Part 1: Denial - Episode 2

"Elias, was it?" Hope's tone of voice was soft and even. Her dense, curly hair was tucked behind her left ear. Elias studied her movements, he often found himself doing this in admiration of his mother, back when he was small. Occasionally Elias wondered how she was, if she missed him. It wouldn't be like her to not miss him, however. Satisfied with this, Elias let out a quiet exhale.

"Kid?" Hope was now turned slightly towards him, a puzzled expression displayed on her face. "Kid?" Elias repeated, confused, "What's your name, it's Elias, right?" Hope acknowledged, "Uh, yes," Elias replied. Hope nodded, a small smile across her face. She was extremely composed, her flawless, russet skin glowed in the gentle light emitted from the warm-light lamp

"Right," Hope began, "I need you to get these things," Hope handed Elias another list, but this time, it was on a different paper to the piece Lloyd wrote on.

Scanning the list, Elias looked back at her, "You want, what, feathers and berries? How is that sufficient payment?" Hope interrupted Elias' monologue, "You don't question it, okay? It works for me." She now fully turned towards Elias, "You have 4 days," Hope lowered her voice slightly, "Not that William would have 4 days to live without the medicine," She straightened her glasses, "Listen, because William needs this, I can get it in today," Hope's tone was now back to her usual jovial, happy note, "Just hurry, okay? Be glad I'm not getting you to sift through the dirt for gold," She laughed, "Now go," Hope guestured to the door of her cabin, the interior was not at all like Lloyd's. Lloyd had more of a minimalistic touch, whereas Hope appeared to have paintings, lamps and rugs.
          "Wait, Hope," Elias pleaded, "I have one more question," Hope looked at him, "What's your question?" She leaned on the table she was next to, listening intently, "What is..." Elias hesitated, wracking his brains for the name, "What is Bad Habits?" Hope had an astonished look on her face, "Thy Bad Habits," Hope's expression dropped, deadly serious, similar to an expression Elias imagined William would make. "The big cat thing, yeah," Elias replied, somewhat concerned by the reaction Hope had at him mentioning the creature. "That thing, Elias, that thing will kill you," Hope adjusted her glasses again, "We don't know much about it, but it's practically indestructible. Half of the City District doesn't even know what it is," She shook her head. "Go, Elias, just be careful. This place is deadly."

The path back to Lloyd's cabin was rough and battered, but Lloyd said it was safer than the main path. It had been about 2 hours since Elias had left Hope's, but he simply could not find the feathers he needed. He'd imagined Thy Bad Habits could've consumed most of the nearby wildlife. Elias scanned the ground as he walked, stopping to pick up and examine a feather. "Quality," He whispered to himself, sliding the feather into his slightly ajar backpack pocket.

As Elias looked up, he whipped around as he heard a low buzzing sound. Thy Bad Habits was close to him. Without any rocks, nor anywhere to throw said rocks Elias had no idea whatsoever of how to deter the beast. And with its distance, it wasn't even visible. Elias caught movement in his peripheral vision, spinning around yet again, but the buzzing seemed further in this direction.
          Elias sucked in a breath, he could run, but the sound would alert Thy Bad Habits, God knows how fast it is. Elias backed up against a tree, gripping his knife. It was a kitchen knife, and not a strong one, at that. When Elias left The City District, he knew where he was going, and he knew it was dangerous, but he could not have guessed how dangerous.

Elias edged around the tree, his heart pounding, the sound echoing to his ears. The buzzing neared, Elias closed his eyes. It had been a minute or two, he opened his eyes as he heard a shuffle behind him. As Elias glanced over his shoulder, he locked eyes with Thy Bad Habits. He was aware it had a mouth, but an eye was in place of the mouth. Without blindness, the creature would be nearly impossible to trick. Elias had no prior training in combat, was it ever needed in the city? No, the city was full of useless commoners. The night was lighter now, nearing morning. Who knows how much sleep Elias had gotten in the last week, likely scratching at barely an hour.
          Thy Bad Habits launched at Elias, pinning him to the ground, he coughed, the wind knocked out of him. He watched in terror as Thy Bad Habits' eye closed, before morphing and twisting into an all but empty mouth. Empty, except for a set of razor sharp, shining teeth.

The creature growled as Elias reached for his kitchen knife, putting it to the beast's ankles. It flinched from the pain, lifting a sizable paw, the claws flexed. Elias slashed the other paw of the monster, rolling under it and making a run for the cabin. Elias was slightly puzzled, why was his knife so effective and William's dagger was not? The creature was unexpected, unpredictable, but Elias suspected that surprise was a vital factor of this forest. This place is one that should not exist, and the same goes to Thy Bad Habits...

The path was overgrown and uneven, who knows if it was even safer than the main path if Elias ran into Thy Bad Habits. Still slightly dazed, Elias focused on running. The cabin was in view, he sucked in a breath and continued, slowing to a jog as he approached. Elias precariously opened the door to the cabin, making William's piercing hazel eyes shoot open.

"Don't do that," William spat, rolling his eyes in annoyance before continuing to read his book. The book was a regular size, Elias could recognise the title Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Elias had no idea William had a passion for classic literature, but could appreciate it nonetheless. Yet Elias grew more concerned as he looked at William's face. It was pale, he looked sickly. It was not normal for a wound to do this to someone.
          "Is it infected?" Elias could not help but ask, William looked up, gently closing the book, putting it on the table, "No," he said flatly. "Good," Elias smiled slightly, but the gesture wasn't returned. William was sitting in bed, so Elias approached, and quietly sat cross-legged next to the bed. "What do you want?" William groaned, "Do you need something?" Elias queried, "Water?" He continued. William shook his head, but not sending Elias off.

...

The night was thick. The moon was dim. The gloomy morning was near. Elias lay in a light sleep on the top bunk, but a cold hand shook him awake. Startled, he sat up, "Elias," Lloyd exclaimed, an alarmed tone in his voice. Lloyd's eyes, the left green and the right blue, stared in oddly controlled panic, "Get up, William's gone unconscious and you need to go to Hope, now," Elias' stomach dropped. He had a jumper and his jeans on, he slid the jumper off, tying it around his waist and putting on his t-shirt. "Take your knife, it might not be that effective but it's better than nothing," Lloyd muttered, "Thy Bad Habits' sleeping pattern is unclear, but it shouldn't be nocturnal. It will be out there, so be careful." Elias nodded as he took in the information, sliding on his boots. "I will be back. Stay with William... A wound shouldn't do this to someone," Elias glanced at William's unconscious body as he spoke before slamming the door shut behind him.

Elias set off, seemingly faster than ever. He'd lost people before, but it'd never bothered him much, they were never close. But Elias could sense something in William, a sense that he would be valuable. He couldn't lose William. Losing consciousness was typical for blood loss, but no matter how 'normal' fainting may be, this wound is not. The trees thinned as Elias approached Hope's cabin. Eventually, it was in sight. He burst through the door, time was scarce, and knocking was a waste. Hope was reading what looked like a magazine, a burst of bright colours on the somewhat shiny cover.

"Elias," Hope jumped at the intrusion, "Knock!"
          "Give me the fucking medicine. Right now." Elias' face was serious, an uncommon expression. Hope haphazardly nodded, hastily making her way to the table with a small, white, paper bag on top. "The instructions are inside, but you take-" Hope was cut off as Elias snatched the bag, seemingly already on his way out.

William's situation did not seem that harrowing on the surface, but Elias had learnt to trust his gut after highschool. After about 15 minutes of sprinting, running and out-of-breath jogging, Elias burst through the front door of the cabin. Lloyd turned to Elias as he barged in, taking the bag from his hand. "Elias, thank you," Lloyd nodded as he skimmed the short list of instructions.

William's eyelids opened wearily, his hazel eyes softened as the light of the lamp shone down on him. "William," a voice spoke quietly, yet evenly, "Get some sleep," the voice whispered. William looked to his left, only to see Elias in his armchair. William was too tired to argue, if he was to heal he needed as much rest as he could get.
          It was odd for William to live in a full cabin now, it'd only been 3 months since it was just Lloyd and himself for the first time. Elias had only stayed in the cabin for 12 hours, maybe more, maybe less. "You've been unconscious all day," Elias chuckled slightly after he spoke, "I'll let you get some more sleep."

...

William stood in front of the entryway to the kitchen, tears brimming in his eyes, "Why are you like this?!"
          "It's not my fault nothing I say actually gets through your thick skull, Will! You don't listen to me." At this statement, William paused. One tear fell. He took a step closer to Abel, whose crystal blue eyes were a distressed mix of fear and anger. "It was never my responsibility to teach you how to use your goddamn words, Abel," William spat. "You're like a child sometimes. I swear to God,"
          "Says you!" Abel snapped, "Grow up, Will, it's not that hard. Grow. Up," he turned, dropping his dagger on the ground. The clattering of the blade shattering brought William to his senses, he stood idle for a few minutes. As he opened his eyes and wiped his tears, he inhaled sharply. He jumped past the shattered weapon, leaping out the door.

"...Abel...?" William hesitated.

The second tear fell.

And so did William...