17 - OVERFAMILIAR VOICE

As the big bat hovered crazily in the sky, the human who was dangling by its feet was clearly struggling. Not only was its speed too much, its flight force was out of his expectations. All he could do was wait for the right opportunity to jump.

After some patient yet hurtful waiting, when the bat came close enough to the surface, he let go of the beast. Though he tried to land gracefully, his roll was rather clumsy, and he ended up hitting his head to the nearest boulder.

“That hurts…” his whole head felt dizzy.

This person standing in his leafy underpants was Edgar. The mysterious copper plate was still stuffed in the back of his underwear.

There were cuts and bruises all over his legs, arms, and back, but his face and chest were clean. Though Edgar’s arms were quite tanned, the other parts of his body weren’t tanned, so he still looked fair, though not as much as his sister. Though he didn’t have any clothes other than the leafy underwear, there was a belt fixed to his waist, and two scimitars were fixed to the belt on his back. They looked a bit too big for his size.

“That really hurts…” rubbing his head, he got back to his feet. It took him a few seconds to get his eyes adjusted to sunlight, which was much brighter compared to his lightning.

He then waved goodbye to the bat. “I wanted to get your core, but I guess I owe you for the help. Following you was indeed the right choice.”

He plucked the necklace off his neck and tossed it onto the boulder behind him. “Now then, where exactly am I?” after looking around, he figured out the location. “I’m still in the northern end. Great. Given how long I kept roaming in the darkness, I was afraid that I might get lost, but thankfully, that’s not the case. I’m only a few mountains away from home. I hope Sis is alright.”

Without wasting any time, he hurried toward the West, and though he wasn’t showing it on his face, his eyes were filled with joy. How many months had it been since he last saw his sister? It felt like it had been forever.

However, he suddenly stopped when he came across a jasmine plant. The memories of the past flashed in his mind. His sister had always loved jasmine, and she decorated her hair with a small flower garland made out of jasmine. However, she had never done that since she had become a slave. He had always seen her look at the jasmine tree from a distance, but she never went near them. After all, female slaves were not even allowed to go near flower trees. Only males were allowed to take care of them.

Even young girls who dared to touch the flowers had their fingernails completely cut. If any males offered flowers to the women, then their fingers were cut. The rules were pretty strict when it came to flowers, which were there only for shipping it to their owner, who traded it to those who were free and could afford them.

Edgar walked up to a jasmine tree and took a deep breath. The pleasant fragrance brought a smile to his face. It definitely eased a bit of his worry. His hand reached out for the flowers. “Soon, you can be yourself again, Sister.”

Meanwhile, at Fabby’s room.

Bittu was knocking on the door, a grin etched on his lips. He was so drunk that he was hiccuping. “Come out, you sweet little bitch! I’m tired of playing a good man’s game with you! Let me in, and let me get on your bed already!”

Inside the room, sitting on the thin bed sheet spread over the floor, Fabby’s eyes were cooked with stress, but she kept the rest of her face emotionless. Her hands held a knife at her heart.

“Edgar… Mom… I’m finally joining you both.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks, and her sweaty hands were mildly shaking. Her heart weighed so heavy. A frown finally appeared on her face, and she licked her lips in regret as to how things turned out. Edgar had told her many times that it was better to escape the mountains and die seeking freedom than live like a slave for the rest of his life; however, she was always against that idea, especially after Edgar was turned into a cripple. There was no way a weak girl and a crippled boy could cross through the Tempting Woods. Only certain death awaited them. However, now, after her brother had gone missing, possibly dead, she felt like dying alongside his brother in their attempt to taste freedom would have been a much better ending, given the measly lives they’ve led.

As seconds passed, Bittu’s voice grew louder, and he began to kick the door.

She bit her lower lip hard enough to leak out blood.

Outside the room, in that corridor, there was a buzz among the heads peeking from other rooms. It wasn’t so easy to tell what they were anticipating. After all, what they were watching wasn’t the first time it happened. Watchers banged the doors of all slaves whenever they wished, and slaves who had always lived in fear, especially felt a chill whenever they heard someone knocking the door. It was an uncontrollable one that almost always made them sweat if not tremble.

Bittu emptied the last bits of rum and smashed the bottle to the wall and barked, “If you don’t want to open the door, hic, then let me do it myself!” with all his strength, Bittu kicked the door open.

Seeing the door fall, Fabby’s body shuddered uncontrollably, but upon seeing the image of the vile man and his even more ghastly smile, she grabbed the knife tighter and mustered up the courage to drive it through her heart.

“What are you doing, dear swine?” after blinking twice, while smiling, Bittu finally caught sight of her, and his smile grew in intensity. He was so drunk he didn’t even realize what she was doing. He was swaying to the left and right and took support from the doorside, so that he wouldn’t fall. “Oops, I almost fell. A watcher like me can’t fall. Hic. A watcher like me can only make women fall.”

“I’d rather die than become the woman of a scum like you…” Fabby squeezed her lips tightly, and a strong resolve flashed in her eyes. She raised her hands for a quick and lethal stab.

Just at that moment, someone entered the corridor, wearing a loose shirt and pants he had just picked up enroute home a few minutes ago.

It was a young man with long messy green hair, and his feet came to a halt when his eyes fell upon the drunken man staggering at Fabby’s door. This young man was Edgar, but no peeking eyes recognized him.

In the proverbial blink of an eye, the moment Edgar saw that drunk man at the doorstep, he burst into a fit of rage. “Bittu, you trash!” he howled as he charged at him like a mad beast, “I told you not to harass my sister!”

In a flash, his hand grabbed the side of Bittu’s face and tossed him away to the end of that corridor, which was at least thirty meters away.

The knife stopped at a touching distance to Fabby’s chest, and all she was a blur. Something came so fast and took Bittu away. Was it a beast? No, she was sure she heard a few faint words before that. Those words that carried a familiar tone, no, an overfamiliar voice, which was nothing like that of Bittu. Immediately after, her eyes turned wider and wider. The knife dropped out of her hands. Her lips trembled. She immediately stood and ran outside, mustering the tiniest bits of hope and expectation left in the deepest pits of heart.