Anathema (The Academy of the Cursed)

Chapter Forty-Nine: Lost in Time

-chapter forty-nine-

"What did I say, Serena? All you ever bring is death."

No.

All I could hear was this high-pitched white noise in my ear. Akiru's body is heavy in my arms.

No. No.

There's blood. I figured it's blood because the it was a red liquid. It's coating my fingers, and... and it's bringing back memories.

Death- no, people dying in front of me. They all have the same effect. They remind of the first time I have seen death, personally. At the hand of a person I trusted, with my parents life in line.

And now, it's taking someone important again.

Puno ng galit ang mata ko nang titigan ko si Leviathon. A monster- no, a devil.

It was like the chains rattled and broke. Hindi ko na alam kung anong mangyari. Basta't galit at sakit lamang ang nararamdaman ko. It burns my insides.

Just like that, with my chaotic emotions, time erupted and lost its sense. I know my left eye already transformed in a golden clock, and with the way the lamp lights lights up and off, everything was also disoriented.

Naramdaman ko ang ginawang pagtigil ni Keian at Kahel, but they couldn't touch me. Nagkakagulo na rin ang mga guwardiya na hindi alam kung anong nangyayari. Multiple clocks appeared in the air, some even showing a person's own time. Ang mga baraha sa mesa ay nags-stack, nagugulo at bumabalik sa pile.

Still, they couldn't touch me, as I helplessly kneeled in the middle of the room with a lifeless body in my arms. Then, their approaching hands stopped cold beforw their whole body was frozen. Everyone stilled.

The lamp has gone out. Some cards landed on the ground while others stayed in the air. The people around me were standing like statues, trapped in my time.

There was silence.

There was stillness.

There was me, weeping.

"Akiru-" napahikbi ako't hinawakan ang pisngi niya. "Akiru, no wake up. You're a shapeshifter! You shouldn't die at one bullet!"

Mahina kong tinapik ang pisngi niya but his eyes weren't opening and his chest has stopped moving. Tears started to form and drop. My lips trembled when Akiru still did not move.

"Akiru!"

There was no response. The shifter was truly gone.

All because of that monster.

When I stood up, my left knee buckled. Nanghihina na ako dahil sa paggamit ko ng ability. I bit my lower lip as I tried to take the chip off but all I got was excruciating pain. Napapikit ako sa sobrang sakit.

Parang nakuryente ang hita ko nang gumalaw ito. I muttered a loud curse. Before I could stand normally, time resumed and I coughed up blood. Mukhang ubos na ang oras mayro'n ako. The mere two minutes did not do anything.

Time resumed but it did not make chaos anymore. Isang pamilyar na ability ang naramdaman ko. It was soothing and full of protection. It trapped the time I destroyed into a space unknown.