Watcher

Chapter 11: Mysterious wound

Madam Nigera ignores Bradley's words and focuses on Bradley's feet without even blinking. Bradley feels strange seeing Madam Nigera expression, He is really curious about it and immediately looks at his wounds by himself.

"Ah!"

His face is instantly stiff with his hands are shaking non-stop. A wound engraves on Bradley's skin so clearly. It looks like the claws of a beast or something. A few minutes later, a blackish-purple liquid slowly leaks out from the scar.

“Bradley, you need to calm down.” Madam Nigera holds Bradley's shoulder to calm her. "It's just a wound. You don't have to worry about it."

"Madam, but what is that?" Bradley asked as he continues watching the purple liquid that keeps pouring out non-stop. "I've never seen this strange liquid at all," he said in a trembling voice.

"Brad, calm down. I will immediately find a way to heal this wound.” Madam Nigera takes out a bandage inside the storage box. “This bandage at least can reduce this wound.”

His mind is getting restless, He is very afraid that something bad would happen to him. He simply cannot think of anything other than death now. His gaze’s blank and he doesn't know what to do.

“Brad, I promise to find medicine for your wound. However, you have to promise me something,” she said with a serious face.

"What promise, Madam?" he asked in a voice that sounded powerless.

"Never tell anyone about this." Madam Nigera tries to warn Bradley. "Remember, only the three of us know about this."

Bradley nods slowly. Madam Nigera carries Dorothy who seems to fall asleep in Madam Nigera's chair. "Bradley, I think you should go back to your room. We will continue to discuss this tomorrow.”

Madam Nigera comes out of her room and carries Dorothy back to her room. The atmosphere in Madam Nigera's room is very quiet right now. Bradley returns to his room to take a rest.

“I don’t know if Madam Theresa can help me.”

His eyes continue to stare at the ceiling hearing. Bradley's eyes slowly closed and he is finally asleep.

In Bradley's dreamland, He is seen in a very dark place. He called someone several times, but there was no reply to his words. A few meters in front of him was a large mirror similar in shape to the one downstairs. Along the side of the mirror, it had the same engraving as the mirror on the lower floor of this orphanage.

 The sound of his footsteps could be heard clearly with his eyes searching for someone's whereabouts but to no avail. He kept walking until he was right in front of the mirror.

Bradley's face was visible there and everything looks normal. However, Bradley suddenly felt pain in his leg. He rolled up his pants and saw the wound spread to his face.

No!

***

Bradley wakes up from his nightmare. It feels so real. His blood runs cold, his eyes immediately look up at the ceiling. Cold sweat soaks the surface of his bed and his heart still races fast.

“Gosh, luckily it was just a dream.”

He wipes away the rest of his sweat and takes a deep breath. He tries to control his breathing back to normal. He immediately gets up from his bed and prepared himself, he comes out of his room wearing trousers to cover his wound. A few minutes later, Caden's voice comes out of his room.

"Hey, Brad." A yellow hair man with sapphire blue eyes calls out to him. "So, do you have found Dorothy?” he asks curiously.

"Yes. Everything is under control now.” Bradley smiles.

"Thank God," Caden said with a sigh. "Come on Brad, we better hurry before Madam Theresa scolds us for the umpteenth time."

The two of them finally go downstairs and see other kids starting to gather in the living room. Luckily, both of them seem not to be late this time. Madam Theresa and Nigera still haven’t seen it yet.

"Brad, fortunately, they are not here yet."  Bradley sighs and wipes his sweat.

Bradley's eyes moved to see every face of the children looking for Dorothy or Jacqueline. However, He does not see both of the children.

“Well, at least both of them are safe now, said Bradley with a sigh. “Maybe they just take a rest.”

Five minutes after that, the sound of footsteps hears entering the room and it turns out Madam Theresa steps followed by Madam Nigera right behind her.

"Brad, don't you feel strange about Madam Theresa?" Caden whispers, looking at Madam Theresa’s movements.

"Yeah, she smiles a lot more today. That’s kinda weird.” Bradley responds to Caden's words wrinkling his brows. "I think something good happens to her, maybe?"

They are silent for a moment, thinking about what happened to her. A few minutes later, Madam Theresa starts to speak. She said there will be rich and famous families who will come over tonight and see the “Happy life” orphanage. All the children in the room jump for joy hearing the news. The arrival of rich families means a lot to this orphanage because they can help the economy of the orphanage by becoming donors.

Madam Nigera knocks on the table beside her. "Children calm down, let madam Theresa finish her word."

“Kids, we have to impress this family with this orphanage.” Madam Theresa's eyes are burning. “We should give a good impression while they are here.”

"All right, Madam."  All the children said in unison.

“Nigera, you will arrange the food section.” Madam Theresa takes out a few sheets of paper. "I find some old recipes in Eugene's drawer, you might be able to use these."

"Okay, Madam. I'll try to use it.”

She walks out of the room and picks up her phone, she left all these duties to Madam Nigera. Madam Nigera then divides into groups to clean the house, as well as take care of the food section. Bradley is assigned to clean the room, while Caden will help Madam Nigera in the kitchen.

"Caden, you and the other kids go first. There is something I want to talk about with Bradley.”

"Yes, Madam," Caden calls out to the children and walks out of the room.

“Brad, I have comrades, who know better about this wound,” she said in a whisper. “Maybe he can heal your wound.”

Bradley enlarges his eyeballs. “Madam, are you sure?” Bradley furrows his brows. "It seems this wound seems unusual."        

“We'll talk about this after dinner ends."

Madam Nigera leaves Bradley with the children who will be going to help him. Yet, it seems the kids don't hear any directions from Bradley, and this makes everything even messier. They still keep playing and circling. The dust that stuck on the floor, spilled mop, the floor that has not been brushed properly, and the handrail that has not been cleaned yet. He can feel his soul burning and his head heating up even more making him furious.

"Hey, all of you kids shut up!" Bradley's screams filled the room.

They are speechless and sit quietly like kittens. His cheeks turn red, his eyebrows get narrow and he occasionally widens his eyes when he sees if one of the children starts to make a mess. The children nod in response and immediately move according to his's directions. They work quietly and without the slightest sound.

“All right, at least now things have started….”

Suddenly Bradley starts to feel pain around his wound. He tries to endure the pain and walks into a room where no one is there. His hands pull up a dark brown chair and sit on it. He slowly opened the bandage that is wrapped quite thickly as his heartbeat accelerated.

***