Chapter 31: Sleeping bodies

Jeffrey's POV

*Yawn* The aroma that filled the air was mesmerizing as I got ready to eat. My stomach churned with hunger but also with remorse after what I said to Elvis. My eyes wandered across the room as I saw him quietly eating his food ignoring the loud chatter between Jin and the other children. Anastasia was also quiet and didn't express any jovial mood. She looked quite unhappy. We finally met eye to eye and I see that she smiled at me.

I can tell that she has forgiven me but Elvis's aura still stayed. She still discussed with Elvis from time to time as he only paid attention to her and no one else. The rest were consuming their food normally.

"I haven't seen that Jake for a while now. I wonder where he could be." I mumbled chowing down my food. It has been a while since we last saw him. He is usually more reticent than before but still as annoying as ever. I could feel myself mentally roll my eyes as I remembered our first meeting.

For some reason, everyone stopped eating and looked my way. Even Elvis looked to my side, it wasn't me who they were looking at but...Lucian. His emerald green eyes finally glanced at us as we pretended as if we didn't do anything.

"Why is Lu...Is Lucian sitting here? I've never seen him sit next to us." Mark beside me mumbled enough for both Ash and I to hear.

"Shut up!" Ash snapped, whacking him on the arm.

"Okay Okay, no need to be violent." Logan began with an irritated tone." You guys are making me lose my appetite. Besides, are you sure you don't have anger issues, I mean...Woah! I'm sorry alright." He held his hands up in surrender as he saw her tightening her fist, earning a few snickers. Mark nervously laughed at the situation but immediately stopped when Ash turned back to him.

Everything went back to normal soon till...

A scream got our attention. It sounded like Daffodil. I whipped my head in Lucian's direction to see his chair empty. Where did he go?

' What could have caused her to scream like that?' I thought. I finished my food quickly and hoped to find out what happened. 'Something felt strange. No one was daring to move, why were they all sweating and wheezing?' The rest of the people had started to pass out making my eyes widen. The maidens and butlers, the children and teens. Soon one by one, they started to drop like flies. I looked at the table I sat on to see none of them awake. I began to scan through all of them hoping that they were awake.

"You guys!" I yelled trying to wake them up. "Jin! Anastasia!" I shook them vigorously. Elvis!" My breathing became ragged as soon as I realized that I was caught in whatever made them pass out.

'Why is the floor spinning? It hurts.' I tried to start consciously. The next thing was that everything went blank for me.

Lucian's POV

I never thought I would sit next to these guys. The moment I sat everyone looked at me like I was some sort of celebrity. I was already used to being stared at, so I ignored all of them. I heard a girl roaring and a guy I think his name is Logan trying to calm her down.

Daffodil wasn't here to pick her food up, I wonder where she was.

"Hey, Brat! You need to leave right at this moment. Something..." Before Madl could finish I heard a scream. It was my sister. I quickly ran out of the room not wasting any time to track her.

Could she be hurt?

"Madl, what's happening?" I worriedly asked.

"Figure it out yourself you brat." Came Madl's reply but I shrugged it off trying to pinpoint her exact location.

"Just don't breathe in for a while. Someone has polluted the atmosphere in some parts of the island. It was a good thing you left the dining area. The remaining kids passed out." Madl said with a yawn.

I held my breath for the past two minutes with no sign of my sister. This is bad. I'll try to listen again and this time I heard her voice.

"All beasts have their five senses honed to their highest, it is just that your senses are dull since you have not trained them. At least your hearing is still useful in times like these," Madl said again.

"Alright." I turned again to see Daffodil leaning against a tree and two people next to her. At first, I thought they were the ones who did this to her but understood that they were treating her wounds.

"It seems like the pollution does not reach here," I said allowing myself to breathe. I walked casually next to the two who stopped what they were doing to look at me.

"Lucian." The girl turned for me to see her face to reveal Madison.

"Lucian. I thought you would have dozed off with the rest." The dark-haired boy said. Ignoring his statement, I trotted past them and ran next to Daffodil.

"Daffodil. Who did this to you?" I asked trying to maintain a calm tone, she flickered her eye open and stared at me

"I was right all along. Albert was the one responsible. He killed our parents." Daffodil said.

What?! That cannot be true. Albert?

"She is speaking the truth. I would have warmed you sooner but your inner beast was delayed. Someone placed a sealing mark on you." Madl confirmed.

A sealing mark? My mind flashed across that day when Albert held my arm once. It was so weird.

"We have a plan but first we need somewhere we can hide." The dark-haired boy commented.

"Yeah, I'm guessing it was Albert who polluted the atmosphere. We have to try to save as many as possible before he reaches any of them." Madison affirmed.

"What was he going to do?" I asked.

"Let's just say what are they going to do?" Daffodil chirped in.

"They?"