The Thing in the Woods [Phayu x Rain] (Love in the Air)

Chapter 8

The full moon was taunting him, rising higher and higher into the sky. How was this possible? Hadn’t there been one just the day before? One that shouldn’t have been there?

He had no time to wallow in the knowledge. Because soon… soon it would be too late. There was only very little time left.

He almost ripped the front door out of its hinge in his haste to reach safety. Legs took two steps at a time to hurry up the stairs. Trembling fingers turned the handle so he could rush into the room as quickly as possible.

His skin was itching as if ants were crawling underneath it.

There was no time to wait. He had to be quick!

The corner held a chain attached to the wall. He launched himself at it as quickly as he could, closing the cuff at the end around his ankle. To be sure, he grabbed the key and threw it as far away as he could.

“Just in time!” he breathed as the light of the full moon flooded the room.

Searing pain shot through his entire body. It made him groan in agony.

His bones started to crack and rearrange.

“Please!” he begged. “I must not hurt anybody! Please, no!”

His mind went quiet as a howl ripped from his throat.

~

“What do you mean, this is your grandmother?” Phayu asked in confusion.

“The girl, the one on the right, is my grandmother.”

“Are you sure?” Phayu asked cautiously.

“What do you mean; am I sure? This is my grandmother, of course I am sure!” he shouted, earning him another reprimanding glare from the librarian.

“I didn’t mean that I don’t believe you. It’s just that this is a rather big coincidence.”

Coincidence! Rain scoffed. He didn’t believe in coincidences any longer.

“But even if it’s true and this really is your grandmother, what does the article have to do with my Sky?” Prapai interrupted the two men before they could continue arguing. “According to the article, the girl behind the roses was in a coma. Does that mean Sky is in a coma, too? I need to get to him as soon as possible. I can’t just leave him alone in this.”

Prapai was out of his chair, ready to rush out of the library, when Rain grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“Don’t do anything rash,” he insisted. “We need to find out what is happening. This is only part of what is going on. My grandmother wasn’t sure if the girl had ever woken up because her parents had taken her away to see specialists worldwide. Do you want this to happen to my best friend?”

Prapai was shaking his head desperately. “No, never! But I need to do something. I can’t just stay here, waiting.”

“And nobody is asking you to. But we need to figure this out,” Rain tried to reason.

“Rain, can you scroll up again?” Phayu frowned at the screen as Rain scrolled up. “The real-life Sleeping Beauty,” he read.

“What is it P’Phayu?” Rain could see that something was bothering the man.

“I don’t know, but that title somehow seems important.”

He picked up the book he had been reading before and leafed through the pages.

“Here!” He pointed at a page in the back of the tome. Phayu turned the book, so Rain and Prapai could read the passage for themselves.