Let it be and start screaming for help! They can't do this to you!"

Layla found herself lying on the ground, her hands above her head. Even she seemed surprised to find herself in this situation. A look of disbelief hovered her face.

"Someone hel-" finally, Zack gathered her bearings and asked for help, but the other officer quickly shut him up with a punch to the guts.

"Shut up."

A gasping sound came from the boy's side, but despite the tears on his face, he started thrashing around under the man's body. The officer did not allow for distractions.

"The boy's overreacting, really," the stout officer said.

His voice sounded grated this time. It was almost emotionless. Evan couldn't help but wonder why it sounded so different from his usual obnoxious tone of voice.

The man lifted his feet and slammed it on Layla's hand.

"MMMPH!"

The muffled scream that followed weighed him down even further.

He wanted to pull his gaze away from the Layla lying on the ground, pulling her hand away from the boot that was stuck on it.

"Don't move it, bitch!" the officer snarled as he lifted Layla's face and smacked on it a couple times. "Put it on the ground again."

"Nngh!" Layla fervently shook her head, holding her hands close to her chest. "Hmpleas!"

"Not so high and mighty now, are you, eh?" the officer was smirking as he continued to punch her in the stomach. "Always keeping a safe distance from us all, content with looking at us from above… I never really liked that unassuming look of yours! Now put your fucking hand on the ground, or I'll swear to God I'll cut them off for real!"

"Stop! Stop! Why are you even doing this!"

At this point, Evan was frantically trying to pull the man away from his love. He failed every time, but he couldn't stop himself from trying. He tried shoving, kicking, punching and ramming, but the man was not bothered by any of it.

It wasn't real after all.

"Please! Stop! Why isn't anything working?!"

Layla was meekly pushing her hand above her head.

"Good woman!" the officer laughed as he slammed on her hands again.

This time, a crashing sound came from the impact.

"MAAGH!"

A bloodcurdling scream came from Layla's mouth. One of the fingers were bent in a wrong way, its surroundings blue.

She pulled her hands away again, but was forced to put them on the ground, due to the beating she received on her guts. It took two more beatings for her to stop pulling her hands. The officer slammed on her hands without reserve from then on, and only stopped after he started panting.

"Keep the wallet," he said and left with the other man.

Zack rushed over to help his mother, but he could only cry at seeing what had happened to his mother.

Seven of her fingers fit wrongly, and there were many cuts and bruises on her palm. It was a miracle she was still conscious. Zack managed to lift her up and, limping, they made their way to a hospital.

Evan, for the first time in the past year, was not in Layla's immediate presence.

"No… no… this isn't real… this can't be happening to Layla… I can't be dead either… I lived with her for so long. This whole thing's just a bad dream…"

Evan was lying on the ground, his hands covering his ears. The helplessness of death came to haunt him again.

"No… This can't go on. You're dead… you've been dead for the past ten years… Accept it already."

Bit by bit, his rationality destroyed the delusion his mind so carefully created. He was forced to meet with reality.

"I'm fucking dead… didn't I get over this before? Why am I going through this shit again?"

His whining tone change into anger.

"What's the point of my existence? God! Why!? I can see anything I want in the world, but I can't affect it? What kind of bullshit is that?"

Evan started screaming at the sky.

"If you kill me, then kill me properly! Why do I have to suffer alone?!"

Despairingly, with each word, he could feel his head becoming clearer and clearer.

"If it's like this, then at least take my emotions! Why can I love and care like any other person, but I'm doomed to feel them only by myself!?"

He thrashed at the ground, but he only felt more miserable knowing no one could hear his outburst.

A thought flashed through his mind at that moment.

"If only I was still alive…"

If only he were alive, he'd have everything in his hands. And his everything wasn't something so big. He would've been happy if he had Layla. That was all he needed to be happy.

"And I'd be able to protect her too."

…

Evin's mind was forced out of the scene. He was back to the information receiving state, and he could finally take a breather. He had to stop the stream of information that followed afterwards, or else he feared he'd get overwhelmed by it all.

He then noticed he was having trouble breathing.

"Fuck…"