Chapter 3

As the night deepened, lights died below. The city was like a forest made of grand buildings. The bright lights that remained mirrored the stars from the clear night sky while the moon shone brightly in its glory. I could see everything from the rooftop where I was. It was indeed a beautiful view, but at that moment I wasn’t feeling happy. No matter how hard I tried to admire the scenery that I could only see at such times, I still couldn’t smile. I exhausted my body from working and I just wanted to go home to the comfort of my soft bed.

Behind me was the crowd enjoying the birthday party. The murmurs sounded like they would not end. They didn’t reach my ears because the echoing melodious sound of the violin overshadowed them. As I remained standing, a wind blew from my left, whistling through the newly budding flowers lining that side of the rooftop. By midnight, that wind would breathe cold as the north pole, carrying with it the stench of the party.

I shivered a little from the cold. I also closed my left eye because of the dust that went in. As I rubbed my eyes, I noticed the man who kept on following me. He was standing a few steps away from where I was. He was wearing a red tuxedo, showing his broad shoulders clearly. His hair was neat that revealed his flawless ears.

I didn’t know that he was also looking at the scenery that was visible from that rooftop. In one of his hands, he held a thin goblet that was still full of white wine.

He also turned his head at me. When our eyes met, my heart pounded crazily. It was the very first time it happened. Maybe it was because that night the man looked stunning, even if he was doing nothing. I could clearly see his entire face under the light hitting him.

He raised his left hand to loosen his blue stripe tie. And after that, he brushed the side of his lips with his thumb to remove something from it.

What he said to me during the day kept ringing in my ear and flashing inside my brain.

A light tap on my shoulder brought me back to reality.

I turned around and found Maggie’s colleague. I also knew her from my previous job. She was wearing a white blouse and a black skirt. She tied her long jet-black hair at the back of her head.

She looked at me with a scowl on her face. “I’ve been searching for you,” she said to me. I sensed a slight annoyance in her voice when she spoke.

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? Do the job properly. If you’re acting this way, Maggie will not get her pay.” She kept her hold on the tray she was carrying. The two tall glasses filled with cocktails still clanged on her slight movement.

“Relax. It hasn’t been a couple of minutes since I was resting,” I told her, removing the tray from her hand. She looked at me with confusion written all over her face. “I will take care of this,” I explained to her. “Where would I bring this? What table?” I added.

She took a deep breath to calm her nerve, and she turned around pointing her hand to the east. “That one in the middle,” she told me before putting down her hand.

I looked at the table where she pointed her finger. I found the table where two men were sitting facing each other. My forehead furrowed when I recognized him again.

“I will go now,” I told Ava.

She tapped my shoulder once again to encourage me, and I walked toward the two men. I passed through between the other tables, dodging the servers. I had not reached the table, but the man turned his head to stare at me with his stern face. He didn’t remove his eyes from me, which made me uneasy. I didn’t like the fact that he was observing me. This time I didn’t meet his eyes and kept walking. He only stopped when the other man on the other side of the table said something to him which I didn’t hear.

After a few more steps, I finally reached their table, which stopped them from talking. I carefully put down their drink on the table. Their eyes followed my movement as if they were waiting for me to do a mistake. Fortunately, nothing bad happened, even though I was feeling uneasy. I got to observe the man’s face up close. He was really stunning. No one could compare their beauty to him. I couldn’t help myself.

I flinched when he spoke suddenly. His companion wiped the dust in front of his suit with a white handkerchief.

“Do you need anything, Levi?” His voice was deep and ethereal.

He’s clearly speaking in a peaceful tone, but it felt pressurizing.

“I am sorry. What?” I involuntarily said as I stood up straight, holding the empty tray. Because of what he said, the other man was now also staring at me.

His shoulders dropped when he took a deep breath. “You can go.”

I bowed my head and hurried, grabbing my chest. My heart was beating crazily. It felt like it was going to explode. As the music paused for a second, the noise of the party became clear. I even heard the two men talking to each other.

As I walked away, I just realized he had said my name.

“Do you know him?” the other man asked.

“Yes. He’s the one I told you about. The one I like,” the man answered.

My guts told me he was still looking at my back and I was not wrong about it. When I turned my head, our eyes meet while the sound of the violin was back, playing on the entire rooftop. He was still observing me from afar, which made me realize why my heart was thumping. I was nervous. I never thought fear would take hold of me again after such a long time.

I went to the bar counter after the nerve-racking meeting with the man. Ava was standing at the side, watching the bartender mixed drinks smoothly. She glued her eyes to the bartender’s muscular arm. Her eyes were glowing out of blissful joy.

“Why don’t you take him home?” I suggested as I put down the tray on the corner of the counter. “You will be happy if you do that. I forgot it’s impossible to happen.”

She shot me daggers, and I raised my two fingers for a peace sign. Her annoyance faded quickly as she stared at my face.

“Is something the matter with you?”

I met her eyes since she confused me. “No. I am doing good,” I told her. “Why?”

“Your face is so red.” She stepped closer, raising her hand. When her palm landed on my forehead, she also immediately put her hand down. “You’re burning. Why didn’t you tell me you have a fever? I am sorry I didn’t notice earlier.”

I could see worries now on her face. I also put my hand on my forehead and felt what she meant.

“It’s okay. It’s just a fever.”

“You can go home now. I will take care of everything. You don’t have to worry about Maggies pay,” she assured me.

“I will be fine. I just need to take a nap.”

She took a deep breath to calm herself. “Fine. I know you will not listen to me.”

“You are not wrong about that. Just call me when you need something.”

“But if you changed your mind, just go,” she said, which was the last thing I heard from her.

I turned around, leaving the party. Ava stared at my back as I walked away. I entered the glass door and took the quiet hallway until I reached the stairs next to the elevator. I went down the stairs and stopped in the middle, where no one could see me from the hallway. It wasn’t odd that I didn’t feel the fever right away. It always happened to me when I focused my mind on something else.

I was about to sit down when I heard someone coming from the hallway. I moved up a few steps and waited. After a couple of seconds, I saw the other man from earlier wearing a white suit. He was struggling to walk, and that was the reason he took a misstep. Because of that slight mistake, he was out of balance and about to fall down the stairs. He even shouted when he realized what was going to happen to him. He looked at me with his eyes full of fear.

Before he rolled down the stairs, I ran toward him and caught him in his stomach. He grabbed my shoulder for support and he fell unconscious. I took a deep breath and carefully carried him on my back. He was so damned heavy that gave me a hard time bringing him back to the hallway. I put him down on the floor, leaning his back on the wall.

“Wake up,” I said, tapping his cheek, but he didn’t budge.

I stopped waking him up and checked his breathing. I put my finger under his nose and I took a deep breath when I felt his warm breath. He was alive. I worried for nothing that I would be stuck in another situation that would put me in a terrible light despite my good intentions.

As I was thinking of what to do with the other man, I felt him behind me. His smell also entered my nose. I turned around and found the stunning man walking toward the alcove of the elevator where we were.

“What you’re doing, Levi?” he said to me. “Are you planning to take him home?”

I glared at him. “What are you even saying? Don’t compare me to you,” I growled and passed the man to him. “I just stopped his fall. Stop thinking about unnecessary things. And don’t mention again what you said to me.”

“I don’t want to.” He smiled at me with admiration in his eyes.

“Don’t look at me.”

“Why? Do I make you nervous?” He easily held his friend on his shirt.

“You don’t have to thank me. I will go now,” I told him as I stepped away from him.

“I will take you home. Wait for me. I’ll put this bastard in his room.”

I looked back at him because of what he said. “I told you to stop.”

“No.”

I breathe hard after hearing his answer. “I could not understand you.”

“Levi, you don’t have to. All you need to do is like me back.”

He was about to say something more, but I stopped him by raising my hand. “I don’t want to hear anything from you anymore. Don’t show your face to me.”

I didn’t give him a chance to speak and bolted out downstairs. I didn’t use the elevator and just kept on running until I reached the door on the ground floor. My footsteps echoed loudly. The man didn’t go down and brought his friend to his room. I walked out of the door and entered the lobby without him bothering me.

I couldn’t believe it. I almost got fooled by that cunning man.

I didn’t understand what his deal was for seeking me out and confessing to me. My thought came into conclusion it’s more than that why he kept on appearing. Maybe he was really out of his mind. Fortunately, I had the chance to run away from him.

Because of that man, I didn’t go back to the party and left the building instead. I didn’t stop walking until I reached the road.

I took out my phone as I sat down on the bench under the shade of the bus stop. I had to call Ava to inform her I would go home. My fever got worse, and I became really sick. I could feel the pain in my head down to my knees. I should not have exerted myself.

I dialled Ava’s number and waited for her to answer the call. Her phone just kept on ringing. She could not answer her phone, so I ended the call and sent her a message explaining my situation. As I put back my phone in my pocket, I shivered hard at the blowing wind. I hugged myself to fight the cold while looking at the quiet road. It was almost midnight. It wasn’t surprising no cars were passing by.

It was then something alerted me from the other side of the road. I stared intently until I noticed the bald man standing there wearing the same coat from the morning. He crouched and ran fast toward me. I quickly rolled to the ground to dodge his attack. His sharp claws hit the big screen, breaking the lights and creating an explosion.

I didn’t wait for him to attack me again. I ran away from him with all my might, even though my body felt heavy. When I turned my head, he was already chasing me. He jumped high to reach me. When I looked up, he’s already a few feet away from me. I kept running on the length of the road and he landed before he continued chasing me.

I could hear him laughing maniacally behind me. When I was at the intersection, I stopped and decided where to run. There were a few people walking in different directions.

In the end, I chose the old library in the corner. I ran to the door and entered after tinkering with the knob.

I sat down afterward while I closed the door, hoping the werewolf would not find me there. I waited and took a peek through the glass door. He was already in the middle of the intersection, ignoring the people looking at him and the passing cars. He walked back and forth, observing his surroundings.

I swore when he suddenly appeared right in front of the old library. He smiled evilly when he saw me hiding at the back of the door. With a swift motion of his claw, he broke the door.

“How did you find me?” I asked him as I prepared myself to run again.

The passer-by looked at us in surprise.

“I used the man you met earlier,” he answered in his menacing tone. “His scent is powerful. It’s easy to find. I never expected I will see you. I was only planning on running away. Everyone thought you’re already dead, white dog. I only realized who you are when I was hiding in the sewer.”

“Stop calling me that. You got the wrong person.”

“I am not wrong,” I reminded her. I will kill you. Everyone would be happy, especially Mother, if I brought your corpse. I praised you for hiding yourself pretty well. Sadly, this would be your last night.”

“You are full of yourself, which is not surprising. You’re a rogue.”

Anger became more visible on his face because of what I said. He clenched his teeth.

As he was about to grab me, I ran to the stairs. This time, I couldn’t dodge his attack. His claws hit me on my shoulder, making me stop. I could feel my flesh burning and I winced in pain.

“Stop running. You’re only going to suffer more,” he said as he entered the broken door.

I ignored what he said and continued climbing up the stairs. It only took me a couple of seconds before I reached the line of tables in the very middle. The entire library was not in total darkness because of the light slipping through the glass windows from the outside. I ran to the east wing and hid behind the tall shelves while catching up my breath. The werewolf’s footsteps echoed in the air.

I squatted and checked my shoulder. Blood was already coming out of the wound. If I didn’t stop it, I would lose a lot of blood.

But I had to escape from the werewolf first. That’s why I left the wound bleeding. After that, I took a deep breath to calm myself. I had to think straight about how to stop him. His footsteps were still echoing from the middle of the room.

“Why are you doing nothing? If you keep acting that way, I will not have fun killing you,” he said.

I moved from where I was when the surrounding shelves fell down one by one. Tables and chairs bumped into each other. Books scattered everywhere, revealing my hiding spot. The werewolf smirked when he finally saw me.

He grabbed a table and threw it at me. When the table was about to hit me, I slid down under it, going toward the bald man. After I stood, I hurried to reach him.

Before he could attack me again, I planned on grabbing his neck. But he jumped backward and landed on top of the fallen shelf.

“Why are you even running? Are you not that confident in yourself?” I said to provoke her.

He laughed at what I had said, echoing to the entire floor. “Silly you. Just admit that you’re weak. I don’t understand why everyone is afraid of you when you can’t even land a scratch on me,” he said. “This is so easy. I am not even sweating.”

As he growled, he fully turned to a werewolf with his dark fur falling out. There was only one way to face him in that form. I had to turn as well. But I had already forgotten who I was. If I let myself free, I would go baffling again and could not control myself. I took a deep breath to calm my nerve. Maybe it was time for me to go, even though I hadn’t achieved the things I wanted to happen in my life. I could not live peacefully, anyway.

The bald man didn’t waste a second and jumped toward me with his sharp teeth, bleeding saliva.

I already accepted my faith from that moment on. But something unexpected happened. The man who tried to fool me appeared in front of me. He blocked the werewolf with his bare hand, choking him. The man caught him in surprise so the beast couldn’t dodge.

The man looked at me after stopping the werewolf. “Are you alright?” he asked me. I nodded my head to respond. “Good,” he added. “Just wait for me here. I will be quick.”

“Who are you really?” I asked him above the confusion.

“This is not the time for you to ask me who I am,” he told me.

He shifted his attention to the bald man, who was now full of anger in his eyes.

“You will regret this. If you kill me, everyone will come to you for revenge,” the bald man said to the man.

“Let them come.” He raised him a few feet high.

His grip tightened on his neck, making it hard for the werewolf to breathe. The bald man tried to grab the man’s hand as he was losing air in his lungs. I just watched the man finish him until fire covered him, burning him into ashes.

The man really killed the bald man in an instant. He turned around and walked down the pile of books. His heavy footsteps on the floor made me nervous.

“Stay away from me,” I told him as I stepped back.

“Are you that afraid?” he said as he approached. “I will do nothing to you. How can I hurt someone I like?”

“I do not believe you. You even killed the bald man.”

“What do you want me to do? He’s trying to kill you.”

I looked at him with my forehead furrowing. “You mean to say you killed him because of me?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Fine. But don’t come closer.”

I raised my hand to stop him. He listened to me and he remained standing. It was a chance for me to run, and so I did. Sadly, he was quick as the light. He grabbed my hand before dragging me down the staircase.

“We have to leave this place,” he said without looking at me. “They are going to come.”

I knew who he meant. There was this group that existed to ensure the balance of the world.

I tried to free myself from his grip as we cross the burning area of the library. But his grip would not even loosen even a little. He kept on dragging me, ignoring the stare we got from other people. He didn’t even speak as we crossed the street. When we were at the front of the store, that’s when I exploded.

“Let me go! What’s wrong with you!?” I blurted out.

He stopped and turned around. “If you promise me, you will not run. I will let you go,” he said in a serious tone.

I met his eyes. He looked like he really have a lot to tell me. I just couldn’t understand why he had to when I didn’t even know him. He’s even more powerful than everyone I know.

“Fine. Since you save me from that werewolf, I will listen to you,” I said to him and waited. He hesitated, but he released my hand. “What is that you really want from me?” I asked him as I massaged my wrist.

“I already told you I like you,” he said. “Let’s be together,” he added as if the easiest thing to do.”

“And if don’t?”

“I will convince you,” he said. “In exchange, I can protect you from the people who want you dead.”

I took a deep breath. There was one more important thing he had not told me yet. “Where are you from?” I asked him. “Answer me. After that, I will decide.”

“I can’t tell you right now. You might fear me. People do that when they found out who I was.”

I couldn’t blame him if he’s keeping it a secret. But for me, it only meant one thing. He was dangerous.

“I am sorry, but I can’t be with you. I can’t put myself in a situation unknown to me and have no control,” I said to him. And I stepped past him. I only stopped when I realized I had to say something so he would not appear again. “This is the last time we can see each other. I hope you will stop. I don’t need to pay you back for helping me, right? Come to think of it, you’re also responsible,” I added, without turning around. He didn’t respond, which meant he understood what I had said.

I just walked and kept on walking to get away from the man. I couldn’t think straight because of my fever that became worst. Aside from that, the wound in my shoulder was still bleeding.

Before I realized where I was, I found myself in front of the seven-story apartment where I was staying. My own feet brought me there. The only room I could afford in that building was on the rooftop. The rent was cheap for that one particular room there, and I knew the reason for that. I entered the quiet building and climbed the stairs until the fifth floor.

To get to the rooftop, I had to take the staircase that started on the fifth floor at the very end of the hallway. Every time I climbed down and up, I had to be careful not to slip. The stairway was narrow. It was also very slippery, especially when it rained and snowed. I was used to it but at that moment I struggled a little.

My feverish body wasn’t helping, and the dizziness in my head was killing me. I had to do the climbing all in four. If earlier the night sky was clear, it all changed after an hour. The miserable weather made my climb worse. The rain began pouring on the rooftop overhead, with no sign of letting up. Drainage was lacking, so it was no surprise the water trickled down the stairs.

I ignored the fact that I was soaked and kept on crawling until I finally touched the last step. It was then I stood up and ran toward the door that was just a few meters away. I grabbed the doorknob and rushed in after opening it. I was about to step inside when I remembered I had hung the blanket in the heat of the afternoon. Leaving the door ajar, I ran back to the clothesline.

As I was grabbing the navy blue blanket, I noticed someone standing under the flickering light post on the very corner of the street. The man looked up to where I was and our eyes met. My heart raced, thinking he would not stop following me. I really thought it was the same man, but when I blinked my eyes, I saw no one.

I had guessed my mind was playing tricks on me because of what happened. I had a hard time differentiating what was real and not. I quickly removed the blanket from the clothesline and folded it before going inside to avoid getting it wet from the rain..

I stepped in into the room to dry myself and shut the door with my foot behind me, the latch clicking in place. The circular lightbulb overhead flickered when I turned it on before it lit up the entire room. Everything in that room was steps away from each other. I only had to move a little to reach the small bed where I put down the blanket. The rain rumbling on the roof was too loud that it was the only thing I could hear while inside the room.

For a room that was always warm during the entire day, it was now uncomfortably cold, making my body shake violently. I quickly took off my clothes before I die in cold. I left the phone on my small table and walked shivering into the bathroom, carrying the wet clothes. The bathroom was also too small and if I wanted to move to get something, I just had to circle around.

I put the wet clothes on the hampers and I moaned in frustration because of the cold. I was about to step out into the room when I noticed the reflection in the mirror hanging on the bathroom wall. There were shadows behind me, trying to grab my back. I took a deep breath to calm my nerve and talked to myself that they were just the product of my hallucination.

Ignoring that fact, I moved back to the bed and wrapped myself with the dried blanket and the old one while staring at the ceiling. I thought of what to do now. The possibility of getting chase again was so high. I was sure the werewolf’s clan would look for him, even if he’s a rogue after days of not hearing anything from him. And if that happened, they would send someone to search for the werewolf and they would eventually find me. I guessed I had to move city again. I lay down on my left side and forced myself to sleep. But I really couldn’t fall asleep because my body was shaking.

I stood from the bed when I felt thirsty. I walked to the kitchen and grabbed the pitcher. As I was chugging the water down, I saw the man standing a few inches away from me. The door’s latches clicked again as it closed on its own. The man’s sudden appearance gave me a fright. He made me step backward, only to slip. Fortunately, he was quick as the light. He grabbed my hips to prevent my fall.

“How can you live in this room?” he even said to me. He tapped his shoulder to remove the droplet of rain.

He was not shouting, but I could hear him loud and clear under the noise of the thundering rain. He looked at my face and stared down. That’s when I realized I was completely naked.

I stood up straight and pushed him in his face. His eyes followed my movement as I ran to the bed. I covered myself with the used blanket and shivered. My teeth rattled to each other.

“You were not a hallucination!” I blurted out, remembering I saw him in the corner down the street. “What are you doing here?! And who told you can go in?! I am reminding you again. Expect nothing from me.”

He grabbed the newly washed blanket and wrapped it around me. I just looked at him doing it. Somehow, I wasn’t afraid of him this time. I winced when the blanket scratched the wound in my shoulder.

“Stop prattling. Take care of yourself first. Your body is dead cold,” he told me as he let go of the tip of the blanket. “Do you have a medical kit? A medicine you can take?” he added, but he was already rummaging through my table looking for something.

“Stop!” I shouted at him. I shot him daggers as he turned around.

“What?” He pulled the bottom drawer and found the small box where I kept the medicines. He took it out and sat down on the side of the bed.

“I will hate you even though I don’t know who you really are,” I asked him.

“Hate me then, if that’s what you really want. You will only know me if you give me an answer.”

I took a deep breath. I knew he’s disturbing me because I didn’t have the strength to fight or sent him away.

“I am telling you, helping me will not change my mind.”

“I know.” He got a cotton ball and pressed it to the liquid to cleanse the wound.

I looked at him and grabbed the cotton ball. “I can do it on my own,” I said, insisting I could clean the wound without his help.

I turned around with my back facing the tall mirror. I pulled down the blanket a little, revealing my shoulder, and tried reaching for the wound, but I couldn’t press the cotton even once. He sighed in frustration. I flinched when he grabbed my shoulders. His palm on my skin felt odd. It was cold. I didn’t feel even slightly warm. He span me around on the bed so that my back would face him. I gave up the cotton to him and he pressed it to the wound without a warning. I hissed when I turned around.

He ignored my anger and kept on cleaning the wound. At the end, he covered it with a fresh bandage. “Give me your hand,” he said and hold my right.

The wound on my thumb fixated his eyes. He only stopped when I tried pulling my hand away. His hand was quick, and it was just a matter of second he was done with my thumb. The band aid had a bunny art design on it.

I looked back at him as I sat down properly on the bed. “Can I ask you something?” I told him.

“Yeah, sure. What are you curious about?” He put back the medical kit into the drawer.

“Where did I meet you before?”

He stopped as he closed the drawer as if he was calculating how to answer me. “I will not give what you wanted to hear. You will remember it eventually,” he said instead and pushed the drawer until it click.

“I just don’t understand why you are you acting this way. Do you really like me?”

He looked me in the eye. “I will say no so that you will not feel uncomfortable,” he said and wrapping the blanket around me. “Get some sleep. I will be on guard.”