I close my eyes, and turned off the lights,
but in my mind, everything so bright.
I turned around, left and right,
but I'll end up, waking at night.
All alone,
In this empty darkness,
Within this silence,
My heart ached.
The heavy feeling crawled up to me,
I was awake but, do I?
I called for help with my choked throat,
Oh right, I'm alone.
And then I saw, in the night you shone,
So ever brilliant and strong,
Go away, darkness! I bid you so long,
Through this window, I saw my dearest full moon.
Morning rises, as tomorrow comes,
The empty room was not empty anymore,
But as my dearest full moon was gone,
In this brightly lit room, I was all alone.
--
The moonlight shone through the window curtain. bathing the face of the two sleeping serenely in the bed. The night was calm and quiet. If there was a drop of a coin, it could be heard several tens of metres away. It was the night of a full moon. Majestically decorate the night sky.
At night, the darkness would make a person quiver in fear yet could sleep without worry. To think about it, what to be scared of during night time, when it is only the day without the sun like our house after we turned off the lights. The answer lay in the darkness itself. When it is very dark, then the eyes could not see. When the eyes could not see, then the brain could not perceive which ends up with the feeling of uncertainty. Eventually, comes the fear. The fear of the unknown. Even a familiar place would not be so familiar anymore.
Imagine the feeling of those children who were sleeping so calmly, unknowing got kidnapped and wake up in the middle of who knows where. Until today those children are still living, not able to see the daylight. Tonight, a plan was executed to add another victim to the list.
The night was peaceful when suddenly the sound of a window crashing in. Kim woke up and saw two men approaching him and Momo at a quick pace. Unable to react properly in a groggy state, one man already grabbed Momo and another land on him putting a knife near his throat. Kim knew who these men were. It was Mika and Suika. Seeing them both, Kim already understood what was happening.
Mika who was holding the knife against Kim warned him, "Try anything and she will die"
"Touch her and both of you will die"
The unexpected answer from Kim had sent shivers to their spine. But being at an advantageous position made them brushed it away with a laugh.
"I don't care if you beat Kiria. Even an A-rank would die with a knife at this range. Get up, now!"
As Kim and Momo being lead in the hallway in their freshly bought pyjamas, they could hear the familiar voices at the lobby. Beside the Hamid, Wong, Teng and Ling were all still here. Then another name pops up "Mayor Byzark. What are you doing here with all these people?"
They both could sense more than a dozen number of people came to the hotel with Byzark. It seems that Suika and Mika were sent to get Kim and Momo due to their stealthy abilities even though they were the only B-rank who came. Others were most probably to be A-rank judging from the mana they were emanating. Some of them were even as strong as Kiria before he became a werewolf. Most surprisingly, not even one of them has been to the guild before They were not even registered in the first place.
"This mayor of yours is quite a cheeky bastard"
"Say more words and I will slit your throat!"
Wong was the first to react when he saw Kim and Momo going down the stairs with a knife at their throats. "Young master, Miss Momo, are both of you okay?"
Kim did not give a single a reply and Momo was trying hard to stay awake. She was swaying left and right while walking toward the lobby. If she was not holding Kim's arm while going down the stair she might tumble down and had her face planted into the floor. Seeing how carefree both them were, gave a bit sense of relief.
"Hello, Mr Kim. Fancy meeting you again."
"What are you doing Mayor? Let them go! *cough*"
The moment Wong said that he suddenly felt like the air around him has gone. Then his throat was choking and he was suffocating. He could not breathe at all! Slowly the pain was accumulating until he could not bear it and fell on his knee.
"Stop"
One word from Byzark and the pain stop. Wong was able to breathe again.
"They will be good specimens. Take all of them with us"
It was a quiet long walk toward the mayor mansion. There was not even a hint of struggle. The six of them just obediently followed Byzark group. One of the mana users was conjuring a mana barrier that could nullify sound. A cry for help is the same as running away from a cheetah. There were also two specially enhanced knives hanging on Kim's and Momo's throat. Surrounded them were more than a dozen of A-rank, who in the right mind would dare to do anything?
--
There he was listening to the same clock tick-tocking away inside the guest room. It was the same place, the same scenery. The person who was sitting in front of him was still Mayor Byzark. The tea had been served. The butler was standing there in the room. But surrounding them, A-rank mana users who were prepared to take Kim down whenever he would show any suspicious movement. They all had their weapons pointed toward him. It may seem to be overkill, but it was their Byzark order. The first thing Kim did was to take his cup of tea and drink it.
--
Beneath the mansion was a basement, where the other five were sent. Rather than a basement, it was more like an underground prison. Even the four locals who have lived in Kuala Terengganu since they were born never knew about the existence of this prison-like basement. With both hands and feet tied, they were lead by Suika and Mika to their cell. They were all place in one cell beside Momo. Only she was taken to another place.
"Kekeke, don't worry little girl, we won't hurt you. You will have a lot of new friends to play with after this."
The wall of this underground basement has been infused with mana stone which creates a space which suppresses mana sense. It was a no wonder no one noticed about this place before. But for Kim and Momo, their mana sense was too powerful that the barrier could not hide anything from them the moment they entered the mansion. What is it that Mayor Byzark wanted to hide so much that he would spend a fortune of mana stones to build this kind of space?
The answer lies at the end of the path. Momo finally got close to where she sensed the number of living beings being kept in one place. Finally the reach at the end of the path where a giant steel door was standing. Both Suika and Mika took out a silver key, one each which was hanging around their necks. Without hesitation, they pushed Momo into the room and quickly locked the door back.
"I will never get used with the feeling of that room"
"Me too. Let's just get out of here."
A dark and cold room. The smell of iron and foul odour lingering in the air. Every time she took a step, she could hear a squishy sound beneath her slippers. Momo could sense they were several people observing her. She tried to get closer to them, but they would keep their distance away. Judging by how they were moving, it must be possible that their eyes are well accustomed to the darkness.
"They must be the children that master told me."
She broke the mana suppressing shackles that bind her four limbs and conjured four swords floating around her. She sent the swords into four corners, avoiding all the people. "Swords of Revealing Light."
The swords shone which caused the entire room to light up brightly like the day. She could hear the sound of the children mixed with a beastly voice. Their eyes have been too used to the dark that it was greatly pained from watching the light once more.
Momo stood there in silence. She wanted to say something but no voice could come out from her choked throat. The awful smell came from the bloody floor which was filled with human urine and faeces. At one corner, there was a lump of meat mixed with several dead children bodies. The bodies were full of bite marks and some parts of it was gone. And the meat that was lying around looked very much like a wolf heart.
Despite all that, only one thing that made left Momo speechless. The children, with their bloody mouth chomping off the wolf heart in their hands.
--
"These are some tough shackles. Can you do anything about it, Wong?"
"No"
Even if someone is not an enchanter, as a mana user their body is well-tempered according to the amount of mana they absorbed from nature. Especially from monsters, and another human being. Of course, an enchanter in strength would be stronger than anyone within their level but if they a mana user who is way above them in rank, they could lose. Kiria was weaker when compared to Wong in terms of their strength enchantment, but his tempered body made him comparable with Wong.
So, ordinary restrainment like shackles, cuff, or any prison would not be able to hold even E-rank who was not even an enchanter in the first place. But the one that was holding them down was made of mana suppression stones that were similar to the one used to build the walls of this underground basement. It continuously absorbs the mana in a person body and flows it outward. This will disrupt the flow of mana which will disable a mana user from exerting their strength. The only mana users that could destroy this kind of shackles would be an S-rank due to their imaginable strength. Surely the three of them would not be able to release themselves.
However,
"Stand back."
--
Six years ago, the day of calamity.
The dogs were barking exceptionally wild. Hearing the sound he rushed towards their resting place. In his shock, they were fighting against each other. Not just a normal, but a fight that was meant to kill one another. He could see their claws and fang trying to tear each other apart. Blood was splattering everywhere making the whole scene a painted with red. He was scared. His entire was body was trembling. These dogs were his child that he took care since they were babies. He just rushed into the middle of the fights desperately trying to stop them. But nothing work. No matter how much he shouted and tried to hold even one of them down, he ended up getting more wounds.
Finally, his body was not able to resist it anymore. He lost too much blood. His weakening body, can not support him anymore as he lay at the wall. His wound was so deep that his bones were showing. But the pain his body was enduring was incomparable with the pain in his heart, watching his child trying to kill each other. His vision getting blurry. His breath was getting shallow. He exerted the last of his strength, but he could not even lift a finger. Thus, he cried. He cried full of regret.
"If only I was stronger, if only... I want strength!!!"
A heartbeat.
It was his own heart beating strongly not wanting to give up. He wanted to live to save them! The more he wanted to save them, the stronger his heart beating. Not long after that, he could see orbs of light floating around the room. The orbs then rushed toward him and he could feel his strength recovering. Actually, more than that. He could feel he was getting stronger. His entire body felt like it was burning, but instead of pain, it was exhilarating.
But that was not all. His body started to change. His arms and legs were getting bigger with his entire muscle pumped up. His nails and teeth became longer and sharper. The hair on his body becoming longer and thicker which made it looked like he was covered with fur. His vision, smell and hearing becoming more sensitive. Unable to contain his feeling anymore he shouted which sounded more like a howl and all the dogs there stop in their spots. Not knowing how the people would respond, he brought his dogs away into the forest.
--
That night, he will again show his true form in front of others. His body became larger and covered with furs. His sharp claws and fangs grew. Behind him, a clear image of a giant demonic werewolf appeared behind him. The image was very familiar to Wong, Teng and Ling. Slowly, the image becoming smaller as if Hamid was absorbing it and vamp up his mana. Again he felt the exhilaration he was feeling the first day he got this power. With bursting mana, he howls majestically.
In the night of the full moon, he is Mr. Werewolf.