Game On (2)

Two third-year students came out from the shadows, they were putting on masks on their faces so that they wouldn't get affected by the fog.

"Didn't you say they were three? Where are the other two?" One of them asked his friend.

"I don't know but don't you think it is good this way? At least, it'll be less troublesome to handle the issue," his friend replied and walked over to Finn who was lying unconscious.

"I just hope the kid doesn't die on us," the boy said with an unsettled look on his face.

"Tsk! How does it affect us?" The one close to Finn asked with a scoff. "It's not our fault that he got affected by the fog," he added with a smirk and picked up the bag beside Finn. "22 monsters here, that's kind of impressive," he smiled and carried the bag. "Let's go," he said to his friend and they quickly left the place.

After they were gone, Raphael and Alex came out of their hiding but Raphael didn't look all that happy.

"Why didn't we stop them?" He asked Alex while staring at the unconscious body of Finn.

"We have no business with the game, remember?" Alex asked him. "We have an important thing to do, should we waste our energy on those students?" He asked again.

"He trusted us that is why he followed us. Don't you get what I mean?" Raphael replied with a frown on his face. "Allowing them to steal our game means we are capable of doing nothing, this is what it means and not trying to avoid problems."

"Why are you feeling so worked up? It's just a game," Alex grunted, not happy with Raphael's constant blabs.

"To you it is but to me, it isn't just a game. There is no point trying to talk sense into your head. Wait here, I'll go do it myself," Raphael scoffed and left in the direction of those students.

Before Alex could speak, Raphael was long gone, leaving him behind with an unconscious person.

"I hate getting involved in other people's business. I was strongly warned to stop interfering," he mumbled with a sigh. A minute later, Raphael returned with two bags in his hands. "Why are the bags two?" Alex who was surprised, asked him.

"I borrowed theirs," Raphael replied and emptied the contents of the other bag into theirs. "Next time, they won't act stupid," he muttered to himself. After he was done, he stood up and put the bag on his back. "You'll carry him," he said to Alex while pointing at the unconscious boy.

"What?" Alex asked him. "Since when did that start?" He asked him.

"Would you rather carry the bag or carry the boy? Pick one," Raphael replied.

Alex fell into thought. Carrying the bag would indirectly mean that he was everyone's servant but by carrying the boy... everyone would assume he saved him.

"I'll carry him..." he replied after a while and then went over to the boy. "Just help me put him on my back," he said to Raphael who nodded and went to help him. After carefully putting the boy on Alex's back, Raphael took some steps back while holding himself from laughing. Alex noticed what he was doing but pretended like he didn't because he was kind of upset that he had to be forced to do something he didn't want to.

"Let's follow this way," Raphael said to him and followed the route he took while going after the third-year students.

As they left their original spot, they came across two boys who were lying unconscious on the ground, and immediately, Alex identified one of them.

"Isn't this Michael?" He asked Raphael who didn't say a word. Following Raphael's grim expression, Alex soon realized what had happened. "I can't believe he would opt to do something like this," he mumbled with a look of disappointment on his face.

"We should not trust anyone," Raphael replied and then crossed over the bodies of the two students.

Alex hissed and crossed over their bodies too. "Are you saying that I should not trust you?" He asked Raphael who abruptly turned around and glared at him before his eyes softened again.

"I'm the only one you should trust!" He replied. The way he said it made it look like it was an order and Alex had to look him twice in the eyes. Seeing how Alex stared at him, Raphael blinked and looked away. "If you can trust only me, I'd be happy," he said in a low voice.

Alex didn't reply to Raphael, and this made him feel more awkward than he already was. He wanted to tell him that he had never intended to make it sound like a demand or an order but how would he bring himself to explain it to him?

While he was still in thought, they arrived at where the other first-year students were and Alex hurriedly went and dropped Finn there.

"Take care of him," he said and without waiting for any of them to say something, he walked away. "Return the bag to them or do you love to carry it around?" He asked Raphael who was lost in thought. Seeing how he was lost in thoughts, he smacked him on the back of his head causing him to jolt abruptly. "What are you always thinking about?" Alex Asked him. "Return the bag and let's head on," he said and began walking away. Raphael quickly returned the bag to the other students and then ran to meet his friend. "Someone is watching us," Alex suddenly said to him when he got close.

"Could be the teachers," Raphael replied but Alex shook his head.

"The teachers are with the other students, they said they would keep their eyes on them so they won't get hurt. Second, the one watching us is not a human. I can feel the demonic aura it is emitting," Alex said and took a left turn.

Raphael followed immediately and they both went deeper into the place. "Are we still being followed?" He asked Alex who nodded his head in reply. "What should we do?" He asked.

"Just follow me closely," Alex replied and kept moving deeper into the forest. When they got to a certain point, he stopped and Raphael also stopped. "It's coming!" He suddenly said and before they could even react, a young girl came at them and grabbed the two of them on their necks.

Alex raised his head as he and Raphael were being forcefully pushed backward and saw a young girl with a horn on her head. She looked as young as him with bright red eyes that were as sharp as the edge of a sword and a lovely smile on her lips. Alex gazed at her and didn't fight back, he let her push them very far away from their original spot but he was troubled by something.