Sunset eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the different lighting. They looked up and saw the face of a stranger. The usual instinct when seeing a stranger sleeping next to you is to push them away, but that's not what happened. Lucio was perfectly calm and sat up without a single emotion in his face. The blanket fell off Lucio with the movement, and his body started shaking. Though the sound from the storm was gone, it was still cold.
"Get back under the blanket, it's cold."
Lucio looked down and made eye contact with the purple eyes that were now open.
"Who are you?"
The man got out of the bed then gently forced Lucio to lay back down. He covered Lucio's body with the blanket, "The storm might've stopped, but the temperature hasn't risen. The clothes you're wearing are thin, so it's better to stay in bed."
Lucio accepted the situation he was in. His small body was in no way immune to the cold. Still, there was one thing bothering him. The man in front of him was unfamiliar, yet Lucio felt completely safe in his company. It was unusual.
"Who are you?"
The man stared at Lucio before responding.
"I'm yours."
Insane. This man must not be in his right mind. A man that Lucio didn't have a single clue about was turning himself into an object and calling himself property that belongs to Lucio. It was crazy. They had just met a half an hour ago, and the man was acting like a lover would. Lucio didn't change his facial expression.
"I don't like jokes, so I'll ask you again. What is your name?"
The man flinched and reached for his chest like he was in pain.
"My name's Arlen Pereira."
Arlen? Oath? Pledge? What's that about? Lucio thought. It was an uncommon name to give a someone. Especially in this time in age.
"Is something the matter?"
Lucio turned his head, "It's nothing."
In the middle of the deep snow, Lucio was walking to the dormitory, wherever that was. He had snuck out of the bed while Arlen was sleeping and left the cave with nothing but the jacket Arlen was previously wearing. The jacket was just laying on the floor, and Lucio was smart enough to know that going out in his current garments was just wishing to pass out again. He didn't take the time to go through the dresser and look for a heavier jacket. He just needed an extra layer of clothes to feel a bit warm.
Lucio was, without a doubt, lost. However, that didn't stop him from wandering around in the snow. It was cold and Lucio's small body was shivering. The extra layer he took was doing nothing against the cold. He couldn't see any buildings, nevertheless, a light. The snow was too thick to see the path, and there were no road signs. Lucio was just walking in the dark. The only thing on his mind was getting back to the dorms. Back to a place he found familiar.
"I have to get back before the wake up bell."
Like when he first ran from the dorms, Lucio had no shoes on his feet. There were no shoes besides Arlen's and those were too big for his feet. Lucio had attempted to put the shoes on, but his small feet fell out of them with a single step. Because of that, he decided to leave them behind and just walk barefoot as he did before.
The teen had only walked for thirty minutes, and he could already feel his feet going numb. Lucio had started shivering ten minutes ago, and he started losing feeling in his feet two minutes ago. With nothing but white snow insight, Lucio was, without a doubt, going to pass out from insanely low body temperature. Lucio thought about turning back, but he'd just wandered all over the place and didn't know in which way he could find his way back. So, he just continued forward, wandering through the white snow until he passed out for the second time.
"Cold…"
When he woke up, he was back in the cave with Arlen sleeping next to him like the whole thing was a dream. Like he'd never taken the jacket and left the little cave.
This happened multiple times. Lucio would sneak out of the bed, grab a few layers of clothing, and walk out of the cave. After around thirty minutes of walking, Lucio's body started collapsing from the cold snow. He would feel his body colliding with the soft snow, and the next thing he knew he was back in bed next to a sleeping Arlen. It was like Lucio was imprisoned in a time loop. He soon found out that he was stuck in no such thing.
Around his fifth attempt at getting back to the dorms, Lucio became tired of sneaking out, walking, collapsing, and waking up again. Not only had it become tiresome to do, but he no longer found any need to go back to the dorms. Everything he needed to live was in the small, cold cave. Food, water, a comfy bed, good hygiene, and the cold was resolved because he had gained a living heater. Lucio could get a full and comfortable night of sleep. It was a nice and perfect place for him to stay.
After waking up in the cave, Lucio would always feel like there was nothing missing. He felt like everything was in place. Unlike all of those nights before where he woke up, and it felt like he was a chunk missing in his brain. He usually woke up feeling a piece of his memory was gone, but he didn't mind it. Lucio was used to feeling the empty space in his memory every morning, so he never bothered trying to regain the lost memories. He only hurt himself when he tried remembering anything anyway. Besides, he always thought that there was a reason for him forgetting whatever it was and he shouldn't get in the way of it. Whether it was a natural cause or not. Although, there was that one morning where he felt that something was off even though he was inside the cave.
Lucio was sleeping peacefully and had snuggled closer to his living heat pack in his sleep. He was sleeping so peacefully one second, and the next his eyes jolted wide open. When he woke up, Lucio felt uncomfortable. Something was wrong. It wasn't his memory. Actually, there was nothing wrong with it. There was just an itchy and uncomfortable feeling. He couldn't explain what was causing it. It was just a 6th sense thing.
He sat up and looked around the cave to check if anything was out of the ordinary. There was nothing wrong. The cave might have been dark, but he could still see everything clearly if he focused hard enough. A trait he never told anyone he could do. Nothing was out of the place it had been before he had fallen asleep. Everything was fine. There was nothing that should be causing the itchy feeling in the back of his mind. That was until he looked around a second time. The whole cave had changed, and Lucio had started shaking.
Blood. The whole place was covered in blood and the smell of blood filled his nose. with every breath he took, he got more familiar with a scent he'd never paid serious mind to.
It didn't make sense. Lucio couldn't remember any type of blood shed happening in the cave seconds ago, and it didn't feel like he was missing any memories. He would've woken up if someone entered the cave and started attacking. Besides, he was sure that Arlen would wake him up even if he hadn't.
...Wait. Where was Arlen? Lucio started feeling all around the bed. He couldn't feel anything. Just sheets and a pillow. There wasn't even a trace of heat. It was like Arlen was never there to begin with. Like he'd left him to fend against whatever this was himself, but Lucio had no time to worry about this. He had to figure out why the cave was covered in blood. Why something like this was happening to him.
He'd gone outside. He saw how there was no one around. He saw not a building or person. So someone wandered in thinking this was a shelter? No, that didn't make sense. There wouldn't be blood all over the walls if that was the case. Besides, they should still be withing the school borders so no normal person was about to even get in the area. Maybe, the blood was Arlen's? But, if that was the case, why was it all over the wall and there was no body? Where was Arlen's body?
Hold on, now that he was thinking, this scene was familiar. He's seen something like this before. He's seen this multiple times. But where? No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't find anything. So, with his brain power all used up he could only come up with one solution.
"Hallucination…"
He still didn't understand. Lucio had no memory of a room being bathed in blood, but for some reason this scene seemed familiar and terrifying. As soon as the hallucination started, Lucio wanted to run away. Even through all of his rational thinking, he could feel his legs shaking and the back of his own mind screaming at him to get up and run. As far as he could go, no matter where it was, as long as he was far away from the cave. Lucio closed his eyes to calm down and think about the most logical way to handle this situation. He could run, but then he would pass out from the cold. But still, running was his only option. Running was the only thing he could do.
Lucio came to a decision and opened his eyes to conclude his chosen decision.
"I'll just-"
His voice abruptly stopped. As soon as his eyes opened, there was a person's face right in front of his. It was a child that seemed to be in middle school. He just showed up out of nowhere, and he seemed, no, the kid was dead. His dead eyes staring right into widened, frightened eyes. And, Lucio's last string of logic snapped. With his child's dead eyes looking straight into his, he could no longer think about a logical way out of this hallucination. He could only think of running away which was just as difficult as thinking.
Lucio couldn't move nor could he speak. His shaking stopped because of the immense fright. The only thing he could do was silently cry. He didn't even know who the person was, but the kid brought Lucio pure terror. Because he was all too terrified by the situation, he could do nothing but stare into the dead eyes of the middle school boy.
He had no idea how long he has been staring into those eyes. Terror was seeping out of his own body. His brain and body was overdid by terror. He was scared to even get up as there was a chance that he would end up touching the dead boy. All he could do was dehydrate himself by crying. That was until his eyes were covered by a large hand. Then he heard the deep voice he had gotten familiar with for that past week, "Are you alright? You've been staring into space for the past thirty minutes."
Lucio's body started shaking from the effects of long lasting terror. He had brought his shaking hands and moved the hand slightly down to see if the child was still there, and they were closer then ever. Lucio's grip on the hand got tighter from the fright as he frantically pulled it back up to cover his eyes.
The weight on the bed shifted and the hand left Lucio's grip. The warm hand leaving his grip made Lucio's terror grow, and but then it lessened. Arlen hugged Lucio, so he couldn't see anything. He stopped Lucio from smelling the metallic scent of blood and replaced it with his calming scent.
"W-who is th-that?"
Lucio was shaking and his tears were wetting Arlen's shirt. This was the most emotion Arlen has ever seen from the teen ever since they started staying together in his little cave. Lucio had grabbed onto the back of the taller with his shaking hands and the tightest grip he could manage.
Arlen had a decent idea of what was going on. The small figure in his arms was shaking because of extreme terror. That terror seemed to stem from seeing something, but it wasn't something he could see. That means that Lucio was hallucinating trauma he'd forgotten about. Trauma that he was running from. To Arlen's knowledge, there was only one thing he knew that could cause Lucio such extreme terror.
"What you saw was just part of your bad dream. You just haven't fully woken up yet. That person you saw will go away soon."
The grip on Arlen's shirt loosened, and the stream of tears lessened. Lucio didn't know what it was about this guy, but just him being there calmed his heart.
"He'll go away…?"
Arlen stroked the back of Lucio's head and tightened his hold on the smaller's body to make the hold feel more secure.
"That's right. I'll make him disappear."
Feeling relived, Lucio's body lost its tension and he was too exhausted to move. His cheeks were stained with his tears that fell before getting soaked up in Arlen's shirt, and his hands hurt from how hard he was holding onto the back of the shirt. With his body fully relaxed, Arlen had laid him back down without letting him go to see the person Lucio spoke about. Because of emotional exhaustion, Lucio soon fell asleep.
"Sleep tight," he heard Arlen whisper before falling asleep.
Then, when Lucio woke up he felt like there was something missing from his memory. There was something he couldn't remember. When he woke up, he remembered nothing of the incident that had happened only a few hours ago, and Arlen didn't even ask about it making the feeling fade away.
Lucio and Arlen had been staying in the small cave for two weeks. It was a short time, but the two had already gotten used to living with each other in that small space. Arlen did many mysterious things, but Lucio didn't care how he did it as long as it didn't bother his, now, normal life. Arlen had gotten used to Lucio's emotionless personality and laziness. Somedays, he would just lay in bed and not get up. If someone saw them, they would think that the two had been living together for years.
Sometimes, Arlen would cuddle, hug, or pick up Lucio without warning. Of course, Lucio wouldn't mind, but this was one of the acts he would question. It was out of nowhere so Lucio would question Arlen, and he would respond with.
"Because you seemed cold."
That reason didn't seem like a lie, but it didn't seem like the full truth either. Lucio knew this but thought nothing of it. He just let it happen. After all, he'd designated Arlen his personal heater.
"Lucio, what would you do if you lost all memory of these two weeks."
This was one of those weird moments. Arlen would spoon Lucio and ask meaningful questions. His voice seemed normal, but so sad at the same time. It was like he was reminiscing about something that happened long ago. As with all the other times Lucio didn't dig deeper into Arlen's feelings. Instead, he answered truthfully and unemotionally.
"If I forgot about these two weeks then I would feel uncomfortable. I usually wake up with this uncomfortable feeling in my head everyday since before I stayed with you. It was like I was forgetting a few hours worth of memory, so if I forgot two weeks worth of memories, I would feel extremely uncomfortable."
Arlen moved all of Lucio's hair over Lucio's right shoulder so he could lay his head on the left, "Would that feeling go away over time?"
Lucio didn't bother moving his hair back, and let Arlen do whatever he wanted with it.
"It will lessen, but never will it go away."
"So you'll be fine?"
"I'll just live normally"
Even in the current situation Lucio was completely fine. He wasn't uncomfortable nor did he really care about Arlen's actions. It was a new normal that he wasn't against. Still, he hated when Arlen got all emotional like he was now.
"Arlen, what you're doing right now is what some people consider sexual harassment."
He chuckled, "I'm quite aware, but you haven't pushed me away. I take that as your consent."
"Take it however you want..." Lucio said, his voice drifting off and his eye lids closing.
Arlen smiled, softly, "Tried?"
Lucio nodded his head.
"Go to sleep then. I'll wake you up later."
"Okay..."
Lucio relaxed and allowed himself to fall asleep surrounded by Arlen's comforting scent.
"Lucio…Lucio, it's time to wake up…"
Lucio groaned and moved his hands to his ears to block the voice.
"Lucio…"
The voice didn't go away even though he had covered his ears.
"…those weeks have been the best days I've had for years…"
Lucio groaned and pressed his hands on his hands harder.
"Thank you…"
Lucio shot awake and an ending echo of a voice rang inside of his head. A voice that he'd never heard before.
"LUCIO! MY SWEET SON FINALLY WOKE UP!"
"…Head…master?"
The Headmaster was Lucio's legal guardian, but he was also a unique man. There wasn't anything wrong with his body, but his personality was different from others. He even got attention from some of the students because of his looks. Constantly messy black hair that had an undercut, red eyes that could make someone blush with a single stare, the normal but formal clothing. Everything about him was attractive. Everything except his personality when he was in the presence of his "dear son."
It was so unusual because his act changed every time Lucio looked in his direction. It was like he had a Lucio sensor on his head, and it was creepy to many students. One moment the Headmaster would be serious and the next he would have a goofy smile on his face. When that happened, everyone knew that Lucio was somewhere nearby.
"I was worried you weren't waking up."
The Headmaster was hugging Lucio and had started shedding a few tears. Lucio put his arms up and hugged the Headmaster back while looking around the room. He saw the doctor, and the three people he shared a room with. While Lucio was observing the room, the Headmaster hugged Lucio tighter.
"Why would you disappear like that?"
Lucio was in confusion mode. He didn't understand what the Headmaster meant by "disappeared." He has been sleeping in his bed. Sure, it wasn't a peaceful sleep, but he slept in his dorm room.
"Where did you-"
"Headmaster, what day is it?"
The Headmaster pulled away from the big and looked at Lucio with a puzzled face. "November 23. Two weeks after you disappeared."
Lucio put one of his hands up and leaned his hand into it, "But, yesterday was…"
It was that uncomfortable feeling again. The one he would wake up with every morning except this time it was worse.
I could've swore that yesterday was the ninth, so why…Lucio thought.
The feeling grew until it overwhelmed Lucio's mind. The uncomfortable feeling. The feeling that scratched at his mind every day. Something was gone again, but this time it wasn't just a small portion.
"This shouldn't…"
Two weeks worth of memory had disappeared from Lucio's head. The teen had lost two weeks worth of memories, and it was replaced with an irritated spot in his head.
"Lucio, what's wrong?"
The Headmaster was confused and concerned. Lucio seemed to be in a confused state with his hands pressing into his scalp. After awhile Lucio removed his hands from his head and looked up calmly. "I've gotten over it."
No use worrying about something I've forgotten about, he thought. Lucio stood up from the bed, his hair sliding off the bed and the ends coming in contact with the floor. He moved the hair in his face behind his shoulders, "I'm going to take a bath."
The Headmaster sighed and sat in his desk chair with some of Lucio's classmates standing in front of him. The roommates seemed irritated and uncomfortable while the Headmaster seemed to be in distress.
The four of them had stayed in the same spots in silence. That was until another sigh came from the Headmaster.
"Tell me, Nigel, Casper, Lillian, what do you think of Lucio?"
The teens fiddled with their fingers and looked away from the Headmaster. They were uncomfortable. None of them knew how to respond without getting punished or disliked by the Headmaster. Out of the three teens, one of them was brave. Casper spoke his opinion first, "I…I don't like Lucio…"
As soon as he said that the two other roommates looked at him like he was insane. The Headmaster just stayed in the same position, "Why is that?"
A sweat drop formed on Casper's face from worry, "He's…he's uncomfortable to be around, and…And! He doesn't try to communicate with us!"
Then Lillian spoke up, "W-when I talk to him, he doesn't even respond, a-and when he does…he just…he doesn't even care!"
And then Nigel got the courage to speak up as well, "Lucio always feels distant, and he never shows any kind of emotions. Plus, he always wakes us up at night…"
The Headmaster expected most of those answers. After all, he felt the same way, and still does. It was difficult to get a read on Lucio. He was always so distant and- "What do you mean he wakes you up?"
The Headmaster changed his sluggish and desperate stance to a proper sitting position. The kids stiffened, "Every night, he wakes up and runs out of the room. In the end, me or the other roommates have to go get him. I tried asking him about it one time, but he didn't even remember."
The Headmaster dismissed the three kids and thought about what they said. They told him that Lucio woke up every night and ran outside. The next morning he didn't remember anything about it. The Headmaster thought that the memory loss could be related to his two week disappearance. The only way to find out was to sleep in the same room as Lucio.
"Lucio~"
The Headmaster intruded into Lucio's room. Lucio turned around and made eye contact with the Headmaster.
"Yes, Headmaster?"
The Headmaster walked closer to Lucio with a goofy smile on his face, "Let's have a sleepover tonight! Just like when you were younger."
Lucio looked away and started putting his hair up, "Alright."
After getting ready for bead in the student dorm area, Lucio walked to the Headmaster's quarters that were larger then any of the staff or student dorms.
When he stepped into the room, it was already set up with two beds like when he was younger. It was nostalgic seeing the room like this.
"Come on. It's time for bed." The Headmaster said.
Lucio nodded and got into the bed closest to the door. The bed he slept in when he was younger because the Headmaster was worried he would need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
"Good night, my son." he said, and turned the lights off.
Lucio didn't respond and just moved around under the sheets. Lucio fell asleep while the Headmaster waited.
It took two hours for the Headmaster to understand what the children had experienced every night. The Headmaster made sure to keep the whole time. Lucio stood out of his bed and started running towards the door. He tried but the door wouldn't open. No matter how hard he pulled the door, it wouldn't open. Lucio banged on the door over and over.
"Open…please...open...OPEN THE DOOR!!!"
The Headmaster was surprised by the yell. Lucio hadn't yelled in front of the Headmaster since he arrived. He'd never heard the teen say anything with such passion, even if it was a desperate kind. The Headmaster didn't understand what Lucio was trying to run from. There was nothing threatening in the room. Nothing that wanted to hurt him, yet Lucio was pulling and banging on the door so much so that his hands were going to get bruised. The Headmaster was going to walk over and stop the kid, but there was a strong gust of wind even though the windows weren't open. The wind was strong enough to force the door open, and as soon as it opened, Lucio ran out the door. The Headmaster just followed Lucio quietly.
The Headmaster watched Lucio's behavior closely. The teen just ran and ran without looking back. He didn't know where he was heading because he turned every chance he got.
Lucio ran and ran until he hit a dead end. That's when pure panic overcame his face. Lucio turned around, and saw eyes staring at him through the darkness. They were like the eyes of a monster, and Lucio had direct eye contact with them. His legs went weak, and he collapsed with his back against the wall. He pressed his hands against his ears and tightly closed his eyes.
"Please...just leave me alone."
Then Lucio fell asleep and all of the tense muscles in his body relaxed.
The Headmaster was confused by Lucio's actions the night before. He couldn't understand why it happened, and why the terror had suddenly ended. The Headmaster wanted to know what was going on, before they found out. The Headmaster couldn't allow them to know what was going on with Lucio. If they found out, he couldn't even imagine what would happen.