THE IMMORTAL'S FRIEND

Chapter 21: Black Cat

Mira's POV

May 31, 2026
Sunday
4:34pm

Hours have passed since we started walking, but Galen and I still continued to walk even though we didn't know where exactly to go. It's the end of the month of May and we only need to collect 5 more keys before we finally complete summoning all the 12 celestials.

I am wearing my small backpack while Galen is holding the A.G.E book in his right hand.

There is something strange in the atmosphere and surroundings of the forest today. The air is getting colder even though it's too early for the winter season to come.

My guts seem to be warning me that something bad will happen tonight, but whenever I think that Galen is beside me, I immediately calm down.

Last night, I didn't get enough sleep because I stayed up late talking with Galen about the topic I really love. He also talked to me about the things he likes so we didn't realize that the sun was already up when we finished conversing. I never get bored to his stories and he also feels the same.

He let me sleep for 4 hours after the sunrise and when I woke up, he had already picked wild berries for me to eat just like before.

He really is sweet and caring so I can say that Shira is so blessed to have him as her brother. I am also blessed to meet him here and become his friend even just for a short time. We don't have more days to spend with each other, so I need to cherish our remaining days together. I'm also thinking of another way to return his kindness. I want it to be something special.

We both halted from walking when we saw a small animal in the way. It's a black cat.

The cat is wearing a mauve collar with a silver paw pendant that has 'L-2023Male' written in the center of it.

It's the first time we saw a cat here in the forest so we were shocked (somewhat happy and excited). Seeing a cat wandering in the forest is rare, but it's kinda fun because they aren't scary unlike wild beasts such as tigers and lions.

"L-2023Male? This cat is wearing a collar so it means he has an owner." Galen said.

"You're right, but he seems lost… I wonder who his owner is," I wondered.

Galen squatted in front of the black cat. The cat didn't move or make any sound. I thought Galen would carry the cat in his arms, but he just raised his hand to gently pet it.

It made me smile. Seeing him petting a cat is so adorable. It's sad that I can only capture it with my own eyes. If only I hadn't left my phone on the train, I would've taken a picture of him and the black cat together.

"Where is your owner? What are you doing here in the forest alone?" Galen talks to the cat like it will respond to him.

The cat just stared at him—still not making any sound. He also didn't move and remained sitting there like a behaved cat.

The cat is acting bashful towards us.

"You don't need to be shy or scared, we're not going to hurt you." Galen continued talking to the black cat with a smile.

He was about to pet the cat again, but in just an instant, the cat ran away. We are too late to react to stop the cat from leaving.

Galen blinked and become speechless as he looked at the direction where the cat ran and disappeared. Our eyes met and all we could do at the moment is to laugh.

"I was thinking of helping the cat to find his owner but the cat doesn't seem to like me." he said, preventing himself to frown and pout.

"That's alright, the cat doesn't seem to like me either," I said to cheer him up.

He stood straight and held his book tightly before we returned from walking.

I think we already reached the middle of the forest when we saw a house that look very old but doesn't look creepy.

Galen and I exchanged looks before we nodded to each other and decided to enter the house. We knocked first to know if there's someone inside, but when no one responded to us, we opened the wooden door and carefully walked in.

The house is huge when you look at its interior rather than looking at its exterior.

There are four chairs and one big table at the center while there are two locked rooms on each side of the cemented walls.

We saw a cabinet that didn't seem locked so we check what's inside it as we are also looking for things that we could use to summon the remaining celestials.

My eyes grew bigger when I opened one of its drawers and saw a Glock 17 9mm handgun, 4 sharp kitchen knives, a rope and a silver handcuff.

Galen noticed it as well and I saw how his forehead immediately crumpled.

"Why are these here? These are dangerous…" he said.

"Yeah, but maybe they used it for protection or self defense. Living in the forest is dangerous so it's natural to keep such things here." I explained, hoping that is really the case.

It's quite surprising to know that someone is living in the black forest. I thought it's only the two of us living here.

"Should we get one?" Galen asked me, pertaining to the stuff in front of us.

I shook my head several times to answer him no.

"We don't need that. You are a vampire so you can protect yourself. I know you will protect me as long as I am with you so we don't need to carry such things." I answered confidently.

"But you know that I can't fight and I don't drink human blood. I'm not strong unlike what you think so I don't know if I can protect you when something bad really happens."

I didn't speak as I fell into silence.

I already know that. He has a slim body and he doesn't even have strong muscles so he won't win when it comes to physical fights, but I believe that he would keep me safe no matter what happens so I don't need to worry about anything. The reason why I am still with him until now is because he always protected me. I know he would never abandon me.

"Galen…"

I was about to tell him that I will always believe that he would keep me safe, and I did. But I didn't get to hear his response when my eyes widened after seeing a person in a black mask standing behind him and the man is ready to hit Galen's head with the metal he's holding.

I wanted to shout to warn Galen about the stranger, but I didn't get to do it when I felt someone hit the back of my head using a hard metal.

Galen and I both fell down on the floor.

Barely conscious, I tried to reach for his hand as I'm afraid to be separated from him. I open my mouth to call for his name and wake him up, but I failed to do it when the lid of my eyes closed and everything around me just went blank.