Chapter V
Deal with the Devil
“Come on Ren are you a chicken? Said Ken, provoking his classmate to enter the ruins.
“I’m not but if that giant bear really lives in here, we have to be careful!” Explained the young boy.
“OH, just get on with it!” Ken kicked Ren in the back. The boy stumbled into the church, to see people inside. Five kids, one year older than Ren. They were trying to light a cigarette.
“Come on! Just give it to me I know how to use a lighter!”
“Fuck off! I stole it from my dad, I’m gonna smoke it!”
“Huh?” The boys turned to look at he skinny boy staring at them.
Ren embarrassed and confused took slow steps backwards. “Sorry guys I’ll just leave.” As he was backing out of the church entrance Ken and the others finally followed him in.
“What’s up Ren? Are you dead yet? Huh?” Ken Looked around to see some familiar faces. “Oh! The mortar gang? Or was it monster gang? No give me a sec.” Ken was trying his hardest to remember the name of these kids.
“It’s Mountain gang!” Said one of the kids.
“Ken do you know these guys?”
“Yeah. I rolled with them for a while last year.”
“Oh! Thank God! Then you can explain this whole situation to them.”
But as Ren looked back at the five boys he saw fury in their eyes. He turned to Ken just to hear him laugh. “But they hate my guts.”
“Leonnas you bastard! What are you doing here?” The toughest looking boy started approaching Ken with clenched fists.
“What did he do to you guys? Can’t we handle this peacefully?” Ren stepped up with pacifistic intentions.
“Get out of my way you little shit! Ken almost got us arrested.”
“Please! We don’t have to resort to name calling.” Ren pleaded with the thug.
Ken nudged Ren out of the way to get closer to the older kid. “You guys said you wanted to play on the soccer field at night. I got the pliers; you just weren’t fast enough when the police showed up.”
“Thomas was bitten by a guard dog. We got beaten by our parents! And after that you acted like you didn’t even know us.” The older kid shouted in fustration.
“Hey, don’t go surfing if you can’t even swim, am I right?” Ken looked at Ren with an evil smile.
The boy had had enough and clenched his fist ready to punch Ken. But Ren jumped between them. “Couldn’t we talk this out? Please!”
“This annoying brat! Get out of my way!” The attacker shoved Ren out of the way so hard, he fell to the ground.
“What are you doing, idiot?” Asked Ken angrily from Ren.
“Ugh now you done it…” Said Ren concerned for what's to come.
“What? What are you gonna do?” The older kid chuckled as he asked Ren.
“I’ll do nothing. But my friend is a bit overprotective of me.” Ren pointed into the crowd, where an angry Niel was taking hasty steps towards the kid. He planted his foot firm in the ground and whacked the boy so hard, he flew back, hitting the ground. Niel’s fist was covered in blood, as was the boys face.
“That son of a bitch!” The other kids yelled. They ran to overwhelm Niel and avenge their friend. One of them got a fist to the side of their face. “You forgot I was here? Never make that mistake again!” Shouted Ken.
The other three got to Niel who took a couple of punches before returning the favor.
One of them changed their direction towards Ren. The defenseless boy held up his hands to protect himself. But no punch has gotten to him. Taran blocked them with his body. The towering classmate of Ren, who was known for his silent brute personality was not even fazed by the punches that landed on him.
The shocked boy took some steps back before being tripped by the long lanky legs of Vhiz. As he was falling to the ground Marco punched him square in the face. “Thanks guys! I thought I was dead.”
“Don’t fret it Ren. We’ll protect each other.” Said Sun with a smile on his face.
Another kid left the fight with Niel and changed his direction towards Sun. “This son of a bitch is their leader! We’ll just have to take you out.”
But before he could reach him, Luna stepped in front of him with a menacing look.
“Get out of my way! I’m not afraid to hit a girl!” Said the frustrated kid.
“You should be.” Said Luna, dodging one fist, then punching him in the stomach. The kid hunched over Lunas fist as spit flew out of his mouth.
Ken and Niel also defeated their opponents quickly. Their leader and the one who attacked Ren were out cold, so the other three picked them up as they ran away.
“You guys will regret this!” Shouted one of the kids as they were fleeing.
Meanwhile in the Sciron residence
Maria’s heard a ringing coming from under the bed. She dashed to her bedroom and saw Julia’s name on the screen.
“Maria we have a problem!” Julia’s panting and panicking raised Maria's concerns further.
“What happened Julia?” The woman jumped up from kneeling.
“The guy I fought that day when Ren appeared... The truck that was carrying him to prison got attacked. He escaped! He should be somewhere in Karta Forest. i only realized it when he was running away, but he might've heard about Ren!”
“Shit! I’m on my way.” Maria pupils shrunk as she dashed with superhuman speed at one of the drawers and opened a secret compartment.” She pulled out two daggers, one with a golden pommel and a green hue around it and the other with a purple blade with chipped-away edges.
Karta Forest is huge. If I need to survey the whole area it’ll take too long.
Maria took out her phone and dialed someone. “Trap! Do you copy?” Shouted Maria in the phone.
“Already on my way ma'am. Julia told me about our runaway prisoner. But to think even you’d come for such a small fry… What’s your reason?
“Whatever my intention is, it’s none of your concern. This matter is strictly confidential.”
After some silence, Trap answered. “Roger.”
“If you find him, tell me, and me only.”
“Ma’am respectfully I cannot do that. You are not even a cleaner. I have to report it to headquarters.”
“Then just give me a headstart. Wait until I get there, then you can make your report.”
Trap sighed. “I’ll give you five minutes to get there.”
“Thank you, soldier.”
“I’m only doing this because it’s you. Trap out.”
6:30pm
Maria was running towards Karta Mountain as fast as she could. Trees were flying by her as she was dashing through the thick forest. Suddenly a menacing presence made her stop in her tracks. She immediately recognized the origin of the presence and appeared behind the prying eyes. “You’re a hundred years late if you think you can sneak up on me.” Said the woman with a commanding tone.
“Please don’t be so hostile towards me madame. I am here to do business.” The male figure made quick distance and hid in de shadows. Maria tried to get closer, but the man took a step back. “Could you keep your distance? I fear for my safety.”
“Who are you?” Asked Maria, raising her voice.
“I hear you are looking for a hooded one by the name of Turtle. I am here to help you dispose of him.” Said the man in a calm manner.
“If you have his location, tell me now. Or I’ll kill you before your next blink.”
“That’s not good business.” The man sweat profusely. “I’ll clarify what my offer is.” The man took one step towards Maria. His face was still hidden but now she could see some of his features a bit better. “I am a regional officer of the Ever Family. More specifically this region’s blue hooded officer.” Hearing this information Maria’s killing intent went through the roof. “Please hear me out. Turtle is currently heading straight towards my people. He could arrive there at any minute. Now what happens to him will depend on your decision. I could escort him with his precious information to a safehouse where he would disappear among the rest of the underground scum never to be seen again. And whatever you’re trying to swipe under the rug will be known by everyone. Or I could have my men kill him on the spot and the information dies with him. He expects a warm welcome as he is a member of our family, so his guard will be down” Master Puppet explained his offer confidently.
“What do you want in return?” If Turtle gets to a safehouse the Ever Family will surely know what Ren is. He needs to die. It all depends on what this man wants.
“I want Atla Sciron to never enter the borders of this village again.”
“I could just take you hostage. In exchange for a blue officer I could have him in a heartbeat.” Maria was testing the waters with the man's intentions.
“That would be a foolish choice. Turtle will spill the information he has as soon as he gets to a safe place. And the more ears that hear it, the more mouths that can speak it. But my men are professionals. He won’t have the time to utter a single word. But at the end of the day the decision is yours. You just have to decide how important that piece of info is.”
Maria clenched her fist in frustration. The man was ready to run away, as he felt no chance against Ren’s mother.
“Fine. But if my husband can’t enter the village, another cleaner will take his place.”
“That is perfectly fine, your husband is my main concern.”
“Do you want to shake on it?” Asked Maria trying to get closer to him.
“I would like nothing more than to shake your hand, but I fear I’d lose some digits in the process." Puppet looked at his watch for a second, carefully choosing the time when to take his gaze off of Maria. "Now that we agreed we just have to wait for Turtle to get there...
Maria and Puppet stared at each other from a respectful distance. They were on the same wavelenght. If one of them made one ambiguous move, one digit on one finger moving suspiciously, the other would not hesitate to strike.
6:45pm
Ken was laughing his heart out while Niel was approaching him with ever growing fury.
“What are you laughing at Leonnas? Ren could’ve gotten hurt because of you.”
“Come on Niel! Live a little! All of us are here. Who could hurt him?”
“Guys! Don’t even start! Let’s enjoy the view.” Said Ren, looking up at the clear night sky.
“Woah!” Everyone was mesmerized by the abundance of celestial bodies on the sky.
“What you are looking at now is thousands of stars, some of which are more than ten thousand lightyears away. But in every empty spot there is a million more too far for us to see with our naked eyes. In other words... The Universe is looking at us!" Ren grinned as he explained with childlike wonder glittering in his eyes. Rosa looked at those eyes ans couldn't help but smile.
“And what is that?” Sun pointed at a bigger hole in the collection of stars. Ren was flabbergasted by the strange emptyness.
“I-I don’t know. Our textbooks say nothing about a hole in the sky."
“You see you aren’t that smart you just learn what the textbook says.” Ken mocked Ren, but then felt Lunas elbow nudging him.
“Weird... You'd think it's important." Sun shrugged his shoulders.
As they were looking at the sky a snowflake landed on Rosa’s nose. “Guys! Snow!” Rosa's eyes lit up with joy. The snowflake melted on her nose and made her sneeze.
Soon thousands of snowflakes have followed, covering the kids.
“First snow of the year! A bit early but I won’t complai-.” As Ren was looking at the falling snow, suddenly he was hit with a snowball on the back of the head.
“Shut up, just enjoy it.” Ren looked back to find Niel with snowy hands. Behind him the others were already playing, chasing each other int the snow. “Come Ren!” Said Niel with a smile on his face. And as Ren ran towards him he left his troubles behind.
Terry, and Ginna were building a snowman. “Hey Iiwa! Don’t you wanna join?” Asked Ginna.
“Fine you guys are making it all wrong anyway. Let me show you how it’s done.” The three of them continued until Vhiz' body flew through the snowman. He got up and shook the snow off. “Sorry guys I had to dodge.” No apologies could have prepared him of the punches Iiwa landed on him.
“You’d dodge a snowball just to be COVERED head to toe in snow! And you destroyed our snowman! Get ready for the consequences!” It was a particularly amusing sight, seeing the tallest boy in the class be pummeled by the shortest girl.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Marco who was the reason Vhiz jumped into the snowman was laughing his heart out, but then a ball hit him in the head. Sun was standing behind him with more snowballs in his arm to throw.
Everyone was having a blast. Ren felt life and joy return to the group. Suddenly he stopped playing, when he saw Rosa standing silently, looking up at the sky.
“What’s wrong Rosa? Why aren’t you playing.” He turned to look at her and saw a terrified look on her face.
“The snow… it stopped falling.” Rosa pointed at snowflakes standing midair, as she walked into them they settled on her face and melted. But none of them moved on their own.
“What!?” Ren looked around to see that everywhere around them, snow was standing still.
Soon the others noticed their distressed faces.
“What’s up guys? Huh?” Asked Niel, but he soon realized, what was wrong. Everyone stopped playing to look at the strange phenomenon.
A sudden change in wind direction pushed the kids back. Everyone was struggling to stand straight.
“What the hell is going on?” Asked Terry terrified by the weather's harshness.
Ren looked up to see the hole in the sky fill with white glowing energy. Whatever it was, it was approaching them.
As the wave of energy arrived Ren felt a familiar feeling. Out of nowhere the wind stopped for a second. The forest went dead silent. The snowflakes began slowly marching upwards to the sky.
“What is this now?” Shouted Niel.
But before anyone could think of anything to say. A second wave of energy, even stronger than the last one crashed down on them. This time all of them fell to the ground.
As Ren got up, he noticed Rosa already standing, with a single tear rolling down her face as she was looking at the others. His vision was still blury but as she noticed Ren looking at her, she quickly wiped her face and went to help the others.
“Is everyone alright?” Asked Sun as he was wiping the snow off his coat.
“Well my ear is full of snow but besides that I’ve never been better.” Answered Niel sarcastically.
“What was that? I thought I was going to die. I don’tknow how broken bones feel but I think I broke all of them.” Terry was screaming all the while touching himself all over to check for injuries.
“You are fine Terry. It was just a strong wind.” Faul was trying to calm down Terry.
“No way that was just the wind. I’m no weather expert but snow doesn’t just stop midair.” Said Niel skeptically.
“This is definitely him. That bug-faced bastard, has something to do with it, I feel it.” Luna was shaking from just the thought.
“Calm down Luna we are all here. No one can beat all of us together.” Sun comforted his sister.
“What bug-faced bastard are you talking about? I never heard that nickname for Terry.” Marco said jokingly.
“Hey!” Terry was offended by that comment.
“She saw him... or it, two months ago. An abnormally tall person in a trench coat with a bug face. She’s been terrified of it since.” Answered Sun.
“That just sounds like a bad dream.” Said Vhiz skeptically. “You know no one is taller than me.”
“That’s the part you are skeptical about?” Shouted Ren.
“Whatever happened today, I’ll take Luna home, she needs to rest.” Said Sun with his arm around his sister.
“I can walk!” Luna shook off her brother’s arms. Sun looked at her confused and hurt.
“I agree with Sun, we all should go home. If anyone feels injured or hurt later, tell us.” Ren looked at his classmates' anxious and uneasy faces.
“You guys really wanna go home because of some strong wind? The party just began!” Ken tried to encourage the others to stay.
“Ken, not now. Please.” Luna pleaded with him, while she was still shaking.
“O-okay.” Finally, even he agreed.
The snowfall swoll with every gust of wind. This paired with the dark night that had fell on the children they had a grueling journey ahead of them.
“Everyone get behind me! If we hold hands going down the mountain, I can lead us to safety.” Luna ordered her classmates with haste.
“Holding hands?” Sighed Vhiz, looking at the ratio of boys and girls in the group.
“Stop whyning if you want to live!” Growled Luna.
Luna grabbed Iiwa’s hand who gasped from the unannounced action. Vhiz grabbed her other hand as he looked at her with red cheeks. Luna noticed this and slapped him so hard he flew back.
"Back of the line!” She screamed.
“I-I can hold your hand if that makes you feel better.” Mumbled Rosa quietly.
“Oh Rosa! You angel. Finally you confess your love for me!”
“I just wanted to make you feel better...” Rosa repeated herself awkwardly.
“Hey, Rosa, I’ll be behind you! If you don’t mind…” Ren stumbled over his words as he aproached the girl. But as he stepped forward Marco grabbed his hand.
“Oh no! I won’t let my cheatsheet be snached up by something in this snowstorm!” Marco said as he pulled Ren away from the two. For a second he turned back and winked at Vhiz.
Thanks buddy! You are a true wingman! Vhiz thought as he looked at his friend with gratitude.
Finally when all of them found their place, they stood in this order:
Luna, Iiwa, Ken, Terry, Sun, Faul, Taran, Marco, Ren, Niel, Ginna, Vhiz, Rosa.
Luna was covering her face with her forearm as she made her way through the storm. It didn’t matter what she though she saw from the trees, her objective was to get everyone out of the storm. Time felt like it slowed down to a crawling pace.
“Ah! Rosa! Your hands are so soft, it’s like I’m holding onto nothing.” Vhiz gasped as he held Rosa’s hand with one hand and Ginna’s with the other. “How did I get so lucky?”
“It’s a mystery to us too.” Niel groaned.
They didn’t have much left of the road when the storm finally dissipated. The kids all had their cheeks painted red by the freezing sharp wind. They all needed a second to breathe.
“Is everyone okay?” Asked Luna looking around.
“Uh guys… don’t be mad… but Rosa let go of my hand at some point.” Vhiz said embarassed.
Everyone gasped in unison at his announcement. Ren had chills run down his spine.
“You dumbass!” Ken grabbed him by the coat. “You had one job, but you got too busy daydreaming!” Ken cocked his fist back to punch him.
“Punching him won’t help the situation.” Sun stopped his arm.
Ken had a second to calm down then realized something. “That idiot!” Ken started walking back in the storm.
“What are you doing Ken?”
“Look around dumbasses. It was weird how Ren didn’t have anything to say about Vhiz… because he’s already on his way back to find Rosa.” Said Ken annoyed.
Ren was only a couple of meters into the thick storm when Luna jumped on him. “Ren! What are you doing? Go back!”
“Rosa’s out there! I’ll find her.”
“You’ll just get lost like her! Go back, I’ll find her! I already had to stop Ken from coming. Don’t make this more difficult!” Luna looked Ren in the eye with complete conviction.
“Promise me!” Ren exchanged a determined look with Luna.
“I promise.”
Ren stood up and made his way back to the others. Luna went the opposite direction.
The roaring wind pushed her around among the trees. “Rosa! Where are you? Rosa! She screamed trying to be louder then the wind. Rustling , and snapping of branches disturbed her. She immediately directed her gaze towards these noises. Uneasiness took over her whole body, as what appeared to be shadowy figures were looking at her from the foliage. She wanted to run away, but her fear turned into anger.
“I know it’s you! Bug man! If you're the one that took Rosa I will fucking kill you!” Luna screamed into the storm, but alas no answer. She did not back down though. One girl against the roaring winds, unbearable cold, and the possibility of a predator lurking in the dark.
In the meantime.
Turtle was running in the thick forest of Karta. He suddenly stopped as the shape of a small girl was in front of him.
“You? You are the rescue team? Anyway! I need a safe place. Cleaners are after me.” The desperate man suddenly felt pressure on his neck."Okay okay! You want the intel first, right? I’ll tell you.” The choking sensation he felt suddenly went away.
“I was fighting this C.O. chick when a boy appeared. I heard rumors about regular people entering the Second Reality. It seemed like this kid was like that. But that’s all I’ll tell you. Now take me to a safe location!” Explained the terrified man.
Suddenly he felt the choking sensation again.
“Okay, okay! I heard the boys name. He’s called Ren. He lives in Youn--.” The man could not finish what he was about to say, as the last thing he heard was the dull noise his vertebrae made as his neck snapped.
Back where Maria was in a standoff with the stranger
Puppet phone broke the silence. He anwered the phone without taking his eyes off Maria. “Report” Master Puppet commanded the person on the other side of the call. “Yes? Good work, go home.” The man put the device back in his pocket. “It is done. Turtle is dead.”
“But you didn’t even give them the green light.”
“I trusted you’d make the right decision.“
I don’t like how confident he is. “Alright, I’ll tell my husband not to come back.”
“Please do it right now.”
“Why?”
“I completed my end of the deal swiftly. I would like the same from you. Whatewer information you were trying to hide from my people has died with Turtle. As a token of appreciation, please call your husband.”
Maria left a voice message to her husband. “Atla I cannot explain it right now but you cannot come back to the village. No matter what.”
She immediately got a voice message back. “I am kind of busy right now but I’ll call you later. Love ya!” Atla said as explosions and rumbling was tainting the audio.
Pupests face lit up as he heard Atla’s voice. “So that is his voice.”
“Now that Turtle is dead, what’s stopping me from ending your life?”
“Oh! I can give you one or even thirteen reasons why not!” The man said with joy in his voice.
“Hm?”
“I not only have men in the Forest, but in Younen too. You have a son in primary school, and all his friends whom he likes dearly. Let’s say if I don’t call my men in five minutes, they’ll kill those kids one by one. Same goes if Atla Sciron were to set foot in the village.”
Maria approached the man in anger. “You won’t do such thing!”
“I feel like I touched a button there. Do not worry no one is in danger. Just leave now, and I’ll make sure it stays like that. After all... you should be glad for bumping into me.”
Maria clenched her fist in fury. The ground started shaking as birds fled the forest. The soil under her feet began cracking under the pressure of her power. A gust of wind knocked the mysterious man on his back. As he looked up he only saw the darkened face of a monstrous woman, with purple glowing eyes. “Be glad that you're a slimey bastard... You get to live another day! But from now on I want you to fear every shadow cast behind your back, because I might be lurking in them.”
As the terrified man looked up at Maria, he had difficulty breathing, but in the blink of an eye that feeling disappeared just like the woman.
Cold sweat ran down his face as he stood up. His shaking hand grabbed his phone to call someone. He cleared his throat and calmed himself down before speaking. “Mantis, you can leave the kids alone, Maria took the deal. A part of her is probably relieved that her son's secret is safe.”
“Hihehe! It's funny how you fooled her, boss! But what about the child? Shouldn't I kidnap him while she's out of the village?“
“Too risky. I have my plans for him. As we talked about it many times, you will only report to me and me alone.”
“Yes…Master!”
Maria was running back to the village to check on her son. Suddenly Trap appeared next to her.
“Ma’am!” We found Turtle but you’re not gonna like the state he’s in.”
“He’s dead.”
“How did you know?”
“I met his murderer. Or to be more accurate the man who ordered his murder.”
“But who was that? Turtle wasn’t killed by our guys. Was it some third party?”
“Something like that. Though the details are unclear. Listen Trap! Who is going to take Atla’s place while he’s away?”
“That would be me! But I have a mission that would take about two weeks. Until then the Cleaners won’t send a replacement. They don’t care for this village that much." Trap explained.
“Thought so. When you get back I need you to be on high alert. And if possible keep an eye on my son and his classmates.” Two weeks...
“Thought this would be a vacation for me. I mean this is a closed village, there shouldn’t be any overhuman activity here.”
“Sadly there is. And not knowing about it for this long is my shame. I was so confident that no one would dare get close to my family that I disregarded the possibility of any threat coming even close to the village.”
“So who are they? Ever Family? Some daring vigilantes?”
“Well the mystery man is part of the Ever Family, but seems to have his own agenda..." Maria zoned out for a second. "What is the situation with Julia? Is she okay?"
“Yeah. I reevaluated the importance of four cleaners compared to one low grade hooded one and figured Turtle was not worth it. By the time I arrived there Julia was facing the last hooded one alone. When the guy noticed me he just picked up his three teammates and ran."
"Couldn't you have taken him down while he was carrying his teammates?"
"Funny. That's what Julia said." Trap smiled as he remembered. "She shouted at me with blood spilling from her mouth with every word. Get him! She screamed. But she passed out as soon as I took her into my arms."
"How about the other three cleaners?"
"Two are badly injured but they'll recover. One... Zachary Cross was his name. He died. He was only eighteen." Traps face went gloomy for a second.
"Too soon. That's what I'm trying to avoid with my children."
"Don't worry! As soon as ol' Trap arrives in this village everything will be alright!"
“Be careful Trap. I feel this enemy is the kind that gets exponentially dangerous the more you underestimate him.” A warning from someone like Maria meant that whatever the situation is Trap couldn't take it halfheartedly. “Now I need to get back to the village. As long as you are unable to guard it, I am the best defence.”
“Just remember ma’am you are basically a criminal.”
“Only because I'm not controlled by your org." Maria said cynically. "But really, I need to go now. Call me as soon as you are able to take your position.”
“Roger!” Trap dissapeared into the forest.
Maria ran home as fast as she could. Her mind couldn’t rest either, this stranger’s intentions made her uneasy.
This doesn’t add up. This hooded one knew too much. Where I would be approaching from. Shit! Even knowing I would show up in the first place. He knew the information was important to me…to us. But if he keeps the information secret from the Ever Family, that's one less thing to worry about. I just need to find out who he is.
Her thoughts raced as trees passed by her and finally arrived home.
To her surprise Ren was not home yet. Even though it was his birthday, staying out for this long was not allowed for him. So, she spent the next hour trying to find her son. Calling him, Niel, Niel’s mother, any parent.
Suddenly Ren opened the door and ran inside. Some snow was still clinging onto his hair. “Mom? Why are you still up?”
“Really that’s your concern?” Ren heard from her voice that this time she was more mad than ever."Where were you? I tried to call you. I called Meg but all she could tell me, you weren’t there, because Hercule was practicing with the church choir.”
“You called Niel’s mom?”
“Don’t change the subject!”
“We…we went to the church ruins.”
“You did WHAT?”
Suddenly Lendo appeared behind Ren. “I heard he’s in trouble. I’ll hold him down, you can hit him.” Lendo held Ren in a full nelson, which the small boy could not escape.
“Let go of him Lendo. And go to your room. I'll take care of this.” Commanded Maria the older son. Lendo immediately let go of Ren and left without a word. Ren was now more scared, as he never saw Lendo give in like that.
“Ren Sciron! Do you know how dangerous that place is? Not only is it outside of the Village and in the deep, dark Karta Forest, but a bear could attack you any second. It doesn’t matter how powerful Niel is, he could not save you from a bear.” Maria looked him deep in the eyes, to make him understand she wasn’t kidding.
"You don’t know that.” Said Ren under his breath.
“Did everyone get back home safe?“ Asked Maria concerned about the other kids.
“Rosa got lost in the storm as we came down from the mountain, but Luna found her.”
“Storm?” Maria stopped for a second on that detail. “And what would you have done if Luna couldn’t find her?”
“I…I…” Ren couldn’t say anything to his mother.
“You’ve been a very obedient child up to this point. But ever since that day… Just be a good boy for me, will you?” Maria’s unsaid words hurt Ren’s heart more than what she said out loud.
“Could I go to my room, mom? I want to sleep.” Said Ren with a half whisper as tears that were yet to fall were burning his eyes.
“Okay honey.” Maria turned her back and went to her bedroom.
As Ren curled up in his bed he let out those held-in tears. One question bugged his mind as he went to sleep.
Why was Rosa crying?