Ryan stopped panting, he got his breath under control.
"What the hell is wrong with me? What is this ring?" Ryan asked himself.
He brought the ring closer, he grabbed the ring and attempted pulling it off, but it didn't move a bit. Ryan gave up on pulling the ring off.
"What was the blood thing? I simply killed humans…. didn't I? But it was not me who did it. And not like they were good people either.
"It was like my body moved on its own without me doing anything. Did the ring use my body to kill those people? But how? Blood all over…?"
"What is…." Ryan took a keen look at the ring. He saw an exceptional crimson line on the ring, "It was all white, where did this red line come from?"
Ryan scratched the ring thinking the red line may be dust, but it was a real line encored on the ring. All white with a great red line in between.
He looked behind to see if those men were still chasing him.
'I also heard a strange voice coming from me when the ring automatically reduced its size to fit on my finger.'
No longer knowing what was going on, Ryan decided to prioritize his survival first. He got off the swamp. Now he needed a new place to stay, food to consume, and money.
Firstly Ryan decided to visit his school's hostel. They let Ryan enter the premises. They gave him a room on the second floor to stay.
He had only one bag on his shoulders. Not enough garments or money. The hostel provides food in the cafeteria on weekdays so he did had only weekends to worry about how he'd fill his stomach.
Ryan suddenly remembered about the card, the message card he received inside the package.
He went through his bag and found out the average-sized white card which said nothing but 'Master this power.'
He flipped it several times. Ryan sighed. He heard a knock on his door. Ryan shivered. He thought it might be the Mafias again.
"Ryan, you have a call!" It was the warden.
"Uh yeah, yeah, coming." Ryan ran towards the door. Warden was standing right there with a telephone in his hands.
"Some relative," Warden told him as he handed Ryan the telephone.
"Hello?"
"Ryan!~ Are you fine my boy? I am so, so, sorry for your loss. I lost my brother too~ but a father is a father I bet you'd be crying your eyes out"
"Aunt- please. Yeah, it was a huge loss for me too. I do miss mom and dad but there is nothing I can do."
"I know~ Just be sure to take care of yourself. Where are you staying? You have money?"
"I am in the hostel. I do have some money with me. I'll find a part-time job soon."
"Don't worry boy, if you needed some money be sure to ask your aunt."
"Yup Thank you very much. You too take care, aunt."
"Sure, sure. I didn't know where you were so I tried calling your Academy. Take care~"
She hung up.
'Dad's older sister, she is too affectionate towards me. But I can't just ask them money for my use.'
The telephone started ringing again. Warden had already left Ryan on his own. He stood there in the doorway. Ryan picked up the phone to know it was his grandma calling.
Most of the relatives called and showed their grief. Ryan now was annoyed at how everyone was calling him.
He sighed and hung up yet another call. The phone started ringing again.
"Yes, Yes I am fine! I am taking care of myself! Don't worry about…."
"If you are Ryan Walker then please come to Fourth Avenue, first lane, near old post office, Fifth Avenue street, behind St. Anthony Church. Please come to this address as soon as possible."
"Who are you?" He asked. He got no reply. The voice was not of a human, it was like a robotic, metallic telephone voice.
"Repeating the address." Ryan ran inside. His laptop was open, he opened the notepad and started jotting down the address he heard overcall.
"Repeat."
"Fourth Avenue, first lane, near old post office, Fifth Avenue street, behind St. Anthony Church."
"Who are you? Why do you need me there?" Before his questions were answered, the line went dead.
'This was not a human. It was a robotic voice. Someone is trying to hide their voice,.'
Ryan decided to visit the place as it was nearby. He saw the church and the post office.
"It said behind it." Ryan saw a little aisle from where he'd be able to pass through. He somehow squeezed through the aisle.
"Oh, my holy cow..." There were ruins of some house. A fallen house.
It had no roof over it, it had collapsed down in the hall. Its walls were broken down, the whole house had or was falling apart.
Ryan stopped at the door. Raised his hand to knock. His knock made a light thudding sound.
The door started moving, Ryan took some steps back. With a loud thud, the door fell outside, in Ryan's direction.
Right there, right in front of Ryan, right inside the room was a small package. Brown-colored box, right at the footsteps of the house.
Ryan stepped over the fallen door and took the package. It was not heavy at all but not light either.
Ryan carried it out of the narrow aisle. He then walked all the way to his hostel room.
There was a tag on the top of the package box, it said:
'For Ryan Walker.'
*****
Ryan changed his clothes. Sat on the bed. The package was kept right in front of his eyes, he continued staring at it.
'What is this now? Just another kind of ring which makes you listen to some strange voices, makes you kill people, and which just never comes out of your finger.'
He got off his bed. Went down to the cafeteria for dinner. The quality of the cafeteria's food is not that bad.
He came back to his room. The package stood right there. He sat on his bed again. Took sometime.
"This is it."
Moved forward, grabbed a cutter, and tore the tape away from the center.