The sun sets tomorrow

      The moon had set over the horizon, and instead the sun was once again shining its rays on the city. A new and equally ordinary day was about to begin. People would get out of their soft beds again, some would start working, some would lie awake until lunchtime. Here was Lyra thinking that the day would be no different from the rest, grayness and ordinariness would again drag out the precious time, but something went wrong. The girl was awakened by the sharp clang of a falling cauldron. From such a deafening sound, the brunette jumped out of bed, instantly leaving her dream, the worse for her. She felt a nailing sensation in her temples, but after a few minutes it subsided, and she looked around to see that Lulu was sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed. Unlike her, he was sleeping soundly, and it was only the smell of breakfast that would wake him up. She exhaled calmly and hurried to find the source of the unpleasant sound. It didn't take long to guess, when the sleepy veil fell from her eyes, there was a swearing Ray, who didn't expect a beautiful flight of the cauldron on the floor. The brunette carefully got up from the bed, which made a squeaky squeak, yes, the symphony that played objects in this house had to listen to every day. Movement from the side of the bed Ray noticed at once: “I knew I woke you up. Damn sauté pan.” “Why are you home? I can't usually catch you at this time, or any time for that matter,” Lyra clearly didn't understand what her brother was up to. He still hadn't said anything to her yesterday, and he should have. “I actually live here, in case you haven't forgotten,” Ray tried to make a joke, but failed as usual. “With you showing up, one can forget not only that you live here, but your existence in general,” the girl pushed back her chair and sat down across from her brother, who had managed to take one of the seats at the table. “I'm waiting for an explanation.” Rei took a deep breath, as if he was about to tell of some incredible news, but whether it was bad or good was unknown. It was partly true, it was news, but he was still having a hard time dialoging with Lyra. It had been a long time since he had spoken to his own sister like this. Scolding, scandals, constant bickering - it was the only way they could talk. And of course the initiator of the quarrels was the guy. Most of the time he himself did not understand what was happening to him, at one moment he yells at his sister, in the other he already regrets what he said. But this time it was necessary to pull himself together. “Yesterday I managed to win a good amount of money. Anyway, I wanted to suggest going to town, buy some normal food and you some clothes, because yours are already completely worn out,” Rei turned away from the stare of blue eyes with embarrassment, and their owner was amazed by such a statement of her brother. “Are you serious now?” the girl couldn't fully believe the reality of what was happening, it seemed like it was all just a dream. “Yes. I wanted to make breakfast so you wouldn't waste your time, but as you can see I didn't really make it,” the guy was about to throw a barbed joke at the strange question that Lyra asked him, but held back at the right moment. “Okay, don't bother, I'll do it myself now,” the girl smiled sweetly at her brother, for the first time in a long time his words caused a smile, but there was still distrust in her eyes, she couldn't just like that start communicating with her brother again as if nothing had happened. And Ray understood that. The brunette went to the bathroom for a few minutes to clean herself up. She came out tidier, but the old clothes were ruining her look. Yes, she could use a new dress, it was getting tiresome to be looked at with disdain by passersby. Most of the time she wore a long dark brown skirt and a stretched pink blouse with a small bow of dark, almost black color, the naked eye could see that the thing was clearly tattered. In some places there were uneven seams, the girl had sewn up the poor woolen product as best she could, somewhere there were pale stains from frequent washing, and in general for such a long time of wear pastel pink became dirty-pink. Usually Ray did not see what the girl wore, he only left her money, and what to buy with it she decided for herself. Seeing how his sister looked, he felt a little guilty for wearing a rather expensive red suit, even though it was almost the only thing he wore, he still felt like he'd screwed up a little. Ray was always sure he was doing the right thing. If he felt good, then he was doing it right. The guy rarely thought about the well-being of his family, his mom and dad worked, got good money, his sister didn't need anything, so why worry about anything? And at the moment when his whole pyramid of serenity collapsed and he had to make serious decisions, he did everything wrong. Even though he had been taught from childhood how and what was the right thing to do, he had never learned anything. And now, for the first time in years, he made a really good decision. Lyra had already finished making breakfast, just as she thought she would, Lulu woke up as soon as he smelled the sweet smell of milk. The boy was just as surprised by Ray's presence in the house, but he didn't ask anything and just sat down next to him at the table. The girl set the plates on the table, and in the center rested the wicker basket of washed apples that Mai had brought yesterday. “Lulu, Ray and I are going into town today and you'll be home alone,” the girl decided to warn her friend. “Wow, I didn't think you'd even be home today,” the brunet was slightly annoyed that some little kid decided to shame him and hint at dishonesty. His whole family had decided to pick on him today, but he deserved it. So humbly he listened to everything against him. The boy didn't like Ray and showed it often, at the very least he didn't like him for treating his sister horribly. Lulu didn't like it when Lyra cried over the idiot, so one trip to town couldn't change his mind about the boy. “I hope you get something tasty!” he exclaimed, already turning to Lyra. The girl smiled sweetly at him and nodded softly. The family breakfast was over. The brunette said goodbye to her friend, asking her to do some chores around the house. Ray hurried his sister as fast as he could, the shopping trip they had a long way to go. “Sooner we start, sooner we finish,” the boy thought. Finally the girl finished telling her friend what to do and how to do it. Now these two were walking down the street in almost absolute silence, only the voices of passers-by and the city noise did not let them finally drown in awkwardness. Ray simply did not know how to start a dialog, and Lyra was afraid to say anything to her brother, she knew perfectly well that any word could make him mad. But still she dared to ask a question: “Ray, where are we going?” the girl though she knew the area, but where exactly they were going, she had no guesses. “To a clothing store, I don't think you've been there.” Lyra remained silent. She really hardly knew any clothing salons, the last place with luxury items she had been to was Mai's mother's hat shop. She didn't go there often, only when she was visiting a friend, and she was there rarely, because she didn't want to embarrass their family, she was always told that everything was fine, but despite the fact that she used to live well, the girl grew up modest, unlike her brother. And now she froze in horror when Ray brought her to one of the best and luxurious places. The rich and stately could afford to buy clothes there, but not like them. “Ray are you crazy! I'm not going in there!” the girl tugged her brother's arm as he was about to open the door and walk in. “What's the matter?” the boy really didn't understand what was so surprising to Lyra. “I mean, everything is really expensive there. We'd rather spend that money on something we need than on some stuff,” rationality was both Lyra's minus and plus. But it was always a minus for Ray, he hated bickering with his sister about it, but now he tried to talk her down gently. “I realize this isn't the time to spend so much money. But we've already spent quite a bit...” Lyra glared at her brother with a disapproving look, forcing her to tell the truth. “...Okay, I've spent quite a lot. But now I want to do something for you and Lulu, something really good,” the boy smiled sweetly, looking into his sister's very soul. For the first time in a long time, she felt warmth in her chest. For a second her heart stopped at her brother's words, tear drops appeared in her eyes, the blush that had once descended was back on her cheeks, and her lips spread into a warm smile. The girl threw herself into Ray's arms. For a long time she had dreamed about this, she did not need huge money, expensive gifts, fame or universal recognition. She just wanted to feel her brother's love again, the love she had once felt. “So, if you haven't forgotten, we still have to buy you the prettiest dress,” the boy took his sister's hand and led the way. A bell on the door jingled as shoppers entered. Immediately from somewhere a full woman with long bright red hair, even a little bit of red, came flying towards them, she looked to be about forty years old. She was dressed in the usual uniform worn by all the employees of this salon, it was a black vest with a white shirt and a dark skirt just below the knee. Despite her appearance she greeted Lyra and Ray warmly. “Welcome to our salon! How may I help you?” “Good afternoon, we would like to purchase a dress for a girl,” Lyra hid behind her brother, she often did that when she was little. For too long she had been serious and grown up for her fifteen years, now she wanted to be under someone's protection again. But stepping out from behind the boy's back still had to be done. “Hello,” the girl greeted timidly. “What kind of dress would you like, sweetheart?” the woman smiled warmly at the girl, making her feel comfortable. “I don't know,” Lyra really didn't know what she would like, it had been so long since she had been asked about her desires that she had forgotten all about them. “Then we have a long job ahead of us. And you, young man, you may sit down for now,” the woman pointed to a soft white couch near the fitting rooms. The clacking of heels on the white parquet filled the space, the lady kept walking around the room and picking out dresses that might fit the skinny girl. Lyra herself just stood around and waited for her to finish, looking around the salon, which made her feel even more out of place. And she could understand, the whole room looked quite rich: crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, expensive clothes hung everywhere, somewhere at the other end of the hall were racks with branded shoes. Finally Lyra was instructed to go to the fitting room and a couple of dresses were slipped into her hands. Ray smiled as the girl carried the clothes carefully, almost breathlessly. “Lyra, can I help you?” the girl walked into one of the fitting rooms. “Young man, if she suddenly needs help, she'll call me,” the woman immediately snapped at the boy. “Actually I'm her brother” Ray clearly didn't understand the reason for such a statement. “All the more reason to let her call me, don't embarrass your sister!” the lady snorted unhappily towards the guy, forcing him back to his seat. “Honey, I'm right here if you need me,” she walked over to the fitting room Lyra was in. “Excuse me, what's your name?” the girl knew she would definitely need help, but she didn't want to keep addressing the woman as ‘you’. “Right, I completely forgot to introduce myself, forgive my manners dear. My name is Margaret, call me if you need me,” the lady had already run off somewhere and Lyra gingerly glanced at the dresses and began trying them on. The first one was lush and pink, all studded with rhinestones and some stones. The girl carefully pulled it on, but it took forever for her to sort out the lining and the chiffon netting over the skirt. She slipped her hands into the three-quarter sleeves and the hardest thing left was the zipper. Of course, she couldn't do it without Margaret's help. Lyra walked out of the fitting room, she felt extremely embarrassed as she showed the outfit to her brother. She was even more embarrassed when he laughed involuntarily as he looked at his sister. “So what are you laughing about? You better tell me how you like it!” resented Lyra, clearly expecting a different reaction. “Very pretty, you look like a little princess,” her brother continued to laugh, looking at his sister's overly childish appearance, yes he loves to mock her. “That's it, I'm off.” The girl went into the fitting room again, finding a few more dresses there, although there were originally two, she sighed tiredly. The next dress Lira tried on was about the same style, only this time it was bright purple with a wide belt, on which a large silk flower was neatly stitched. The girl did not even leave the fitting room, this dress was worse than the previous one. It looked like a sack of potatoes on her. Although the product itself was beautiful, but on Lyra it lost all its beauty. After trying on at least twenty dresses with puffy skirts and bright colors, after hearing a lot of sarcastic jokes from her brother in her direction, she finally realized what she wanted. The girl called out to Margaret, who was already inconsolable, for everything she brought Lyra either didn't like or didn't fit. “Excuse me Margaret, could you come over here?” “Sure honey, what is it?” the woman looked into the fitting room, taking the dresses that again the girl didn't like. “I figured out which dress I want.” “Well, finally, honey! I thought I couldn't wait, tell me, what do you wish for?” the lady interrupted the girl, but still let her finish. “I would like something simple. Not opulent, not sparkly, not flashy, not bright and without any stones or rhinestones,” Lyra used to love such dresses, but as time went on, her love for it waned. Margaret pondered the girl's wish for a while, and when she remembered one such item, she immediately ran off somewhere deeper into the hall. The woman returned, holding exactly what the girl wanted. Lyra's eyes lit up with desire, she fell in love with this dress at first sight. Hurriedly putting it on, she ran out of the fitting room to show Ray, who had been sitting there all this time waiting for his sister to like something. And this time he was truly surprised. Lyra looked beautiful, any fashionista right now would envy the girl's gracefulness. She was wearing a neat little black sleeveless dress, the collar of which was adorned with a white sewn-on ribbon with a small bow. “That's the best dress I've ever seen you wear,” still she waited for the first compliment from Ray. “Thanks, I really like it too!” The girl spun around in front of the mirror some more, but remembering where they were now, she decided to look at the price tag that was attached to the side. Immediately her blue eyes were filled with both sadness and horror, the dress cost sixty-seven pounds, that was outrageous money for them. Lyra visibly wilted and went to the fitting room, Ray noticed the sudden change in his sister's mood and rushed to find out the reason. “Lyra what are you doing? What's wrong?” the boy stopped the girl, holding her shoulder. “It's expensive. We won't be able to buy it,” the guy glanced at the price tag and grinned, causing his sister to look at him in incomprehension. “And you call this expensive? It's pennies! Don't worry, we'll buy this dress, especially it suits you very well,” Ray tried to calm Lira, which he did very well. The girl hugged her brother tightly again, and he didn't mind the hug. Their idyll was broken by a lady who returned with some kind of pink box. “This dress is the most expensive one we have, especially since it's new, so it comes with discounted shoes. I could barely find your size!” the woman was clearly a professional, since she could determine Lyra's shoe size just by looking at her feet. “And how much will it add up to?” the guy inquired. “If you're going to take it, we can count everything at the checkout.” The brunet sent the girl off to change, and went to the checkout with Margaret himself. Lyra carefully removed and hung the dress on the rack. As she left the fitting room, she heard Ray discussing something with the lady. “Ray, is everything okay?” “Yeah, everything's great. Just had a few words with her.” The girl carefully placed the dress on the table next to the box. The woman began to count, occasionally pressing the buttons of the weighty cash register, finally she voiced the amount. “The total due will be exactly one hundred pounds,” Margaret finished counting and shifted her gaze from the cash register to Ray, waiting for his response. The woman didn't notice Lyra's fright; sixty-seven pounds was a lot of money to her, and she didn't even dare to think about a hundred. The boy silently took out two bills from his wallet, which was in his pants pocket, and paid for the purchase. The woman neatly folded everything into a bag with the symbolism of the salon and gave it to Lira. “Wear it with pleasure. Come to us again!” The girl carefully took the bag by the handles. She and her brother said goodbye to the lady just as warmly and left the store. Lyra didn't think Ray would give her such a gift, apparently his words weren't nothing. The rest of the day they went shopping, Ray didn't know what to buy, so Lira was in charge almost everywhere, whether it was a vegetable store or a butcher shop. It was nearing evening when they returned home, it had long since gotten dark outside, only the streetlights illuminated everything with their warm yellow light. There were hardly any people left, only couples in love strolling around the colorful square. Lyra walked and chatted with her brother as he carried the heavy bags of groceries. Barely as Ray carried everything home, the girl hurriedly opened the door so as not to torment her brother. As soon as the lock clicked, the boy immediately ran home and put the bags on the kitchen table. Lulu reacted to the noise near the door, so immediately got ready to greet the late family members. As soon as Lyra showed up in the doorway, the kid rushed over to hug his friend and ask what they had bought. “You're finally back, I was beginning to worry, what did you buy there?” “You have no idea Lulu, but we bought so much stuff,” the girl carefully placed the bag with the dress on the bed and tiredly plopped down on the couch. With one sentence the boy's curiosity could not be quelled so easily. “What's in that bag over there?” “There's the world's most marvelous dress in there! I'll be sure to show it to you later,” the girl smiled involuntarily, remembering the whole day today. “That's all wonderful, of course, but we still have dinner to make. Or rather, for you,” Ray sat down next to Lyra and began to command, which clearly did not please the girl. “Actually, you're not the boss here, so don't boss me around!” the brunette expressed her displeasure, and the guy just went along with it. Well, no, then no. He didn't have the energy to argue with her anyway. Lulu and Lyra began to discuss something heatedly, and often their evenings went on like this. Over a lively conversation with a cup of tea, only now they were joined by Rei as well. But for some reason he didn't feel that family atmosphere, the relaxation was bypassing him, but a sense of unease was growing with every second. It seemed to the guy that something was wrong, and it was not the usual anxiety about “forgot to buy something”, it was a feeling that something not the most pleasant thing was about to happen. As it turned out, the sixth sense didn't fail. There was a loud knock on the door. Lyra and Lulu immediately fell silent, and the knock came again, though this time it wasn't a knock, but a fist pounding on the door. The serenity that had been in the air before immediately evaporated. The girl did not understand what kind of people could have come to them at such a late hour. It was obviously not Mai, first of all, she would not allow herself to linger so long somewhere, and secondly, the little girl hardly has such power. Lyra looked at her brother incomprehensibly, you could tell from his startled look that he knew something. “Ray, who is it?” the boy remained silent. Low male voices were heard outside the door, and these men were clearly up to something naughty. The banging and whispering stopped for a couple minutes, but it was just the calm before the storm. The man kicked the heavy wooden door open with his foot, and the girl jumped off the couch, pulling Lulu with her and hiding him behind her back. Rei, on the other hand, rushed toward the two men who had so unceremoniously broken into the stranger's home. Those two men had done nothing but tear the place apart. In front of the eyes of the people living in this house appeared men of very tall and muscular build. They were wearing rather expensive clothes, one was in a black suit, and the other in a dark gray turtleneck and classic pants, although they had just taken out the door, but they looked quite neat. The two men entered the house, and as soon as the man in the turtleneck saw Ray, he immediately flashed a row of white teeth, his lips parted in a predatory smile, and his eyes glinted maliciously in the semi-darkness. “Ray, it's so good to see you. Why don't you open up to guests? Yeah, you should learn hospitality from your friends,” the man walked deeper into the house as his partner stood on the threshold. “I can see you're in a bit of shock, I understand. Our master wasn't too happy when he saw how much you owed him either. So when are you going to pay back your debt?” “I'll pay it all back,” the boy finally babbled in a stuttering voice. “I just need time, I don't have any right now...” “We're tired of waiting,” the man interrupted Ray, his soft tone immediately changing to cold and rough. “Either you repay your debt now, or you pay another way.” “That'll do, tell him so, the money'll do,” the lad continued to bite his interlocutor's teeth in, without at all considering the meaning of his words about ”paying differently.” “You're right not to understand me. I'll say it again,” the man's patience was running out. “Mister doesn't want to wait a second longer while you sit around in a dirty casino for all your dough! If you don't remember, I'll remind you how much you owe him!” the ambo's patience was wearing thin, he was about to punch the guy, but instead he kicked the chair, which flew off into the wall, showing that if Ray started talking nonsense one more time, it would be about the same for him. “But I don't have any money right now! I can't pay off the debt right now!” The interlocutor took a couple of breaths and calmed down slightly, continuing the dialog. “Well, then you'll give it differently,” the man turned to his partner to give the order. “Grab the girl!” Lyra, who had been watching with horror at everything that was now happening around her, was more frightened than before. She pushed her friend aside so that the big man wouldn't do anything to him, and she backed away. The man came closer and closer, until the girl hit the wall, when she had nowhere to retreat, he began to reach out to grab her fragile little body.       But she fought back desperately, and even tried to run away, but didn't have time to dodge the tenacious grip. Lulu couldn't stand to see his best friend being dragged somewhere by some ambo, with all the strength he had, he jumped on the man's back and started hitting him wherever he could. Of course, the little guy's blows were like mosquito bites to him. Without much strain, he held the struggling girl with one hand and threw the boy aside with the other. Lulu fell to the floor in pain, a large bruise on his knee, but that didn't stop him from trying again to free Lira from his grip. As the man headed for the exit, the boy got up again and lunged at the ambo, this time hanging onto his arm and biting his exposed wrist. Droplets of blood immediately appeared at the site of the bite. The bulky man cried out painfully, but to him it was nothing more than a scratch. “I've had enough of you, kid!” The man pulled a sharp knife from somewhere from a pouch on his belt and slashed the boy somewhere around the neck. The little breathless body fell to the creaky wooden floor, the light in his eyes went out, a scarlet puddle grew under the kid, his whole face turned pale, and his ribcage sank and would never rise again. It was worth Lira forgetting about one death, as a new one came before her eyes. Tears rushed from her eyes, she had already forgotten everything that had happened before. “No! Let me go! Lulu, no! Let go!” the girl tried to slip out of the man's arms, but she was having a hard time doing so. She kicked at the broad back, but all to no avail. The veil finally descended over her eyes, all she saw was her little friend, who had been with her all this time, who had kept her from being sad, lying in a pool of her own blood and gradually drifting away, disappearing from her life forever. Ray turned at his sister's screams and froze in utter horror. He completely lost control of himself when he saw the dead body and the scarlet liquid everywhere. The guy couldn't move, he had to save his sister, but his legs wouldn't obey him. All he could do was watch some big man carry Lyra away. He could feel the other man he had been talking to just a few minutes ago shaking him by the shoulders. “You don't give us the money back, we'll kill her. Understand?” the man looked into the dazed guy's eyes, the guy only nodded silently. “All right then.” The man walked out of the house, Lyra's screams were already heavily muffled. It wasn't worth causing panic among the people who lived nearby, so the men tried to drown out the girl as much as possible. A couple minutes later Ray heard the roar of an engine, the stupor had only now receded, running out into the street he saw an expensive car that drove off rather quickly in an unknown direction.