Back in the present—
'Plea…se li…v..e..'
Julia's eyes dulled, losing their focus.
The light inside them flickered.
Dimmed, then vanished completely.
The faint tension in her muscles disappeared.
She was gone.
Stella froze, completely.
Her hands were still gripping Julia's blood-soaked shirt.
'No.'
Her knees were still pressed against the road, as blood from Julia's stomach began seeping into her clothes, staining them red.
'No, no.'
But her mind refused to process it.
The world lost its sound again.
Stella stared at Julia's face.
At the unnatural stillness, at her pale skin, at the blood trailing from the corner of her lips.
At her hollow, dead eyes that were staring at nothing.
She couldn't accept it.
"M–Mo..moth..er," she said, the word slipping unconsciously from her mouth as tears spilled down her cheeks uncontrollably.
It hung in the air, fragile, broken, unanswered.
Because there was no one left to hear them.
Julia couldn't hear her anymore.
