The tension between both boys began to intensify as they watched themselves with grim looks smeared all over their eyes. Marcus was really not believing any of William's story as it seemed to him he had cooked up the tale he had told and he was determined to fetch out the right answers from William.
"Okay Marcus," Alden began to say after shoving his own shovel aside too. "That is enough! Leave the poor boy alone."
"How funny it is you all believe his story but I do not! Something seems off with his story…am I the only one who feels this way?" Marcus said, looking at the others with a look of confusion in his eyes.
*CLANG!*
Someone also tossed their shovel aside as they prepared to talk to Marcus on this throbbing matter. It was Ashton.
"Well, I guess you are the only one who's living in denial. His story seems clear enough for us to believe. Or what exactly are you trying to insinuate? That William killed his friends? The marks on these corpses are from claws…do you see any sharp claws on his fingers?" He snapped ready enough to banter with Marcus on that matter as he didn't see any reason why Marcus had picked a hatred for William the moment they had met him in that store.
Marcus shook his head subtly and let out a small sigh exasperatedly. He then turned back at Ashton and said,
"Then let me check something…if it doesn't turn out to be true, I will apologize to William and forget about this whole matter. I will take his words as the truth."
"What do you want to check?" Jamil, who had been paying attention to their conversation, asked, raising his back that had been hunched from digging.
"The color of his blood."
"Marcus!"
"Did you not see the level 4 mutant we fought with today? Did you not see it change its shape and evolve to a half human's form?" Marcus wailed hoping one of them would at least see what he was seeing– the false truth about William.
"Are you saying William might be an Arkillian? A fully evolved mutant?" Aurelia broke in with a question.
"I'm not saying he is…but we have to check at least."
"Get out of here!" Ashton hissed bending down to pick up his shovel so he could resume digging from where he had stopped.
"Guys!" William finally called drawing the attention of them all to himself. "Let him check me up. I know I seem suspicious to him but it's okay. He is just trying to make sure you guys do not get killed like my friends got brutally murdered."
"Fuck!" Ulysses cursed from where he was standing.
"You don't have to do that, William. I trust you!" Ashton said in defense of him.
William subtly shook his head in denial to Ashton's support and he continued to say,
"I have to make sure you all do not see me as a threat. I know you are the only one who trusts me so much…" He paused as he began to look at the others one after the other.
The moment their eyes met, they would avoid his gaze by looking away. It was obvious they didn't trust him fully just like Ashton who had blindly trusted his words and accepted them as the truth.
A small smile ensued on his face as he continued,
"Let me prove it to the others that I am not a threat to you all." He stretched his hand out to Marcus. "What do you say? Should I cut myself now or you will do the honors?"
Without much hesitation, Marcus walked towards William and grabbed his hand before bringing out a pocket knife which he safely hid underneath his cloth.
He removed the knife from its leather sheath and with a single swoosh, he slashed through his skin and immediately the sharp knife came in contact with William's skin, he flinched in pain and his eyes twitched as he watched the sharp blade cut through his skin.
Everyone paid attention to the content that would gush out of his wound and they watched in anticipation. If the blood that flowed out of his cut was different from the normal crimson red blood in the human system, William would be tagged guilty as he would be a member of the Arkillian army.
The element eventually streamed out William's cut like a water that had managed to escape through a broken dam. The moment they all saw the crimson red blood color, they all heaved a sigh of relief except for Marcus. That test alone still didn't cut through his suspicion.
"It's normal blood." Aurelia announced.
He forced himself to give William a small smile and he said,
"Well…I guess I'm sorry to have misunderstood you."
"It's okay. If I were in your shoes anyway I would have done the same. You are just trying to protect your friends and I wish I could have done that for mine as well."
"That apology doesn't cut though." Alden sneered from behind as he walked towards William so he could heal his wound.
***~°~***
They finally buried the corpses of William's friends and they all observed a few minutes of silence and prayed their souls would ascend into heaven and be at peace. When they were done with their sending off rituals, they closed up the graves and walked back to the store to pass the night there as the evening was long drawn already.
Walking back to the academy at that time was equally dangerous as they might not find safe hideouts in case there was another unprecedented attack from some stray mutants.
While they all had gathered in the store, Aurelia light another fire to keep them warm for the night. Everywhere was eerily silent and no one was willing to talk first; they all just kept staring at the fire until Ulysses decided to break the silence by asking Ashton a question.
"Ashton," he called and the boy raised his head to look at him. "Why did Master Chen die in the story you told us when we were on our way here?"
"I've been dying to know that too." Alden chipped in adjusting himself to sit properly.
"Tell us."
"Do you not like Master Chen that much?"
"It's not that…I mean in every story the teacher always dies…someone important always dies…your friends die…your family might as well die too." Ashton finally gave a reply and then again, an eerie silence ensued amongst them.
The weight of Ashton's words had really hit them bad like a train wreck and the fear of losing one of them suddenly dawned on them. It was true they barely knew each other that much but the little time they had spent together had definitely striked a small spark of affection for one another.
Jamil, noticing William was feeling a little bit bad at Ashton's words about ones friends dying, decided to speak up next.
"Tell us Ashton, why do you think you wouldn't end up with Aurelia? Do you like her?"
As Jamil asked that question, everyone's attention was turned at Ashton once again ready to hear the truth of that matter. Aurelia tried her best to not seem bothered by what Jamil had asked about or what Ashton's reply would be but deep down, she was also curious to know what was going on with him about her.
"What makes you think I do like her?" Ashton answered with a question in a steel voice.
"Eii…come on! You can't fool us." Ulysses dragged.
"You had better spill the truth now we might help you with your inconclusive love story that hasn't started at all."
"I'd prefer it that way!" Ashton said with a loud yawn.
As their banter continued, a stinging fly flew into the store unbeknownst to them and the fly headed straight at William and plunged its sting ray into him. William was quick to feel the pain and the moment he knew he had been stinged, he excused himself on a pretext he was going to take a leak.
After a while, Marcus had noticed William was not back yet and he decided to go check him out. When he had gotten out of the store, he saw William squatting in the middle of the alley that led to where they had buried his friends.
"What are you doing here?" Marcus asked.
"He's here again…" William mumbled to himself and slowly stood up. "Why are you seriously pressed about me? What did I do wrong to you?"
"Who wouldn't be…I really do not trust you at all."
"And you think I give a fuck about how a damn student Mages feels about me?" William fired.
"Eh? How did you know I am a student Mage? None of us told you that!"
'Oh shit! I slipped.'
At that moment, Marcus' eyes caught the spot the stinging fly had stung him and instead of the normal crimson red blood, it was blue blood.
'H-he's a fully evolved mutant?!" Marcus thought to himself a little bit of fear spiking in his mind.