I REALLY NEED TO WORK ON MYSELF

"It healed on its own," Axel explained with a smile.

Ave exclaimed with a bewildered expression as she dropped Axel's arm and turned to face him. "You could even heal your wounds?!" she said. "Well, you've got really nice abilities now, and I'm curious to find the others, but we have to make sure that you never turn into a full monster," she added, her tone and expression now serious as she faced Axel.

"Yeah, yeah, well that aside, when is the fifth game starting?" asked Axel with a heavy sigh, already bored of the previous discussion.

"We don't know, the system didn't reveal it," said Ave, her body tensed up in frustration as she gazed directly at Axel. "Meaning another bloody game can start anytime, and there's no doubt it's going to be more difficult than the previous ones," she added, biting her fingernails desperately.

"That's crazy! Why wouldn't it reveal what we would be facing?" yelled Axel, his anger evident in his tone. His red glowing eyes and sharp claws soon revealed itself making Ave freak out and almost run out of breath. "But whatever happens, we should be prepared for it. I'm sure we would all survive if we stick together," said Axel, now smiling as his red glowing eyes and sharp claws disappeared.

He moved closer to the trembling Ave before him and placed his hands on her shoulders, but she quickly shrugged them off, fear evident on her face. "Your hands are cold," she managed to say as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"I'm sorry," replied Axel, still smiling at her.

"Your monster form comes out whenever you reveal your emotions," Ave murmured under her breath, her eyes never leaving Axel, as if she was waiting to attack whenever he does."Why do you keep smiling though? I'm getting a weird feeling about it," she said, swallowing hard and throwing Axel a questioning and frightened expression. She soon began walking away. "Let's go back to the house, others would be awake by now," her voice echoed in the lonely street as she kept walking, not waiting for Axel.

"I really need to work on myself," Axel said to himself as he shook his head in pity. He soon began running after Ave, passing her in high speed, faster than a car, making her stop in her track with a bewildered expression.

Axel noticing this, ran back, stopping suddenly in front of her, making her almost gasp for breath.

"You can also run fast," Ave managed to say, swallowing hard.

"Just knew about that now. Didn't know I could run in that speed.Let's walk together. That would be better," said Axel, grabbing Ave's hand, which she soon shrugged off.

"I said your hands are cold," she said, rubbing her hands together for friction.

"I'm sorry about that," Axel said. "But why are my hands cold?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at Ave, demanding an answer which he did not receive. He let out a heavy sigh and said, "Let's go," and began walking slowly, with Ave following closely behind him.

**

The voices of the other players could be heard from outside, and as Ave opened the house door, an awkward silence fell over the room.

Axel and Ave, especially Axel, were met with deep stares from the other players as they entered. If looks could kill, Axel would have dropped dead.

"Are you guys okay?" Rosa was the first to break the silence with her question.

"We're good," Ave replied before quickly making her way into the inner room, leaving Axel alone with the other players in the living room.

Axel walked around the room, feeling the weight of the other players' stares following his every move. He finally took a seat in front of them, causing them to huddle together with fear and terror evident in their eyes.

There was an awkward silence until Axel cleared his throat and began speaking. "I'm wondering what this reaction is all about. Don't tell me you're all cautious of me now?" he asked, his gaze fixed on the players before him while shaking his head in pity.

"Are you okay?" Florence asked, swallowing hard. Although her mouth couldn't speak the fear she was feeling, her face said it all.

"Of course I'm fine. I'm only surprised at all of your behaviors. It's not welcoming at all, and even if I was fine before, I'm no longer fine due to your attitudes," Axel replied with a loud groan.

"You can't blame us, Axel. You would be scared yourself if you actually looked at the ugly creature you turned into yesterday," Logan said nonchalantly, making the other players turn their gaze to him. "What?" he asked as he glared back at them.

"You shouldn't say that," Florence cautioned with an angry glare, then shifted her gaze from him to Axel. "Don't mind him, you know he's foolish."

"Huh? But I'm only saying the truth here," Logan said, but got no response from the other players who chose to ignore him. "I can't believe you all, hypocrites," Logan added with a smirk.

"Just cut the crap and stop being a jerk," Lionel chimed in. "You're so annoying if you don't know."

"You..." Logan started to retort, but was cut off by Ave.

"Enough!" Ave said. "You all should remember that Axel actually obtained the powers of the fourth pawn because he killed him. We should be grateful because we're alive because of him," she said, making the players shift their gaze towards her. She was now dressed in jeans and a top, drying her hair as she had just taken a bath. She soon walked up to the other players and took a seat beside Axel. "If Axel didn't discover Anthony and kill him, then we all would have been dead," she added, now with a serious gaze.

"That's true. Anyone could actually obtain these monster powers. It's not like Axel actually wished to obtain it, but this happened because he killed Anthony, therefore his actions saved us, so we shouldn't change our attitude towards him just because the system already declared him to be a monster," said Florence.

"Moreover, he's still a half monster who can work towards fighting his emotions. We can all help him to do that, so as to prevent him from being a full monster. Because trust me, if you keep treating him coldly, then he might never be able to control his emotions," Rosa said . "I believe in you Axel, you're a true friend," she added with a smile, but couldn't get Axel's attention as his gaze was already fixed towards the window, making other players shift their gaze towards the window as if trying to see what he was looking at.

"What's wrong Axel?" Ave asked, her voice full of worries.

"I can hear screaming and wailing, the sound of munching on flesh, people's agony, things chattering on the floor," said Axel, with his gaze still fixed on the window, but his words sending fear and terror within the other players.