Music of the Night

Chapter 55

Chapter 55

The sound of the loud bang had awoken every student on campus. Herbivores began to turn on the lights in their dorms while carnivores began to come out to check what was going on. There was a crowd circling something and among them was the Bengal tiger, Bill.

"What the- Oh shit!"

There, was a battered up Arthur with a bloody ear and his breathing was ragged.

Instinctively, Bill pushed over the crowd to scoop up the poor Honduran white bat. He was going to take him to the infirmary and then wonder who the hell beat him up. Now Bill wasn't the type to beat up small animals and those like Arthur don't sit well with him ever since the 'incident'...

Whoever did this must be sick in the mind!

"Hang on, Arthur," Bill whispered to the small bat in his arms. "We're almost there..."

"Bill!" a feminine voice cried. It was Els, the Angora sheep. She came out of her dorm in her pink pyjamas, looking scared. "What's going on?! I heard a bang-"

"Arthur's hurt," there was urgency  in his tone. Els said nothing but followed him. Although she never talked much with him, she liked him listening in the drama club during their practice. It was scary yet sad to see how his cloudy blue eyes became so dim and his white fur was painted with his own blood.

She doesn't want another animal to die here like Tem...

...

Arthur was struggling to breathe.

He was certain that Mizuchi's ex-boyfriend has left a message for him. Not a very good one if he had to think about it. Right now, the constant ringing in his head was going to kill him if he decided to struggle.

So he relaxed.

But when the Honduran white bat opened his mouth, his eyes widened at the sudden change. He tried it out again but could hear or felt nothing coursing through his ears. His nightmare was about to become a reality. His cloudy blue eyes started to water, not sure if it was from the pain or the new changes he was given. The moment of realisation of what was happening was staring to sink into the pits of his stomach...

Arthur was temporarily deaf!

He was panicking with his wings flailing, trying to make sense of his surroundings while trying to use his clicks again and again. He was suddenly grabbed and was pinned down to what he would assumed to be a soft mattress.

It was so difficult to understand what and who were the other animals in the room he was in. The loud bang he remembered was something he feared the most. That and if anyone decided to destroy his beloved instruments.

He can't tell if the words he spoke made sense since all he could hear were ringings.

He might as well speak in the Vampyrum tongue if he carried on talking without listening! Could this be a monologue or a soliloquy? Does a soliloquy have an audience to begin with? He must know since he loves musicals and theatrical words in literature!

Since it was useless  to understand his surroundings now that he is temporarily deaf.

With a shaky breath, Arthur began to sing songs he learnt to at least get his hearing back.

It was a weird theory but it's worth a shot, right?

...

Mizuchi and Haru rushed into the infirmary together when they heard the loud bang and the shouts coming from students. The harlequin rabbit feared for the worst. Haru also thought of the same because they both saw a Bengal tiger carrying a limp body of a fluffy animal with wings...

'This is my fault!' Mizuchi thought to herself, tears coming out of her eyes. 'I should have asked Riley to escort me out of the carnivore dorm when I had the chance. Arthur is going to die because of me...'

"...In the lamp light," a tenor-like voice echoed the infirmary. "The withered leaves collect at my feet..."

The voice sounded melancholic yet very nostalgic. Mizuchi felt like she has heard the song somewhere before. The voice was a bit off-tuned as if he doesn't have an ear for music-

Ear for music....

"Oh no..." Mizuchi covered her mouth and pushed out of the way to see a swaddled Arthur in the infirmary bed. How long has he been in the infirmary since his enrolment of this school? 

"Arthur?" Haru approached the battered bloodied bat. She tried to tap his shoulder, making him turn his head at her direction. His cloudy blue eyes looked puffy. Has he been crying?

"He's been singing for a while now," the Bengal tiger huffed. "I don't know what kind of song he was singing. But I found him like this. Someone must really hate him to do this to him. I'm Bill, by the way. You two are friends of his?"

"Yeah..."

Haru nudged Mizuchi roughly. Mizuchi just nodded as her answer. Both rabbits didn't question why an Angora sheep was with a Bengal tiger at this hour. Mizuchi can't bear to look at the sight of how Arthur looked now. She was starting to cry when Haru grabbed her arm roughly.

"Go to him," Haru instructed. "He's probably scared right now."

Mizuchi was hesitant but Haru decided to nudge her forward. The harlequin rabbit's eyes watered at the sight. Slowly, she kneeled down to touch his cheek with her paw. Arthur breathed slowly, his wings were wrapped tight around his body. He began to nuzzled into Mizuchi's paws for comfort.

Haru approached them and snapped her fingers close to the bat's ear.

No response.

"I tried that too," said Els sadly. "The nurse said that he's temporarily deaf for now. We don't know how is he going to recover. Poor Arthur..."

"Say tiger," Haru called out, making the large Panthera lean down. "Where's Aoba? The eagle that's always with him?"

"Oh, he was making a call," Bill growled. "I think he's gonna call Arthur's dad or maybe the police. I don't know! He looked pretty pissed if you ask me."

Haru pulled both of her ears in frustration. She has a very good idea of who might be doing this to her little helper of the gardening club. She wished Legosi was here so that he could help track the bully down. So far, he's been...strange lately....

"I guessed herbivores can be just as bad as carnivores," she muttered to herself.

...

"Hello? Oh hello there- What?! Are you certain about this? When, why and how? Okay, okay, I will come by this week...please look after him. Bye."

Dr Kirk pressed the screen of his phone before planting his face on the table. He received a phone call from Arthur's friend, Aoba. He couldn't believe it.

He couldn't believe that someone would physically attack his son and turn him deaf!

He was frustrated. There was work with the conducting experiment of the space probe launch and now the severe bullying his son was receiving. It made him worried because the other schools he has scouted out before settling into Cherryton had a strict segregation rule.

It is the twenty-first century! No animal should have separate water fountains to drink or colour coded tables for each species! they preached about diversity and unity yet the execution was messier than what happened to the prisoners who were waterboarded.

He thought about Gryphon Cross but it might be too late...

"Oh, Nocturna..." he clasped both of his wings close together. "Please hear my cries...Please let my son be safe....I need you to give the both of us strength to handle the matter..."

With teary eyes behind his glasses, he began to dial the number to the school's principle.