The sun slowly rises in the sky, replacing a blanket of darkness with bright, blue light. The sun is surrounded by white, puffy clouds akin to a white canvas dashed by shades of yellow, white, and grey.
The sun stands in the sky as though nurturing the moist plants and trees after a cold night. The tiny beasts—a long line of ants crawling across the log from side to side in search of food, green frogs jumping in the splashing water, and brownish squirrels jumping on one of the trees while their tiny mouths are chewing on their acorns.
Atlas slowly squinted his eyes at the bright, vivid sky, which made him grimace in distaste.
He tried to stretch his arms and realized he couldn't move. He peered down to look at his shoulder, which had a large hand tucked on top of a large shirt that was too big for him.
He furrowed his brow and wondered how Sebastian's long-sleeved shirt got on him. He tried to roll around and realized the hand was slowly slipping. He stopped his movement, reached out his hand, and grabbed the slipping hand before it fell to the hard earth.
He grabbed the icy wrist, which felt soothing to his skin, and turned around slowly to avoid waking the sleeping figure behind him.
As he turned in the direction, he saw a large, bare body before him. It was Sebastian.
Atlas frowned and wondered why he wasn't wearing his shirt. Additionally, how did they fall asleep together in this spot?
He was starting to recall through his hazy memories that Sebastian told him to go to sleep while running his fingers through his hair after falling asleep. That's right. They must fall asleep together.
He watched with a flicker of curiosity. This was the first time he saw Sebastian in a deep sleep. His eyes were closed, making his features look softer than usual. Just a little. His nose arched in irritation as a fly sat on his cheeks. He had two red earrings that looked like pearls that contrasted with his flawless, white face.
His hand reached toward the cheek and smacked the noisy fly before it flew away as if fleeing from a beast.
Atlas felt strange and tried to figure out why. He tried to remove the hand from him while hoping to get up on his knees.
But his shoulder felt a hard tug before he fell back to the ground. His black eyes glared with a flicker of vexation before he turned around to shake Sebastian awake.
Sebastian's opened eyes greeted his vision, making his lips tug with a smirk, "Good morning. I hope you had a good rest."
There was a hint of teasing on his face, like he had something worth looking forward to. Sebastian slowly rose to his feet as his body was bathed in the warm sunlight.
It was unknown if it was a hallucination or if he was seeing a hint of glimmer on his stomach like pure, white gems.
His gaze slowly looked farther up and gasped out sharply at the large wound on his neck. There were teeth marks on his neck. Deep scratch marks on his muscular neck and chest.
He rose to his feet as well and asked with a hint of detection of horror in his tone. "What happened to you? Why do you have a wound on your neck? And why do you have scratches on your chest and neck?"
Sebastian narrowed his gaze at him with unreadable eyes with a piercing gaze. He asked with a hint of suspicion, but underneath the tone was hidden sarcasm. "You don't remember?"
Sadly, Atlas wasn't able to catch it. But he was able to catch something. What is he talking about? Remember what? All he could remember was falling asleep last night while Sebastian's fingers ran through his hair. That's just it.
He asked bluntly, "Remember what?"
Sebastian could tell that Atlas was telling the truth by the pure confusion within his eyes. He doesn't remember anything about last night. Why doesn't he remember anything?
He sighed loudly as he ran his fingers frustratedly. He bent down his neck to look at Atlas, who was still watching him. Atlas asked him. "What happened?"
A dawn of realization appeared on his face. "Wait... Did I do that to you? I knew I would get nightmares, but it wasn't so bad that I would hurt someone."
Sebastian's lips curled into an ironic sneer. "Too bad. You had a nightmare, and I tried to wake you up. Do you want to know what you did?"
He pointed his left finger at the deep bite marks on his neck that still didn't heal. To be honest, it did concern him a little bit. That shouldn't be possible.
He said with a grimace while giving him a dirty look. "You bit me and scratched me."
A tinge of regret flashed across Atlas's face as he chewed on his bottom lip. "I… I'm sorry."
Sebastian released a weary sigh and plastered an arrogant smirk on his face. "Don't worry about it, little fool. I won't die."
He walked near the firewood that had been burning from the previous night, but now it was ashes and charred soil that had a rotary ring in the center of it all.
Sebastian reached out and grabbed the clothes that were on the ground and brought it forth before Atlas, who scrunched his forehead at the sight of it. He raised his head to look at Sebastian and said with a hint of dismay. "You… Want me to wear that?"
Sebastian chuckles with a light-hearted sound as he replies. "You don't have to wear it now, but you need to wear it once we leave. I'll need my shirt back eventually."
Atlas groaned as he slid the large shirt off, revealing the linear, streak scars across his body that are contracted with his pale, unblemished skin. He gave it to Sebastian with a fierce glare.
Sebastian grabs the long-sleeved shirt while tugging it over his neck and slides it down his upper body. He smirked once he realized there wasn't much dirt or stain on the material.
Atlas stuck his nose in the air while turning around to start walking. Sebastian held the other shirt for Atlas, who, for some reason, didn't feel like putting it on.
The shirt in his hand was a little damp, but it's better than being soaked all the way through like yesterday. Sebastian watched him scowl silently while in a bad mood he caused.
Sebastian looked around the forest, which was silent but bright enough for the sun to flicker through the thick, large trees. Sebastian was careful to sidestep any mud, sharp rocks, and murky puddles.
—-------------{One day ago} --------------------
Sebastian's father, Caspian, lazily sits in a booth in the restaurant's corner. It was unknown why he was there sitting in the dark. His face was obscured by the reflection of the ceiling light, giving him a mysterious aura around him.
He was waiting for someone who was supposed to be here to pass on information to him.
It's been fifteen minutes. His large hand reached around the coffee cup on the large, brown table.
He raised it to his lips and took a minimum sip before setting it down.
As soon as the cup was set down, the entrance of the restaurant opened before the sounds of light footsteps followed with each clicking sound.
The person came in as an elderly man's croaked voice spoke to the visitor behind him, "Hello, Officer."
The visitor said with a light-hearted smile, "Thank you. Nice to see you're doing well, Mr. Caldwell."
Caspian closed his eyes with a sigh, waiting a few seconds longer for the visitor to sit down.
He opened his eyes when the man he was waiting for settled down in the chair, an older man in his early thirties with blond buzz cut hair and black eyes appeared before him. He was wearing a light blue uniform with a golden badge on his left shirt pocket.
The man said with a forced, beaming smile, "I hope you didn't wait too long."
Caspian snorted with darkening eyes before replying, "No need for fake pleasantry, Michael. Did you get the information I'm looking for?"
Michael looked around and made sure that everyone wasn't focused on them, although one kid waved at the officer with an innocent smile.
Michael waved back with a beaming smile and turned toward Caspian, who was giving him a glowering expression.
Caspian reached into his shirt and pulled out a yellow, rusted folder that had the name of Gravenor on it. He said with a deadpan face, "This is the information I found on the Gravenor family. Lastly, please don't cause any trouble, and I'll need it back by the end of the night. I can't let my co-workers find out this cold case is missing."
He said before placing it on the table and rising to leave, "I hope this helps, and this had better be the last time I'll be giving you favors, vampire."
Caspian chuckles lightly before taking the yellow folder in his hand before replying sarcastically. "Thank you. And we'll see."
Michael strode toward the door and went out of the restaurant. Caspian opened the files.
In the center of the photo was a young girl. A name, birth date, parents, and other sensitive information that was laid out beneath the photo. It was Blair Gravenor, captured six years prior as a survivor of a family massacre.