Hope of the Dying World

CHAPTER 67 - THE DISTANCE

After New Year, Trestan contacted doctor De Vega and he found the doctor in the secret laboratory, the day their classes resumed. He decided to go there to tell him something his father did not believe. That night, what he saw was really something, and bothersome.

"He was about to say the name of the doctor but it's too late. He stopped breathing." Trestan said while sitting on the swivel chair and facing the whiteboard where doctor De Vega wrote and solved formulas and equations.

"Did he give you a hint?"

"Yes, he said: Dr. Ma... then he died." Trestan hit the armrests with his hands, frustrated to know about this case. Usually, he doesn't care about his surroundings, however, due to his interest in this particular subject, he wants to learn more about the virus.

"Maybe, he is referring to Dr. Maria Garcia. Tsk. That doctor. She's too much." Dr. De Vega shook his head while he was writing something on a piece of paper. "Can you describe what you saw in his body? It may help us determine something."

"Yes, of course."

He clearly remembered every detail and in the past few days, he always dreamed about that man. It's kind of creepy and at the same time, disgusting.

"His body, including his face, arms, neck, and maybe, his whole body was full of purple color with wounds." He pointed to every body part he uttered as he tried to remember every detail. "Then... Then uhm... His nose bled a lot."

"That sounds... horrible."

"Indeed."

"Then?"

"He doesn't want me to come closer to him so I concluded that the disease or should I say a virus in his body was contagious." Disgust was visible in Trestan's face while describing the man. "Also, he hardly breathed so I was thinking if... if the Lila Virus last year was connected to this one but is even worse than before."

"So... it's not impossible that the Lila Virus will spread again." Dr. De Vega stated.

"Yeah. Probably." Trestan agreed to what the doctor said. He took a pen and a piece of paper to write the variables that could help them understand more about the blood of the person who was injected by the experiment of Dr. Maria Garcia.

"That's bad. We will face another problem in the future and more difficulties compared to last year when this disease comes."

"And the only thing we need to do is to prevent this disease from spreading in the future or else," Trestan paused. "We will all die."

"But the question is," Dr. De Vega glanced at Trestan with a meaningful look. "How?"

+++

Two weeks later...

It's been two weeks since the classes started and Blair was really confused why Trestan was ignoring her again. It was as if he didn't know her. They came back to square one... strangers.

"Hey, Trestan!" It was lunch break and they were heading to the cafeteria. "Can we eat lunch together?" She asked but she's like the wind on his side. He even put on earphones just to avoid her.

Well, Trestan decided to avoid her for a while because he feels that Blair will always be in danger when they are close to each other. However, Blair does not give up and she even sat on the chair in front of him after they bought their food.

Trestan just pretends to not care even though he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to ask her about her condition, if she is okay but he was afraid that it would be another reason why Blair's life would be in jeopardy.

He's acting like a coward but what could he do? He's powerless.

"Trestan... why are you like this?" Pain was visible in her eyes while looking at Trestan who always avoided her gaze the whole time.

'Damn, I want to talk to her! I don't want her to feel like that.'

"You know what?" Blair said while preventing herself from losing her temper. "You're confusing me!" She tried to lower her voice so the people around would not hear what she wanted to say.

"You pretended like nothing happened between us, as if you didn't watch the sunrise with me last Christmas. You even gave me a gift even though you said it was for Cally." Trestan looked at her wrist where the bracelet he gave was placed.

"You acted like a... Sweet guy." She mumbled but still, Trestan heard and that made him stunned for a second. He felt that there is a deeper meaning in her words that he can't name.

"But you just... You just gave me false hope." She sighed heavily and straightly looked at his eyes before leaving him.

'What does it mean, Blair?' He was confused all of a sudden.

After class, he went to Cally's classroom to fetch her sister. On their way to the parking lot, he saw Blair and Darren walking together. Suddenly, he unconsciously clenched his fist and became irritated while looking at the two.

"Cally! Hurry, I want to go home." He almost shouted at his sister.

"K-Kuya, why ale you shouting at me? I will repolt you to daddy! Hmp!" She glared at his older brother before sitting at the back of his bike.

He looked at Blair again and their eyes met but Blair rolled her eyes at him and smiled at Darren so he became more annoyed and his eyebrows furrowed while riding his bike.

"Kuya!" Cally was pulling his school uniform.

"Cally! Don't pull me. Hold tight. You'll fall if you don't."

"Kuya! Look! Ate Blair's—"

"Stop mentioning her name, Cally. I'm not in the mood."

"But Ate Blair—"

"Cally."

"Kuya!"But she didn't stop until Trestan braked and turned his head on Cally with madness in his eyes. "D-Don't look at me like that Kuya. You'le scaring me." Fear was visible in her eyes and Trestan's eyes softened. He realized that he heaped his annoyance on her little sister who doesn't know why he is acting like that.

"Don't you care about Ate Blair, Kuya? Someone took her! Look!" Cally pointed her tiny index finger to a bike a little farther where they are.

"W-What? Where is she? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I called you but you ignored me! Hmp!"

"Did you see where they were heading?" Trestan worriedly asked, didn't know what to do, but Cally shook her head.

"Sh*t. She's in danger again."