Pendulum || TAENNIE FF

⚔Chapter 54: Moments left

A U T H O R

"Heather?" Heather raised her head and looked at him in shock. "Why are you coming out from there?" He continued but Heather pressed her lips in annoyance and slapped his arm.

"Where have you been? And who said leaving the dorm during this hour is allowed?" She looked at the flowers in his hand. "Poppies and white roses? Are you, by any chance, on your way to confess?"

"Why would I confess?" Firo looked at the flowers in his hand. "They're for the Silver Furwins. A lot of them are scattered in the Unlighted Forest so I thought I should buy these to keep them from stealing girls."

"Those crocodiles who turn into handsome men? Oh right... They don't like poppies and white roses. I followed you thinking you're up to no good. Why leave at midnight, though? You can buy them during the day."

"The man who sells these only come here at night. What he's doing is actually illegal because magfiers believe Silver Furwins don't exist anymore and these flowers are unnecessary. But I have no choice. It's either have a clean record or lose my friends." Heather flashed a warm smile at his brave choice. "And who said you could follow me?" Her smile quickly turned to a straight line and looked away. "What were you doing there again? I told you, you can't trust them."

Heather suddenly remembered her conversation with Firo on the train last time. He said his friend was killed by his kinds which are vampires. They were kids when it happened. Could it be...?  "Let's talk somewhere else." She pulled him to the wider road and stood in front of a street light. "Can you tell me about your vampire friend again? What happened exactly?"

"Why are you interested all of a sudden?" Heather kept her eager face and didn't say another word. Firo sighed and gestured her to sit on the bench. She quickly followed and he sat beside her. "I didn't tell you who did it to him, did I?"

"You said it was his kind. The vampires, right?" She answered.

"The king and queen ordered it." Heather's eyes grew wide. "I don't know what he's done but I'm sure my friend had the purest soul. I wanted to help him--and I did, but I had no idea they would read my mind to trace us. The only thing I could do was watch him get dragged by the magfiers, asking for help. I locked my thoughts since then so no one else would get in trouble because of me."

It's really them, isn't it? "By any chance, do you like eating rainbow brownies?"

"They're your favorite food, not mine." He stood up and fixed the flowers in his hand. "We should go back. I don't want to get scolded before the trip." Firo said and started walking. Heather followed and walked beside him. "You're not blaming me if you get in trouble. You came here voluntarily."

"Not happening. I'm blaming you whatever happens." Firo chuckled and playfully bumped her shoulder.

"The results are out!" Maya screamed, waking Heather up. She ran towards her sleepy friend and pulled the blanket down. "Heather, you have to see this!" She excitedly said.

Heather was convinced and left the bed to fix herself. They ran to the school to see the new ranking. "Excuse us for a bit," Heather said as they try to make their way to the bulletin. She traced her finger on the paper that's posted and landed on her name immediately. "No way..." She whispered to herself and checked the number beside her name. "First?"