His blood freezes in his veins, his breaths become ragged and uneven as he sees the look in the man's eyes, a mixture of pure anger and hatred.
"How many times have I tried to give you a chance?" he growls, glaring at him through narrowed eyes.
Chapter 2
"This is it. This will do it."
"No, wait, I don't think this-"
"What if I break them?!"
"But, I can't do it! My magic isn't working!"
"You're supposed to be stronger than that!"
"...I'm sorry..."
"Are you listening to me, boy? Are you listening to me?!"
His gaze focuses on the blurry figure in front of him. A small whimper escapes him. "...yes, Sir..." he whispers, almost inaudible.
"Good. Now stay quiet." he says calmly, ignoring Hugo’s attempt to interrupt him. "I need to concentrate."
The room spins around him as he falls forward, his hands slamming onto the floor before he hits the ground hard, his body throbbing as he stares blankly upwards. There is nothing around him; just darkness. He can hear voices in the distance, muffled through the walls, but he doesn’t try to understand their words. Instead, he lets his mind wander, drifting to where he last saw the beautiful woman from earlier, the one who saved him, and the thought makes his heart clench.
She has gone far away from him now, and he has no idea where she went or if she is still alive. All he knows is that he is glad that she’s finally gone and he misses her terribly already. But his memories of her, the feelings he has towards her, and the longing to kiss her and hold her again, all of it makes him want to cry. He doesn’t know why. He doesn’t even really know her that well, and yet, his longing for her is so strong, especially considering that they barely spoke to each other for more than a few minutes, but nevertheless, the feeling makes him feel incredibly lonely.
He wonders where his father is right now. Is he thinking about him, worried about his whereabouts? He hopes not, because he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if anything happened to him or if his father blames him somehow for all of this. After all, he’s the reason why his father was forced to leave his family, leaving his mother and sister and the two young girls behind. No. If anything happens to his father it would break his heart beyond repair. He couldn’t bear it if anything bad were to happen to him. He doesn’t know how long he sat alone on the floor staring into space for, but eventually, his exhaustion starts getting the best of him and he soon drifts off to sleep.
He wakes up feeling completely exhausted. His head is pounding, his throat is dry and he feels sick to his stomach. As he raises his hand to touch his head, he feels something wet on his fingers. With a groan, he opens his eyes, noticing that it is dark outside. ‘So this is what death looks like...dark and depressing…’ he thinks bitterly to himself.
He looks over to his side and immediately notices his father lying on the floor across from him. Tears are streaming down the old man's wrinkled face, although his eyes seem dull and lifeless, as if they had given up. ‘How…how is he...?’ Hugo asks himself, feeling confused. Suddenly he realizes that his own clothes have been torn in many places, revealing the deep scars that line his pale, thin body. ‘Oh, god, they were really serious this time…’ He feels like he’s going to faint.
He takes several deep breaths trying to calm himself down