The aggressive knocks on the door awakened Levana. It was raining before, and she had fallen asleep on her sofa with the television still on. She sat up, grabbed the remote control and her eyes landed on the clock on the wall with the hour hand passing the 3. She thought, "Who in hell is it now?" she thought as she walked to the door and looked through the peephole on it.
Levana opens the door without hesitation and looks at the three men standing in front of her at three o'clock in the morning.
"I'm adopted," Levana said as she was about to slam the door. "Wait, wait," the guy in the caramel brown leather jacket says as his black duffel bag blocks the door.
"You're impatient," another man commented, earning a glare from the man with grey eyes.
"Could you help us?" he asks, pointing his head at the man the two of them are carrying in between on the shoulder. He was wearing a hoodie and looked unconscious with his head down. She stares at him, recalling something in her mind as she feels familiarity with the man, even though she can't see his whole face.
"Picture will last long, my legs are killing me," the man with green eyes said again, and she slowly shifted her gaze to him. "Hellion," the other man calls his name, and he smirks at her.
"Please help us just for tonight," the man begs, and she rolls her eyes, widening the door, "Feel at home."
The man felt something in her tone but shrugged it off and abruptly laid their friend on the 2 meter long sectional sofa as the guy with green eyes also dropped on it.
"Hellion, you're squeezing Caelum," he mumbles, pushing the guy named Hellion away from the man in the hoodie.
Hellion sits on the carpet, rests his head on the body of his friend and closes his eyes. "I'm on my last legs."
"What do you want to drink?" Levana asks the guy last standing, "Coffee will be good, thank you."
While the woman is preparing the drink, the man scans the surroundings. Her unit was cozy with minimal interior design and wooden furniture. His eyes landed on the vase of red roses. It attracted his attention for a while, and he was about to take his look away when he noticed a red tulip.
Levana finished the coffee and walked towards the living room, halting midway to turn on the oil diffuser.
"Here you go"-"thank you"
"Looks like you guys had a long trip," Levana commented. The man nodded and sipped on his coffee. He took a second look at her. "Oh, sorry," he put his cup on the cocktail table, "we didn't introduce ourselves yet-I'm Iverson," the man with grey eyes introduced, "He's Hellion," patting the man with green eyes, "And he's Caelum," patting the man in a hoodie.
Her eyes were stuck on the face of the man in the hoodie as she felt that he was really familiar, but she couldn't point it out.
"Are you Astrea Black?" Iverson asked, feeling drowsy suddenly. Levana averted her gaze from Iverson and noticed him shaking his head a little and firmly closing his eyes for a second.
She nodded, "Just call me Levana." He smiled, "Beautiful name." She smiled in return as the guy slowly lost consciousness.
***
"Iverson"
"Iverson"
Iverson hears someone calling his name and slowly opens his eyes, "Do you still know me?" I'm Hellion, "mumbles his friend across him.
"Why are you bound?" Iverson asks him, "We are," he replies, rolling his eyes. "That little witch"
Iverson noticed the gauge, medical kit, and cotton with blood on the cocktail table and immediately looked at his friend who was laying on the sofa.
"Is Cealum alright?"
"He's alright," answered Hellion.
Iverson scans the surroundings and the girl, Levana, is nowhere to be found. He tried to move towards his friend. "Well, at least she didn't bind us on the chair," he mumbled, wriggling his hands tied behind his back. "How considerate she is," Hellion commented, sarcasm in his words.
"Is Caelum wounded when we escape from the cave?" Hellion shakes his head, "Not that I'm aware of. He always disappears and reappears from nowhere." They look at their friend, still lying unconscious.
There was a moment of silence when Hellion broke it, "Did you know about this world?" Iverson shook his head, "Haven't you read it from your clan's journals?" Iverson shook his head again, closed his eyes for a second and took a deep sigh, "We need to loosen this rope first."
"Untie my hands." Iverson stands and moves facing his back at Hellion, who was taken aback. "Didn't you see that rope is glowing?" Iverson was confused and took a look at his back with the rope that was glowing blue. "Is this a rope from witches?" Hellion sighed and dropped his back on the headrest of the sofa. "What to do now?"
Iverson sat and watched the sleeping Caelum. "I've been thinking," he paused, "What is happening to Caelum?" Hellion's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"What?" Hellion asked, nodding, "He is not welcome here." He jokes, but his smile disappears when Iverson's face turns more serious. Maybe.
The two of them instantly look at each other when they hear someone knocking on the door. "Is it that the witch?" He asks, shifting his gaze to the door, "Whose witch?" He shifts his gaze back to him and slowly mumbles "Levana" with the tone of horror movies.
Iverson glares at him, "This is her unit," he reckons, standing and walks to the door, "Be careful, don't open the door, we're not in our good state." Hellion commented midway.
Iverson positioned himself to look through the peephole in the door when a force threw him away, landing on his back with the door panel above him. "Iverson!"
||K.R.B.F.||
