Guilted: Wars Against The Past (Editing)

O n e

But why would such a word like "mystery" even exist when it is to be solved anyway? Maybe after all it is needed to be solved for particular aspects but at least, the universe should spare some mysteries to remain unsolved for the word itself to hold its worth?

The cold descended upon the night as he walked among the bustles of the street. It was nearing midnight and that's when he felt most alive. That's when he felt that pain the most. That's how he found his assorted distractions.

He stepped in the coffee bar only to be greeted by few of the populate. He chose to sit near the window booth and ordered an Americano. With his head low, he started sipping the drink and felt the caffeine spread all through his veins.

He took in the drink. It felt good. So good.

Lost in his thoughts, as they were swirling with madness, his face turned grim and the last thing he needed was some lowlife stripper to have sprawled all over him.

"You look like you need some company." She pouted, her voice was ever so disgustingly seductive.

Abed frowned in disgust, and the next thing everyone knew was that his hand reflexively went around her small neck and Abed slung her petite body across the wooden floor. 

Everyone around gasped in shock, making small whispers and filling the air with agitation. Well, the slut should've seen this coming. And as for Abed, he didn't like being touched.

Within a flash, he left the bar before anyone else could make his small stunt more dramatic and troublesome.

As he put his hood on and walked towards the town's end, not having a particular destination on his mind, he walked for hours and hours whilst his mind was consumed with the unfathomable pain and voidness. Until, he reached the local library.

He knew that the only person who'd be in there was the librarian. And she'd be of no trouble. With an idea in mind, he walked in the library and his breath hitched. Dammit! The silence was deafening. Sitting on one of those computers, he started browsing for jobs. He needed to get a life, he thought. After filling up a few applications as an IT specialist, he closed the computer and sighed.

Funny how he lost everything, how he lost his dreams and how he lost all of his family within a span of a year or two.

Funny how stupid of an idiot he was to let himself throw his life away only because he couldn't keep himself together.

Funny how desperate he was now to start all over again, wishing things have gone differently, to make things right and for this painful guilt of his to vanish and never come back.

He was startled by the loud thudding noises of books. He abruptly got up to find the interruption of his solitude and came to find a young woman, disheveled with books all around her on the floor, scurrying to fix the mess she made.

Abed looked at gigantic shelf and for a spilt second, he sensed that the rest of the books on that particular section would fall all over her, so within a dart, he was really quick to capture the books.

The young woman jolted in surprise as she sensed someone else's presence, and moved a few inches back from where she was kneeling down, picking up the books. She then looked up to him, half with thankfulness and half with nervousness.

She knew this was not a very godly hour for her to be out and too, alone in silent and creepy-like aura with a total stranger. She knew this was not a safe and crime-free city. She had heard of the stories.

She knew that the men of her family would be upset knowing that she spent the night in the library abiding the rule of not stepping out of the house after dusk.