5 Fünf

das Ende

[Das Ende des sterblichen Lebens]

vii.

The window curtains were drawn shut, and Danveur had traded the cassock for a dress shirt made for sleeping. He sat on the bed, body heavy as if the weight of the world rested upon his shoulders.

He couldn't sleep. He was too paranoid of what will happen once he closed his eyes. Somewhere within the back of his head, he could hear the scream Lucius made as he struggled for his life, and he dreaded every seconds of it until it fades away into a static noise.

He realised those screams could turn into his at any given moment. And there will be no convent nor cross to save him from the devil this time.

When Danveur checked the pocket watch, it was nearing midnight.

Soon, Thomas will be back with several books and maps from the nearby library. He had asked him to return at a designated time, and he wasn't entirely sure if the keeper would show up. His only reassurance was that he paid him a good sum of money and that was that.

A few minutes later, there was a sudden knock outside the wooden door.

Quiet and somewhat hesitant, Danveur rose to his feet and unbolted it, sighing in relief once Thomas's tall figure appeared.

"I'm here,"

"I don't understand why you need to announce it as if I didn't know." Danveur said before taking one of the empty stools and gesturing for his guest to do the same. Thomas laid the map on the table and plopped a couple of books next to it.

"Why are you in dire need to know about myths?" Thomas asked curiously.

"To know which is true and which is not."

"And how are you supposed to prove which is which?"

"That is the fun part," Danveur paused, picking up an old hard bound and wiping off the dust in which Thomas quietly helped him. "I have my own ideas and I'm going to see which story suits them best."

"And if none ever did?"

"Then I am doomed."

Thomas stared at him, pondering whether he was being sardonic, then he adjusted himself in his seat. "Look, I am still lost about your situation here, brother William. You gave me incomplete pieces and left me to string them together. I need to see the full picture."

"Try harder, then. I know you're not incompetent base from the way your eyes glitter with curiosity." Danveur said, giving him one of those half-smiles that didn't quite reach the eyes. "And please refrain from addressing me with my first name, I insist you call me Danveur."

Thomas smiled at him, all teeth straight and glistening. It was a different smile from his customary coy smiles. This one seemed predatory, dangerous if one looked too long. "Very well then, Danveur."

His breathing had hitched.

There was pregnant pause that settled in the air.

"I'm sorry," Thomas supplied.

Danveur gave him a peculiar look before pointing at a sketched town on the old battered map. The ink was fading and it smelled primarily of dusts and dry parchment. Danveur was scared his nail would damage the thing if he pressed too hard.

"This is where I came from. It's a primitive and small town in the west." He glided his finger along the rough texture before stopping on the next one, a good 30 kilometre distance in between. "And here we are right now."

"In the town that never sleeps."

Danveur nodded absentmindedly.

"And I have to get here," He pointed to another which was too far to travel but with obviously immense population. Thomas looked at him intently, getting the gist as to why Daveur wanted to be so far away. Someone was chasing him.

He kept quiet and his eyes abruptly dropped to his neck. Danveur noticed the change of gaze.

He awkwardly tried to get Thomas to look at him in the eyes before deliberately moving away.

"Continuing-" He cleared his throat as he pulled open another book. "I hope there's an old tale here," He stopped at the table of contents and scanned it, pausing for a while at the title that has 'Inexplicable Creatures' written in bold letters. "That could help me learn more about the thing I am dealing with."

Thomas looked over and narrowed his eyes into slits. "That one?"

"The wonders of these things," Danveur commented as he flipped to the page to where it was located.

"What exactly are we looking for?"

"Something with red glowing orbs, a creature that never ages, a creature that-" Danveur couldn't get the words out of his mouth. He felt like choking, and vomiting at the same time.

There was only silence.

"I'm not sure what it is, or if it even exists. I may be dwelling with the devil himself here, and I am simply lost for whatever I am allowed to call it. But, I know it exists. It's not just in my head." Danveur added albeit messily. "Tell me you have an inkling of what I'm saying."

When he was not able to obtain any words from the other, he dared to look at him. And there it was again, Thomas' smile, with his lips stretched too far and pearly white teeth showing off.

The bile began to rise in Danveur's throat and he hated himself for catching it too late. Thomas's demeanour wasn't what it was hours ago when he first met him. He wasn't the young, curious man, that chatted too much anymore.

His eyes began to lose its honey. The warmth and glow that was tucked in there earlier was being replaced by something a shade darker. Something with a glint of danger. Something like the leaves during fall.

Something... red.

Danveur fell from his chair before he could scream.