Gulp!

Calvin gulped a mouthful of saliva.

He had the urge to turn around and open his eyes out of curiosity, but he didn't dare to do so!

He wasn't a fighter and if his gaze really did meet the demon masquerading as him. His life would end right there and then!

Calvin suppressed the fear of the unknown bubbling in his heart as he turned around and squatted.

He stretched his hand out and touched the kid's cheek.

It was cold.

Ice-cold.

Calvin felt another shiver down his spine, yet his lips gave a sweet smile.

"Young man, you are probably just confused out of anger..."

"We don't look similar at all."

"Look at me, I'm already this old, yet you are still so young!"

"How about you go back to your parents right now and apologize?" 

Calvin proposed an idea. He wanted this demon to stop following him, so he had to divert this demon's attention away.

"No..."

The kid spoke in that incredibly familiar voice once again.

"I can't go back..."

"If I go back, momma will beat my ass."

"Pffft!"

Calvin almost busted a gut. Even the crude wordings were similar to him back then when he was still a child!

His memories of his childhood were vague, but he could clearly remember that he was a rebellious child.

He thought that it was cool to talk in slangs, so he proceeded to practice using such crude wordings.

But when he reached middle-school, he abandoned that habit for he realized that it made him look an attention-seeker.

As a young man who wanted to be popular with girls back then, he wanted to give off the vibe that he was a cool and indifferent young man. Unfortunately, his habit of talking in slangs already gave a lot of damage to his reputation, and even after he abandoned that habit, he remained unpopular until he graduated high school.

"Don't worry... I can feel that your mother loves you so much, he won't beat you up. Just go back there and comfort her, else if you go home too late, she'll probably become too angry to listen to you!"

"Do you want that to happen?" Calvin repeatedly ruffled the cold, damp, and sticky hair of the kid. He maintained the kind smile on his face, but he didn't dare to imagine what the kid looked like. From what his fingers could feel, this kid must've died from drowning and his body must've been submerged for a long time in the water!

"Mhmm... Okay... I'll go back... I don't want momma to beat my ass again." The kid seemed to have realized the gravity of the situation. Slick footsteps rang out once again, but this time. Those footsteps were going in the opposite direction.

Calvin heaved a sigh of relief. 

He continued his journey and finally reached the fifth floor.

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However, as soon as he stepped his foot onto the landing. 

A hand suddenly pulled him backwards.

Calvin almost fell down the stairs, but his swift reflexes rescued him in time.

He held the railings and stabilized himself, but his pupils constricted when he found out that the hand that yanked him backwards seemed to have come from the kid earlier in the third floor!

"You... You didn't go home?" Calvin turned around and said as if he was scolding the child.

The child didn't reply.

Calvin held his breath and heightened his already sharp senses to detect if there was any incoming enemy. When he discovered that the surroundings were incredibly quiet and devoid of any noise or movement. He heaved a sigh of relief and turned to look at the kid once again.

"I understand... Even if you know that your mother loves you a lot that she won't probably beat your ass as long as you sincerely apologized. You're still quite scared, right? I know that..."

"I know that feeling."

"Actually, my childhood isn't all rainbows and flowers either."

"When I was a child, my father and mother always fought due to some issues. I always envied the other children for they had such a happy family, yet my family is really cold and unforgiving to me. Furthermore, the outside world is too dangerous, scary demons are out there to kidnap me so I can't go out..."

"But I didn't want to stay inside either since all that I would hear is their argument. Even if the three of us occasionally got together that peace wouldn't last for too long since our gathering would always end up in another argument. In fact, I would sometimes be implicated in their argument!"

"Whenever they throw things around the house, I would get hit. My father who is a drunkard would always loudly complain that I am a worthless son and he would beat me up every time he sees me. Their constant fights made me live my life carefully, and whenever they are arguing in the house, I would hide under my bed, not even daring to breathe..."

"Even though I am much older right now, I would never forget that experience. Others are complaining that living is too painful for them, but for me? I was molded by pain. I learned to coexist with pain after that harrowing experience."

"But do I hate my parents for what they have done to me?"

"Of course, not!"

"If not for my parents I won't be born in this world. Filial piety makes up the whole world so even though my childhood was painful and I would never forget them for what they have done to me when I was a child. I would never hate them!"

"Even now, nor in the future."

Calvin squatted down and ruffled the hair of the child, "That is why you have to be strong. Be strong! Endure everything! If you really can't endure it anymore, then I am willing to be your friend. No child deserves to experience what you have experienced..."

"Now, go back..." 

"Tightly hug your mother and tell her how much she means to you and she will definitely forgive you!"

The child's hold on Calvin's shirt loosened making him heave a sigh of relief. 

The coldness behind him also disappeared, an indication that the child was truly gone.

However, he created so much commotion that Calvin could now feel the presence of a demon waiting for him on the fifth floor.

He reckoned that as soon as he stepped a single foot into the fifth floor.

He would immediately be attacked by that monster.

'Damn it, I wasted too much time with that child!' Calvin inwardly cursed.

But he knew that he must reach the top floor as much as possible.

Why?

It was because the story that he told the kid earlier was all bullshit!

He really didn't have such a sad childhood, but Calvin was quite talented in story-telling. It wasn't that much of a problem for him to spew some bullshit and convince the child that both of them were kindred spirits.

However, he knew that it was just a matter of time until the kid realized that Calvin lied to him.

When that happened, Calvin would be attacked from both sides and he would undoubtedly die!

'Fucking hell... If I had an Aspect, I could've annihilated these bastards! Sadly, I'm not a fighter yet and the physical martial arts that I know will definitely not work against these intangible monsters.'

'However...'

'I still have a trump card.'

'I need to reach the top floor as fast as possible from the fifth floor.'

'In other words, I must speed run this stairwell and reach the top as fast as I can...'

'I don't have any weapons, nor I can fight these demons.'

'I only have my legs as my trump card.'

Calvin's mind madly spun.

He pictured the stairwell in his brain and calculated the number of steps that he needed to take to reach the top.

Once he was done, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

'Okay... My body should be used by the height of the steps by now. Even if I can't see anything, my senses are heightened due to the absence of my sense of sight. In other words, it shouldn't be a problem for me to dodge the attacks of these demons so long as I am moving fast, and careful at the same time...'

'Okay...' 

'I'll go ahead and use my trump card.'

Calvin slightly bent his knee in preparation for the speed run.

Taking a deep breath, he inwardly screamed.

'I'll use these legs of mine...'

'To get the fuck away from here!'

A loud stomping sound ensued and Calvin shot upwards like an arrow.