Unknown

Chapter 33: Unknown

"What happened?" He asks.

Eliana's eyes were starting to water until she couldn't hold them in the cold tears rolled down, damping her cheeks. She was in shock.

When Anzai saw her crying, the panic on his face was palpable. By now Eliana was already sobbing with her knees to her chest. And Anzai was clueless of what he was supposed to do.

The wind blew once more, colder and stronger. Anzai brought an arm over his eyes to protect them from the leaves the wind dragged along.

Eliana made a shivering sound.

That's when he noticed she wasn't wearing the uniform's coat. It must've been taken away by the wind when the occurrence happened. He took his off and wrapped it gently on the sobbing girl. He was still unsure of what he must do next.

Eliana held onto his coat like it was something that would take the fear away. She wanted to go home. If this was a sick joke again, then please let her wake up from this nightmare. Why of all, her? All the tears she suppressed from when she arrived here was breaking out.

Anzai stayed quietly beside her. Patiently, he waited for her to calm down and recover from the shock. He still didn't know what happened, that's why he was waiting so he could ask. She looks horrible and worn out, it made him feel troubled. The mission was in his mind, had anything terrible happened.

Later on, Eliana went quiet. She stared blankly on the ground with puffy eyes and stuffy nose. Anzai kept his eyes on her observing and waiting for her next move. They stayed like that for a minute before Anzai sighed and spoke.

He crouched down to her level. "How are you feeling?" He asks as he studies her blank face.

Eliana was silent for a few seconds. "Terrible." She tilted her head to meet the first ranker's gaze. She stared at them, hesitating. "I need to get back to class."

She suddenly stood up, but her knees gave out from folding them for too long. She automatically held on to the tree beside her to help her balance. Her legs were numb for a while, she waited to regain their strength back.

Anzai stood up and gave her a blank look. He placed both of his hands inside his pockets, turning his back to leave.

Eliana was momentarily confused by his actions. One minute he showed concern and the other he was as if he could care less. Her eyes followed his retreating figure. Suddenly, he stopped on his tracks and crossed his arms over to his chest. He twisted his upper body looking over to Eliana.

"Follow me, we need to report this to Lord Rimbrad." He said.

Eliana nodded reluctantly. Anzai waited patiently for her. When she felt like she could walk again she immediately took cautious steps. They walked towards the office in silence. Eliana was deep in thought about the incident, Anzai noticed this so.

Eliana explained everything that happened to Rimbrad, from the beginning where she went to the forest. The first ranker and the principal were both shocked upon hearing the incident. Rimbrad gave specific instructions to Eliana to always surround herself with as much people as much as she can.

They will investigate the matter. Yehven was the person who found her in that condition, they called for his presence at the office. It was no doubt that what Eliana experienced was something dangerous. There was no physical body that she had seen no matter how much she recalled it.

"It must be a cast of spell or a power that does not require the presence of the user." Rimbrad suspected.

The day was long over and Eliana was already back to her dorm. She was still up and it'll take a while before sleep will visit her tonight. Her mind was floating around, overthinking possible events in the future that could harm her.

She closed her eyes attempting to sleep. Her body was already tired but her mind was buzzing lively. She listened to the silence and the crickets that sang outside hoping they would sing her to sleep.

Her eyes shot open when she heard a rustling sound. It wasn't the same sound of branches brushing to one another, no, it was different. She got up and removed herself from the bed.

She picked the long maroon coat Wistal bought for her. It was thick and warm, perfectly covering her from the cold gust of wind when she opened the window.

It was dark out, nothing but pitch black around. The moon was the only source of light and it wasn't bright enough for her to see what the sound was outside. One last look- nothing. The sound was gone as well. It was peaceful.

She sighed. It must've been her imagination.

Just as she was about to close the window in, the rustling sound came back louder than it was the first time she heard it. She felt terrified, goosebumps travelled from all over her body.

As the window was almost closed, it suddenly opened by itself with full force. She gasped. The strong wind lifted her up from the ground and pulled her out from the window. Her reaction was late from the shock it gave her. Her body was floating in mid air.

She was speechless. The wind brought her down and that was when she noticed she was unconsciously holding her breath. She examined herself for a potential injury, thankfully there was none.

"Do breathe Young Lady."

With a frightened face she searched around in place for the mischievous voice.

"Thou cannot see me, Young Lady." It talked again. "Thou can only hear."

His voice echoed around the vicinity.

"Who are you!? Where are you!? What are you!? Show yourself!" Eliana was already shaking.

"Hahahaha!" His laugh sent Eliana a thousand bolts of shiver. "Thou is trembling my dear. Are thou afraid?"

Eliana felt annoyed, he was toying with her. "Isn't it obvious? Just show yourself!" She was spinning around searching where the voice was coming from.

"One of human's greatest fears is the unknown." He spoke. "Is that why thou asks where I am?"

Eliana felt confusion and fear adding up. What he said was true, she was afraid because she couldn't see him and what he could do to her.

The fear of the unknown.