"There are many nameless graves if you keep walking on the path from the forest to the village square. The nameless tombs belonged to the victims of this creature. He's not really that bad, but I can't say he's harmless either," he said seriously, half warning me. "The first incident happened forty years ago when I was still working for your grandmother. So many people suddenly got sick, and my abilities couldn't heal them.
Antonnie used to work for my grandmother, and he turned out to be a wizard with healing abilities. I imagined him to be like the father of the twins. "You couldn't help them?" I was curious about his line, which stated that he couldn't heal those people.
"My spell didn't work for them one bit." Antonie declared, and I was getting more and more curious about this creature. "I came in the morning and saw that they were still lying down, then I would return to the house again in the afternoon to bury the body. Every day it was like that. As a result of that incident, there were only a few mixed-bloods left. This had an impact on food availability for us, because all this time it was the mixed blood who worked in the production section."
I grew more and more interested in hearing the story, so I asked, "what actually happened?"
"I don't know," He said while shrugging his shoulders. "For me, he looks like a human being almost two meters tall. His body is like a thick black liquid and emits a strong stench" I suddenly thought of Summer. She had the characteristics Antonie mentioned. However, I chose to remain silent and just listened.
"He would come every morning, from the east, through the settlements and into the forest around ten o'clock in the afternoon. After he passed, suddenly a lot of people got sick and died in the afternoon. We tried to catch him but, not to mention catching him, we even couldn't touch him. Surprisingly, after the end of the month, he disappeared. Likewise in the seasons that followed. He seemed to really leave," He explained.
From the story Antonie narrated, I didn't see the creature attacked or anything, but why was it so dangerous? Was death really what he did? He would come and go just like that. And it was completely out of time. There was a question mark whether he really left or was still around.
"The problem was not just that" Antonnie looked sad as he remembered those days. "I don't understand why all those who died because of that creature, suddenly rose to the surface as black creatures with bloodshot eyes. They didn't do any damage, it's just that many are frightened. When they came to the houses of the residents and suddenly took some things. Your grandmother was forced to take them to the human world and place them somewhere not far from here, outside Euron?"
"I think I know where my grandmother put them" I understood now why I dreamed of that place and saw the creatures there. They just wanted to show me where they were.
"They met me in a dream" I had heard that such beings sense the presence of someone's energy. Maybe because I passed by that place so often, they finally found out where I was and came to see me in a dream, telling me they were there. However, I was still confused by one thing; why did they show their existence to me? I was not like grandma. I couldn't do anything.
Antonie gave me a serious look before finally saying, "They're a bit flammable" I sensed that he was warning me.
"Meaning?" I didn't understand the meaning. Why were they flammable? were their bodies formed from flammable substances? Or, was there another meaning?
"Their feelings are very changeable. If you're not careful, Booom!! They will get very hot and start to fire around them" Now, I understood what Antonnie meant. If there was something that made them change their mood, it would affect their bodies so that it would cause the temperature around them to change, even cause a fire.
…
Antonie asked me to follow him somewhere the following day, but I honestly didn't believe him yet after all he had done. I asked Mickey for some advice. However, the sooty-haired plump was silent. Now, I was even more confused about whether to go with the man or not. I was afraid that he would set me up again, or maybe something even worse.
"Where are we going?" So, all this time, there were two people watching me; Antonie pacing back and forth in front of my house and the creature.
…
Have you ever met time? Past, future and there should be one more" Instead of answering my question, he just asked me back.
It seemed that he meant a pair of camellias, but what did he mean by another one? Was there another one I hadn't met yet? "I've met them before, but only two. I don't know if there's a third one," I said.
Antonie laughed at my explanation. "There are three people there, and they will always be together. It seems impossible if there are only two" Then, the laughter sounded again, exactly the same as before.
I still didn't understand what he was saying because I really didn't see anyone other than the two of them. "Is that the tree?" I remembered when they took me to a tree of life, and Antonie confirmed my words.
"Actually I don't really want to get involved in this matter, but it's okay, perhaps it's time for me to have some fun after all these years of being too quiet" He rose from his chair. He said he would be out for a while and asked me to lock all the doors and windows. "He's still coming here," he said, warning me.
Antonie pointed at the gate of my house, then said, "Just close that door, after five o'clock in the afternoon, and to whoever comes, ask him this" He whispered to me a simple question I should ask anyone who came to my house over that hour And, I understood what he ordered.
"This is just a suggestion, and it's up to you whether you do it or not. Ask Azalea to accept you in Alpha camp, stay there for a while" I just kept quiet and looked at him confused, until finally, he said again, "if you were here, it might be very dangerous for you and also for the people around you. I don't ask you to take this advice of mine, but think about it."
Once Antonie left, I secured the gate and directly went inside the house. I thought he was right; the longer I stayed here with all these troubles, the more and more people would be victims for their innocence.
I sat on my bed, looking at all my books and the clothes in my suitcase until finally, my eyes fell on the diploma I just got, which I now hang in front of my desk. I'd really like to continue again, but that would be a bit impossible, it seemed. I had to think carefully now about my wants, my needs, and also the people around me.
"I miss them all '' I really missed my old life; working with Emma, going to college, then eating at my favorite restaurant at the beginning of the month. "Looks like things are just going to get harder. I'm grateful for having lived those days'' That's true. I guessed I should follow Antonnie's words.
I peeked out the window and saw that Antonie was back. He gestured for the answer to the question he had asked to be addressed to visitors. I knew it was him, and I immediately opened the door, and he came in with a lot of food. "You went out to buy food?" I asked, irritated.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Have you decided what I suggested earlier?" He asked as he unwrapped the chips he had bought.
I was just silent, watching him, who was pushing the chips into his mouth. Until finally, he spoke again with his mouth full. "Go back to Azalea, that place is safe for you."
I furrowed my brows, looking at him, wondering and curious as well. "Why is it safe? Is it because it's a prison?"
Later, Antonie took a seat on a chair while opening several packets of different flavored chips again. "Alpha Camp is different from other detention centers. That place was built with a big hole that goes straight to the underworld; hell" I was still trying to catch the meaning of his words. What did that camp do with that creature?
"We were locked up in that really cool place before, weren't we?!" He said as if making fun of me, who had been locked up there, and it reminded me of our togetherness when we were both prisoners in that place. "He won't dare to approach it because of Falak. You should know that not only can the snake eat a sleeping prisoner while there is still light in the sky, it can actually eat a lot more than that."