The next evening Aron was laying in his bed, exploring the next spell that had shown itself in his grimoire. *Knock* *Knock* He jumped down, placing the book deep inside her luggage and hiding it back. "Please come in!" Two girls stood opposite to him, one with long blonde hair and the other one with short black ones.
Julia kept her blank face, walking in the 7 by 7 feet room with a single bunk bed on one side and a shabby dressing table with drawers on the other, leaving very little space to move around. The wall was marred by patches of broken plaster and an unpleasant smell lingered in the air.
"Please take a seat." Only Ava took him up on the, settling on the cleanest patch of fatty's beddings. Julia moved around in the little space she had. "What's the news?" "Very bad. Three more deaths occurred last night." Both girls looked at each other, alarmed.
"What about their identity?" Aron was feeling quite down after the news. Yes, he hated each one of those guys but should they all had died for it? He wasn't sure. After all, according to Kyla, their leader was the first one to die. These men were just minions. "No need to be depressed. We got what we wanted from Mrs. Yana. We will definitely catch it tonight."
Ava held the boy's hands, making him take a seat beside her. "Then should we go now?" Julia adjusted her hair in the dirty mirror while talking back to him. "No, you idiot. How do you think people will look at us if we move around in the busy corridors at this our? Wait for the night to fall. For now, tell me more about the murders."
Aron saw the girl shifting around a few things on the dresser, trying to get them organized however much possible. "In the morning there was no news about it, so I continued with my search as usual. Then in the afternoon I saw the commotion on the 3rd floor and found out that all three that had died were all roommates. Hence even when they might have been taken out last night itself, the news didn't come out until someone entered their room and found them dead."
"I made sure to see the faces of the dead bodies. Kyla was right, I can identify all of them." "Good. At least it's not killing off the innocents, yet. What about the method of kill?" "Same, a knife to the throat." Julia nodded her head lightly before moving to the window, opening the flaps to let some fresh air inside.
"How come it kills with such efficiency? I mean, how come none of the roommates wake up when it's taking someone out?" Ava remarked. Julia looked down to see boys and girls returning after their jobs as the sun hid behind the horizon.
"It's smart. Last three nights we are having heavy thunderstorms. It must be taking out everyone in the middle of the noise from the flashes of lightning." "What? How is that possible? Isn't this a low-level skelly spell? It will take a death knight to display such intelligence."
Julia walked back to Aron, her gaze lingering on his face longer than necessary this time. "That, my friend, you need to ask Mr. Slave boy here." She can see the boy's lips dry, confirming her suspicions. "It wasn't a regular skeleton spell, was it?"
*Sigh* Aron knew it was going to come to light today or tomorrow. That was the matter he had been mulling over for so long, today. Ava was shocked, his low groan substantiating Julia's claims.
"Care to tell us about it now? We can't help you if we don't even know what we are dealing with." Aron took a deep breath looking down at the floor. "It's a secret? Can you please leave us, Ava? I believe the fewer people hear about it, the better." Julia read his expressions and called out to her friend.
Ava was too stunned at this time to even respond properly. She just nodded and stood outside the door. Julia on the other hand came to sit beside the boy, putting her hand on his shoulders. "Look, Aron, I don't know what you are trying to hide, but you lost your secret when you messed up the spell. I am probably the best bet you got, believe me, once the authorities get involved it will get crazy. Why not just believe in me?"
Her other hand took over his, rubbing it to calm down the boy. Aron turned to look at the dark eyes of the girl, his throat dried up, and putting all concerns to the back of his head, he pressed his lips onto hers. Julia's brains switched off right then and there. His kiss was brief, not lingering on her lips for more than a few seconds.
"Ahem... I am sorry. I was restless..." Aron didn't have the strength to keep his gaze locked with the girl after this shameful behavior. He kept looking down, while entangling his fingers, waiting for a severe lash out from the girl.
Julia took some time to return to normal, even then her brain processed the recent events again and again. It was hard for her to tell if this was all real. She was mad, very mad, madder than she had ever been. Yet, that madness didn't transform into anger. The traces of foreign sweetness on her lips told her that the kiss did happen.
'Aaaaaaahhhh!!!' She can only scream in her mind, frustration sets in. On the outside, she was still maintaining the facade of an elegant noble girl. She keeps herself composed and does not overreact. "Ahemm... if it helps then it's okay. But don't do it next time.. before asking me first." The last part was extremely feeble, but Aron heard her loud and clear.
"Thanks a lot, Julia." He can see her face entirely red, destroying the refined face she was trying to present. "Now can you shut up and get to the real business?" Pretending to be angry was the only way she can hide the embarrassment and deal with this unconventional situation.
"Yes, the letters from the ancient script... I deciphered it." Julia's eyes widened. "You already did that?" Gazing back at the cute girl with her succulent lips opened in astonishment, Aron had an intense desire to take another swig at it. *Slap* "One more kiss and I am throwing you out of that window."
Julia slapped his back, waking him from the stupor. Her heart can't take one more blow just yet. "Cough.. sorry, I was not thinking like... Ahem.." She just crossed her hands on her chest, huffing. "So I was telling.. yes, those words, they were not a message or anything. Rather it was a spell. I had seen the basic skeleton spell previously multiple times, and it looked very similar to that, hence I cast it believing that it might have some clue about my parents."
Julia slapped her head with her palms. "You idiot!!" "You are not supposed to cast an unknown spell. Firstly, it's dangerous. Secondly, the academy doesn't approve of approve of spells outside it's course until you are a third year student or at least a D level mage."
She took a pause before resuming her scoldings. "You know, for just this.. those guys can simply refuse to train you for all your life, even if you pass the entrance. You should have asked for help." Julia can only shake her head. "I am.." "It's okay, it doesn't matter. Tonight we are going to capture that thing, send it back to where it came from and you are going to promise me never to cast the spell again, unless you have grown stronger."
"I promise." Aron had realised his mistake. He had gotten overly excited after decrypting the script. She was right, it would have been best to ask for Julia's help. She had proved be be a reliable ally, going out of her way to help him out of his precarious situation. "Can I hug you?" Julia shook her head and pulled the boy in her embrace. "You can take us as friends, no need to ask for hugs."
*Knock* *Knock* The gate to the room opened and Julia hurriedly forced the boy back ruthlessly. "Sorry to disturb, but we got this one crying to let him in." Caleb wiggled in the room, fitting his fat body through between Ava and the door. "Wow.. Aron hahah.. is that your.. mhh?" The boy had jumped to his feet shutting fatty's mouth before he could utter any nonsense.
"Hmph!! Which one is your bed?" "The upper one." Julia glared once at Caleb before climbing the ladder and slipping inside Aron's blanket. "Wake me up when it's midnight. Want to come in too, Ava?" The other girl too got together with the blonde. "Sure." Aron kept his hand around fatty's mouth bringing him out and closing the room behind him.
***
In a discreet corner on the ground floor, right under the stairs there stood a large trash box. Once the night had fallen and a dim yellow light covered the corridors, the lid of the trash box was pushed up slightly, revealing a pair of glowing red eyes. Surveying it's surroundings for a good while with non-human levels of patience, the lid was pushed open completely.
Shoving the trash aside, the skeleton dug it's way out. Last three days this trash box had been it's permanent refuge during the day time. It was even located at the perfect location allowing it to keep an eye out for anyone moving in and out of the building.
According to its limited intelligence, it had already done more than half it's task. 3 out of 5 people had been eliminated, leaving only two. It's cold merciless eyes observed the clear sky outside through the large window in the passageway.
No thunderstorm today. The kill was going to be difficult. Thankfully, he had tracked both targets to the same location, meaning that both are probably roomates only. That should make the task a bit easier. Mulling over the matter for a breaths, the skeleton made its way through the stairs to the 3rd floor, careful not to get in contact with any human.
*Tap* *Tap* The skeleton had just traveled to the first floor when it stopped. Something was definitely tracking on his mama sense. It's eyes glowed brightly as a pulse of transparent energy blasted from its hardy chest.
"It's on the move. It's channeling the death energy. Let's go!!" Julia can see that the stone in her hand glow with a bright light. As soon as that happened she began running towards the direction that a small pointer directed. *Bang* "Shit!!" Aron and Ava both had took off right after her when they saw their friend throw the stone outside an open window.
"What happened?" Ava saw the stone blast into pieces as soon as it was thrown away. "Are you hurt?" Aron came forward to check if the girl was okay. Julia glared at his concerned face before shaking her hand away from his grip. "You better take me on a dinner after this mess is resolved, punk!!"
Aron can only smile bitterly. "For sure." Julia huffed and found a stunned Ava looking at her face with shock. Her words came out spontaneously hence she coughed a few times before changing the topic. "Ahem.. be vigilant Ava, like it told earlier this is not a normal skelly. This guy had messed up big time and we aren't even clear what exactly crawled in here."
For the moment Ava dropped the dinner thing from her head, focussing on the matter at hand. "It just toasted the device Mrs. Yana made. In all possibilities, it must know that we are here to deal with him. Here." She threw another stone towards the girl. "Use this to cast a sound barrier. We can't let others find out that we are on a skelly hunt."
< Kudos!!>>