The Essence Of The Darkness
EOTL eps 2: Trauma

SEASON 2 – ESSENCE OF THE LIGHT

"Why don't you want to redeem our son? Is that so free of your heart that you chose to throw it away?"

Marlene Night's voice trembled with tears as she spoke. The woman looked chaotic, her eyes were swollen and puffy, while her face was deathly pale in grief.

Ever since her adopted son Xavier was kidnapped, Marlene has suffered the most and been filled with guilt that has plagued her soul. She spends her time crying filled with anxiety, thinking about the fate of her little Xavier who fell into the hands of the kidnappers because of their carelessness.

The guilt grew stronger after they received ransom calls from the kidnappers asking for unreasonable amounts, because the kidnappers thought that Xavier was Akram, their biological son as well as the true crown prince of the Night family.

Marlene is grateful that it was not Akram who was kidnapped by the gang of criminals, but still, Xavier should not be in the situation now. It was as if Xavier had become a collision to replace Akram.

Thinking of it all makes the deep guilt even more agonizing Marlene. Especially now, when the Baron, her husband decided that they could not meet the demands of the criminals for an unreasonable amount of ransom, then hands off in an effort to save Xavier through the negotiation path and choose to leave everything to the police.

The baron refused to pay the ransom because the number was so large that if the Baron forced to sell all his company's assets and property, it could result in the company they owned collapsing and falling apart.

The kidnappers seemed too high-minded about Baron Night's wealth, asking for a ransom using the basis of Baron Night's wealth reports in the media as one of the country's richest men, without taking into account, that the wealth report not only contains movable property, but also contains immovable assets such as fixed assets in the form of buildings, land, vehicles and liquid assets in the form of shares.

Most of the treasures could not be melted easily and took a long time as well as a careful process. When it can be disbursed, it will most likely create large losses that can collapse the company.

Baron Night was a good leader. He was very worried about Xavier, but on the other hand, he also thought of the fate of tens of thousands of his employees who might lose their jobs and the foundation of their lives if the Night corporation they were in was suddenly destroyed, because their owners pawned him to pay the ransom.

Offering the company to new owners is the only way, but, with such a fantastic demand for ransom numbers and such pressing conditions, it is, who owns the treasure and wants to spend so much money to buy this giant company?

Baron Night finally took the wisest painful decision he could take. He chose to sacrifice one life, to save the tens of thousands of lives that depended on him.

“I didn't throw away our son,” Baron Night squeezed the base of his nose with a poignant heart. The middle-aged man turned around and approached his wife. His hand moved trying to touch Marlene's shoulder, but his wife immediately brushed off his touch, choosing to cover her tearful face.

The baron did not force. The man took a deep breath and turned his face away.

“I know you're very angry with me, Marlene. But I have no other choice. I've explained everything to you. All of our employees are tens of thousands of them, and they all have a wife to live with. I won't be able to bear the guilt if I ruin their lives.”.

“Then? Do you think you'll be able to bear the guilt if anything happens to Xavier?” Marlene rubbed her tears violently, raised her head and stared defiantly at her husband. “He's our adopted son, who we took from the orphanage with the determination to take full responsibility for his life. Xavier was kidnapped because the criminals thought he was our ultimate heir! Xavier has saved Akram! With such knowledge, can you still live your life in peace later, if anything happens to Xavier? Or because you knew that Xavier was just an adopted son, did you easily let go of your answer to save him? Where is your conscience? If all this happened to Akram? Would you do the same?”

Marlene shouted her protest with emotion, making her chest go down in anger mixed with tears.

“We still have hope, Marlene. Police are on the move, they will soon find Xavier..”.

“But it's been a few days since you refused to give the kidnappers a ransom! And there's no word on Xavier! The kidnappers must have been very angry because of their failure to get the money, they must have vented their anger on Xavier! How the…. What if they kill him..?” marlene's voice trembled uncontrollably with great fear. Back sedu sedan rang out from his lips, accompanied by a flood of heart-wrenching tears, making the Baron have to gulp down repeatedly to withstand frustration.

“Marlene...” Baron opened his mouth again and tried to persuade his wife. But, before the next sentence managed to slide from his throat, the phone in the room suddenly rang loudly, breaking the stillness of the sobbing sobs and distracting him.

As if getting a premonition, the Baron hurriedly picked up the phone, listening intently to the sound of the notification from across there. Afterwards, the Baron's hand trembled as he was about to put the phone into place.

The man then rushed towards Marlene who was still sitting sobbing, then knelt in front of Marlene, grabbed both Marlene's fingers on her lap and squeezed them gently with eyes sparkling with hope.

“They found Xavier, Marlene! Our son is alive!”

Unfortunately, as soon as they reached the hospital, the horrific blow even made the souls of both more wracked with immeasurable guilt.

Xavier was found by police in a remote area on the edge of a rural forest, his body thrown away alive and dead, and somehow the boy survived helplessly outside, lying on the ground in the cold and hot sun alternately.

A firewood seeker who entered the forest accidentally found it when his ears heard the moans of small children from among the forest bushes that flourished there.When found, Xavier's condition was very sad. His body was so full of terrible wounds that, to say the least, not a single part of his skin had survived, bruises, burns and swelling on his face, made the firewood prospector think he found the body of a child.

But it turns out wrong, despite being in a condition that can hardly be trusted to live, Xavier was still able to survive and keep his breath still stored in his body.

The doctor said it was all because of Xavier's determination to live a very strong life, and Marlene was very grateful for that.

Currently, Marlene, who was still not allowed into Xavier's intensive care room, could only stand in front of a large glass window and watch over Xavier who was still lying weakly on the treatment bed there. Baron himself was talking to the doctor who treated Xavier to find out how Xavier's condition developed to date.

The sound of their conversation only sounded like a faint hum in Marlene's ear. Marlene does want to focus on Xavier right now, she wants to atone for her guilt and devote all her affection to her poor foster child.

Marlene's eyes were already full of tears as her hands clung to the window. His eyes were fixated on Xavier and sadness instantly filled his soul.

Xavier's petite body lay on the treatment bed in an unconscious and miserable condition. Life support devices connected to his body, making Xavier's condition look terrible with cables and hoses attached there plus a bandage wrapped almost all over his body.

The wounds of torture on Xavier's body should not be tolerated with reason would be able to be borne by a nine-year-old like Xavier. The doctor even accidentally made Xavier fall into a coma, so that the child was not sick and could speed up the healing process.

Marlene bit her lips to hold her chest tight and painful, all of which sent an irresistible stuffing that escaped her lips and made her tears flood with sadness.

What happened to you when you were kidnapped, baby? What kind of suffering do you endure? You must have been very scared back then. I'm sorry..I'm sorry, dear?

Those painful questions kept popping up in Marlene's mind, tormenting her with unbearable pain.

“Marlene..”.

Baron's voice suddenly rang out behind him, making Marlene who was wallowing in grief so aghast.

Slowly he turned his head and eyes immediately met the Baron who this time looked deathly pale, as well as the doctor who looked so grim.

A bad feeling immediately hit Marlene's mind.

The baron won't be that pale and the doctor won't be that grim if nothing happens to Xavier.

"What's wrong? Can't Xavier be saved anymore?"

Panic immediately struck Marlene, making her heart beat uncontrollably. Then, all of a sudden, the Baron moved closer towards her and touched both of his hands to Marlene's shoulders before then squeezing her gently as if to channel strength.

“Xavier will be safe, baby. But the doctor said you should know. Because this is related to Xavier's mental healing therapy after he wakes up later..” The baron gulped and stopped his sentence, as if his throat was blocked and unable to make a sound.

“What's up? why did you stop? Tell me what happened to my Xavier?”

The pale hue on Baron's face spread further and the man turned to the doctor, as if hoping to find help.

The doctor cleared his throat, then took over the responsibility of declaring the worst for Marlene.

“Xavier's physical condition, despite severe injuries, we are sure to be cured with intensive care. But, for now we will also prepare all the therapies needed to maintain his mental health.”.

“Mental health? What happened to my son? I knew that this kidnapping would traumatize Xavier. But, you certainly know that Xavier has genius and maturity three times his actual age, right? Xavier will be able to overcome that trauma as well as an adult, I trust him.” to overcome his fears, Marlene began to talk back as if trying to convince herself.

His words made the Baron and the doctor exchange glances before the doctor shook his head grimly.

“The problem is not that simple..” as happened to Baron earlier, the voice of the doctor is also stuck in the throat. But the doctor managed to overcome it and immediately threw the terrible reality he knew to Marlene. “Xavier not only received physical and mental torture. The results of our examination found that, cruelly done by a crazy person who has no mercy for a child. That's what made us concentrate on the possibility of severe trauma that..”.

The doctor's voice changed faintly and increasingly faded from Marlene's sense of hearing. Even with the other senses, only leaving an uncontrollable ringing sound before then the darkness took hold of him.

The shock, horror and regret hit Marlen so hard that he lost consciousness.

Marlene could still hear her husband's screaming voice calling her name in panic before the darkness hugged her and she could remember nothing more.

I don't know how many days Marlene spent waiting, she never counted again.

Now, sitting next to the hospital bed, Marlene is doing what she used to do every day since Xavier was found.

He took care of himself, replaced Xavier's clothes, compressed him when the boy developed a fever, and often fell asleep next to the hospital bed, close to his son.

The guilt so thick that Marlene decided to atone for her sin by devoting all her attention to Xavier, not even caring if she forgot her own biological child.

As Marlene spends more of her time in the hospital, Akram is completely abandoned and untouched by Marlene. Akram was handed over to his caretakers and inevitably lost the affection of a mother who should still devote attention to him who was only five years old.

The baron himself could do nothing about the decision taken by Marlene. What happened to Xavier right now, was the result of his heartless decision to sacrifice Xavier. Now, when Marlene chooses to devote her attention to Xavier to make amends, the Baron can only watch from a distance, while hugging his neglected son.

“Do you want me to read you a book? The doctor said, listening to the voices of people close to you in a regular rhythm, will help keep your brain waves stable,” Marlene smiled as she opened one of the books stacked on the bedside nightstand.

Marlene knew that Xavier loved to read books. The books that Marlene transported to the hospital were partly Xavier's collection of readings neatly arranged on the bookshelf in her room.

Knowing Xavier's hobby, when doctors advised him to talk, tell stories, hum or read books to maintain the rhythm of contact and stability of the patient, Marlene chose to read books to Xavier.

Marlene's voice sounded soft as she began to read line after line of the book to Xavier. Once, in the middle of her reading, her eyes lifted from the book and watched Xavier's face, then a sweet smile appeared on her lips.

“If you realize, you will surely laugh at me for reading the book you have read to you,” whispered Marlene in a soft voice. “I know that you can instantly memorize the entire contents of a book out of your head with just one read, which is why, you never touch the same book, ever,” Marlene closed the book on her lap and put the book back on the bedside nightstand.

The woman then leaned her body near Xavier's head, her hands stretched out to rub the hair on his son's forehead, caressing him lovingly.“If you wake up later, will you forgive your mother?”

Marlene whispered in a raucous voice enduring the cries, and just like the previous times, her tears fell unstoppable again while watching over the suffering that Xavier had to endure at this moment.

But this time, Xavier's response was different. Either because he heard Marlene's sobbing sound that penetrated into his consciousness, either because it was time for him to wake up, Xavier's hand began to move slowly, or he could not help it, it shows that consciousness has begun to reach his body.

Then, unexpectedly, as Marlene was about to kiss her son's forehead and say good-bye, Xavier's thick and long eyelashes suddenly blinked, making his eyelids twitch, making his eyes twitch, before it lifts up and opens.

Those beautiful eyes instantly met Marlene's flabbergasted eyes.

Xavier groaned, trying to make a sound. But his throat was very dry and very painful. In fact, just making a sound to talk felt so heavy for him, making him feel an unbearable pain all over his body and requiring him to exert all his remaining strength.

“I... i... bu?”

Xavier's open eyes immediately recognized Marlene well. Instantly, a hue of happiness instantly filled Marlene's soul, the woman leaned over, bringing her face closer to Xavier, to make sure her son heard her voice.

“Yes. It's mommy. It's mom, baby. Now you're okay. There's a mother with you. We're all there for you.”.

Marlene spoke in one breath until she gasped for it. Then, as if remembering, the woman then straightened up and looked at Xavier in panic.

“Mom will call the doctor here. They still don't know you're not awake. Wait a minute, will you? Don't sleep again!”

The panic so whacked Marlene, that instead of pressing the available button to call the medics to come, the woman even ran out of the room to call the doctor.

N.O.T.E.D

Eps 1 - 4 will author use to review Xavier's past first. Who waits for Xavier's romance, patience yakk later must appear.

Essence Of The Light (EOTL) is Season Two of Essence Of The Darkness which is specifically about Xavier Light.

May you all be happy to accompany the author and Xavier to live his life story to the end of the road.

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And most importantly, the sincere support of the spirit from all of you is the main one.

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Regards, AY