In the darkroom, even the ticking had a relaxed feeling, as if it was a heartbeat at rest. The darkroom was like a place out of time, a place to rest without consequence. The darkness in that way was a sanctuary, a place to recharge and forget the things the world said had to be done. Bryle in his state, eyes transfixed with horror, unable to look away no matter how much he wished to. The ache in the bottom of his gut telling him that something wasn’t right. He experienced again the terror he felt when he was younger.
"Where am I?"
Having trouble making decisions, as though distracted, he was anxious and unable to think properly. A memory suddenly appeared out of nowhere. A scene of an old memory of himself facing brutality back then when he was at the orphanage abruptly emerged. In front of him was the image of his younger self who happens to be punished and being insulted by the holy, blessed Christians known as the Catholic Nuns. Every time the children and himself were being beaten, he can't do what he solely wanted. He wanted to protect them as much as he wanted to protect himself. But one thing that made him stop doing it was because he's being cautious always. He could never get to protect them if he's this frightened and conscious.
"It hurts. I'm so sorry! We're so sorry!" little Bryle cried, holding the nun's shoes as he's being beaten.
Began to back away slowly, one hand coming up to protect him. It was the hand of hope. To think that he was delighted over a simple hand was priceless, making him get overjoyed and hopeful. He never thought that a simple hand from an unknown savior would help him face his dreams in the future. The time when he accepted the hand, the light finally dumped at his face. It is in the black of spacetime that the light was so at home. He felt warm for the first time in his life that he couldn't even describe how he should feel about it. But one thing for sure he knew, he was very grateful accepting it.
Beyond the light, a familiar figure of a man showed up, wearing a black pullover shirt with trousers at his bottom. His everlasting existence was what made Bryle exhilarated with bold confidence. By the time he approached the man, an open hug sprung up for him. Just as he expected, it was the best warmth he ever felt in his entire life.
Past the line, Bryle woke up from a rare nightmare---or a good nightmare perhaps? He wore a bright smile as if he was satisfied, dreaming about his greatest trauma and at the same time, dreaming the greatest warmth he'd ever felt.
The infirmary room's ceiling was the first thing he sees when he came to his senses. While turning around, below him, he found Leloux, nearing his ear to his stomach as if he's listening or feeling something in his gut.
"Leloux?" Bryle sat up and held his head just so he could assure he's not feeling any headaches. "What are you doing?"
By the time Bryle asked him, Leloux wasn't aware he's awake so as a result, he jumped, rising away from him in blow. He had no idea that the best time and the best place for him to make Bryle suffer in despair totally delayed when he suddenly woke up. Bryle just didn't take it seriously but of course, he was wondering as to why Leloux did that earlier. For that particular reason, he looked at him confused.
"Y-You're awake?" Leloux smiled awkwardly as his heart pumped so hard. He thought if Bryle maybe queried about it.
"I think I can't go to class today," he said, holding his stomach. "My body hurts."
Leloux cut the crap so he forgets about it all and decided to take another time to do his plan again on his own. After clearing up his mind, he approached Bryle, taking his hand, and gently touched his back just so he could support him.
"Then, can I accompany you?" he asked in a low-tone voice.
Bryle then replied, "No, forget it. I'll go on my own."
After saying that, he stood up, holding his head as if he's alright when in fact, his condition wasn't stable yet. Since Leloux was about to help him, Bryle made him stop instead since he's not in a good condition to let someone touch him for a while.
"You're not eating?" Leloux asked in a concerned way.
Bryle sighed, "I'm not in good mood to eat right now. Thanks for your concern."
Later on, he walked through the door, stumbling around, and eventually left Leloux inside the infirmary. Since he was in a hurry to go home already, he seemed to spare no time for asking permission from the professors for him to head back home. It's not like they would care about a student asking for their permission, but since this was Bryle's first time heading back home because of his body condition, he felt like he had to ask, but at the same time, he was lazy to do it.
On his way back home, it was obvious that in a broad daylight, he's tripping and often losing his balance while walking on the street. He moved like a drunk person so the people who saw him, see him as a drunken bastard. His head was spinning as if he's riding on a roller coaster, and his ear was ringing as if someone's been banging his head. He was bewildered and hurting himself. He was about to puke and about to cry. He doesn't understand why he felt this way when in fact, he just rested in the infirmary not too long ago.
"Hey, Bryle!" a man huffed, chasing him while he's on his knees. It was Leloux.
Running still, he managed to catch up on Bryle who was about to fall to the ground. Fortunately, he succeeded in supporting him before he already collapsed. Leloux squeezed Bryle as he pressed him from avoiding, slipping through the ground.
"Hey! Lift up your head!" Leloux was nervous, shaking Bryle again and again.
When he realized after a few seconds of trying to wake him up, he finally gave up and stopped waking him since Bryle fell again in a deep sleep. Like earlier, Bryle's sweat became cold again, and gradually, he became paler and paler when time passes by. Not only his face became paler, but his breath also became cooler and cooler. It made Leloux not only furrow his brow, but also wrung up his hands, pace, and sighed differently.
"It's good timing that I got here immediately. If something unfortunate that would happen to this hopeless guy, that Gerard will really kill me.," he thought while lifting up Bryle to carry him on his back.
"I'm not afraid of that bastard. I'm just following what he said," Leloux continued.
After lifting Bryle up and positioning him on his back, he slowly walked and started to follow the straight road but the case was, he doesn't know where Bryle lives. So for seconds that became minutes, and minutes became half an hour, he was still questioning himself on how he'd bring him on his way back home when he doesn't even know Bryle's address.
Leloux finally started to walk when he paused for a while and sensed something unusual. Leloux could feel that something wasn't right. He sharpened his ability and was trying to track something strange. He looked around but found nothing. Only a few people were on his way so he couldn't concentrate because of the noise. So what he did, he ran to the street corner, carrying Bryle, and hid behind the walls so that he would find the thing that caused his instinct to trigger.
"A white werewolf?" he murmured, still focusing his instincts.
After a few seconds of analyzing, he felt something behind him. Above the walls, there was a drooling, growling werewolf that obviously, wanted to attack them.
"No. It's a black werewolf!"
When he finally realized, he turned around and found out the werewolf already jumped, opening its wide, drooling mouth to certainly kill them. That moment was slowing down. It felt like the time was crawling. The timing of the werewolf and Leloux's intuition didn't match so it's likely Leloux's loss if they died.
Fortunately, after the insane werewolf was about to jump to kill them, Leloux invaded the werewolf. But sad to say, Leloux got scratched on his face and arm so he flinched while carrying Bryle who's still asleep.
"Ugh. I gotta take this seriously or else this useless will wake up," Leloux snapped in his mind.
The werewolf got unlucky. But since they were inside a corner street, where there are no people strolling around, he took the advantage to kill them. The werewolf smirked as he growled at the same time, taking this opportunity to end right away.
"Easy, boy. Easy," Leloux tried to calm down the werewolf but it didn't work.
In a while, the werewolf started to walk towards them, grumbling his thirsty mouth with his shaky teeth.
"That man behind you... has a nice smell. I'm hungry and wanted to eat that man," the werewolf gnarred.
After the werewolf had neared them, Leloux had a second thought whether he'd use his ability or not. If he will use them, for sure he and Bryle would survive, but his ability needs a human life force so, of course, he'd use Bryle as his supplier. But that would make Bryle wake up, so that choice is invalid. On the other hand, if he won't use his ability, they might end up dead in the end. So what choice did he have to choose? Use his ability or not?
"Should I run instead?" Leloux checked the street. "But it's too narrow! Shit," he clicked his tongue while thinking.
When the werewolf approached Bryle, he was like a hungry dog who wanted to devour him whole. He couldn't wait for him to eat Bryle so he grabbed Bryle's head and sniffed, licking him. For a second there, Leloux eyes turned to circle in surprise when the werewolf's head swiftly cut into pieces. The head of the werewolf fell down on the ground as if the werewolf is already dead. Blood was freshly spilled on the ground and the head was like a cut statue, freezing and lifeless. Leloux shook while carrying Bryle. He never expected that to happen.
After a while, a man fell from the sky and stomped like a hero on the ground, wearing a black pullover shirt with trousers at his bottom. He was holding a sharp sword so unmistakably, he's the one who killed the werewolf within a quick second.
"Thanks for being with my mate," the voice of the man, Vergon Cole, uttered out.
~~~~~~~~~~
Creator's Note: Hello everyone. Apparently, my novel will be having a long hiatus. Sorry for this inconvenience. I hope you guys continue supporting my novel. Thanks a lot and see you on my next update.
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