Just an accident

I spent the next few years wandering around many places. I hadn't encountered any wolves that were chasing me, but I had never stayed in one spot longer than three months either. Of course, it was harder to earn any money that way. That was why I decided to open an online business that I could run without revealing my true name. What I was selling were investment advices. I have always been good at predicting how the market would respond to certain events. Even my teachers used to call me a genius in that field.

Actually, business and the stock market weren't my only areas of expertise. I could easily become the best in any subject. The problem was, my so-called "family" would never allow me to get a decent university diploma… or any university diploma at that. I was only allowed to graduate from St. Anna's College, after graduating from St. Anna's High School, after growing up in St. Anna's orphanage… Yes, the situation between me and my "family" was always a little peculiar.

Certainly, I didn't have any good memories from my childhood. I used to wish that I didn't have a living family and had a chance to be adopted as any other child living at the orphanage. What could have been more frustrating to a growing child than the fact that it had been abandoned, but strangely, there was no permission for adoption?! I used to wonder how it was even possible, until I learned that my precious father was actually the founder of the St. Anna's orphanage. That was the moment I realized that I wasn't being raised, I was being imprisoned and monitored.

Everything was better than living as if I was shackled in chains. The life I lived as a nomad, or rather a fugitive, was far better, even though I constantly looked behind my shoulder. It had been seven years since I started running. If that was what I had to do in order to be free for the rest of my life, I would pay that price gladly.

Starting an online company wasn't exactly easy, especially since I had no name, no diploma, and no recommendation. I spent a lot of time sending anonymous emails to rich businessmen, company presidents, and CEOs. I gave each of them one advice, free of charge. After they learned that my predictions were correct, they were usually becoming my clients. They started sending me certain issues to analyze, or problems to solve. I had never met any of my clients in real life. I always contacted them by email, and I even kept changing the email address once a month. Each assignment was charged depending on the difficulty of the task, but it never took me more than a few hours to get my job done. That was how I started earning money, big money. Too bad I had no real possibility of spending it.

I could never live too lavishly, trying not to draw attention, but I stopped living in slums or working at coffee shops. I could afford to buy myself designer clothes, but I kept buying only what was necessary to live comfortably. There was one expensive piece of clothing hanging in my closet and that was the black coat that my silver-haired knight left me.

I had never met him in those three years, but I kept thinking about him. Perhaps it was because I thought of him as my savior, and there was no one who had ever stood up for me before like that. It felt surreal. Not to mention that he was amazingly hot…

In my entire life, there was only one person that had ever cared for me. It was someone who called himself my Mother's friend, Ezra. Ezra became my teacher, my shoulder to cry on, and my father figure. He sacrificed himself for me, so I could run away from my hell. I had no contact with him since then, but I still hoped that he was alive. After all, he became the only light in the world of a miserably abandoned child. No one except for Ezra had ever reached out his hand towards me, not to mention an absolute stranger.

That year I turned 27. It was early autumn. I finished my latest assignment and sent all the information to my client. I needed to get my mind off of numbers and statistics, and I decided to go for a run. I usually ran a few miles to clear my head before going to sleep, but that night I didn't know why I ran much further…

I had a strange feeling that I needed to get somewhere. I kept running in an unknown direction until I found myself out of town on an empty road. It was dark, but I didn't stop running even when the moon became the only light I had. Suddenly, I saw some flashing lights on the side of the road. When I got closer, I noticed it was a car blinker. I flinched and ran closer. There was a black car that crashed into a tree. A slight fume was coming from under the hood.

"Hello! Does anyone need help?!" I called cautiously, getting closer to a car.

No one replied. I looked at the front seats through the crashed front window. There was a man sitting there behind the wheel. It looked like he was unconscious. His face was covered in blood.

"Please don't be dead, don't be dead, don't be dead…" I muttered going to his side of the car.

I grabbed the door handle. It was jammed. I was struggling for a while, but I managed to open it. As soon as I looked inside the car, I froze.

"Silver-haired knight...!" I mumbled in panic.

There was blood coming from his nose, lips, and even eyes, but other than that, I couldn't notice any serious injury. My hands were trembling as I reached out my hand to check his pulse. My fingers were almost touching the skin of his neck when suddenly he grabbed my hand.

I screamed. He slowly opened his blooded eyes and looked at me. His stare was overwhelming and filled with a strange hunger. I gazed at him, terrified. I felt as if my heart was about to burst out of my chest.

"Phone…" he said softly while still holding my hand tight.

"Y-your p-phone?" I stuttered.

He slightly nodded his head and tossed my hand away.

"I-I have mine! I can call for an ambulance- "

"No," he said, cutting me off. "My phone… fast!"

"Y-you still have your seatbelt on. M-maybe I should get you o-out of here first- "

"Phone!" he hissed.

His tone was cold and demanding even though he looked like he was on the verge of death. I decided not to argue with him. I leaned over him trying to find it. It couldn't have been an easy task. I guessed that I was looking for the black object, but the problem was I was looking for it in the middle of a black car. Luckily, I found his phone lying on the floor of the passenger's seat, I just needed to reach it. I glanced at him. He closed his eyes again. I touched his face, it was cold as ice.

“Hey! Don't fall asleep! I found where your phone is!” I shouted, trying to keep him conscious.

“Give… it to me,” he muttered with his eyes closed.

I briefly looked to examine his body again. I could see nothing serious in his condition, yet he was fading away, but it could have been an internal injury as well. The time was running out. As much as I found searching for his phone unreasonable at that moment, I decided to join his madness and reach for this damn phone.

It felt awkward, but I had no other choice than to bend over his knees and stretch my hand out. My upper body was literally lying on him while I tried to touch the floor around the passenger's seat. Suddenly, I felt his body move. He tensed his muscles as if he became agitated. I flinched, hurriedly grabbed the phone, and got up from his knees.

“I-I have your phone,” I stated nervously.

He stretched his hand out to get it from me, but then he started coughing blood. I cringed, but I needed to help him somehow. It was only rational to try taking him out of that car. Without asking for his permission I leaned over him and unfastened his seatbelt.

“Get away!” he roared all of a sudden.

I jumped back away from him and clenched my teeth. “I'm trying to help you!” I yelled.

“Call… Leo. Tell him… where…” he muttered, then closed his eyes.

“Hey! Sir?!” I shouted desperately, but he stopped responding.

I cautiously leaned over him. I couldn't see his chest moving. I froze. I slightly reached my hand to touch his cheek. He didn't move. I gasped.

“I knew I should have called that damn ambulance!” I fumed, looking at his unconscious body.

I was clenching his phone in my hand. Then I started thinking that perhaps it wasn't too late. Maybe that Leo was his personal doctor. Maybe he could save him. I used his cold finger to turn on and enter his phone. Then I found a contact named “Leo” and made the call…