"For the fifth time, Sir, I'm telling the truth. I'm innocent. I..I've been framed!"Roman found himself inside the police station. He couldn't remember how he got here, but he was informed he tramped into the station with a deceased lady in his arms. And his exact utterances were 'Save me'. Although he might be mad as a march hare or hysterical, or behave in a rather witty way, he knew not to bring a dead woman in his arms into a station. Besides, how was a dead woman placed in his arms? He didn't have the mind to kill one!He was framed."That wasn't what we saw, Mr. Kyp-""Roman Nightshade.""-Nightshade." The older officer rectified his sentence. He skimmed through the file on his desk and tilted his head back to Roman. "You ambled in here naked, at an ungodly hour with a bloody dead woman, your neighbor, who was parched of life and blood in your arms." He shut the file with his eyes tacked on the confused Roman and locked his fingers jointly. "What would you make out of that?"R
There he was again.Staring at him with an undefeated smirk, his irises were blue, distant from the red they were yesterday. No one was clasped around his fingers, he wasn't the bloody mess he was previously. Now he was swathed customarily."This way," The man spoke out, gesturing with his head towards the cleared bush alley.Roman didn't move an inch as he continued to scrutinize his surroundings. He was again shrouded by bushes and trees like last night, but he wasn't on a mattress. He was standing, shoeless."C'mon, we haven't got all night." His voice wasn't courteous, or rude. But there was something in his tone Roman couldn't put his hands on.Roman cautiously strolled behind him. If he wanted him dead he would have been lifeless, it's no help defying out of nervousness.He followed behind the man as he walked further towards -God Knows Where- he halted as the man lingered. They were standing under an enormous tree. It almost seemed like they were hiding.Why would they hide?"L
The light that took him home was the moonlight. He was grateful it hadn't reached the date of his dearth from the sky. He got to his apartment, and as the officer said, his apartment was untouched.He almost believed everything the officer said, that he killed the woman and the additional aspects of the story. Maybe the officer was right, maybe the bookstore was getting more and more into his head. But the new book he brought in yesterday was still on the table. He wasn't seeing things. He knew he came home last night, he knew he didn't have a reason to kill a woman. And he certainly wasn't that dumb to take her to the station.He positioned his torch on the table after switching it on. His apartment lost electrical power after an unusual storm, and it hadn't been restored. His room was unusually tidy and… different. He sat on his bed and skated his palm over his face. Everything transpiring appeared like a dream. Like he hadn't woken up from the dream he had last night.Falling onto
The woman shot him a muddled look. "Weren't you naked when you woke?""Yeah, but that's… you saw me naked." Realization drew to him."I had to keep you alive.""If I was transferred, I wouldn't need saving.""This is Moonmare, foreigner, if you die with a lost limb, you'll be reborn or transferred here with a limb missing, with the same pain you felt when the limb came off. Your pain was drawing attention, leading the bloodsuckers towards here." She explained. "That's the same thing that drew that one here, you were in pain and you didn't disguise it. They sense misery.""But shouldn't I be small, like a year old or months old?""No." She didn't explain further, and Roman kept shut. "Got a name?"Roman nodded. "Roman. Roman Nightshade.""Roman… boring name." She stood and pulled towards a corner, and as she backed off, a couple of clothes were in her hand and she handed them to him. "I'm Xulture… Although with the S."Roman backed away with a jaw-dropper as he goggled at her with shoc
"You're a hunter?""Not really, unlike you I wasn't transferred here. I didn't read the book ignoring the warnings. I read the book knowing of its consequences. I was a curious lass, wanting to know more. I wanted to know if it was real, learn things beyond the natural world." She paused. "Being killed locks you here partially forever, so I had to do what I do best to survive. To kill not to be killed. To hunt. To reduce the number of bloodsuckers, and unknowingly it had a reward." She smiled. "I couldn't be a moonlight slave because I know what I was getting myself into."Despite everything said, only one hit his head hard. "I was transferred?!"The woman shot him a muddled look. "Weren't you naked when you woke?""Yeah, but that's… you saw me naked." Realization drew to him."I had to keep you alive.""If I was transferred, I wouldn't need saving.""This is Moonmare, foreigner, if you die with a lost limb, you'll be reborn or transferred here with a limb missing, with the same pain
His body ached.His head hurts.His eyes were too pudgy to unfurl.His body seemed paralyzed.Everywhere was silent.Roman scowls as he tries to shift his aching body. He had taken notice of his surroundings despite his sights shut. He's inside a dark compartment. He's on the lid of a hard mattress, but he's certain as hell he wasn't in that area of trees and bushes. It didn't smell like that.He forced his eyes open, they hurt. He couldn't see evidently as it seemed his eyes had been closed for a long time. He adapted his eyes to the room and discovered it wasn't totally dark.He was naked.He pushed his body off his bed with much pressure and swallowed the grunt crawling up his throat. He looked around for any clothes to put on. But the only fabric inside the room was the light bedsheet. So he took it off the bed and wrapped it around his bare skin.There were bruises in his body, but they appeared to be healing as it didn't hurt that much.He needed to find the door.As he made his
A squishing sound was heeded as moonlight enveloped the sky. The percolated sound of the night waft tolled like ghouls as they passed by with malice.Roman wandered around the building as he shut the windows with a little torch clasped around his fingers. This was his everyday routine before departing the bookstore. As boring as it chimed, he treasured it.Before he vacated the entrance, his mind went back to the fresh books brought in today. He wanted to fetch some home and read for the night. Books were fortes that kept him company in his hush little residence.He hadn't stowed them on the rack yet, since the books were confiscated into a chamber ticketed 'Do not enter'. He wondered why some books were retained and harbored there. Books were hinted to be showcased, not concealed like ilks of treacherous makings.He tugged out a bunch of keys from his pocket and fiddled for the fitting key. As he clogged the key into the lock, the door made a peculiar sound before unfurling. The roo
His body ached.His head hurts.His eyes were too pudgy to unfurl.His body seemed paralyzed.Everywhere was silent.Roman scowls as he tries to shift his aching body. He had taken notice of his surroundings despite his sights shut. He's inside a dark compartment. He's on the lid of a hard mattress, but he's certain as hell he wasn't in that area of trees and bushes. It didn't smell like that.He forced his eyes open, they hurt. He couldn't see evidently as it seemed his eyes had been closed for a long time. He adapted his eyes to the room and discovered it wasn't totally dark.He was naked.He pushed his body off his bed with much pressure and swallowed the grunt crawling up his throat. He looked around for any clothes to put on. But the only fabric inside the room was the light bedsheet. So he took it off the bed and wrapped it around his bare skin.There were bruises in his body, but they appeared to be healing as it didn't hurt that much.He needed to find the door.As he made his