The voice… No, her voice grew silent as Auri dragged me through the garden. After the last barrage she had attacked me with, her voice seemed content to remain silent. I wasn’t sure how long that would remain to be true, but I was thankful.

We headed in the direction that Ross and rest of the kids had slowly wandered off to. Auri took special care not to approach them. She even forced me to duck behind a bush of yellow flowers as we passed by.

We ended up approaching the storage shed that Ross had used when I first met him. “Awair,” she called out, “Close your eyes and pwease don’t peek...”

I hesitantly followed Auri’s instructions. Once I heard her turn her back, I opened my eyes into tiny slits to see what she was doing. This action may have been a small betrayal to the little girl, but I needed to know how to get inside.

I felt a little guilty, but I forced myself to ignore the emotion.

Auri pushed against the wall, sliding her tiny hands into a small slit. I glanced at my own hands, I wasn’t sure they were small enough to do the same action. Maybe I could use a stick instead.

The wall split in two. It wasn’t a loud rumble like those in movies, but a silent movement on well-oiled hinges. This secret passage was either super new or had been used frequently in the last few years. Then again, it wouldn’t make much sense for a secret passageway to be noisy. If it groaned when everyone used it, it wouldn’t be long before it wasn’t a secret anymore.

“Okay, Awair,” Auri turned around, “You can open your eyes now.”

I had quickly shut them after I had seen her starting to turn around. I must not have been quick enough since she was staring up at me with an accusatory glare. “You peeked didn’t you, Awair.”

I shook my head.

“Are you lying?”

I shook my head again.

Her bright and cheerful smile returned again. “Okay, Awair. Wet’s go!” She grabbed my pant leg and once again dragged me into the opening. Light didn’t carry far into the passage. It grew darker as the entrance started to slowly seal itself.

I felt her grip tighten. “It’s okay, Awair. This happens every time. The dark place is only a little farther.”

I was suddenly glad that I was hemophobic instead of achluophobic. Being afraid of the dark wouldn’t help me in this type of situation.

“Auri, aren’t you scared?” I asked.

I could barely see her shake her head, “No, I’m not scared. The first time was scawwy, but not anymore.” She tightened her grip once again on my pant leg. It was clear she was lying.

I set my hand against the wall to keep what balance I had. The walls and floors slowly covered themselves in a velvety moss as we made our way down. Each footsteps sunk slightly into the flora, causing a constant squelch as we walked. The noise didn't echo, but that only made the dark hallway all the more foreboding. It felt like the hallway was going to eat us alive.

I set my free hand on top of her head, lightly ruffling her hair. The warmth of my hand seemed to calm her down a bit. Her grip relaxed, although it was still quite tight.

“It doesn’t make sense,” I said.

The little girl looked up toward me, my hand still resting on her head. “What doesn't make sense, Awair?”

“Why would you go in here?” It made sense she would overcome her fear to meet her friend, especially since she claimed to have so few of them, but that wouldn’t be true the first time around. The first time would have been only her and the black hallway; a hallway without echoes, a hallway without an end. I didn’t understand how a kid, especially one as young as her, could have entered here alone.

“I heard crying.”

“Huh?”

“The day I swipped and the door opened for the first time, I heard crying. Of course I was scared. But… but… even if it was scawwy, someone other than me was crying… I didn’t know what to do. So I… I fowwowed the noise.”

I nodded, still trying to understand. What made someone act like a hero? Was there any point to it? Was there any point in putting yourself in danger to help another person? Even if you didn’t know if that person needed help?

I looked down at Auri. This little girl wouldn’t have thought of any of that. She would only have wanted to help someone in need.

“Awair,” Auri said, stopping in place, “We’re here.”

I looked around in the darkness. There was no change from before. The hallway still appeared to stretch to infinity, the darkness eating the far end of the path.

The little girl giggled, grabbing my hand and pulling it toward the wall. I was forced to bend at the knees to prevent myself from falling. I could feel a small latch, something that I would have easily missed if I had gone inside this dark place by myself.

I heard something click and a small red light flared up to the side. The light coming from the flame showcased the green moss in a heavier tinge of red. It wasn’t so bad that it would bother me. It was just moss after all.

Auri held me in place as the ground in front of us slowly dropped. Each step would offer another clank as the stairway sank. The noise this time was muffled by all the moss and still managed to echo down the barely lit chamber.

The sickening stench of copper slowly rose from the open pathway the new set of stairs created. Auri happily pulled me down into the depths of the darkness. The copper stench grew stronger as we headed further down.

The staircase lead us into what looked like a study. A small section of the room had several bookcases filled to the brim with books, leaning over a small isolated desk. However, most of the room had been covered in large metal cages. The cages were open and empty, storing nothing inside.

Auri frowned, “Elle isn’t here today. She is normally on that side of the room.” The little girl pointed to the giant cage.

I nodded in understanding, glancing around nervously. I couldn’t be sure someone wasn’t already in the room. Auri didn’t seem to understand my worry and was once again pulling my pant leg.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Elle said to never stay down here when she’s not here. Bad people might show up.”

I glanced back up the staircase and grimaced. What I originally thought was moss, was something far more twisted. Red lumps of shredded flesh rested on the staircase, mixing in with green moss.

Hemophobia +5

Auri looked at the staircase like it was the most common thing in the world. I wished I was as innocent as the girl, to be able to look at something visibly grotesque and still be able to remain calm. I placed my hand against my mouth, willing myself to hold back a gag.

“Awair?” Auri asked, yanking on my leg. That tiny force was enough to cause me to stumble. I fell forward and only managed to catch myself from landing on the ground by using a desk further inside the room.

The ground terrified me. Not an inch was free from the red of dried wine. I couldn’t allow myself to faint. If I fainted, I would end up resting amongst it.

Auri continued to call out my name. The noise barely echoed through my ears.

I faked a smile, “I’ll be right up after you.”

“Why?” The little girl asked.

Why? I scanned for an excuse, picking up a decrepit old book from the bookshelf. “I just need to read this for a bit.”

“A book?”

I nodded, “A book that I’m not allowed to take out from here.” It was a lie. The sole reason I didn’t leave was because I didn’t trust my legs to carry me. The ground was covered in red.

“B-but, Elle told me not to stay here.”

“Did she mention me?”

Auri shook her head, “No…”

“Then it should be fine, right?”

She nodded, “Be carefuw…”

I closed my eyes for a moment, regaining my calm. By the time I opened them again, Auri was no longer in the room. The staircase showed no sign of hiding itself again, but I doubted I would be able to use it to leave anyway.

Unable to leave the room, I focused my attention on the book in my hand. If I had been thinking logically, I would have escaped from here as quickly as possible, but my sanity was already at its limit.

The book turned out to be more of a diary. The text inside was written by hand, each entry dated, telling of some of the events that had happened in the writer’s life. The author’s name had been written on the inside of the cover: Fabian Eilert. Most of the stuff he wrote was boring and did nothing to distract me from the red.

Not like anything could.

Who knows? If you keep reading, you might find something worth learning about.

Like how to kill someone on their first date.

Her voice joyfully toyed with me. It spoke the words I wished to hide from with the same voice I longed for.

I quickened my mindless and frantic turn of the pages. As long as something within it drew my interest, I could chase away my fears. As long as something withdrew me, I could once again hide from what needed to be seen.

I got my wish.

I really wish I hadn’t.

March 1

Requiem. That wasn’t the first time I heard the term, but this was the first time I saw the monstrosity it was linked to. Soldiers upon soldiers were fighting tooth and nail to keep a single individual from killing them all. The individual wasn’t even originally that strong, being nothing more than a nameless child mere days before.

How has this child managed to gain such power? Why is such a child attacking us right now?

Oh… It looks like the journal had something of interest after all.

Looks like we can finally learn why the Marquess wanted those kids.

March 8

We finally managed to subdue the child. Our losses were staggering. Out of the 150 soldiers deployed, 90 had been killed. The death count would have been more if our priests hadn’t been keeping us alive.

The child… the child is weird. He seems… normal. He isn’t as rabid as his earlier fighting made him out to be. We are currently in the midst of interrogating him. Perhaps we can figure out how he came to acquire this power.

We had heard rumors about ‘Requiem’, but none of us actually believed them. Is this the reason why the Count had acquired those beasts?

March 10

We have learned the process to acquire the [Requiem]. It is not as complex as we had thought. You merely require to have a ghoul ‘curse’ the human in question. We have started our own experimentations with our own captured ghoul. Nothing so far has given us the results we wanted.

Each subject has experienced immense pain before forcefully terminating themselves. A sudden increase of strength seemed enough to allow them to snap their own heads. Those that we restrained had met death… in other more gruesome ways. I’m unwilling to write them here.

April 15

We have discovered the cause of our folly. The test subjects are too old to survive the changes brought on by the curse. We are unwilling to test on children, so we will be dropping the matter here.

No matter what anyone says, we are still human. We will not attack the innocents.

“What the hell is this!?” I screamed.

The reasoning behind their capture.

I thought that was obvious, you idiot.

Well, we already knew everything written here except for the potency of the curse. The conversation from those two last night already said this much.

I didn’t notice myself breathing a sigh of relief. “Right, I remember that. They were complaining that they couldn’t use the children.”

Well, it seems they will still be alive till you get around to killing them.

Stab, Stab, Stabbidy stab, the knife sinks slowly into my chest.

I slammed my fist into the table. A large snap was heard as a crack spread diagonally across it. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, forcing myself to chase the voice away. I could feel the cold metal against my hand, the illusionary knife finding its way into my grasp.

Hehehe, is little Aren actually close to breaking?

Isn’t it about time you joined me?

It just takes one little knife thrust.

Right to the heart.

The table’s crack deepened, taking a shallow dip towards the ground. If a little more force was applied, the table would have split in two. A small envelope with a broken wax seal sat crumpled underneath my fist.

I lifted my hand slowly. The seal was of the same flowers currently imprinted on my uniform. A slight chill ran up my back. I ignored the prodding of the voice and slowly opened the letter.

“SHIT!!!” I screamed, taking to the stairs, letter still in hand. The flesh covering the steps had completely escaped my notice. Even hemophobia had its priorities... My hemophobia feared the fresh spill of blood more than blood long dried.

Ranthus,

It seems I have not been thinking clearly as of late. You know as well as I the importance that this mission succeeds. We cannot let the country fall because of such irrationality. It is only my pride and ignorance that has allowed me to continue to act in this manner.

It has been two weeks since we caught those children. And in those two weeks my hope that the mission would succeed has dwindled. I no longer see the possibility of leaving the children alone.

We need them.

We cannot let the city fall because of my foolish desire to keep them safe. I grant you permission to use the kids. As always, I wish for quick and prompt action. We cannot allow the clock to tick by anymore than it already has.

-M.S

I swept through the black hallway, paying no attention to what lay in front of me. I was glad for the straight pathway. As I ran, my shoulder skidded against the wall occasionally as I slowly skewed off into the sides as I ran.

A fierce pain ran down my face as I planted face first into the wall.

I’ve heard of running headfirst into your goals, but this is the first time someone has taken it so literally.

Nursing my throbbing nose with one hand, I felt around the area in front of me. After coming in contact with the smooth wall, I couldn’t help but be a little glad. Sure, I had no idea how to get past it; but thankfully I hadn’t run into some moss instead. The wall that stood before me was the entrance and hopefully exit of the hallway.

“Where is the trick to opening this thing?” I muttered.

The wall didn’t give way no matter how much I shoved against it. The wall was only as wide as my arm span, so I should have been able to find the trigger easily enough. Especially since a kid as young as Auri had found it before.

...I mentally slapped myself. Lowering myself toward the ground, I started to check the wall at a child’s height level. Finding what I was looking for, I pulled the small handle, causing the wall to slowly swing open toward me.

As I stepped outside, a small whistle could be heard as it closed itself. I took a quick glance at the normal looking wall before sprinting in the direction of Ross and the kids.

If I was late...

If I was late again...

I don’t think I would be able to wake up.

I started this dream to live.

But this dream may end up swallowing me whole.

I don’t remember passing by any flowers. It was quite possible I passed the red roses I despised so much. My back felt burdened by my fears. The indescribable weight pressed itself against me.

Yet no matter how much I ran.

No matter how much I looked for them.

No matter how much I wanted to save the kids.

I couldn’t find them. I couldn’t hear even a small chuckle. The noises of kid’s playing didn’t reach my ears. The noises of kid’s living wasn’t to be found in the small garden. The wide expanses of flowers seemed drained of color and life.

The only color mixed in with the dull grey was the vibrant red of roses. Brighter still under the fresh light of the sun.

“Shit!” I screamed, “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

At least it isn’t your fault they ended up dying.

You were just late… again.

Late to be at the place you truly needed to be.

Late to support those that needed your help.

Late so you could break your promise to that girl.

“They aren’t dead yet!” I screamed. I couldn’t accept such a reality. I couldn’t accept that such a horrid thing was happening around me. I couldn’t accept that it was all my fault. If I was just a little faster in rescuing those I said I would rescue, this entire situation could have been avoided.

If I was only a little faster.

If only I hadn’t been late again.

I continued to run through the fields. They were strangely empty, not a single worker to be found. The ones that I saw yesterday were nowhere in sight. I had no one to question, no one to ask. I was lost.

It would be all my fault.

My foot caught on something and I tumbled forward, landing face first into soft soil. I turned my gaze to what I tripped on.

It was Ross.

I swallowed hard.

He was laying on the ground, his expression calm and relaxed. His head rested comfortably against a stump of wood that surrounded one of the many patches of flowers. He laid perpendicular to the path, blocking everyone that would have come this way.

If I had been in my right mind, I wouldn’t have tripped on him.

My jaw clenched and my fist tightened. I was absolutely furious. The man that shouldered the youth, the man that had panicked when they had been even slightly injured, was pleasantly sleeping. He was sleeping without a care in the world.

The man that should have been guarding the children seems to be having a pleasant nap.

Why don’t you join him, Aren?

“Shut up,” I whispered.

What was that? the voice asked. Did you say something?

“I SAID TO SHUT UP” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I could feel her voice fading away. She came in like the tide and would return again. High tide was always the harshest. Her voice rang in my ears bringing a silent longing, a silent desire to see her again.

“Why won’t you ever shut up?” I cried.

A yawn answered me, “That’s the first time I’ve been told to shut up to wake me up. Is my snoring really that loud?” Ross asked.

I snapped forward and grabbed his expensive shirt, raising him into the air. “Where are the kids, Ross?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, “They should be right he-” he pointed to the area around him, his hand slowly dropping to hang by his side.

“Where are the kids, Ross? Why the hell are you taking a nap!?”

“Nap? ….” He paused, slowly growing stiff, “Why was I taking a nap? Why would I be taking a nap in the middle of the day?” He pinched between his nose, almost as if to focus himself. I still hadn’t let his feet touch the ground, but he seemed to be in too much of a daze to notice.

“I remember playing with the kids one moment… and then…” He froze.

“And then?”

“I saw a strange person in a red cloak off in the distance. I felt they shouldn’t be here, that they were dangerous. And my suspicions are hardly ever wrong. But when I went to call the guards… The red cloaked man drew up his hand and pointed at me...”

He looked at me as color slowly drained from his face. “I… I… fell asleep… no… I was forced to fall asleep…” he gripped the my shirt the same way I gripped his, “Where the hell are the children!?”

I let go of him and he fell to his knees.

“Shit.” I repeated again and again, “Shit. Shit. Shit. They’re going to be killed. All because that damn Marquess wants some stupid ability at his disposal.”

Ross scrunched his brow. “What do you mean?”

“The Marquess is trying to get a person infected with ‘Requiem’”

“I already know that,” Ross spat, “I’m asking you why you think they are going to get killed. They shouldn’t be involved in this. They are the only ones not allowed to be involved in this.”

“The damn Marquess ordered them to be killed.”

...A moment of silence passed between us. Ross mouth was open, gaping at the news before him. “That doesn’t make sense… The Marquess wouldn’t do that.” He mumbled.

I grabbed his shirt again, pulling him close, “What doesn’t make sense about it, you bastard. The same symbol of flowers on this stupid uniform is the seal on this note.” I still held the note in my free hand, raising it slightly into the air so Ross could see it. “How are you supposed to explain that if it wasn’t the Marquess?”

He looked down at the note in my hand. “That should be the Marquess’ seal, but…”

“But?”

“I know for a fact that he would never have written that note.”

I shoved him away. He landed in the thorny flower bush behind him. “You still have so much trust in that damn marquess.”

He brought himself to his feet. Ross was almost as enraged as I was. “You want to know how I know? You want to know how I know that man would never have signed that note? It Isn’t something so fragile as a bond of friendship. My trust in him is deeper than what I would have with my own family, for the Marquess is someone whose actions I know very well.

“I know everything that man has done in his life. I know all the choices he had made. He wouldn’t have done that… no… I… I wouldn’t have done that” Ross started to laugh, tears streaming down his face, “I’m that damn marquess.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spoiler :

As always, thanks to my PR flamarow.

And a few quick closing questions for all of you: How many of you noticed who the marquess was before this chapter? How many of you told yourself otherwise?

o/

Tui will return with more! {[999baw}]

End Chapter 8

Previous/T.O.C/Next