Chapter 29: Wounds

"Alicia! Get off that train!" Haru roared, chasing the glowing parade.

He jumped at the train and climbed the middle chamber's frame. "Come on!" He yelled, pulling Alicia's arm.

She looked up, tears streaking like rainfall.

"I know where your son is! Get off the train and we'll show you where Eugene is!"

"I-Is that… true?"

"Trust me. You'll see him healthy in your arms again if we get off here now. Please trust me."

Alicia sniffed, holding back her tears until she finally reached out and held tightly onto Haru's arm.

Haru pulled them off the train and they fell at the ground, making him scream when his injured arm bumped.

"Haru!" Camille yelled, supporting him to sit up. "Are you alright? You just got your arm treated! How about your back? Does it hurt?"

"No, I'm fine," He struggled getting up. "Alicia…"

Alicia was still sitting on the ground, staring at them devastated and guilty.

"I'm okay, Alicia. Don't worry, it's not your fault."

Ali came running onto Haru's side, tugging at his shirt, looking extremely worried, as if he's about to cry. "Haru…!"

Haru let out a smile to assure the little boy.

They all went to Haru's circus tent and laid him down on the bed.

Alicia seemed to have returned to her senses, so she began looking into his arm again.

She still seems out of it, though.

Haru asked if he could talk to Alicia alone, so Camille and Ali left the tent.

"I'm really sorry, Haru," Alicia said in a low, hoarse voice. "To think that I've acted like that when I am the adult here…"

"You don't have to worry, Alicia. I told you, I'm fine."

"But I believe it's still my fault. I… hallucinated. I thought I saw my son, so I ran as fast as I could to chase that parade. I lost my senses and rationality and just mindlessly jumped into it. I just miss Eugene so much!"

Alicia was on the verge of crying again. "Lately, since we arrived in this place, I feel so out of it! Everything here reminds me of Eugene, so I feel so hopeless!"

"I know. You must want to meet your son again, right? Let's go and meet him now!"

Alicia nodded. "Hmm, yeah, after we get out of this place."

"No, I mean, we really can meet Eugene here right now."

Alicia glanced at him, bewildered and confused. "I—what? I know I've hallucinated, but there's no way that could happen!"

"Well, of course, we can't meet your real son. But at least, you can see his face again, even if you can't be with him right now. That will ease you somehow, right?"

Alicia just stared at him, utterly unconvinced.