Chapter 17.1: Blake

"I have something to do for you"

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The clock's hand nearing 7:00 in the morning. A boy, walking down the hallway is holding onto a box.

His face that's deep in contemplation.

Earlier, when he woke up, Blake couldn't shake off the creepy feeling he had from the man.

The way he fondled his body left a chilling spine for him.

However, those thoughts were soon disrupted when he finally arrived at the front door.

His hand slowly approached the door and soon,

Knock! Knock Knock!

His knock echoed which made his ears tingle.

"Coming."

Only then did an answer follow.

Creak!

The door slowly opened and there a man emerged at the sight of Blake.

"Thanks for taking that for me" The man let out a friendly voice.

"Wanna eat that cookie with me?" He continued, as he looked at the box Blake's holding unto.

But upon hearing the man, Blake stepped back a little.

In return, the man continued his advance.

He then widened the door's entrance as he smiled which meant to entice.

"Don't be shy, come, get inside." Despite the man's efforts, Blake felt his stomach knot in danger.

His whole body screamed not to go inside or else, he would deeply regret it for the rest of his life.

Blake could feel the hidden desire in the eyes of the man. What were his intentions? He didn't know, but one thing is for sure.

‹ Don't go inside! ›

After that, Blake quickly handed him the box of cookies and spoke.

"H-here, I-I have to go now, or else I'll be late for school"

Before he went away as calmly as he could.

But his footsteps halted when he heard the man speak

"Wait!"

His tone sounded like he was frustrated. Blake then felt his body freeze at this moment, he could hear his heart beating faster than ever before.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

His hands which were already trembling made it worse.

However, the man's following words were calm.

"You can always go here when you are done with your class~ I'm sure you'll like it here."

Only then did the creak of the door resonated

Clack!

From the sound of it, Blake realized that the man's door has closed.

Knowing this, he felt his whole body relieved from the stress.

Screams that were telling him to run finally came to an end.

Soon, blake continued his way as he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

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Looking at the scene of myself, I couldn't help but shudder. This reminded me of Kevin from the way he looked at Valentina. After I saw how the caretaker looked at my young self. I then bit my lips when flashes of my past resurfaced.

But the clip in front of me did not have any sign of stopping, Just like that, the clip quickened again.

Creating simultaneous sounds of

Tak! Tak! Tak!

While those sounds echoed, events of Blake going to school quickly followed.

Looking at the scene, the kids around Blake were treated the same unlike him who was treated differently by the man. In public, he was showing too much affection and attention toward Blake as he ignores the kids.

He was a warm guy when he was around the kids and other people but whenever the man got the chance to be alone with Blake... He would show his true face and touch Blake inappropriately.

There was a time Blake could see how one of the kids gets punished by not eating in a day for doing something that has pissed the man off; manipulating them by making the kids beg for his attention.

Seeing these, Blake now knew why they looked horrible.

While I couldn't help but feel my blood boil. To be honest, I wanted to go inside and punch the man but... I couldn't, even if I screamed a thousand times, the scene will only continue.

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This time, however, I could tell that the kids surrounding Blake had grown to dislike him as a result of the way he had been treated differently. They despised him because they envied how he was given special treatment and affection.

"Get away from us!"

"Parasite!"

"Did you suck his dick or something?"

Those were the words that the kids uttered to him. But even so, Blake kept the smile he always had and understood why they treated him that way.

But in the process, blamed his existence.

There was also a time when he thought of fighting back, but the man looked like he had had enough of Blake's shit and threatened him that he will hurt his mother. Because of this, he couldn't! Which made him even more helpless. However, while these were happening, all Blake could do was let the man touch him inappropriately, out of fear that he would hurt his mother. Though, if the man crossed the line, Blake would immediately stop him or kick him without a second thought.

The only thing that kept him away from him was school and how he always hid. Surprisingly enough, the man didn't do anything to him whenever he is around the kids.

He attempted to explain to other children how he was treated in order to stop the man's harassment and bullying, but no one listened to him and simply laughed at him.

At this moment, Blake wanted to die.

Blake sometimes asked himself that if life was so hard then he wished that he was never born... Then if he was never born then maybe... Maybe his mother wouldn't suffer; He was the sole reason why she worked after all.

Such thoughts clouded him and vented his feelings through drawing.

Tears sometimes swelled up from his eyes because of the enormous feelings he felt, but through venting them through art. Those tears of his stopped.

Until, one day, he was elected to join an art contest at his school.

His hobby which helped him go through those days paid off and he won.

Hundreds of claps celebrated his victory in return while a cheerful smile bloomed on his face.

A sense of pride then crept on my lips when I saw how he won, however... I realized his smile of his will soon disappear when a certain time appeared.

Only then did I realize that the clip slowed once again and halted creating a huge sound of

Cluck!

A scene of Blake walking toward the orphanage emerges this time, with a wide grin on his face,

"Hmmm, ~let's see... 100?"

The boy muttered as he looked at the money he received from winning the contest he joined in school.

Although his face was beaming with joy, he had to hide his jovial expression.

Because he is back from the place he feared the most, the orphanage!

Blake usually had a worried look going inside the orphanage however it was different this time. He couldn't shake off the wide grin on his face.

‹I'll earn money so that I can heal mother!›

He pondered as he dreamt of one day seeing his mother regain his sight.

"I'll earn so much money, that we don't have to go to these places anymore!"

He continued while he went inside.

"..."

Soon my eyes turned bloodshot while watching because of what will happen next. My body slightly trembled as I tried to keep my cool.

"Fuck... Why am I seeing this again...?"

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When Blake was finally inside.

"Where have you been?"

A chilling voice of a man suddenly sounded.

But Blake stayed silent in response as he was struck by fear. The man then let out a chuckle and licked his lips,

"I heard in your school you participated in an art contest.

Looking at your silly smile...

~I assume you did great~" the man said with a huge grin on his face.

"~Do you want a reward?"

He continued. On the other hand, Blake's fear only grew; he doesn't know why he was suddenly doing this.

Yet to his dismay, the man suddenly approached him.

Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!

His footsteps resonated in Blake's ears as they got louder then shortly after he was near enough, the man placed two of his palms on Blake's shoulder and at the same time bent his knees to match his height.

He then stared right through his eyes with his deep brown pupils.

"You look so cute"

He muttered as his touches began to become inappropriate, his hands crawled on Blake's waist and slowly stopped at his thighs, before he continued speaking in a low voice so no one could hear.

"~You know, I like cute boys like you who are quiet all the time~"

Blake knows that if he is complimented he should feel happy but all Blake could feel from the man's flowery words was terror.

Again, he could feel his heart race like never before, his mind clouded by fear.

However, his thoughts were disrupted when the man spoke once again.

"I prepared a cake for you, it's on the table."

The man softly smiled.

"Congratulations!"

He added and clapped his hands. In the midst of this though, the eyes of the kids who live in the orphanage pierced through Blake.

Judging from Blake's reaction, the kids around speculated that he was an ungrateful bastard.

Jealousy and envy then were all he received. Sharp glares that could kill, he even sometimes saw some of them snort at him. Others gritted their teeth. They all thought that Blake should be happy that he is being treated differently but... No one was better enough to say that he was scared other than Blake himself.

At this moment... He realized that no one will help him but himself.

He wanted to get out of this situation, so he started racking his brain out.

Time though, ticked, and soon,

"Come," The caretaker said.

Shortly, the scene quickened again and this time, Blake is already eating the cake on the table, while the kids were around the corner watching him.

Whilst the man's place is in front of Blake from the other side of the table, smiling.

Cloak! Cloak! Cloak!

The caretaker filled a drink from one of the cups as Blake turned his head toward the girl who seem hungry, her eyes envious and at the same time drooling, behind the door taking a peek.

"H–Hey..."

Blake quietly spoke, the girl then flinched from him and furrowed her brows at him.

However, her frown of hers soon disappeared when,

"Do you want some?" Blake asked and sweetly smiled.

Confused, the girl didn't move, however, Blake insisted; Because he wanted to get away from the man and bravely chose to approach the girl.

Blake then got up and walked toward the girl with the sliced cake and said, "Here, I can't eat all of this cake by myself"

With his whisper, the girl then clutched the plate she was given,

But then,

—Krrg!—

The sound of a chair being moved echoed, Suddenly, the caretaker stood up. Slowly, approaching Blake,

"What are you doing?"

The man asked,

"I— I w-want to share m-my food with them, we're celebrating how I won, after all, r-right?" Blake stutteringly replied.

He was doing all of these to secretly ask for help and get away. But Blake's face slowly turned into that of terror when he saw the man grin at him, a face that told him that he can never get away!

"Nice try, I guess I'll have to do it this way then..." the man chuckled.

"All right! Everyone, come here, come eat with our sweet bun here." He added as he clasped his hands at the same time, and soon,

"Here Blake, why don't you drink this juice to calm yourself down?" he added.

Scared, Blake quickly took the juice and forced himself to smile. He doesn't know how much he screamed inside his head to be saved by his mother at this moment. However, no such thing as a hero will save him, and he knew that.

"~Enjoy!~" The man said in a quiet yet deadly tone.

Blake could only gulp his saliva in response as he quickly drank the juice he was given.

While the kids around gathered toward his cake and started eating joyfully.

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Time passed quickly, in that short amount of time. Blake was able to make friends, because of the decision he made when he shared the cake, the kids even started to say that Blake was kind, he was just judged unfairly. From this moment onward, he was relieved when he realized that he has finally got away from the man. He now thought that the man cannot get near him because he surrounded himself with the kids.

Well, that's what he thought! And didn't even bother to get away or ask for help anymore; it's not like they would believe him anyway.

Suddenly, he felt his head lighter. He could feel his head in a daze, his vision getting blurry and his mind cannot focus.

Such a thing was occurring when "Are you okay?" A warm tone voice of a girl asked. It was no other but the girl Blake tried giving his cake to earlier.

Blake then tried to squeeze his remaining strength as best as he could "I...I–I feel... Dizzy... Please H–" but someone immediately interrupted his words

"Alright, kids! Time to get out of here now and sleep."

The man said in a friendly tone as he looked at everyone with a grin on his face.

"Can't you see? Blake is tired because of the contest, he needs to sleep now.

No wonder he is looking like that" He added and soon carried Blake who was extremely weakened.

Whilst the kids started going to their separate rooms. Thinking that they should let Blake rest now.

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Looking at the scene fold in front of my eyes, I started to crumble inside as I bit my lips in anger.

Blood may not be dripping out, but the pain was the same in real life.

Inside I was screaming furiously and at the same time, felt my blood boil toward the man. I wanted to... Fucking kill him!

Not just that... I wanted to fucking make him eat his own dick!

I wanted to fucking puke because of how sick I am inside watching the clip in front of me.

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—Poof!—

The sound of a body crashing on soft cotton sounded.

A boy then emerged, lying on the bed, half-conscious.

He tried to move to escape but couldn't bring himself to.

Soon after, he could feel a hand caressing his body, followed by the ragged breath of the man.

"You thought you could get away huh?"

After that, the man then crashed his face onto Blake's chest while sniffing him furiously, as he moved his head down slowly.

"Fuck yeah! I'll never get enough of you. Keke! It was worth it buying that pill and putting it on your drink. If I didn't do that, it would be troublesome... You would probably scream or even kick me."

He then chuckled and fondled every part of Blake's body.

"S...-stop!"

Blake tried his best to punch or even kick the man, but he was too weak to do so.

"M...Ma..."

The boy then let out a cry and at the same time, a hot stream of tears started flowing out of his eyes.

"N...n-noooo....St...op!

Augh!

M...-ma..."

When all of a sudden,

Knock! Knock! Knock!

A sound echoed disrupting the man's following actions.

"Augh! Who the fuck?"

He then furiously whispered and went toward the door.

Creak!

The door then opened, only to see a familiar girl.

"Uhm... Hi... I wanted to say thank you to Blake because of the cake earlier but... He isn't in his room, is he perhaps there?"

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………

Mary's Side

Inside the tavern, a maid was standing, watching a boy cry,

"S...-stop!"

The boy groaned,

"N...n-noooo....St...op!"

He continued in a weak tone as he trembled, it was visible to the eyes that he was having a nightmare.

Meanwhile, Mary watched Alfonso with her eyes misty,

"Why is this happening???"

Mary uttered in confusion, she could not help but let out a cry at this moment again because while she was trying to heal Alfonso.

Alfonso's body suddenly absorbed her ability, she was only planning to use her ability to strengthen his bones but...

How he just unbelievably absorbed her powers made Mary shudder, she even started thinking if there was any flaw to how she tried healing him but she could not think of one.

All of the processes she did was perfect, however, why was Alfonso's body absorbing her ability?

At this point, Alfonso might heal quickly in no time and at the same time strengthen his bones much better than what Mary planned to do, however, at the cost of this.

Alfonso would have to relive his horrible past.

Mary's ability, black mist, might be invincible, this ability could either be used to kill someone or it could heal and strengthen one's body, but the one using it would have to pay something in return.

And that's by reliving one's trauma!

Because of how many times Mary used her ability, using such a light task is not possible for her to relive her past this moment. She has much better control of her power now.

What about Alfonso, though? He absorbed a portion of her ability, which caused the mist to move with his mana.

He would have to go through the dreadful tragedy from three years ago once more. Although it won't be as bad as Mary's, going through your trauma all over again is a horrible experience.

Thinking about it made Mary's eyebrows sink as he looked at him in guilt.

"..."

"Was this how Alfonso felt when he experienced that incident...?"

She inquired because the Alfonso she was looking at right now looked so scared and vulnerable.

‹Just how scared was he at that time...?›

Seeing how the boy was in such a pitiful state, Mary could not help but feel guilty again.

Suddenly, a memory of the past flashed through her eyes.

|Why were you not there? Why didn't you come back sooner?

I hate you!|

The Voice of Alfonso as a child resonated, upon remembering an incident, she couldn't respond but only turn her head down in shame.

"I... hate myself..."

Mary let out a self-loathing voice.

As she pondered what should she have done before.

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‹Should I have just used my ability earlier?›

Mary quietly thought,

She could have just knocked the knights when she saw they have arrived at the wrong time when Alfonso was at her hands.

But... She wasn't sure if she could control her ability at that moment because of the emotions that went through her.

Now that she thought of it if she did indeed do that... Then, the outcome could have been worse than what she is witnessing right now.

Mary couldn't know whether to feel glad or not at this moment.

Sure, she could have also ordered the knights to heal Alfonso first as she put a barrier around, or knock them out quietly but the problem is, she needed materials to make a barrier like what she cast at present.

Another factor she didn't knock the knights out because of the fight earlier with the beast, most of her mana was used and she wasn't sure if she can even knock them all out and use her ability to heal Alfonso after, with her exhausted self.

Let's say, she succeeded but that could have taken her a while, to add it up, if she used her ability at that moment too. The mist around her body will stay for she doesn't know how long. Since there is a lack of materials to even cast a barrier, the knights could wake up and kill her. For your information, From Alfonso's injury, Mary could predict that it would take days to completely heal him.

She could just kill them but... She doesn't want unnecessary bloodshed.

Why are they even so scared of her ability? That they think it's the end of the world? As mentioned before, there was a witch who existed with the same ability as Mary and caused terror in everyone, however, that witch suddenly went missing. No one knew of her face or where she went so if they ever saw someone with the same ability. They would immediately kill them!

"..."

Despite such deep thoughts, Mary could only shake her head as she decided that the decision she made was the best option.

However, a bitter smile spread across her face as she thought of herself as useless.

"Trash... Witch... Cursed... Is it because of my ability that these things are happening to the people I care about? Is it because of my existence?" Mary quietly whispered.

Drip!

Sound of her tears falling reverberated as she felt a burning resentment toward herself.

Soon, she let out a muffled voice of cry that was uncontrollably growing inside her mouth.

"Hnngh...

Hic!"

Sounds leaked out as she tried to cover her mouth and forcefully suppress her cry.

While her black mist ability continued to do its job. She could now relax since she has done the most important part in casting her ability. Whether she loses control of her emotions now has no effect anymore.

But even she tried to suppress her cries,

"Aaughh!!!"

She exploded in sorrow. Hot tears then streamed down her face, as she squeezed her eyelids shut in the hope her tears would stop.

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………