Johan's pov
The trembling got way more rhythmic, like someone was playing a piano, and with each keystroke, the room shook in a certain way. We exchanged a quick glance before rushing toward his room, where the trembling was strongest.
Now, someone logical would say: Take cover! Run away! Call the authorities! But no—this was an opportunity. An opportunity to catch him. The real terrorist. Only the bravest and smartest men could see an opportunity like this. I guess I was too suspicious of him, he's pretty much like me.
I looked back at my partner with solemnness and comradery.
Huh? Partner?
He's… running away?
"Don't stop! Rush inside immediately." his sharp tone broke my fantasies immediately. Tears welled up in my eyes, I wanted to be an overpowered protagonist with a smart sidekick…..Not die…Not like this at least.
Ah, what, as I was regretting everything the knife he was aiming at me before came right next to me, stuck inside the wooden floor before me. I instantly picked it up, 'looks like he's not entirely abandoning me, maybe he got a plan or something.'
Leor's Pov
I took a momentary pause to catch my breath. He can be the bait for a while—at least until the Royal Guards arrive. They'll definitely sense the commotion.
Without wasting time, I threw the butchering knife from my pocket toward Johan. Grabbing a sharp-edged wooden stick I'd noticed earlier in James's room, I jumped out of the window into the alleyway, clutching the nearby pipe tightly.
My plan is simple: a pincer movement, something I learned in class. We'll split up, attacking my room from different angles. If everything goes well, I'll catch the intruder off guard and stab him from behind.
Climbing the pipeline is easy enough. The clamps are large enough to give me a foothold and a steady grip. Each step creaked faintly, but I kept my movements quick and quiet, my heart pounding with adrenaline.
I peeked in from my room's window. Huh? I quickly climbed into the room and saw Johan was staring somewhere. My hands started sweating, My body twitching with fear. There was no one in the room. But the wall, where the text was written, The text was glowing in a bright golden shade, as bright as the ring on my finger. As we were staring at the text, Our eyes started bleeding, as if they had been stabbed multiple times with a spear, and then the spear was twisted multiple times.
"Don't look at it!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.
The amount of blood we were losing was unnatural. Realizing I might go blind, I instantly closed my eyes and turned my head to the other side. My eyes were twitching, and I felt like itching them so hard, They felt really dry, Like when you don't sleep at all for two days and then go to work like that. I felt intense pain, but weirdly I still had an intense desire…desire to look again at it. I covered my eyes with my hands. My body was trying to move on its own, like something unnatural was forcing it to look at it again. Trembling continued, but it was now much more chaotic Like someone was holding 'it' and "shaking" the room very hard. It continued like this, for more than five minutes.
In a single second, everything went completely silent, completely normal, like nothing was ever happening at all. I was still keeping my eyes closed and assumed Johan was doing the same. What if that magical text was still there, It was not tempting us anymore, but maybe it's a trap.
"Hey, the text disappeared…" Johan's trembling voice broke my thoughts.
I slowly opened my eyes. I still couldn't see clearly. Everything was covered in a deep shade of crimson red. I cleaned my eyes with a handkerchief and then threw it to Johan. He also did the same.
"Do you know what it was? So I was right about skills…" Johan asked with his body trembling and eyes brightening. 'How can he be excited at a time like this.'
I ignored his weird behavior and shook my head "No I have no idea, It looked supernatural, out of this world, beautiful…..Did you also feel the strong desire to look at it again?"
"No, I don't think anything like that happened to me, I was just staring at it….and my mind went blank, Even at the pain I had not a single thought about closing mine, Only when you shouted I got back to my senses…" His reply only made it more confusing. 'Why was I feeling such a strong desire to look at it? what the hell was it?
I looked at the wooden wall again, It was completely normal, not even a single scratch.
"I see, let's search the house first, This is not normal, If this was a normal earthquake Royal guards and police would've surrounded this place. Only we felt it! Only this house was shaking, and only from inside. No one could ignore a shaking house. This is a crowded street."
"Alright, but what if the intruder is some sort of superhuman, Even if he is choosing to play hide and seek which is already weird, Say we found him, could we really do anything to him? And don't you find it weird that we immediately knew the source of the trembling was your room?" Saying that I was shocked would be an understatement. I didn't even notice that I unconsciously knew where to go, If I assumed it was an earthquake, How could the intruder cause an earthquake? Even when I was outside, I saw my house was not trembling, like it should, But I entirely ignored it. This is….How can I even explain this to someone? I looked at the stranger named Johan, He could notice the inconsistency but I couldn't…..I should really keep him around.
I reached out my hand towards Johan, my eyes meeting his, silently analyzing each other's actions.
"My name is Leor Milford." I smiled and introduced myself.
He shook my hand, his grip firm, smiling back he replied "Nice to meet you Leor, My name is Johan Adler, you can call me Johan."
To be continued..........
Author's Note: How was the chapter, I liked how I ended it. I am getting better every day. Give me some powerstones if you can. They say it helps with reaching more people. Whatever. Anyway, join my subreddit to learn more about my book, about me, advise me a little bit, and get images of the characters YES images. I want a community. A good freaking community. Name's TYATE. Regards.
Puffin__lore