After venting years of pent-up emotion for this particular moment, I allowed myself to fall back on the couch, letting out a bitter laugh.
After years of self-damnation, the laugh came out with a sigh of frustration and relief. For a moment, I felt like I was better than everyone.
I grabbed the coffee on the table, took a sip, and spat it back.
"Blegh... It's worse than a graveyard puddle."
I set the mug on the table. My gaze fell to the book once more. The blood-ink was drying on the pages.
Looking back, I didn't know why I chose that sentence to write first. It was like the words just popped into my mind.
I picked up the book, tracing the now-dry blood-ink on the page. After a momentary bliss of pride, I kept thinking to myself, What now?
Sure, I'd made progress after all these years, but I knew that even if it was the end of me, it would not be the end of my research.
I had to think of the next step, I had to...
Then, a soothing voice whispered in my ears — a shallow sound that could barely be heard, sending a shiver down my spine.
I tried to make something out of it and looked for the source of the whispers.
I looked around the room to find any clues but found none. Then, a clear whisper lingered in my ears. Come, the voice said.
"Come, and see the world unrevealed before you."
"Come."
The voice was soft and weak, but clear enough to the naked ear. I immediately knew where the whisper was coming from.
I opened the window, and I was right — the voice was getting clearer. I quickly grabbed my bag and stuffed the gospel alongside the quill inside it.
I rushed out of the building, searching for the direction of the whisper, ignoring the noise of the bustling city.
I recognized that the whisper came from the south and ran in that direction. As I ran, the voice kept getting clearer and more audible.
I ran for a couple of meters until I stopped in front of a park. The whisper could be heard clearly. I started walking around the park, looking for the source of the voice.
Then, my eyes landed on an old playground. I remembered it now. I used to go to this park when I was but a naive child.
I approached the playground. The familiar slide, the rusting swings — it was just like I remembered from my childhood.
I remembered being bullied here; the bullies would call me four-eyes, nerd, and names befitting a man fated for damnation. But in that darkness, there was a glimmer of light — a girl who would always stand up for me.
Until now, her image lingered in my memories, as if it were a part of me.
Nostalgia hit me right in the guts. I traced the slide with my fingers, as if wanting to go back — back to where it all began.
Suddenly, my eyes landed on something that didn't belong — or perhaps, someone.
At that time, it felt like time was frozen in place as I laid eyes on the figure in front of me — a man in a black coat, holding what seemed to be a book in his hand.
The man closed his book and turned to me with a smile.
"Hey."
He greeted me nonchalantly as he stood up and walked toward me until we were just a few centimeters apart.
"I've been waiting for you, Cael Ravel."
I raised an eyebrow at the mention of my name. I didn't know the guy, yet he knew me. Was he a friend, or a foe?
—Penning a new chapter...