CHAPTER 51 -ALLIANCE- PART III
The bell signaled the time it was, over the hallways it echoed. I was already close to my class but I was already late to enter mid session, that is when my athlete training kicked in. Rushing with everything I had to at least make it so that the teacher didn’t know when I entered since he only takes attendance at the end of class.
But why did I bother to even go to class? For what reason did I decide to enter class when I was already this late? The brain and heart are surely a mystery that I could not understand in a million years. For all I know is that I could give up right here right now but something or someone told me not to do so, it was an unknown thing.
It seems like I’m going crazy already, I told myself. Being at my destination, I waited for the perfect moment to enter the class. I studied the atmosphere at the positions of everyone in the classroom.
Professor Xavier faced the board and started to write down the topic for today, now’s my chance if I don’t do it there might not be another chance. Rotating the knob of the door as slowly as I could without a single sound, opened it with only a gap so that my body could fit into the door and go through. The professor, still being held up by the wall, I quickened to the door and strafed to my seat at the back without making a sound. Students saw what I was doing but only watched without harm.
Finally, being a few desks away from mine, I noticed that the two seats on each side were empty. A particular section of my memory replayed when I saw this, it was the day that we—I decided to go to the other country. Guilt still lingers in my consciousness since then, yet sometimes I don’t even feel it at all. Almost like I’m a completely different person, it becomes scary to the point where I don’t know who I am.
“Mr. Hart I see that you are late once again, now let the class hear your excuse that you have prepared this time around.” Xavier questioned me while his back was turned on me.
How did he even know I was here? Does he have powers just like in the novels I read? I cursed before answering him. Hesitating and not being able to see them in the eyes, not being able to tell them how I felt and what I did to my two closest friends.
He noticed this and didn’t say anything for a moment, until one of my classmates raised their hand. “Professor? Can I go to the restroom?” Said the girl with red wavy hair, as she too noticed my uncomfortable situation at the moment.
I own you one, making the promise in my mind as I quickly went to sit down.
***
In the continent of Oskon, almost 78 percent is modern technology while the other 22 percent is still part of mother nature. That part of mother nature in the nation of Oskon can be called a forest that is deep enough to find bears and many other animals, along with that forest, there is a mountain in the middle of it acting like a beacon for birds and many other beings.
Around the forest, not that deep or on the edge of it, resides a wooden cabin that my parents own for vacation. It was built and remained there for a couple of decades and was given to them when they first got married. On my tenth birthday, a copy of the key to that place was a present from my parents. Both say the same words, “If you ever get bored and tired of the city, you could go there and stay there as long as you tell us when you get there”.
School was already over and I already sent both of my parents a text that I would be there for a while.
I sighed, looking at the path of dirt to get to my destination in the cabin. “Staying here for a while so that I can have some time alone with my thoughts.” I didn’t send them that, more like I couldn’t. Sending them that would make me more guilty than I was right now, worrying them like that meant damaging them in the heart, something I couldn’t even dare to do.
So for now I should just lay low and update them with… I paused my thoughts, the right word didn’t pop out. Searching for a word that wasn’t bad in a sense of saying, but there wasn’t, not at the moment. “Lies.”
Upon stumbling into the wooden cabin and opening the door to it, I threw my luggage that I’d brought with me to the side without any care of it. Tired, that’s what I felt, nothing more nothing less.
A sigh left my mouth, thinking of how things changed in such little time. From when we were at the border to an all out nightmare in a matter of a few hours… There’s no need to think about that right now, first I need to calm down before jumping into conclusions. My hand picked up the remote control and turned on the TV, changing channels, left to right, trying to find the news channel. Turning on my phone and doing the same there, looking over social media and even the latest news but nothing appeared.
The incident didn’t appear in the news or in any media… That specific question flew in my mind. Why? Why didn’t it appear, it’s been a week since the nightmare incident. Firefighters were there, the officers were there, hell even the military was there and yet somehow or someway it doesn’t appear in the news. Why!?
I was puzzled, confused with anger and guilt. There were more than those emotions in me but none of them blazed harder than those, it was like a raging fire inside of me as I couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t live nationwide.
I ripped my sight from the TV and into the ceiling, my head hit hard on the tip of the sofa. I felt sore in every muscle there was in my body, gripping my palm with my fingers was impossible with the strength I had.
“What would she think of me…?” I said lightly, reminiscing about that day when her eyes were lit with fire and bloodlust. There was hatred in her and now that the only way to stop that was to be killed by her hands, is what I thought at first.
Nonetheless, who in their right mind would not be scared of dying? Cuz hell I am more than anything in the world right now, having people who care about me and I think of them as dear to me is more than enough to work like my motivation.
My motivation…huh? I really never thought of it like that, sure the people who I held dear to were the reason for my success over the years in school. The reason why I looked up and forward to the so-called youth life that the grown ups say is a blessing to live through, the doubts instead ate at my positive thought of it. To me now it seemed like a far away dream that I’d never achieve in the future or in any way.
“Now that things might end up in a flop,” I glanced at the ceiling thinking one more time before leaving it in the past, second thoughts as people put it which until now I understood why. “It will all be meaningless to me when the ‘calamity’ comes to this world, to this city.”
I turned my head to my right, looking at the clock–that was still on after all this time, even years if I had to say–showing a pretty late number. My eyelids relaxed, I could just not go to school tomorrow, I told myself before heading to the kitchen to eat something.
Spent six hours thinking and processing the piled up events that happened in less than a month. It has been strange… The president of Pleoca, the country of Oskon taking over other countries for resources, just so that all of this ends up in the conclusion of a massive battle of which nation has the strongest army.
Yet, Oskon didn’t take any action immediately after hearing the declaration of war that Pleoca said in the news just a couple of months prior but instead made allies, an alliance of four continents out of seven. Oskon tried to make it five but the fifth wasn’t convinced with their words but by action and instead took the alliance of Pleoca thus having four continents including itself.
At any moment, war should’ve already spiked. Sending soldiers to the frontlines of the battlefields and using their strategies for the better use of it.
Rather, all things have been quiet since the incident of Pleoca, when Larisa, Alexis and I rushed to the border and crossed it. Unveiling the events and incidents that we now have seen, coincidence or not things are not looking good, hell it probably won’t even after a long time.
That was the hunch, my gut telling otherwise, whatever there was to be unleashed in the present now or in the future time, only meant for my strength in physical and mental for the struggles to come forth.
Will I be able to pass this upcoming catastrophe without losing anyone I love? Will my friends and people I feel comfortable with be able to live? Will my family, mom and dad, survive this with me?
These tortured questions lingered in my mind for more than an hour, my meal that I thought of making delicious only tasted bitter and guilty in more than one way. The water that I used to wash down this feeling tasted the same, it didn’t wash down those feelings but only made it worse.
It was terrifying to a degree that I was scared of leaving this cabin, even thinking about taking a step outside, just having my foot above the frame door made me dread for my misfortune that spread to other things around me.
Maybe, just maybe I can stay here until things have died down. Until this misunderstanding of war passed by like a normal storm, that the rain and lightning then changed to rainbows and sunlight.
I thought that only this was the only way, that this was the path, the chosen path to walk without any misfortunes falling into innocent people. Subsequently, another one of these outcomes came by and made me realize the truth of an alternative way. I let this one out without registering on it, my voice sounded terrified and remorsed. “On second thought, maybe I should just stay here, locking myself in this far away yet centered cabin.”
Yes… this is the best option, not for me but for the people outside of this cabin. I was a monster. One that was beyond any capable of help, one that was cursed right from the moment I was born.
Meaning if I was now a monster, I was no longer the being known as Colter Hart, a phenomenon being like me shouldn’t have the grace or even the beauty of having a human name.
My hands which were holding my head as the reality of thoughts that didn’t feel like mine were removed and fell to my sides when I pushed myself to my feet, I had already made up my mind. But what happens if I want to return? That question was longer an option but only fitted in the fantasy section of my mind, the path that I will walk from now on was going to be filled with regret and sorrow.
“That’s right,” I whispered to myself. Scanning the cabin for anything that would be useful to me, but they lingered on something underneath the fridge. The different-colored tile floor stuck out like a sore thumb, curiosity took the better of me, I moved the fridge and investigated what it was. Under the tile was a mini-door that had stairs, following those stairs feeling like I’d walked for minutes until I arrived at an out of place door. No seconds wasted and the door opened, dark as the night in a forest. Searching for a switch that could at least turn on the lights of this place if it had any, crawling my hand throughout the dark wall, the tips of my fingers had touched something. It was the switch.
The veil of light descended upon the room revealing a handful of documents, classified documents that were in opened yellow folders each having names and photos of people, old and young. “What is all of this?” My mouth let out in a low tone, reaching the folders with my hands and flipping each and every single one of them.
The names of the people that were called quote on quote “Anomalies” were residing here in the country of Oskon, their names and addresses were included, even their names and people close to them. Honestly, I was creeped out by these documents. Just what is mom and dad–I cut that thought immediately. I had to remind myself that I was no longer Colter Hart but a monster, one without a name.
Despite that, I continued to search and absorb every word and information there was about these people, that the High-Commision called “Blood-Soldiers”. Spending hours and probably what felt like a day go by, the speculation of this “Blood-Soldiers” is that they are an anomaly just like me but without the power part. There was even video footage of their power, it was gruesome but aside from the gore it had what interested me more was the technique that they were using. Repeating the same video, over and over again, I had arrived at a conclusion that they were using magic.
But why in god’s name did Amelia and Julian have these documents here in secret from me, especially in the family cabin?
I shook my head, making those thoughts fly away. Perhaps I can use this information to my advantage in some way, but it wasn’t clear to me how I could make use of it.
“Breaking News. We have received a notice that the president of Pleoca has already attacked and possibly taken over the border between Oskon and Pleoca.”
My limbs tightened when I heard those words, dashing as fast as I could.
“Over a hundred…no over a thousand people had their lives taken with this full on assault on the border…”
The fatigue had hit me when I was already at the stairs. I was right, I hadn't slept in days and now the consequences were falling onto me. The movements of my limbs were slower than I expected it to be but now it wasn’t an option to go at this speed, I needed to go faster.
“The declaration that the president of Pleoca had indeed been true…now here is the footage live of the border from our helicopter…”
Grim, shocking, unspeakable, monstrous… those were the emotions that came upon me when my eyes landed on the TV news. Numerous people running in the opposite direction of the border with their families, scared and fearful of their lives being taken without any reason at all.
No, there was a reason why their lives were being taken at this moment. Why the bodies of countless people were left soulless at that moment, and it was because of my decision to start the war between Pleoca and Oskon. That’s right, I finally found the name for a monster like me. Discarding the name of Colter Hart and owning the name of Persefoni. The Bringer of Death. That was the accomplishment that had given me that name, after all I had brought the death of hundreds–no, thousands of people.
Now I bear the sin of killing those innocent lives. That was my Alliance to this name.
