Bradley walks towards the bushes not far from his current position and his heartbeat skips a beat every time he walks closer to the sound. His hand slowly touched the surface of the bush, however, pair of eyes stare at him in the bush.
"Good grief!"
Bradley steps back, his face instantly pale with cold sweat immediately rolling down his curves. Something moves to him and it gets closer and closer. His body is instantly frozen and refuses to move.
"What is that?"
His eyes try to find anything for protection, yet he doesn’t find anything. A few minutes later it finally reveals its forms and turns out just a cat.
"Damn cat!" he said with a sigh and wipes his sweat. “I almost get a heart attack.”
Not long after, the rain slowly subsided. Bradley reached out his hand and made sure the rain stopped.
"Okay, now it's safe. I better get home before it rains again.”
Bradley quickened his footsteps and leave the cat alone. But after a few steps, he stops in his tracks. His eyes look back and see directly into the cat’s eyes. He feels sad leaving the cat alone in that place, but he can’t bring any animals into the orphanage.
"If I take the cat home, Wolfy will be furious and so will Madam Theresa."
His head feels hot thinking about that. Bradley tries to forget all about it and returned to the orphanage. His eyes look around and slowly steps inside.
"Ok, everything is safe." Bradley closed the door and walked slowly, trying not to make any noise. “there is no sign of Madam Theresa.”
He fastens his movement to his room and closed the door immediately. He walks to his lovely bed, suddenly someone knocks outside his room. He doesn't want to open the door at first, but the knocking is getting louder and more intense. He finally opens the doorknob and sees someone standing in front of his door.
"Madam Nigera?” Bradley furrows his eyes. “Thank God, I think you are Madam Theresa.” He sighs.
"Bradley, so what did Thomas tell you?"
"Dr. Thomas said that this wound was from the night catcher's attack," Bradley said in a casual tone. "Madam, he said you know ...."
Madam Nigera's eyeballs immediately dilated when Bradley mentioned night catcher. She quickly grabs Bradley's mouth and dragged him into the room near them and closed the door.
"Bradley, you can't talk about this here," she said glancing her eyes left and right. "What if someone could hear it."
"Madam Nigera, what is this all about?" Bradley wrinkled his brows. "What are you hiding from all of us?"
"You should not ask too many questions, boy." Madam Nigera raises her voice.
"How can I not ask, when my life is on the edge of death!"
Bradley's words shock Madam Nigera and instantly make her speechless.
"Madam, I don't want to be that thing," he said and started sobbing. "I'm scared, madam." Bradley clutched both her hands tightly.
Madam Nigera only shakes her head, she steps closer to Bradley and hugged him. "Bradley, calm down I'm sure we can heal your wound," she said in a whisper. "What stage is your wound?"
"Early stage, madam." Bradley shows the wound. "Dr. Thomas says this can slow down the effects."
"Ok, so there is still a chance of recovery. I think we should go to Mirland."
Bradley enlarges his eyeball, he doesn’t believe Madam Nigera knows about Mirland just like Dr. Thomas said. Bradley sighs and a faint smile is painted on his lips, he slowly opens the door.
“Okay, so what we are waiting for?”
However, Madam Nigera snaps her fingers and realizes she can’t go to Mirland because of something. She doesn’t want to tell about it and always attempts to change the conversation. It makes Bradley’s head feels hot and his soul feels burned inside.
“Madam, stop lying!” Bradley yells so loud. “What have you done?”
Madam Nigera takes a deep breath and starts to speak. “I have been expelled from Mirland.” Her voice cracks not long after. “Because I… I…. have killed someone.”
Bradley shocks to hear Madam Nigera words and he doesn’t believe what she said. “Madam, you are not joking, right?”
Madam Nigera shakes her head, making Bradley’s mouth wide in shock. She said some years before working at the orphanage, she was a leader of the protective members at Mirland. However, due to carelessness she accidentally killed one of his colleagues and she got expelled from Mirland forever.
“I’m sorry for asking about it.” A sense of regret crossed Bradley's mind. “I don’t wanna open those bad memories.”
Madam Nigera smiles and tries to be strong. “Yeah, that’s fine. I realize now how clumsy and stupid I was.”
"So, how do we get to Mirland now? "Bradley asked curiously trying to change the subject.
"There is another way to enter the world of Mirland, but you must find another watcher to have access to it." Madam Nigera stroked her chin. "But rules are the rules." She rolls her eyeball. “I even don’t know who is the other watcher.”
“Dr. Thomas?” asked Bradley curiously. “He knows a lot of Mirland, is it possible he is also the watcher?”
Madam Nigera shakes her head. “No, he’s just a normal human but obsessed with all kinds of weird stuff.”
“Well, that means bad luck then.” He sighs resignedly.
Madam Nigera merely said to Bradley that he should be less likely to leave the orphanage. She gives Bradley information about the night catcher who often wandered around at night and looked for victims.
"Bradley, It’s late and you should take a rest now." Madam Nigera stands up and walks away from him. "I will gather any information about the other watcher, I promise."
Madam Nigera walks away from Bradley and closed the door, leaving Bradley alone in the room.
"Madam Nigera's words seem to be true. I should rest now," He said followed by a yawn and walks toward his room.
Bradley stands up, walks to his bed, and lies down on the mattress. His mind still thinking about the things Dr. Thomas and Madam Nigera said before. However, his body is too tired and his eyes feel tired. Not long after, he sleeps soundly.
***
"Bradley...Bradley...Bradley...."
An unfamiliar voice called his name and Bradley quickly opened his eyes. He looks left and right, yet he sees no one there. He tries to sleep again, but the voice called his name again.
"Argh! That voice makes me sick!"
Bradley gets up from his bed and searches for the source of the voice. He continued moving without realizing that he is outside the house now and suddenly the voice vanished.
"Strange, how come the voice is gone?"
He squinted his eyes and moved his head. He is standing right under the only street lamp that emitted a yellow neon-colored light. His eyes moved slowly, but since it is quite dark outside, he could not see clearly. In front of him, just an empty street with a few parked vehicles, no one sees is seen on this street.
"Weird, am I dreaming?" he pats his cheeks over and over. "Ah, never mind, probably it’s just my imagination."
He walks back inside the orphanage, yet after a few steps of walking, he suddenly feels something watching him from behind. He slowly turns his head around and sees a pair of eyes looking at him continuously.
***
He’s speechless for a moment looking at a black silhouette standing in the dark without moving at all. He starts slowly walking backward but weirdly the silhouette is moving near to him.“Damn! I cannot see that thing.”He looked around and realize the silhouette near under the street lamp. He tries to lure it to move toward the streetlight so that he could see the figure fully and it worked.“Ah, it’s just a little cat.” He breathes calmly and starts laughing. “I almost think that is something else.”He walks closer to the cat and his hand touch the cat’s ears. It feels so soft and fluffy. He tries to pick up the cat and take it away, but suddenly something pulls the cat back into the darkness and it disappeared instantly.“What… What is happening?”His body is frozen, his legs feel so stiff, and his face is still tense as the events unfolded so quickly in front of him. He doesn’t know what to do now. The lamp street starts to dim and all of a sudden he hears a cat’s scream.“I must
He keeps on reading the rest of the passage, but sadly it has been destroyed by termites. Bradley puts the paper down on the floor and walks to his bed."It just all goes to waste my time. I didn't get anything at all," Bradley grumbled. "Ah, I hope trusting Madam Nigera's word is the right decision."His eyes continued to stare at the ceiling of the room which already partially crumbling, revealing the inner structure of the room. He sighed again. A quiet atmosphere over the place as her eyes slowly closed and he finally fell asleep.The sound of someone knocking on the door rings in his ears. It wakes him up from his sleep and he tries to cover both ears, but it feels like the knocking keeps ringing until it makes him furious. However, he suddenly realized something. He did not dream about that horrible thing yesterday at all. It feels like he's getting a gift from someone and today seems to be much better than before."The remedy seems to be working. I don't have any nightmares at
Bradley continuously looks out the window, watching the city he lived in slowly slipping out of sight. Bradley still cannot believe that he will be going far away from his hometown. "Once we pass through this gate, we'll be outside in the city." Madam Nigera speaks out while strumming her guitar. "Madam, how long will this trip take?" Caden raised his hand making him instantly the center of attention. "According to the driver, it will take about almost half a day and that's if it doesn't rain or get stuck in traffic." "Half a day?" Caden's eyeballs widened at that remark. "Yeah, but we'll stop by a few times if someone needs to use the restroom. " All the children nodded at the explanation. Madam Nigera sits back in her seat next to Madam Theresa who has been sleeping the entire time the bus has been moving. The atmosphere instantly becomes quiet, and Caden cranes his neck to look around. Some of the orphanage children fall asleep until Caden lays down his body. "Brad, please w
Suddenly a woman in a white uniform walks toward Madam Isabella. She informs us about the room has been prepared and directs the group to the room, while Isabella will wait in the dining room. Along the hallway leading to the room, there are many photographs of the history of this place. Some relics that looked very costly also lined up neatly as they walked. "Okay, this is the room." The woman turns the doorknob and steps inside. A room twice bigger than in the orphanage right in front of him. Several double bunk beds arrange there with a large window next to the beds and a door connecting a room with two beds. "Please manage your luggage. I'll be waiting in the lobby," the woman closed the door and walks away. "Nigera, I'll go down first." Madam Theresa placed her bag in the room and quickens her pace out of the room. "You take care of all these children." "Yes, Madam," she nods her head. Madam Nigera, Bradley, and Caden direct all the children put down their bags and arrange t
Caden pats Bradley on the head and says he's probably just delusional. They walk back until arriving at the door of the resort. "We're finally here." Bradley wipes his sweat. "It sure takes a lot of energy," he said with a chuckle. "Yeah, I can feel my leg muscles tightening up too." Caden sits on one of the front seats at the entrance of the resort and puts his legs on the ground." Ah, at least now I can rest for a while." Markus looks through the glass connecting to the room and finds that the group of children has already returned to the resort. All of them enter the lobby resort and Markus decides back to his room. "See you tomorrow." Markus smiled and dashed straight to his room. "Brad, Markus is a cute boy." Caden smiles watching Markus' behavior. "I wonder, he's such a good kid but why he doesn’t have any friends," he continued flexing his arm muscles. "Yeah Cad, I'm confused too." Bradley shakes his head. "Never mind, let's get into the line before Madam Theresa scolds
A few minutes later, the sound of stamping feet comes from Madam Theresa's room. All the children immediately wake up and prepared to go downstairs to see a woman in a white and black uniform awaiting their arrival. "Mr. Zwalinski is waiting at the training ground," said the brown-haired woman. "I'll take you there." Madam Theresa stops walking and turns around. "Wait, I don't see Nigera at all," she says in a grumbling tone. "Where is she?" A few minutes later, a dark-haired woman walks in from the back door. "Madam, I apologize," she said in her typical soft voice. "I just took wolfy for a walk because he gets bored in his cage." Madam Theresa sighs at having said that and feels guilty for letting Wolfy stay inside the cage. They all finally continued their journey until they reached a large tent. Shortly after, Mr. Zwalinski arrived with a box of drinks. "It's very hot today," he said as he wipes the sweat from his face. "You better drink up before you get dehydrated." Mr.
Bradley tries to catch his breath and acted normally as if nothing happen. However, over time he feels like he's being watched by something. He keeps looking in all directions, but there's no one around. "Damn, this atmosphere is freaking me out." Bradley quickens his pace towards the resort but accidentally bumps into someone as he is about to enter the resort. "Gosh, I'm sorry." Bradley looks up seeing the woman he hits as Madam Nigera. "Brad, what's wrong?" asked Madam Nigera curiously, "You seem to have just seen something." Bradley says he's seen something black passing by during practice and lately he's been feeling like he's being followed by something. "Madam, I feel like the night catcher might be around us." Bradley's eyeballs dilated momentarily and his hands continued to tremble. "Bradley, calm down." Madam Nigera tries to calm Bradley down. "We're not entirely sure what it is, but if it's here, our lives are in danger." "Yes, Madam." "I feel it's best that while
It is dark inside and lit only by the flickering yellow hanging lights. Caden's hands start shaking and he keeps pulling Bradley out of the place. However, Bradley ignores him and continues to walk around. "Hey, do you see Markus?" asked Bradley stopping his feet and looking back. "I don't see him at all." "This place is so dark, maybe Markus has already left." Caden continues to persuade Bradley to come outside. “Cad, you are such a coward.” Bradley rolls his eyes and continues to walk. Inside the place, a strange atmosphere immediately welcomes them with some horrific paintings randomly arranged on the walls, some scattered on the floor filled with red stains, and a horrible sound that rings loudly in the ears. "Oh my, I will have a nightmare. Caden looks around the room, it feels so horrible. “Jeez,I hate this place.” Suddenly one of the paintings seemed to be about to fall and instantly revealed a person wearing a hideous mask. He shouts loud enough making Bradley and Caden
They both walk while pointing their weapons forward and looking around the forest. A few seconds later, Bradley catches a strangely shaped silhouette passing a few meters in front of him and disappears into the fog. "Mike, it's that ....""Yes, the night catcher." Mikaela pulls the trigger of her pistol and points the muzzle forward. "Brad, be careful."The night catcher's voice grows louder and louder, making Bradley's heart beat faster and faster until they decide to speed up their footsteps. As the minutes pass, Bradley starts feeling the tightness in his leg muscles, causing him to fatigue."Wait... wait .... can we take a break?" Bradley wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to catch his breath. "I need to rest for a while.""Brad, come on!" Mikaela, who is in front, keeps calling Bradley over and over again. "We cannot stay here for too long. The night catcher will probably catch up with us."But seeing Bradley's pale face, he sighs and agrees to follow Bradley for a sho
It happens so fast and neither of them has a chance to do anything. Mikaela feels pressure in his chest and continues to shed tears relentlessly. "Sh**! That bastard must die!" Mikaela clenches his palms tightly, his breathing becomes ragged, and his nose wrinkles as he growls. Bradley tries to calm down Mikaela, who seems to be showing himself in front of the villain. "Mike, we're not in a safe position and we shouldn't act rashly right now." Bradley pulled Mikaela's hand away to prevent him from going any further. "Calm down, Mike." "Calm down? That jerk killed my dad, how am I supposed to do now Brad?" Mikaela's voice sounds loud enough to make the guy in the black jacket instantly walk over to where both Bradley and Mikaela are hiding. "Come on... come on wherever you are." The man walked closer and the sound of a gun pulling can be heard. "I know there's someone here." Bradley immediately shuts Mikaela’s mouth and pushes him against the wall. The sound of footsteps made B
Bradley is speechless and can't believe that no one has come back from the island alive. It seems like his hopes of finding the plant are getting smaller and smaller. "Damn! This is a suicide," Bradley grumbles in annoyance and stomps his feet repeatedly. "Jezz, what should we do now?" They both are silent for a moment, trying to figure out a way out of the problem, but it isn't long before Mikaela wakes up and stares at the two of them with a confusing look on his face. "Wait, am I dead?" Mikaela checked his whole body quickly. "Uh, what exactly happened?" The frown on Mikaela's forehead is visible to Bradley and Mr. Hugo. Bradley told him what happened and why he wasn't dead after getting shot. Knowing the truth, Mikaela shakes his head and chuckles as he feels he had been played by his father. "Gosh, how stupid of me to be so easily caught up in my father's charade." Mikaela gently pats his own head. " "Child, that's a lesson for you for daring to spend the money I gave you
Bradley slowly looks back and his face immediately stiffens at the tip of the gun. "I...I...am not a criminal." Bradley's voice sounds so shaky that his legs feel weak for a moment. His mind is blank and he doesn't know what to do now they've both been caught red-handed. "What are you doing here?" The man continued to stare at Bradley with an unfriendly gaze without moving the tip of the gun away from Bradley's head. "Who are you?" The atmosphere became tense and seeing Bradley's urgent state, he finally speaks to his father 'Dad, calm down he's my friend Bradley." Mikaela's voice makes her father direct his gaze toward Mikaela who is still on the floor. "Hello dad, it's me." "Mikaela?" The man furrowed his brows and his face instantly turns red. "Damn it, disobedient child. What are you doing here!" The man raised his voice and pointed his gun at Mikaela. "You shouldn't be here, you bastard!" "Dad, calm down, I have something to ask you." Mikaela raised his hands and tries t
Mikaela finds it strange how Bradley's face turns as pale as a corpse. "Hey, what's wrong with you?" Mikaela raised his eyebrows and pulled out the paper in Bradley's hand. "You look like ...." Mikaela's eyeballs immediately rounded when he sees the paper's details. Their faces are engraved on a sheet of paper. "Gosh, why is this happening?" Mikaela furrowed his brows. "Fugitives? What's this all about?" Mikaela is lost for words and immediately throws the paper away from his face. His head begins to heat up, his face seems to tighten and his eyebrows look low. "Damn! This must be the mine owner's plan." "Mike, look at that." Mikaela squints his eyes and sees an old, thin man walking towards the gang of criminals who turns out to be his father. "Father? What's he doing there?" "I don't know, but we'd better shut up and listen to what they have to say." The two of them continued to hide behind the house and soon a conversation could be heard. "Old man, where are they?" One of
They both accelerated their footsteps through the growing thickets of wild grass as they walk. "Bradley, watch your step." Mikaela who led the way looked around. "This road is very slippery and mossy." Bradley slowly walks and follows Mikaela from the front, but his foot accidentally steps on a hole deep enough and makes him fall. "Mike, help me!" Bradley shouted over and over with his hand grasping one of the grasses tightly. Mikaela hearing Bradley's shout turns around and looks for anyone but no one. "Brad, where are you?" Mikaela keeps calling Bradley's name over and over again. "Hey, I'm down here!" Bradley continued to grasp at the grass that is just a few roots away from the ground. Mikaela follows the source of the voice and sees Bradley who is about to fall to the bottom of a huge cliff. "Oh my God, Brad!" Mikaela stretches out his hand in an attempt to pull Bradley up. "Brad, grab my hand." Bradley slowly reached for Mikaela's wrist, but the sweat running down Bradl
Bradley nods his head at the words. He slowly closes his eyes, trying to rest for a few minutes. He slowly closes his eyes, trying to rest for a few minutes. However, the fear still lingers in Bradley's mind and he is still reluctant to fully rest. "Mikaela, we better hurry up and leave this city." Bradley slowly gets up from his position. "Alright, then." Bradley sighed and picked up his things. "Come on, now we're off." Just as they were about to leave the house, Mrs. Meredith suddenly walks and brings something to Bradley. A small bottle filled with a strange liquid color makes by Mrs. Meredith itself. "Uh, what's this?" Bradley slowly uncapped the bottle and tried to smell it. "Oh God, what is this smell." It is similar to rotten fish made him immediately close the bottle again. " "Drink this potion, when you go to bed, it can reduce the impact of the curse." Bradley put the bottle in his pants pocket and they all left the town. Mikaela said it would only take about half a
Bradley walks back into the room and sees Mikaela packing up his things and preparing to leave. "Sir, is it not dangerous to leave at this time of night?" Elis' eyes rounded and her mouth pursed. "Night catchers may still be hanging around, are you sure?" "But, we have to leave this place soon." Mikaela continued to pack his luggage. "We're now fugitives in this city and it means we must leave this place." Mikaela pulled up his collar and wipes the sweat from his forehead. "Hey, you two should also leave this town as soon as possible." Elis' face instantly tightens and her mouth curved downward. "But... we have no place to stay." Her voice sounds so weak and it causes Mikaela's feelings to sink into sadness for a moment. Elis said they were slaves bought by a wealthy merchant, but the merchant was killed by bandits who then brought them here. “Oh my, so you're not from this town?” Elis shakes her head quickly. Bradley slowly walks over to Mikaela and suggests to him taking Elis
The agonized looks on the slaves' faces keep replaying in his mind, causing Bradley to pause and reflect. "Hey, Bradley what are you doing?" Mikaela's snap brought Bradley to his senses. "Come on, we need to focus." "Oh yeah, sorry." Bradley smiled as he scratched his head. Suddenly Elis runs towards one of the cages and her steps stop. Her tears slowly flow down the curves of her round face. The two of them immediately run over to Elis and see the yellow-haired man lying limply on the ground. His back is full of so many whip wounds. Elis notices the man is his brother because of the birthmark on his back. "Brother! Brother!" Elis keeps shouting for her brother who looked unconscious. "Wake up brother!" Bradley searches for something to break the padlock covering the cages and a medium-sized piece of iron is the tool he uses. "Elis, step back and I'll open the lock." Mikaela pulls Elis away from the bars and Bradley hit the surface of the padlock repeatedly until it shatters.