After a brief pause, I cut the transmission. I turned towards Wyn, who had remained silent throughout the rest of the broadcast, and asked, "What do you think?"
"About what?" she replied.
"About today's broadcast? Do you think it went well enough?"
Wyn gently shrugged her shoulders.
"It didn't seem too bad to me. I mean, the view count might not look good right now, but we'll see how things shape up when the numbers come in after the first week."
"You think we've got a shot?" I asked excitedly.
"Of course we do!" Wyn replied with a smile.
"My predictions never fail." Ravus spoke from behind us. "Just give these people a reason to tune in again next time, and they'll be hooked. After all, everyone loves a challenge where they can root for the underdog."
I turned around and looked at him questioningly. He smiled and continued.
"They love seeing the ones who win big. It makes them feel like they could achieve such success as well, if only they put in more effort."
Ravus stood up from his seat and stretched, looking rather pleased with himself. Then he walked past me and out of the room, leaving Wyn and I alone.
"Sooo... beloved, how about we go hunting together tonight?"
I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved her aside.
"Not tonight. You're done for the day. Go get some rest."
Wyn pouted, but complied.
She headed off to her own room and shut the door behind her.
Whoosh!
I turned in the direction of the sound, but I saw nothing. I was pretty sure it was coming from outside, though.
A moment later, a silhouette of something or someone appeared near the edge of the room, almost blending into the shadows. I couldn't make out much detail because of the darkness, but it did look like someone was standing there staring at me.
I stepped forward to investigate but stopped when the silhouette disappeared completely.
Did I imagine that?
I shrugged and returned to my room.
A good rest for the night should do the trick.
–––––––––––
~You abandoned me.~
I could see a little boy standing a distance from me. His body was thin, almost skeletal, but his face held a child-like innocence that seemed so familiar. He stared up at me with an unblinking gaze, waiting for me to notice him.
I blinked, trying to shake the feeling that I'd seen this kid somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place where.
~Did you forget about me? About our promise?~
His voice was soft and quiet, as though he was unsure of what he wanted to say.
"Who are you?" I asked, wanting to make sure that he knew I was talking to him.
~You know who I am, don't you?~ He responded with a hint of confusion in his tone.
I nodded slowly, wondering why he sounded so uncertain yet so familiar.
"We have met before. But where?" I tried to ask.
~Why does it matter? You don't even remember my face!~ The little boy started to cry softly, his small frame shaking slightly.
I reached out to him, taking his tiny hands into mine. He trembled, afraid, but allowed me to hold him nonetheless.
But something was oddly strange; I felt a chill run through my skin as soon as I touched him. Something wasn't right.
"This isn't the first time we've met, am I correct?"
The little boy nodded quickly.
A glitch appeared over his face, blocking half of it. Suddenly, his features were sharper and clearer than ever.
The red hair, the green eyes!!!
No, no, no!
I took a step backwards.
Was this guilt?
I turned away, desperately trying to hide myself from his gaze.
But there was no hiding from him anymore. No matter how hard I tried to avoid looking directly at him, the image would flash across my vision.
He was staring right through me. His bright green eyes pierced straight into my soul.
Aiden!
There was no mistake this time. Aiden was the only link to my past—the dreaded past that had been haunting me since that incident twenty years ago.
"This is a dream or some kind of sign, isn't it? Or something telling me that everything is about to change," I whispered under my breath.
Then the memories came flooding back. They were still hazy and unclear, but enough remained that I understood the significance.
20 years ago...
I remember the first time we decided to have some fun in an abandoned playground. I was just seven years old at the time.
"Haha! Tag, you're it!"
We were close friends playing tag on the playground, and I thought I could catch him.
Instead, he slipped between two swing sets and ran off towards the jungle gym.
Whoosh!
That's when I saw it: a shadow moving beneath the jungle gym. As soon as I noticed it, I froze. It was dark and scary, with glowing red eyes that made my heart race.
Rrrrrrrr!
"HAHAHAHA! I've found you, anomaly!" Inside the shadows, a voice snickered.
I winced at the memory of how terrified I was. I couldn't understand why I remained glued to the spot.
Aiden had rushed to my rescue, propelling himself with one of the support beams and grabbing the creature by the arm.
It struggled against him, but he pulled it free and tossed it over his shoulder.
Bam!
The creature fell to the ground with a thud, its arms flailing wildly while it kicked and squirmed.
Aiden dropped down beside it, crouched low, and grabbed it by the throat.
"What do you want here?!" he yelled angrily, squeezing tightly around its neck. "Where did you come from?! Who sent you?!"
The creature let out a loud roar and lunged forward, trying to bite him. He pushed it back until it hit the fence behind him. Then he leaned forward, bringing his knee up to smash its head in.
I watched, horrified, as he repeatedly struck it in the head with his fist. Blood poured everywhere, splattering the grass below them both.
Finally, he stopped and looked up at me.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously, glancing back and forth between the bloody mess and me.
I shook my head, tears streaming down my face.
"You must have been scared?" he asked gently.
My knees felt weak, and my legs gave way. I collapsed onto the ground next to him and buried my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close, stroking my hair and murmuring soothing words.
"Everything will be alright. Remember, we promised to make our lives better one day while also sticking together as close buds."
I could only manage a nod.
The clues were finally getting clearer.
Aiden and I were inseparable ever since we met in an alley, two strays who had nowhere else to go. Our parents had abandoned innocent children to a damned fate. But Aiden and I had each other. That's why we couldn't stand for anyone else to get near us, either.
We became best friends, then partners-in-crime. We lived life on the edge, stealing food and money whenever possible and running wild wherever we went. We'd never had any trouble before; we were so careful about covering our tracks and always being prepared for whatever might happen.
However, after that day, it marked the beginning of the end...
I blinked and wiped the tears off my cheeks. I couldn't believe what was happening. Everything was coming out clearly. The reason why I kept seeing glimpses of Aiden in my dreams.
~You broke your promise, Arsol. You let them take me~
This is just a figment of my imagination, right?
I stood up straight and faced the shadows again. I knew this wasn't real. This was all in my head. But the fact that it felt so real didn't make things easier to accept.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" I demanded.
No answer came.
Instead, the darkness began to shift and move, like it was shifting in place. Slowly, slowly, the shadows began to form into a figure.
~It's only a matter of time before we start off from where we left off on our little game. Is that scared little boy from the past still in there?~
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and everything went black.
When I realized where I was, I found myself lying on my bed with a splitting headache.
"Damnit," I groaned.
I felt sick to my stomach, and I struggled to sit upright. My vision blurred and spun as I pushed myself up, but I managed to stand eventually.
"That was some fucked up shit..." I muttered under my breath, looking around my room.
My eyes landed on the clock radio sitting on my desk. It read 9:00 p.m.
Two hours?
I was asleep for two hours?
I rubbed my temples and took deep breaths. I needed to calm down.
I forced myself to relax and tried not to think too hard about what had just happened. Maybe if I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, it would all fade away.
Just then, my phone rang. I reached over and picked it up, pressing the talk button.
"Hello?"
There was silence on the other side for a few moments before someone spoke up.
"Arsol, we have a problem!" Ravus' voice boomed through the receiver.
"What kind of problem?" I asked. "Is it another sabotage on our show?"
He paused for a moment before responding.
"Much worse than that! Something terrible has happened! I need you at the coordinates I sent you now, Asrol! I'm counting on you!"
Ravus hung up without saying goodbye.
I stared down at the screen dumbly, wondering what the hell was going on. Was this another one of his prank calls?