CRYPTIC | completed

04

Chapter 04 - SILENCE CREEPING

~

I woke up to the sound of a faint click by the window. I forced any suspicions out of my mind, forcing myself to go back to sleep. But my mind refused to cooperate. My body's sixth sense kicked in: someone was behind me, eyes upon me.

"Once the fire burns."

I froze at the sound of the voice behind me. Male. Speaking in a taunting voice. I leapt out of bed and faced the window where the voice came from. I couldn't see the tall figure's face, for it was hidden in the heavy shadows of the night. I noticed the fingerprint lock was missing and the window was open.

"Ash will vanish in darkness."

He slowly stepped forward until I could see him in the moonlight. While he was still overly shadowed, I could still make out the figure. Their glinting eyes, focused and calculating. Their (seeming) dark, messy hair was outlined by the little amount of moonlight. I mentally cursed. For the first time in as long as I could remember, fear creeped through my bones.

His deep voice whispered, "what happened that night? Do you still remember it?"

Old memories flashed through my head - the ones I thought I had buried deep in the back of my mind. Why wouldn't the voices stop screaming?

I managed to say in a quiet voice, "get out of my head." How did he know that memory of mine?

"You let me in when you started on my case. That was your first mistake." He stepped around the bed as I back away.

"What are you talking about? Who the hell are you?"

A low chuckle escaped his throat. "Tsk, tsk, I thought you were smarter."

I felt my back hit the wall. Trapped. I debated if I ought to yell out, scream, shout, anything to wake the others up. He put a gloved finger to my parted lips, saying keep quiet. Even if I couldn't see him well, I knew who it was.

"Luca," I murmured.

"In the flesh. It's best not to scream for them, it'll only kill you faster."

My brain scrambled to compose itself. "Can't I see what you look like?"

"All the things you ask, and you chose the one on my appearance? I thought of you wiser."

My heartbeat quickened when he pulled me towards the window, the light slowly seeping across his skin. The first two things I noticed were his entirely black clothes (with the accompaniment of a black mask on his face) and his abnormally bright blue eyes. Next I noticed his hair, a dark brown that fell near his ears. But I could only clench my jaw as fear held my body still. I tried to think of the question that bugged me the most before the unknown happens, but hundreds of questions still remained.

I decided on one. "Why?"

Confusion laced itself on his face with a slight furrow of his brows. "Why what?"

"All of this. All the killing, this damn game. You're playing for the long run, why?" I searched his face for any kind of reaction, any sort of cue that I've asked the right question. Nothing.

"That's your job to figure out. But I can say one minor thing. Look at yourself when you wake again. That's your hint."

I felt a sharp and sudden prick on my neck. Ash, you idiot. You were looking at his damn face and not where his hands were. My legs started to numb. In moments, my entire body grew limp as my conscience remained wide awake. But that didn't last very long as my eyes started to droop.