The next day, as everyone were going to work, everything seems just normal for the villagers. Going to work, to school, attending duty hours and more.
Morning - Just as Mason woke up, he suddenly felt something under his blanket and when he unwrapped it, he was shocked that Madison was sleeping beside him, hugging him tight. Mason wondered why and got flustered so easily, he rose up from his bed and stepped away from it and went to the bathroom.
And when he got to the bathroom, he noticed that a set of clothes was putted at the chair to the right side of the door. He checked it and noticed that it was a girl's clothing, Mason's face suddenly gotten red and he hears someone humming inside the bathroom.
Mason slowly turn his face to the shower and in just a few moments, someone opened it and it happens that Cassie was taking a shower. Mason's mind has gotten blank and Cassie's towel fell off and was immediately flustered and suddenly shouted at Mason and slapped him to the face.
Meanwhile, Madison woke up from Mason's bed and saw Cassie wearing clothes. Bothered by it, she asked Cassie:
"What are you doing here Cassie?"
Cassie answered, "Oh, I forgot to tell you about this, but our shower was broken so I figured that I can use the shower here as long as he keeps his distance to me."
And there Madison saw Mason lying on the floor unconsciously.
Just a few moments later, Mason prepared fried beef steak as breakfast for the two girls but unfortunately, as Mason joined in, the atmosphere seems to be had been awkward. He tried to talk to Cassie, but he was ignored, so he decided to go to the tavern to eat but before he left, he said to the girls, "Enjoy your meal, I'll be waiting outside."
And so, Mason went outside of his own room and goes to the tavern.
Back in his room, Cassie and Madison remained awkward until Madison tried to say something to Cassie.
"Um... Cassie?"
Cassie replied, "What is it Madison?"
Madison answered, "Well, Mason cooked for us you know... S-so why don't we try it, I'm already h-hungry."
Cassie replied, "Oh right, I feel bad if I leave this alone and let it rot away. So then, let's eat."
And both girls together said, "Thanks for the food!"
A few hours later, Cassie and Madison went downstairs to the lobby where Mason is waiting for them but unfortunately it was a person wearing a black cloak. The person noticed Madison and went to her and said, "Are you Madison?"
Madison replied, "Why do you ask? Who are you?"
The stranger answered, "I can't tell you my name yet, if you come with us, I will tell you all the details you want to ask."
And Madison replied, "Like hell I'm gonna come with you..."
"I knew you would say that.", the stranger said and suddenly smiled.
And before they even noticed there are another two persons behind them with guns aimed at their back. And one of the strangers calmly said, "If you don't want unnecessary fights, I suggest that you should kneel on the ground first."
Cassie asked, "Who are you people? What do you want from us?"
The stranger answered, "There were rumors around this town recently that there were two young lads, a boy and a girl, the twin siblings I've been hearing about and I'm sure that you have a twin brother. Where is he hiding?"
Madison didn't look at her to the eyes but instead she faced downwards and refused to say a word.
The stranger said, "Looks like you didn't hear what I ask." and she slapped Madison and asked again, "Where is your twin brother? If you don't answer my question, I will shoot your friend here."
Cassie being panicked told Madison, "Madison, where is Mason? Surely he's not somewhere far from us."
"No, he's not... I know that my brother would never leave his sister behind in times like this." Madison said and looked up to the stranger.
And she noticed Mason was on top of the ceiling, crawling on the beams, trying to sneak attack the strangers. Mason signals Madison to stall the strangers for a few minutes and Madison agreed and tries to stall some time for Mason to sneak an opportunity to subdue the strangers.
Until the stranger noticed that Madison was not making any sense of her talking, she also noticed that her eyes are shaking, and her face is sweating. She knew that Madison was stalling time for Mason and said, "Now, now dear. You're not making any sense, do you?" and slapped Madison hard, "I know that you're stalling time to your brother! Where is he!?"
And Mason suddenly answered, "Above you miss!"
And Mason jumps off the beam as he unsheathed his sword, slashing and killed the other two that subdued Cassie and Madison, leaving only one alive.
The stranger can't stop shaking and realized that she can't beat Mason so instead of running away, she dropped her gun down and said, "I surrender. I know that I'm no match to you."
Mason asked, "Then who are you and what do you want from us?"
The stranger unhoods herself and said, "My name is Elena, I'm the vice commander of the group called Blood Priest. And I've been sent by my commander to search for you two." and showed the letter sent by their commander.
Mason asked, "What's this?"
Elena answered, "This is the letter I was assigned to give it to you, and it is written that our organization needs someone who has skills such as yours."
Mason replied, "Why would you even want us? I'm sure your organization is no joke."
Elena answered, "That's because..."
"Because what?" Mason asked
Elena continued and explained, "2 years ago, when our organization was given a task by the government, our commander sent 15 of our best members to the forest near the village of Maria and one of them is me and my brother. Our mission is to locate the gem that can heal any illnesses."
Hearing this, Cassie was shocked and suddenly asked, "How do you know about our gem?"
"Your gem?", Elena asked and said, "The reason why we know about this gem is because that time, our king is suffering from an illness that can never be cured and now he is in his bed, lying and waiting for his final moments to end until some old lady told us about this gem that can heal any illnesses in seconds."
Cassie replied, "I see... So, we're not the only ones who seeks for that gem...." and asked, "Then what happened to your mission that time?"
And Elena continues, "That time, when we arrived at the forest, we noticed that something was odd because the deeper and deeper we go, the atmosphere becomes more suspicious that we didn't notice that something was watching us."
Mason interrupts and asked, "Wait, wait. Who's watching you?"
Elena answered and explained, "The Ghouls... The vampires of the dead were lurking in the forest surrounding us quietly that even one of our brightest also didn't noticed. Until those things found an opportunity to make a surprised attack.
While walking and venturing, one of our navigators found a passageway and we thought that this is where the gem lies but we were wrong...
The tunnel we entered was the way to their nest, as we go deeper, and deeper things gradually became odd until we noticed that it was a trap.
Many ghouls showed up in every corner, surrounding us. We tried our best to fend them off but it's too many of them against 15 of us, it's impossible to kill them all easily. So, we had no choice but to run, we abandoned those who left behind to fight off the monsters while the others run for their lives, but we didn't expect the worst outcome.
While running, two of our brethren decided to stay behind to buy us some time to escape but it was not enough until one by one, our comrades fell and left behind until me and my brother were the only ones left.
I thought we made it outside, but I was wrong... Just as we've reached the exit, the place is collapsing without a reason and before I even noticed, my brother pushed me away just to save me from the falling debris and before I knew it, my brother was trapped in the other side.
"I..." as she started crying, "I couldn't do anything because I am too weak and I... I should be the one to be trapped inside..."
Madison comforts Elena and says, "Hey, whatever you're thinking I'm sure your brother would have told you the same."
And Elena replied, "You don't understand... My brother is the only family I have and..."
"You know, you're not the only who lost her family. I'm sure there some people in the same situation, like yours experienced much more pain than yours.", Madison said
Elena replied, "I see..."
Madison smiled and said, "Don't worry, we will help you and avenge your brother. I promise."
And there she started to tear in happiness and said, "Thank you Madison..."
To be Continued...