Chapter 4: Bloody Night
Zein's Point of View...
I listened to our teacher and pushed away all the things bothering me. I would go crazy if I kept thinking about all of that.
A very large wall clock was prominently displayed in the center, which our classmates had been looking at for a while. Every minute that passed, it got darker and darker, and I could feel the tension around us. Even our teacher couldn't teach properly because she kept glancing at it.
"6 o'clock," whispered Mia, who was also just staring at it. Our dismissal time was 6:30, so it was still 30 minutes until we could leave, and definitely 30 minutes after our dismissal would be the Bloody Night.
I looked outside where it was already dark. What was going to happen again? Will blood spill again?
It was terrifying to think that everything happens in the dark. Which innocent person would get caught up in it this time?
After the class....
"I'm just going to the comfort room," I excused myself.
Vanessa and Mia glared at me.
"You're crazy! You know it's dangerous outside, and you're thinking about your bladder?!" Mia yelled at me.
"Do you really want to die, Zein? Just say so, okay? I'll stab you myself!" joked Vanessa, whom I just rolled my eyes at.
I held my lower abdomen because I really had to pee for a while, and it was starting to hurt. There wasn't any comfort room here inside the classroom anyway.
"I'll go with you, Zein. Come on?" Matt offered his hand, which I immediately accepted.
"Oh well! Do whatever you want!" Vanessa said.
We just nodded before saying goodbye to our teacher.
"Just be careful," Dave reminded us.
"Hurry up. It's dangerous outside, and as much as possible, don't let your curiosity get the better of you," he warned us.
Even though I was confused, I just nodded. Matt held my hand tightly; only the lights from the posts served as our illumination.
"Do you think, Matt. We'll be able to leave here... alive?" I asked.
"Shh. Don't talk like that. We'll get out of here. Okay?" he tried to convince me.
I entered the comfort room, leaving Matt outside to guard me. I went into one cubicle.
Silence reigned around me, and I could only hear the sound of dripping water. I felt a chill, so I hurried up with peeing.
I almost ran to the door, and there was no Matt to greet me. With trembling knees, I looked around.
I heard rustling sounds from the surroundings, which doubled the fear I was feeling.
"M-Matt?" I called his name.
I covered my mouth when I saw some people in the distance. There were many of them.
I was about to cry when Matt suddenly appeared from the dark, sweating profusely. He tightened his grip on my hand and pulled me away from there.
"Matt. Where did you come from?" I asked.
He didn't answer me, and I also noticed that he was looking around nervously.
"Matt, this isn't the way," I said, because we went the other direction.
"It's 6:40, Zein. I'm sure everyone is in the dormitory now. Plus, they've surrounded the whole HU; we need to avoid them."
I wanted to ask who he was referring to, but no voice came out of my mouth.
We walked without making a sound. We hid in the dark where we couldn't be seen. He was right; the people wearing black masks were scattered around.
"We're safe as long as the bell doesn't ring-"
We stopped when we heard the threatening bell ring.
All my hair stood on end when I realized it was already Bloody Night. A stream of curses escaped Matt's mouth, and he held my hand tighter.
"Hold on, Zein. I'll take care of you..."
Somehow, the tension in my chest disappeared because of what Matt said. But it still wasn't enough to calm my trembling knees.
Matt pulled me behind a large trash can to hide because a battalion of masked men was coming; they were holding bladed weapons like the first time.
Now I could see them up close. Their masks covered only half of their faces, but it was enough so we couldn't recognize them. Their masks were black. Their nail-shaped necklaces were also noticeable.
I covered my mouth. Them! They were members of the Black Blood Gang, like Nicky, because of their nail symbol.
They were scary, looking around as if searching for something. I felt Matt squeeze my hand, so I looked at him.
I smiled at him to say that I was okay.
I also noticed that they were all heading in the same direction. If I were to count, there were around 25+ of them in total.
Matt and I stood up when no more BBG (Black Blood Gang) members were left on the road.
Matt was about to pull me away when I removed my hand from his grip. He furrowed his brows at me.
"You go ahead, Matt, I just need to confirm something," I said, then ran towards the path the men took.
I hadn't gone far when someone grabbed my arm. "You'll be in danger! If they see you, you might end up like Rouge Silvenia, or worse. Zein, please." I could feel the worry in his tone of voice.
I couldn't help but feel guilty for making him worry. He wouldn't be in this situation if he hadn't come with me.
"Sorry," was the only thing that came out of my mouth.
He caressed my hair before holding my hand. "We need to get back, the deeper the night gets, the more dangerous it becomes," he said before pulling me away from that place.
As we ran, I knew someone was watching us. It wasn't just two or three of them; it felt like there were about ten.
"If it's information you're looking for, Zein, I'm ready to give you everything I know. Just don't do what you did earlier again."
I couldn't help but wonder why Matt knew so much? Where did he get the information? Who told him?
"Ahhh!" I stopped walking when Matt fell to the ground.
"Matt!" I knelt in front of him to find out what was hurting him. Only now did I realize that a nail was stuck in his leg.
"Are you okay?! Matt! Can you still walk?!" I asked worriedly.
I heard footsteps getting closer and closer to us, along with my increasing fear.
"My leg is numb. I can't walk anymore. Run, Zein! Save yourself!" he shouted while holding his leg.
"No, Matt! I won't leave you! This is all my fault!"
"Zein! Please! Leave now! You'll just get into trouble too!"
I wiped the tears on my cheek while shaking my head. My body was trembling with memories and fear. But what puzzled me was that it was just a nail, so why was the effect like this?
I grabbed Matt's hand tightly when I saw the black-masked men getting closer to us.
"Zein, escape now!".
I was deafened and couldn't feel anything. I couldn't think straight; all I knew was that I would never leave Matt here.
The masked men stopped when someone blocked their way. A man with his entire face covered by a mask—it was red.
I sensed fear in the men when they saw him, as if the man in the red mask was death itself, whom they should flee.
"One... two..." He counted, and before he could reach three, the men in black masks were no longer in front of him.
The three of us were left in the dark part of the HU. His presence was incredibly heavy. Shit! Who is he? Why were those men afraid of him? What's the deal with him?
He looked at us, and I almost stepped back when I saw his one red eye. I couldn't tell if he was smiling or serious because only one of his eyes was visible.
He walked straight to us and lifted Matt, who was unconscious now. I followed him, unable to speak, my tongue seemingly tied by fear.
His walk was so calm, as if the entire HU was safe, even on a bloody night. I was just behind him.
My mind was wandering, and I didn't realize we were in front of the dormitory. He laid the unconscious Matt on the floor before turning his back.
"Let his wound bleed, rinse it with warm water to remove the poison." I blinked three times, and he was gone from my sight.
Jerome and Dave helped me carry Matt inside. Vanessa and Mia rained questions on me that I couldn't manage to answer.We did everything the mysterious man who saved us told us to do.Who is he?I only answered a limited number of their questions because everything that happened last night was still sinking in. I spent the whole night thinking about the mysterious man behind the red mask.
"It wasn't just an ordinary nail used on Matt. It carried both poison and tetanus. We should just be thankful that someone helped you."
said Jerome, wiping the area where Matt was hit by the nail.
We owed a great debt to the man who helped us. He wasn't a member of the Black Blood Gang because his mask wasn't black; it was red.
"Lesson learned, Zein. It's better to hold your pee than to risk your life." advised Vanessa.
"Sorry." Was all that came out of my mouth again.
"Oh well! We have to go now, or we'll be late. Are you sure you're not coming in?" asked Mia.
"I'll just watch over Matt, since it's my fault he ended up like this anyway." I said sadly.
"We're leaving now. There's already food cooked on the table." Dave added.
I closed the door before approaching Matt again, who was still a bit warm but not as hot as last night.
"Sorry Matt. You wouldn't be in this condition if you hadn't come with me." I said.
If only I hadn't insisted on following the men in black masks, this wouldn't be happening to Matt.
Curiosity almost got us in trouble. But I just wanted to confirm my suspicion.
Based on the direction they were heading, it seemed like they were all summoned. Like they were going to have a meeting. That's what I wanted to confirm last night, but it didn't happen.
"Z-Zein?"
"Matt! Are you feeling better? Are you hungry?" I asked in succession.
I helped him sit up. The weakness in his body was still obvious.
"Are you hungry?" I repeated my question. He nodded, so I served him food.
We ate together on the floor without speaking. My eyes widened when I saw him pick up three red chilies and swallow them whole.
"Matt!" I shouted worriedly.
His face turned red, and it was obvious he felt like throwing up, but he forced himself to swallow them. I just stared at him. Weird.
"Why did you eat the chilies?! Have you lost your mind?" I asked, which made him laugh.
I just watched him drink all the water in both our glasses before exhaling loudly in front of me. I hit his arm because he thought he was a dragon.
"Chilies kill the remaining poison in my body. It's spicy though!" He joked, which made me laugh.
His energy returned, and we went to the park and sat on the swings. I suddenly remembered the first man I encountered and the first man who threatened me.
He had a black mask. Could he be a member of the BBG? UGH!
"Zein, thanks." He started. He was just looking at the ground. "Thanks for not leaving me. Sorry if you almost got in trouble because of me. Sorry." he apologized.
"It's nothing. I just did what was right, and besides, it's also my fault why you were put in that situation."He smiled at me before looking into the distance again.
"Before I lost consciousness. I saw the masked man." he said, looking at me seriously now.
I stopped pushing the swing and met his gaze.
"Red mask. He's one of the Devil God Warriors." he added.
Now I realized. The black mask is for the Black Blood Gang, and the red mask is for the Devil God Warrior.
But what puzzled me was why he saved us?
"He's not just some ordinary member. Based on the fear I saw in the eyes of the tall man who tried to kill us, how their knees trembled, how quickly they left. It might be Raze Silvenia."
I remained silent. Raze Silvenia? The leader of the Devil God Warrior? But why? I felt something strange about him? I can't explain it.
"What puzzles me is why he saved us?" asked Matt, the exact same question I asked myself.
Is he planning something? Are they?
"Last night too, Matt, when we were running, people were watching us." I said in an almost whisper.
His brow furrowed at what I said. But I couldn't be wrong, someone was observing us, watching our every move.
"Maybe they are some of the Black Blood Gang," he said.
I shook my head before looking into the distance. It's impossible that it was the BBG, because if it were them, they should have killed us like they almost did, but no, they just kept watching.
"Is it possible that they are Devil God Warriors?" I asked.
"Possible. Raze was there, so maybe his group was there too." He agreed.
We looked at the students coming out of the classrooms because it was break time. They looked like ordinary students, but deep inside them was intense fear.
"Let's go. Let's go back to the room so we can change and go to class." He offered his hand, which I took with a smile.
We were walking towards the dormitory when we bumped into a girl who was in a hurry. Her books fell, so we helped her.
"Thank you-" She stopped saying thanks when she saw us.
She stepped back as if very afraid. "P-Please don't." She ran away from us.
Matt and I looked at each other, then shrugged. Weird.