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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒 - 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝?

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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒 - 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝?

The silence is a big blanket being pushed down onto me, making me breathless; suffocating as I gasped for air. The silence is not even the worst part. I can feel my hair stand on end. I can feel my heart beating furiously. I can feel my sweat trickling down my forehead. Once again, I'm scared. I'm scared of dying. What a lame fear. I used to think I'd greet death like an old friend, but no. I was shivering and dripping cold sweat like a sick puppy.

It's been a few days. I'm not sure exactly how long but I've seen the sun comes and go and I tried so hard to tell myself that I'll be okay.

Bernard no longer feels wary of me. Instead of watching over me, he went away and started cleaning the house. There's not much to clean. It was already clean because of his constant cleaning. He walked closer to me, bent down, and started brushing off the dust on the table that I lean against. I stared at him, thinking I should try talking with him again.

"Bern?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you ever want to get out of here?"

"In case you forgot about it, I would be hunted down if I was out there, kid."

"Hm...wait– kid?"

"You're small."

"Rude. You're just tall for no reason."

"If honest and blunt is that then yes. I'm rude."

I rolled my eyes at him. Bernard is not an easy person to bend. Getting into his head might take more work than I thought. Seeing how little expression he wore, I should have known it'd be harder than just pulling his wall down and hearing his stories to get him to hear me out.

Occasionally, without me wanting it to, my eyes would find themselves staring towards the room at the far left. The witch room. Other times, I would take turns looking at the front door, the window, Bernard and my legs. There's not much that could take my attention away from the desperate cry to just get up and run out of here.

Grief was a big shadow looming over me, reminding me that the witch was constantly mocking me. She left the front door open, knowing I couldn't ever run out even if I wanted to. She's laughing straight to my face and I can't do anything about it.

"Boy," I heard her voice call out soon after, and immediately Bernard rushed to the old lady, disappearing into the room where not even his nose could be seen. I could hear chattering, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Gibberish is all I hear, floating in the air, despite how much I try to focus on what they're discussing.

And a second later, the old lady walked out of the room with Bernard beside her. She was dressed in a casual red kirtle, seemingly blending in with regular mortals. She had a smile on her face, but it soon dropped when she saw me. Stopping short in front of me, she cleared her throat. "Boy. Watch over her. Don't let her out of your sight. Do you hear me?"

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