Chapter 17: Hidden mystery
He stops for a moment staring at the black silhouette standing in the darkness without moving an inch.
"Damn it! Why does the thing keep following me?" Bradley scratched his head. "Wait, I must find a way, so I can see it."
Bradley looks around him and realizes the silhouette is quite close to the streetlight, so he lures it closer to the streetlight until he can see reveals the form.
"Ah, Thank God! It's just a little cat." He breathed calmly and started laughing. "I almost think something else."
He walks up to the cat trying to touch it, but suddenly something from behind it pulls the cat back into the dark and it disappears instantly without any trace.
"What… What is happening?"
His body is frozen, his legs feel very stiff, and his face is still tense because of the incident in front of him so suddenly. He doesn't know what to do right now, then all of a sudden the street light dims, and view minutes later he hears the scream of a cat.
"Oh no, I have to go back to the orphanage now!"
His hands are shaking endlessly as the creature is still chasing him so he speeds up his footsteps towards the orphanage trying to call for help. But sadly his leg manages to twist by something which turns out it's the creature's tentacles.
"Argh! Stay away from me, monster!"
Bradley tries to release from the tentacle, but it's too strong and instantly pulls him until his face hits the ground.
"Ah, Sh**!" Bradley held his head and his eyes began to glaze over.
The creature's tentacles slowly pull the unconscious Bradley away from the streetlight into the darkness.
"Bradley!"
Someone's shout causes Bradley to look towards the source of the sound and notice a straight-haired woman running towards him while holding something sharp in her left hand.
"Madam Nigera?" Bradley tried to get a better look at the figure but his consciousness had yet to return. "Is that you?"
"Yes Bradley, calm down, I'll help you."
She quickly cut off the tentacles on Bradley's legs and soon, the monster's moaning sounds become louder.
"Bradley, are you okay?" Madam Nigera stepped on the piece of tentacle that wriggled like a caterpillar beside her until it shattered. "Hey, kiddo, stay conscious." She patted Bradley repeatedly. "Can you walk?".
Bradley nods but his head still feels dizzy, so Madam Nigera helps him try to get into the orphanage and immediately lays Bradley back down in her room.
"Hey, I will look for the red medicine, so stay here and don't move." Madam Nigera got out of her room and soon returned with a box of red medicine. " I'll put the medicine on your wound, but it's gonna hurt."
She takes a wet towel, cleans the wound with it, and drips the medicine on Bradley's wound. However, Bradley suddenly wakes up and tries to scream, but she immediately covers his mouth using her hand.
"Bradley, don't make any noise." She whispered into Bradley's ear. "We don't want to wake up Madam Theresa, right?"
Bradley nods as Madam Nigera says and endures the pain as his eyes fill with tears.
"Alright, it's done." Madam Nigera covered Bradley's wound with a bandage.
"Oh my, finally." Bradley wiped away the tears on his cheeks and took a breath.
"Bradley, but what are you doing out there alone? "Madam. Nigera looked at Bradley while returning the bandages and red medicine to the box.
Bradley then tells all the details of what has happened and Madam Nigera simply advises Bradley to be alert and careful.
"I believe you should take a rest here." Madam Nigera walked towards the door. "I will give you my spare key and lock this room from the outside, so no one will open this door except you and me."
"Yes, Madam." Bradley nodded while holding his wound. "If I feel better, I will back to my room."
"Bradley and don't tell about this, especially about your wound to anyone." Madam Nigera looked to Bradley with a serious expression. "the fewer people know about this it's much better."
Madam Nigera throws her spare room keys to Bradley and walks away, leaving Bradley alone in the room. He takes the key, lays back his body on the sofa, and slowly his eyes feel heavy and finally feel asleep.
***
The strange dreams came back to his mind and he saw Bradley sitting alone in front of the pool, looking at his reflection and everything seemed normal.
His hand then touched the surface of the water, and a small ripple formed, but a few minutes later he felt something flowing from his nose so his hand immediately touched his nose.
"What... is that...?" Bradley's hands trembled at the sight of the purplish-black liquid on his fingertips, making his body stiff.
He looked at the reflection of the water, but there was something in the water and he decided to bring his head closer to get a better look. However, suddenly something pulled him into the water and everything went dark.
"Oh, my God." He woke up with cold sweat on her face. "The nightmare felt so real."
Bradley shudders remembering that everything feels so real. He immediately wipes the cold sweat off his face and quickly runs out of the room back to his room. A few minutes later, however, someone knocks on the door from outside.
"Brad, are you okay?" asked Caden curiously. "Hey, your face is pale again, what's wrong?"
Bradley knows that if he talks honestly about what is happening to him, Caden will not believe him and think he is a freak.
"Oh, nothing. I just had another nightmare. "Bradley smiled trying to convince Caden that he was okay.
"Okay, then." Caden walked back to his room while yawning.
He takes a deep breath as Caden's footsteps slowly disappear, remembering Madam Nigera's words not to tell anyone.
"Madam Nigera will help me. I'm sure of it."
Bradley suddenly remembers the figure attacking him feels similar to Mr. Eugene's story he has read, so he quickly opens the dark brown and fragile containing Mr. Eugene's stories collection.
"Oh, my God! No, no. "
Bradley quickly grabbed the few papers that could still be saved from the termite invasion inside the cupboard.
"Well, these are the only ones saved, I'd better start looking." Bradley set the paper down and began to move his eyes over the words on the paper.
Bradley loves Mr. Eugene's stories, he thinks Mr. Eugene is amazing. Mr. Eugene's stories always amazed him because the scenes feel so real and interesting. Mr. Eugene loves to write and always takes the time to write when he has free time.
"Wait, it looks like it's around here somewhere."
Bradley's fingers trace every line on the paper, and his eyes concentrate on every word on the page. A few minutes later, he suddenly finds something which is a fragment of a sentence about a strange monster.
"Hidden monsters lie in the darkness, haunting the victims in their dreams."
Bradley stops for a moment trying to take the words in. A few minutes later, his face instantly stiffs and he comes to the conclusion Mr. Eugene is probably already aware of the existence of the night catchers.