‘There was a time in my life… when I felt nothing but darkness…’
The picture of the iron, heavy door itched deep in his mind.
‘I was damaged… ruined…’
‘That room… was where I died once… I've lost myself in there…’
‘Was so afraid to remain dead in the dark… nothing's scarier than dark silence of unspoken loud thoughts that could kill their owner…’
The cold horror he felt back then still haunted him no matter how long time had passed.
“Believe it or not, I’m always on your side.”
The small girl had said once, sitting on the window sill and smiling down at him.
‘Those words… they saved me back then… so…’
The same girl waved to him with a smile as he turned back to look at her for what he hadn’t assumed would be the last time.
‘Please, don't make me doubt these words now.’
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The Red Flower
Chapter. 14
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Davante sat alone on a wooden bench in the empty garden, staring blankly with his head tilted back to look at the sky. The sound of chirping birds on the gently swaying trees behind his back did nothing to snap him from the blankness in his head.
‘So… now what?’ He questioned silently, ‘I'm sure that Baldrick and Lucas are the same person… but… what can I do with this information?’ he slowly moved his head to look at his clasped hands resting on his lap, ‘It's not like I can ask anyone about 'him'… it would be insensitive of me to ask Elois about the person who ruined his childhood, and Alvis… I don't think he knows anything about Baldrick… he wouldn't have asked me who he is otherwise…’ rethinking again, ‘But… would it hurt to ask him?’ he recalled Alvis' face when he mentioned Baldrick the last time. He sighed, ‘I… don't think it's a good idea…’
He closed his eyes to collect his thoughts carefully, ‘To me, it looks like Baldrick or Lucas has a huge control over almost everyone… me included… doesn't that mean… he also has control over the game?’
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He remembered Emmie gently smiling at him on the window sill, looking nothing like the childish persona she often liked to display. “I'm not your enemy, Davante.”
‘Emmie…’ he called the name warily in his head.
“Let's play a game, Davante!!”
Her cheerful smile as she suggested the last game between them was the same as many others he had seen before; he hadn’t realized how much he trusted her with time for him not to be suspicious. ‘You are not the one who made up this whole game… right?’
He was reminded once again of Belvedere's words then, “Let's see why Emmie is hiding you from us~”
‘Hiding…? Why…?’ he remembered again the last time he had seen the girl, ‘When I left the castle, you were there to say goodbye… as if to say your farewell… you… looked sad… you wanted to say something, but you kept quiet… I don't understand…’
He put his skinny fingers on his forehead with a slight frown, “I don't understand…” he murmured to himself. He stayed like that for a while, then sighed again. He opened his eyes and slowly tilted his head back, only to see Yeolard standing close before him, looking at him with a stoic face. Startled, he blinked once to make sure, but no one was there.
“What are you looking so shocked for?”
Davante felt a light tap on his head as Elois sat beside him, “Here,” offering a small lunch box to the teen with his usual grumpy face. “You must be hungry.”
Davante hesitantly took the box and eyed it silently with an unreadable expression. He then calmly put the box on his other side, “I'm not hungry, but thanks.”
Elois studied the other's face, “I've never seen you eat before. You only drink milk or fresh drinks… even before when we were kids…”
Davante kept quiet, looking to the side and away from the observing eyes of his roommate, “Are you skipping your classes?”
Elois observed him some more before he smirked teasingly at the other, “Today's off. So you were sitting here not even knowing that?” he chuckled at his hopeless roommate. He reached for his pocket, pulled out something, and handed it over to Davante, “New phone, you seriously need it. We can't let what happened yesterday happen again. My number and Javi's are already there, so call us if you need anything.”
“Thanks…” Davante looked at the foreign device in his hand silently, ‘I don't know how to use it though…’ he put the phone in his pocket, “Why is it a day off today? Is there an occasion or something?”
Looking to the front, “All classes are canceled this week,” Elois hesitated momentarily, “They're investigating how the explosion happened.”
Blinking, Davante was confused, “The explosion…? So the huge pit in the garden… was from an explosion?”
“I…” Elois lowered his head, eyes hidden from the teen. He mumbled enough for the other to hear, “I was the one behind it…”
Davante widened his eyes in silence as he observed his past friend. ‘That's why… his injuries…’
“I was attacked by… someone. He kept asking me if I remembered him… he wanted me to regain my memories…” he continued reluctantly, “Once I regained my memories, I lost control and… I don't remember what happened after, but I think I've met that guy in the past… I'm still not sure…”
Davante remained silent, looking at his roommate as he thought just how much the guy trusted him to tell him such secrets that could put the other in danger if let out to the public.
“Karl… Alastair…”
Davante barely stopped himself from flinching at the name whispered by the orange-haired beside him; he was glad his roommate wasn’t looking at him at that moment as he couldn’t hide the shock from showing on his face.
‘Karl…’
He slowly turned and looked down at the ground.
‘Karl……’
Unbeknownst to the two roommates, eyes were watching them sharply from above within a distance.
Ellmer stood in the empty hallway at one of the windows. He stared at the two roommates with a firm face, narrowing his red eyes at Elois from behind.
“So I was right. You were the one behind Davante's disappearance yesterday.”
Ellmer turned calmly, despite the unexpected voice behind him. He smirked once he looked at the voice's owner, sarcastically amused, “Is it your hobby to spy on me, Javi Cavalon?”
Javi tried to stay unbothered, though it was pretty obvious he was annoyed at the other's smirk, and even more when he heard his full name from the other's mouth, “My cousin told me about your brothers. They’re his new classmates… they were the ones who kidnapped Davante, am I right?”
Ellmer turned to fully face the other, hands in his pockets as he causally answered with a smile obviously fake, “Yeah, but is that any of your business? I'm sure Davante didn't ask for your help, or did he?” his eyes looking satisfied at the frown forming on the brown head’s face.
“He's my friend, and the cut on his neck seemed too deep to be mistaken for a mere scratch. I'm sure one of you three siblings tried to kill him, yet you want me to keep quiet and do nothing about it?”
Ellmer's smirk dropped for a second, and he seemed to glare darkly before returning to the provocative approach. He smirked coldly, “That's rich, coming from the most skilled murderer in Anfinrud's organization in the past.” There was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes at the look of silent distraught from the long-haired young man before him. “And 'friend'? Since when do you care for your friends? Weren't you the one who ruined your best friend's eye horribly and ran away?” the red-eyed guy tilted his head slightly to the side with a taunting smirk.
“So 'The deadly shadow' is playing the hero now?”
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The End of CH. 14