Chapter III

Keen-eye Luna

The next day, Niel was waiting in front of the Sciron house for his friend. The boy ran out with his left foot only halfway in his shoe.

“Hey Niel! Sorry I kept you waiting I had a long night!”

“And I thought I had an eventful afternoon! I saw a message in a bottle flowing down the river, but I couldn’t catch it! It’s probably at the other side of the planet now!”

“I doubt that!” Ren laughed at his friend’s joke.”

“What the hell happened anyway? Your mom called my parents. I wanted to go look for you but they didn’t let me leave the house.”

Ren told Niel what he remembered from that night. That, he ran in front of a car after the altercation with Ken. And that he woke up hours later with a cut on his hand.

“Ken! That motherfucker almost got you killed. This is it. Today he’ll pay!” Niel punched a telephone pole, scaring some birds away.

“No stop! You’ll just make things worse.” Ren tried to quell his friend’s anger.

“But this is as bad as it can get! You don’t even remember what happened!”

Ren sighed and nodded in the direction of the school, telling his friend to go. “Do you remember the first time we met?”

“In kindergarten? You were being bullied. You were whining so loud I couldn’t bare it any longer, so I saved you from the bully.”

“Is that how you remember? You helped me because that’s who you are. And regarding the bully, that was Ken.” Explained Ren.

“Y-you’re right! It was Ken. I completely forgot!”

“And all this time nothing changed. Ken still picks on me, I still run away, and you still save me. I am grateful but something needs to change. I cannot force that on either of you, so I need to change.”

“Okay! But if you start slacking off in school and beating up kids twice your size, I’ll sue you for plagiarism.”

The two friends shared laughs as they continued their way to school.

In math class the room was silent like a swordfight with peacock feathers. A sport I invented on a boring afternoon. But if intense staring could make a sound, this place would be louder than an airport runway. Ken was poking a hole through Ren’s skull with his eyes, sometimes looking down at his wounded hand, then back to his face. Niel was trying to take Ken’s gaze off his friend with his own, like a loyal guard dog standing between his owner and imminent danger. Meanwhile the whole classroom was throwing looks at these three, trying to figure out what the source of this unusually high tension is. As for Ren he was trying his hardest to listen to the teacher.

After the class was over Ren stood up, Ken immediately jumped out of his seat and Niel quickly followed.

“The two of you with me now!” Said Ren with an embarrassed red face, as he was talking, he was taking quick steps out of the classroom.

Ken and Niel looked at each other growled then followed him.

As they walked far from the others Ken pulled on Ren’s shoulder to turn him around.

“Hey Sciron! Tell me what the hell happened yesterday!” Ken demanded an answer from his classmate.

“You bullied him into almost getting hit and you have the audacity to be angry at him. The only reason I’m not gonna beat your ass right now is because Ren asked me not to.” Niel got up in Ken’s face.

“How lucky of me that your master told you to sit, and you obeyed!” Ken pushed Niel back.

“Watch out Ken! Luna is not here to protect you!” Niel returned the push.

“Both of you be quiet! How the hell can you be this reckless? Everyone is looking at us.” Ren tried to calm the two brawlers down.

“Put a sock on it! I am reckless incarnate! If someone doesn’t like it, I’ll beat the piss outa’ them.” Ken declared looking around.

“And they’ll get a beating from me too.” Roared Niel. Every student no matter the age and size suddenly minded their own business and acted like they didn’t hear anything. Ren impressed by this used the silence to pull the two of them close.

“Ken, the last thing I remember is me running in front of that car. After that I woke up on the side of the street with a cut on my right hand.”

“That can’t be true! I ran there to look for you. You weren’t in the ditch, or on the side of the road. You disappeared!”

“It might’ve been aliens!” Screamed Niel way too confidently.

“There’s no such thing as aliens dumbass!” Ken tried to shout his remark even louder.

“Of course there are! The sheer number of solar systems with similar exoplanets to ours is baffling. Not to mention possible life on moons and…” Ren couldn’t stop himself from adding his two cents to the existence of aliens.

Meanwhile the other classmates were peaking behind the classroom door.

“What are they talking about?” Asked Sun with his ear pointed at the three.

“About aliens I think.” Answered Vhiz the tallest boy in their class, with a confused look on his face.

“Maybe they’ll finally bury the hatchet.” A small-framed kid let out a hopeful sigh.

“Are you serious Terry? Look at them, they are arguing as always.” Said Sun.

Suddenly a tall figure walked past the children and stopped at the three teenagers.

“Ren! So nice to see you having fun with some friends.” Dr. Marcus looked at Niel and Ken.

“Doctor! What are you doing here?” Asked the nervous boy.

“I was looking for you. Something came up so I cannot stay for our session today.”

“Really I’m sorry to hear that. Anyway we have something important…”

“But don’t worry I talked to the principal and he let you miss class. Our session begins in ten minutes. I’ll wait for you in my office.”

“What?”

“This conversation is not finished Ren. I’ll look for clues and find out what happened.” Said Ken clearly annoyed by the presence of the psychologist.

In Dr. Marcus’ office.

“Tell me about that boy you were talking to. The one that always has that exasperated look on his face.”

“His name is Ken. He is a classmate of mine.”

“I figured that much. I’ll be blunt with you. Is he a bully?”

“Yeah…”

“Yesterday after our session he waited for you right?”

“How do you know?”

“I saw you two from the window.”

Ren shook by the information contemplated his next words.

Right! This window looks directly at the gate. Which means he saw what happened after I ran away.

“You could’ve helped me.” Said Ren with a defeated tone in his voice.

“I cannot fight your battles for you Ren. These sessions are to help you become someone who doesn’t need my help. I only thought I should intervene when I saw you fleeing. I was afraid something might happen to you. But by the time I got outside you were gone, and Ken was unwilling to talk to me. What stuck with me was the expression on his face, like he saw a ghost. What happened?”

“…” Ren looked down at the floor analyzing the patterns in the wood. “I almost ran in front of a moving vehicle. Ken pushed me out of the way, and I fell on a glass shard and cut my hand.” If what he says is true, I don’t need to involve him with whatever happened to me. Honestly, he could even send me to an insane asylum with the real story.

“After that both of us went home.”

The man’s skepticism was tangible in the air. “Ren, I believe that you have every reason to keep secrets from me as we are only on our second meeting. But please in due time tell me what really happened. Without trust, I cannot help you.”

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“I stand by what I said.”

“Then let’s not waste each other’s time.”

“What?”

“You can go. I’m not going to keep you here. But ask yourself this. Do you want to change?”

Ren just looked at the door then back at dr. Ottoman with a nervous look on his face he let out a deep sigh. I am not sure what happened yesterday. Leaving out the unexplainable part, I can create a believable story. “Can depression cause memory loss?”

Dr. Ottoman was shocked by the question. “First of all I appreciate that you are not trying to sugarcoat, and straight up said you are depressed. Accepting the fragility of one’s emotions is an important step. Yes depression can cause forgetfulness but it entirely depends on the situation. What can’t you remember?” The man leaned forward in his sofa as the leather shifted and creaked under him.

“Well after I ran from Ken, I cannot remember how I got home.”

“Hm… Interesting. I suppose if the walk home was uneventful then forgetting it wouldn’t be surprising.”

“But it wasn’t uneventful.”

“Have you asked Ken about the situation?”

“Yes he said I ran, almost got hit by a car, and then he went home.”

“That is quite concerning. Please update me if it happens again.” Said the doctor, writing something down.

“Well I hope I don’t forget our conversation!” Said Ren jokingly.

“I’m glad you didn’t lose your humor.” Dr. Ottoman had a warm smile painted on his face.

After school Ren met up with Niel and Ken where yesterday’s incident happened. “What are we even looking for?” Asked Niel.

“I don’t know. Prints, blood anything.”

“In that case Ken should’ve invited Luna. Her eyes are the best.” Niel suggested.

“Let’s keep the number of people knowing about this to a minimum.” Ren scratched his head awkwardly.

“Luna couldn’t come even if we invited her. She said she felt sick or something.” Ken explained while he looked around in the gravel.

“You look so bummed out without your girlfriend here.” Said Niel mockingly with a snarky smile.

“Stop it you dumbass, she’s not my girlfriend. We understand each other, and that’s why we are friends.”

“You can relate to that don’t you Niel?” Said Ren with a kind smile.

Suddenly Ken’s phone started ringing.

“It’s Luna.” Said Ken smiling. “We were just talking about you Lun! What’s up?”

“Ken. We need to talk about Ren. Bring him and Niel to my house.” Luna was whispering into the phone.

“You can see us from there?”

Ken looked at the end of the road that stretched for hundreds of meters. He knew that one of the dots he could barely see in the distance was the Miegin house, where Sun and Luna lived.

Ren looked at Ken’s concerned face. They shared a look of distress with each other but they both understood that they needed to go to Luna immediately.

As they arrived at the Miegin house Ken was the first to enter the small, humble abode. Luna immediately pulled the boys into her room and shut the door.

“Whoah! Are you okay Luna? I’ve never seen you this freaked out.” Asked Niel with a facetious smile.

Luna closed the curtains before walking up to the boys. “I saw you guys last night. From my angle the car’s headlights did not block out what happened.”

All three of them were shocked and intrigued by this revelation.

“What did you see Luna?” Asked Ren stepping closer to her. But as he took one step Luna took two back.

“You just disappeared. One second you were there the next you were gone.” Said Luna with shaking in her voice and unusually pale face. “But that’s not the scary part. As I was watching you guys, I noticed someone just a few streets down the road this way. They were just standing there observing what had just happened. ”

“Did you see their face or anything noteworthy about them?” Asked Ren who was yet to understand Lunas fear.

“They were freakishly tall with a black trench coat, and a hood hiding their face. After they watched you disappear, they walked into nothingness and vanished just like you. But I couldn’t take my eyes off the road. I was frozen by fear and curiosity and after a while the stranger appeared again. And this time I saw a part of their face.”

“And?” Said Ken with his arms crossed.

“They didn’t have a jaw… they had mandibles like a bug. And as I was trying to comprehend what I was looking at they snapped their neck in my direction, and I swear they looked at me.” Luna sat down and covered her face with her quivering hands.” Ken went up to her to calm her.

“This is absurd. A stranger with a bug face is ridiculous. Even aliens are more believable than that!” Niel voiced his annoyance with the unbelievability of Luna’s story.

“I’ve been in street fights with her by my side for years. One time we were chased by a dog the size of Marco, she has never been this frightened by anything.” Said Ken protecting Luna.

“Ren, you don’t believe her, do you?”

“I do.” Said Ren. “Or at least I’ll try to. She is not lying; whatever she saw was real, even if it’s hard to comprehend.”

Niel went silent for a second. “So, what are we going to do?”

“Lun do you feel safe alone?” Asked Ken. Luna nodded hesitantly. “I take that as a no. I’ll talk to your parents and Sun and tell them we are having a sleepover at my house. Is that okay?” Luna nodded this time with more confidence.

“I think we should stop for today. Everyone should go home and rest.” Said Ren as he was walking to open the door.

“But how should we continue our investigation?” Asked Niel.

“I have no idea. We have no way of finding this person, and honestly, I don’t think he would appreciate being found. We could look around where he was observing us from but that’s it.”

“If there is no lead right now, we just need to wait till there is.” Said Ken with a serious look on his face.

Ren nodded and took one step out of Luna’s room before she called out to him.

“Ren. Be careful.”

Those two words shook Ren down to his bone.

The Ren and Niel left Ken and Luna in the Miegin house.

Niel looked at his friend who had a stern determination in his eyes. “You want to go and look for clues right now. Right?”

“Jeez! I’m predictable, aren’t I?” Ren blushed a bit out of embarrassment. "I don't want to involve Luna more than this, but it would be nice to show her some evidence that the "bug-man" is not real."

“Then come! We'll check it out together! Luna said three streets down from the school! We’ll just look around for a second then go home!” Niel started jogging to their destination.

They arrived there quickly. The two boys looked around for clues. Ren walked up the road the stranger was peeking from until he saw a fence toppled over. As he tried to observe it from closer his feet slipped on the muddy side of the ditch between the road and the fence. He got his balance back before he fell face first into mud, but that second of scare was enough of a wake-up call for him to notice a handprint on the other side of the ditch. He slowly approached the print before he was stopped by an old lady's scream from the neighboring home.

“Get out of there you hooligan! This is private property! I have a right to shoot you!” The old woman threw a shoe out the window disturbing the palm print before Ren could take a closer look at it.

“I’m sorry lady I was just looking at the broken fence!” Ren explained himself to the old lady.

“Huh?! You broke my fence too? I’ll call the cops right away!”

“No! It was like that already!” Ren tried to explain himself but the woman left, most likely to find her phone.

“Hey! Whats happening. Niel finally arrived to his friends aid.”

“I think I found something. I’m just not sure what. The lady was surprised her fence was toppled over so it cannot be that old.”

“Did she just scream she’ll call your dad?” Niel chuckled as he looked in the direction of the window.

“Something like that. But I don’t think he’s coming home any time soon.”

“Still. We have nothing else to go off from. Let’s put a pin in this broken fence thing. And go home.”

“Before we do, could you help me?” Ren climbed over the ditch, slipping and muddying his trousers. He walked up to the fence pole and tried to lift it to no avail. “I don’t want to leave it like that for the poor lady.”

“Alright. But it’s not like she deserves it.” Niel jumped over and helped his friend adjust the pole back into it’s place.

After they finished the job Niel was the first to jump back, but something caught Ren’s attention. By the time Niel turned around to help his friend cross the fence, he was out of sight.

“God Damn it Ren!” Niel jumped over again and found his friend squatting in the dirt. “What is it?” Niel asked as he approached his friend. The soft ground was torn open by something leaving two pararell lines in the soil. Ren looked around in the dirt until he found something glittering with a green hue around it.

“It’s a piece of chitin. What exoskeletons are made of.”

“So you are telling me…”

“That the bug-faced person is real.”

After Ren arrived at home. The smell of warm chicken soup entered his nostrils as he closed the door behind him. His mother was setting the table as music was crackling in the background on an old radio. He put down his backpack. As he walked to the kitchen his brother Lendo stormed past him with a bowl of soup in his hand.

“Hi!”

“Sup!”

Ren didn’t even have time to process his brother passing by him when he felt the warmth of two arms around his body. His mother Maria embraced him in a tight hug.

“How are you darling?”

“It was a long day mom. Long muddy day...”

After Ren explained his day he ate a bowl of soup and went to his room.

As the house went silent for the night. Maria went to her bedroom, closed the blinds and from under the bed she pulled out a shoebox. Within the box was a phone. She turned it on to see dozens of messages from Atla and Julia. Most of these messages could be boiled down to this:

“Ren is in danger. He is the Fire without light.”

Maria immediately sent a message to her husband.

“Are we three the only one who know this?”

“Yes!” After a while an answer arrived.

“Good. Keep it that way as long as possible.”

“I cannot go home Maria! I am sorry!”

“I know. I’ll protect him at all costs. What I ask of you is make some calls. Get any information on the FWL you think is important. With your authority no one will question the reason why you ask.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” A few second went by before the next message from Atla. “Maria! Be safe!”

In the shadows of Karta-forest near Younen.

“Yes, I found the kid. No, I only reported it to you Master.” Said the tall man with a creaky high pitched voice, sitting on a tree branch. As he was looking at the stars, he heard the growling of wolf under him. The lone wolf was drooling from its mouth as it was looking up at the man. Scars of healed wounds suggested the animal was desperate and alone. “Could you hold for a second. Dinner just arrived.”

His hand morphed into a claw and decapitated the wolf with a single hit. “So as I was saying I know his location. It seems there was a bright side to her escaping. Hihehe. But making a move would be unwise. After all his last name is Sciron. Understood.” The man put away his communication device and dropped from the tree. Looking at the wolf’ corpse his mouth turned into mandibles cracking and snapping at the joints. “Time to feast.”

As time passed one uneventful day followed another. Boring September was followed by dull October. And even November was coming to an end without anything notable until the 27th. Ren’s fourteenth birthday.