He fell fast asleep, but this time he wasn't plagued by nightmares, he was tasting a sweet paradise-like dream.
Cale felt truly at peace, as if all the nightmares he had been subjected to beforehand were all meaningless.
Right now he sat at a park, hands rummaging through the large pockets of his cargo pants that held of the search, his phone. Cale didn't know why the impulsive desire to take a sudden look at the phone urged him to do it.
Currently, his mind was foggy, a certain ringing resounding continuously in his head.
[11:15] AM
The time was the first thing he laid his eyes on, the second thing that Cale's eyes lingered on was.
[September 13 2025]
The date was strange to him, it didn't feel like it made any sense.
But he just couldn't pinpoint exactly what was so strange about it.
Raising his head, he saw two familiar figures side by side.
"That swing is pretty huge"
"I think it's called a Bird's Nest Swing?"
"...That must be like, the most random thing you could remember or even have knowledge of Gabriel"
Catrina glanced at Gabriel. Brows knitting together with the help of a transparent needle.
"I know some things~"
Gabriel crossed his arms together.
"Weirdo"
"You are more weird"
"Name one thing that is weird about me, brat"
"No"
Catrina raised an eyebrow.
"Why not?"
"Because you'll hit me if I am honest-"
Thud!
"Ow!"
A soccer kick in the calf stunned and shut him up completely. Gabriel winced in pain, clutching his leg that felt worse than getting a cramp, as more time passed, the more painful it got. It was surprising for a girl so small in height, could pack a kick that would make any grown adult feel the urge to sob.
'Guess smaller does equal stronger..'
Cale absentmindedly commented, he felt the kick himself once and knew it hurt a lot.
"What did you do that for!"
"I just really wanted to kick you for some reason, it isn't anything personal~"
"Liar! That hurt!"
Catrina turned her head and faced Gabriel, she flashed a brilliant Innocent smile.
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing..."
Gabriel submissively answered the Innocent Catrina, 'Why is she so violent...' He muttered under his breath.
"I heard that"
"It must be your Imagination"
"..."
Both Catrina and Gabriel turned silent, they looked at the swing ahead of them.
"Who's going on it first?"
Catrina broke the silence first and asked Gabriel.
"What's with the sudden change in subject...I heard that they say ladies first, so you go. I'm a gentleman who knows when to be polite"
"I'm pretty generous today, so you go first"
"No I insist you go first"
"I object"
"I object to your objection"
"I request an appeal"
"Denied"
"I request the judge to be investigated for bribe then"
"That's illegal"
"Then bribing is legal is what you're saying?"
"Never said anything of the sorts"
They both went back and forth with each other, stuck in a never ending cycle.
Cale looked at them and narrowed his brows tightly together.
'Why are they even bickering?'
He got up from the bench and walked towards them, trying to attempt a ceasefire
"Hey hey, how about you guys decide with a match of Rock, Paper, Scissor-"
"...?"
Cale stopped himself from talking any further, he looked at them both, and there he saw disgusting grins that would make even the devil shudder back and consider making an expansion for Hell.
"He's perfect, right Gabriel?"
"Yeah, he is Catrina"
'Wait, what? Weren't they just bickering with each other???'
He took a brisk step back, they both in sync took a step forward.
'Why did they suddenly decide to gang up on me!'
"It's only painful at the start"
"Don't worry we'll be gentle with you, trust us"
'Yeah right!'
An attempt to de escalate the inclining situation that would inevitably make Cale the victim of their shenanigans.
"Listen we don't have to do th-"
"Gabriel. I choose you!!! Go get him!"
"Shit!"
Cale twisted his body around and started sprinting, running as far away as his feet possibly could let him go, but that wasn't enough.
"Hah Ha Ha!"
He took one look behind and saw his eventual demise coming to bloom early.
"!!!"
Gabriel ran like a professional athlete, and was closing the distance between Cale and him with each stride that was taken, causing more hope to fade and the urge to scream out want to be taken out on a dog walk.
"You're too slow!"
'Why is he so fast!'
Grab!
Inevitably
"Gotcha"
Cale was captured.
"Let go!"
"I won't"
"Come on Gabriel, we're friends aren't we? you wouldn't do this to me right?"
Gabriel ignored the desperate pleas and kept dragging Cale back to Catrina the boss of this operation.
"Good work Gabriel. I forgive you for your previous remarks"
"Kuk"
Gabriel chuckled, he stared back, his grin became even more disgusting when looking at the innocent man he caught.
"Kek"
Catrina covered her mouth, barely containing her laughter.
"What are you going to even do to me?"
While Cale didn't want to be their plaything waiting to be teased, there wasn't really anything they could really do to him in hindsight.
"You will see Cale, be patient~"
Catrina started to drag the caught Cale to the bird's nest swing.
"What?"
Now he realized what they were trying to do.
"Don't tell me you actually think something like a swing can scare me"
He scoffed and shrugged.
Cale may not be someone with nerves of steel, but he knew for a fact that a simple swing wouldn't be enough to scare him.
"Oh we know, that's why we have 'tools' for that"
"..?"
'Tools? What tools?'
"Kuku, this is going to be fun"
Catrina and Gabriel laid him down on the swing. The scene reminiscent of a surgeon settling over a patient on the table.
In all of this. Cale didn't resist, not because he couldn't, but because he was slightly curious for what they had in store for him.
'Plus, this isn't going to kill me. I mean, what is the worst they can do, tickle me while I was in the swing or something?'
"Ok start pushing him, we have to make this a memorable experience"
They in-fact, had things worse than what Cale imagined, especially Catrina who kept bursting in wealthy laughter like a baboon.
Truly a goddamn adorable second-rate villain, though to Cale, her 'creativity' needed to be restrained in his opinion.