Share
SEVEN
Eli
There are so many three-word sentences in the English dictionary that bring meaning to life.
I love you. I miss you. I admire you. Please be well.
I have never really given it a thought. But those are the exact words that I have never really taken the time to truly mean something to me. And as much as I would want to hear those from someone, I believe being the one to tell those words to someone actually gives more meaning to one's life. I believe it makes life more beautiful, on top of being meaningful.
But there are also three-word sentences that are the exact opposite. Words that you never wanna hear in your life, but you are also never ready to hear or even expecting to hear.
It wasn't the three-word sentence I expect to ever hear in my life. But when it did, it broke my whole world apart.
"Yula has died."
I remember how the cold rushed from my stomach up to my head and spread through my body after hea
Related chapters
Sand Castle EIGHT
Eli "How much did you pay him?" I sat beside a thinking Noah whose mind is probably wandering off as he stares out the train window. It's past midnight and Nik is sleeping soundly on the top bunker. "Couldn't sleep?" Noah asked as I settled beside him. We were both looking outside the window now. "Yeah. I can't stop thinking about home," I replied. "I'm sorry about your sister," Noah said, his voice suddenly hoarse at the mention of my sister. I gave him a sad smile. Yula was my image of a warm home, and whenever things would go rough, Yula was the first one who would come to my rescue. "I'm a terrible sister," I said after a while of silence. "I got kicked out of the Harvest three years ago because of a mess I made, and I didn't come home for three years because I convinced myself that I'm protecting my family by being far away from them. That this is the best thing I can do for them." Noah remained silent as
Sand Castle NINE
Hade It's starting to feel like forever. Hade hovered his gaze from Alexei to his father, Jacob Vandenberg, who was sitting quietly from across the table. Alexei's mother, Jasmin, sits on the other far end while Alexei is on the seat facing him. His wife, Yula, died yesterday. Today, he feels completely nothing. "...they started a feud. It's a pretty solid ground to challenge Hade's hold to become the next family head," Jacob said. "But he's not head yet. You still are," Alexei said. "I'm nearing retirement. Whoever becomes the next head of the Vandenbergs takes my place as a seat holder. To be in the Council means power. Other Vandenberg families are fighting tooth and nail to take down Hade," Jacob explained. Hade remained silent. He's still trying to process what happened yesterday. How Yula endured the pain trying to deliver the child. How she died just seconds before the baby took its first and last
Sand Castle TEN
Eli My eyesight was starting to get blurry as I felt my consciousness slowly fading away. The run back to the dining hall seemed like forever, but I know I heard a scream, and then I felt a terrifying chill down my spine after I recognized whose voice it was. It was Susie's. I don't even know how I managed to break free from Hade's tight grasp on my hand. All I remember was running on instinct, and then I heard another explosion and I immediately dropped to the ground. But I got up as soon as I could and started running towards the dining hall again. Please let my sister be safe. Smoke was blocking my eyesight, but I know every corner and every hallway of this house by heart, and I know how and where to go with my eyes closed. I've walked and ran around this house for years, after all. Right then, I knew I was just running on instinct. Debris from the explosion has started falling too, but I could no lon
Sand Castle ELEVEN
Eli There's a lot of things going through my mind right now. The attack that happened to my family yesterday, my desire to see Yula's body, my mother and Susie's condition, and how I am willing to do anything just to protect my family. And then Hade kissed me, and everything just vanished. The kiss caught me off guard and it made me stay still for a while. And when his lips started moving, there were bursts of feelings spreading throughout inside me that I can't seem to control— feelings I never knew were inside me, until now. My eyes were threatening to close; Hade was making me feel hazy, but at the same time, it feels like everything inside me was screaming. He continued kissing me while his hand slowly held mine. I felt his tongue lick my lips, and in one swift movement, he swiped his tongue on my lower lip and I gasped. He took that opportunity to put his tongue inside my mouth. Meanwhile, I still don't know how to react
Sand Castle TWELVE
Eli WHAT?! "Marry me, Eli." I shook my head in bewilderment. What did Noah just say to me? "Are you crazy? Why would you say that?" "Look, you said you just need his power and influence. I have that, too. I am a Langston, after all," Noah said. "Noah, our families are enemies because of me—" "And this marriage might be a way for us to reconcile the Hales and the Langstons. I just need to convince Uncle Finch to give us the family blessing." "No," I tried to reason out. "My family is mad at the Langstons, too. And how are you going to convince Simon Langston to protect the Hales when I am the very person who punched him in front of a lot of people? He will make my and my family's life a living hell. It's not gonna work out, Noah." "Please don't do this, Eli," Noah pleaded. "I don't have a choice, Noah. And why are you so against this? Why are you so against Hade?" "I'm just worried about you, tha
Sand Castle THIRTEEN
Hade He could stare at her sleeping face all day long. She looked so peaceful, like an angel in a deep slumber. Hade tucked her hair into her ear. She was sleeping peacefully in his arms that he has never felt so at ease in his whole life. Especially after his wife and the child died, he has been drowning in so many overwhelming options that he could never sleep a wink. But now, with Eli sleeping beside him on the warm, summer grass, everything is finally quiet inside him. He knows it's wrong to feel this way towards Eli, especially since it's only been two days since her sister died, but he just can't help it.Oh, how he longed to see her in those long three years. Hade felt Eli move. Her arm suddenly twitched, but her eyes were still closed. Her head moved as well. He was about to ignore those movements when Eli suddenly made a long groaning sound, like she was terrified of something. And then he felt he
Sand Castle FOURTEEN
Eli Everything happened so fast it got blurry. We heard Hade yell "Run! Ambush!" and Nik immediately held me by the hand and we ran. He was saying something but I couldn't process them anymore. Then I heard the shots. Nik immediately pulled me and covered my body with his as we both fell to the ground to take cover. When I came to, Nik was lying on the ground with blood on his right shoulder. I heard myself scream his name. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Hade not far from us. He was on the ground with his hands covering his head. I didn't have time to think of anything. Seeing my brother's body not far away from me, I started to get up to get closer to him. "Eli, don't!" I heard Hade scream. But by the time he said that, a rain of bullets came pouring on us. I instinctively dropped to the ground. The gunfires stopped after a while. "S-stay down, El," I heard Nik say that in his pained voice. I
Sand Castle FIFTEEN
Hade He remembers the very first time he saw her like it happened just yesterday. It was a small gathering back at the Hale manor. If he remembers it correctly, it was Sir Gregory Hale's birthday, and as a good friend to the Hales, his father attended the birthday banquet with him, his eldest brother, and his mother. He was fifteen at that time and on his second year in the Harvest. It was also his first time at the Hale manor. He only stepped foot outside in the garden for a couple of minutes, but when he was about to head back to the dining hall, he realized he forgot the way back. "It's that way," he heard someone say. He turned his head and saw a black-haired girl holding a ball. She's also wearing long sleeves and jogger pants. Her hair was tied up to a ponytail. Inside his mind, she's very pretty. The girl never walked towards him, she j
Latest chapter
