venenum [ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ]

[chapter eight]

A small content smile rests on your face as you move around your workspace. The sound of potions brewing and bubbling were music to your ears. It was sounds you've grown accustomed to for the longest time and you always felt at ease hearing them.

You glance at the bag, belonging to the man you picked up earlier, placed on a table near you. You didn't feel any guilt as you rummaged through it earlier. You felt you had the right to at least find out the identity of the person you brought home. You found nothing important except a few random materials, weapons, and three letters.

Skimming through the letters, you read 2 of them addressed to the man as "Clay".

The third one however was the one that caught your attention. Instead of Clay like you expected, this one addressed to him as "Dream". What further intrigued you was the writer of the letter.

Examining the name and signature written at the end, you recognized it to be your friend's, the same one who you met up with only hours ago. The message was brief, only a short message requesting a meet up to talk. Judging by the tone of the message you had your suspicions on how the man ended up wounded that way.

You were confused about why the letters addressed to the man with two different names. You concluded either he went by two different names or he stole the other letters. The latter was unlikely though if your suspicion was correct. You made a mental note to ask your friend about him the next time you sent them a letter.

You hold up a bottle with pink colored liquid in your hand. You swish it lazily, watching closely to see if there were any impurifications. You were currently making a healing potion for the man. Although it wouldn't fully heal him, it would at least null the pain and remove a few cuts and bruises around.

The more serious wounds would be harder to heal and would take a lot more time. Your thoughts wander to the man's condition at the moment. He passed out during your travel to your base, and you felt glad for that actually. It made the journey easier for you, less awkward too, plus you didn't want him learning the way into your home.

You lived in a cottage deep within a dark forest. The forest was extremely dense and the trees were big that it roofed over the entire forest floor. Your house was settled on a small clearing, with a few dark wood tree branches covering the view of your home from above, letting only minimal light through. The rest of the forest, however, was completely shrouded in darkness, making it extremely hard to navigate.

You left the man in the guest room in your cottage to rest after cleaning his wounds and patching him up. You made sure to lock the door, just in case he woke up and decided to attack you. You would occasionally stop and listen closely for any movements above you, as the room was just directly above your workroom.

You felt extremely anxious having a stranger in your home. You silently hoped he wouldn't turn violent and hurt you. You'd feel so upset with yourself if you ended up helping a psycho.

With a huff, you finally decide to pause your work and check on the dude to at least put your worries to rest. You place your potion onto the rack before moving towards the sink to wash your hands. You pull on a towel tucked into your belt and wipe your hands with it as you start heading up towards the guest room.

You pull up your hood as you near the room, making sure to have it placed properly on your head. You tuck the towel back in your belt before pulling out a key from your pocket. You unlock the guest room and pull open the door quietly. The room's light was off and the curtains drawn, the only source of light came from the hallway causing you to cast a shadow into the room.

You felt taken aback as you realize the person was sat up on the bed. They breathed deeply and their gaze focused on the floor, more specifically, your shadow. Your brows furrow as you look around the room. Drawers from cabinets were pulled open, many items were hastily thrown around as if they were in a hurry searching for something.