How To Burn A Witch |DISCONTINUED|

Chapter 13

It had been three days since Feng had said anything or gone out of his house and Mizuki was getting worried. The witch decided it was time she visited the boy and asked Artemis, who had become a close friend of his, where he lived.

The hunter endeka happily gave Mizuki the boy's address and warned her not to try and force the door as he had warded the house against intruders and doing so would trigger said wards.

From the outside, Feng's house looked intimate and cozy. It had been built with oak and had red brick decorations. Garden gnomes were scattered near the walkway paved with flat rocks of different shapes and sizes and tall, half-rounded windows allowed enough light to enter the home and had been added to the house in a very asymmetric way.

Mizuki decided the architect who had created the blueprints for the house had been very drunk when deciding where to put the windows and shook her head in amusement. Though she would consider it tacky, the house was perfect for someone like Feng.

She knocked on the door once, twice, three times until it finally popped open. The smell of mold and rotting food hit her in waves as she tiptoed past the leaking cans of unknown condiments and tried not to gag.

"Feng?" she called, noticing a lump under a blanket on what she assumed to be a wooden floor.

She nudged the lump with her foot, "Feng is that you?" she lifted the cover only to reveal heaps of dirty laundry and trash the once soft blanket had been carelessly thrown on.

She noticed a staircase and headed up, the stairs creaking under her weight as she reached a corridor with two doors at the end of them. A chill ran up her spine. This place feels so creepy...

Mizuki took her first few steps into the corridor, walking as silently as she could until she reached the first door. She cracked it open and peered inside, noticing a bed with Feng laying on it, wanted posters of him all over the walls and dirty clothes were carelessly scattered on the floor.

"Hey, buddy." greeted the girl softly as she closed the door, ignoring the rancid smell of molding food as she made her way to the lump. She grabbed one of the wanted posters that were sitting on the foot of the bed and examined it.

Sure enough, they had captured Feng's silver hair, onyx eyes and confident smirk perfectly. "They got your nose wrong." she tried hesitantly, putting a hand on the blanket Feng was wrapped in.

All she heard from the boy was a slight grunt which she decided was better than nothing and lifted the blankets. "I'm not going to lie to you," she started, scooting closer to him, "I've never had to deal with the kind of pain you're feeling."

She put a hand on his shoulder and helped him sit. "But if you ever need to talk, if you just want to vent or release some anger, know that I'm here for you."

She didn't expect him to reply right away, then again, she also didn't expect him to throw his arms around her and hold her tight.

"I was right there." he said shakily, his tears wetting Mizuki's shoulder as she rubbed his back in circles, "I was right there seconds ago and I didn't hear a thing." The girl only hugged him tighter.

"It wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could do."

Feng shook his head violently and took in a breath, "I should have known that coming so close to the school would be dangerous for the two of us. I should've known those bastards would try something."

Mizuki kissed the top of his head, "Feng, you can't blame yourself for something like this. Adi knew getting that close to the Academy would cost the two of you dearly."