Chapter 36: Weird Death
As Caspian lay on his bed, his head felt like a scattered mess. He couldn't formulate any thoughts as he stared at the ceiling. His body felt like it was floating, just like an illusion, but he felt enormous pain all over due to overexerting himself.
After a while, he whispered, "Is this a regular occurrence in the supernatural world…?"
The moment he said that, a voice whispered next to him, "Yeah, it's terrifying, isn't it?"
He tilted his head lightly to face the person who spoke and saw Grace sitting on the chair beside his bed. He couldn't help but say, "How did you appear out of nowhere?"
"I entered through the window," Grace laughed as she pointed at the open window. Caspian just laid his head back as he looked at the ceiling once more with a sigh, saying, "I feel powerless."
Grace just smiled bitterly after hearing that as she ruffled Caspian's hair while saying, "It's natural. You were just a regular person until months ago, and various supernatural beings are already centuries old and are naturally stronger than most. Though, some talented ones are already at the top despite being so young."
"Well… how old are you, mom?" Caspian lightly tilted his head, waiting for Grace to answer.
With a wry smile, Grace leaned back and replied, "I'm already an old hag. I'm about two centuries old."
"Damn, I didn't know that," Caspian chuckled.
Grace just sighed as she lightly pinched Caspian's nose. She then said, "Get some rest, Caspian. You and Abby already exerted your strengths past your limit; I'll stay guard… just go to sleep."
Caspian warmly smiled as he nodded. His mother smiled back after caressing his head once more. As Caspian closed his eyes, a light feeling encompassed him, making him feel as if he was floating in a river. His consciousness then faded away as he slept soundly.
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In the meadow of shadows came running, a figure being chased by what seemed to be a horrific monster covered in blood. Its eyes glowed with intense bloodlust as it propelled itself forward using its hind legs and rushed at the terrified figure.
In no time, the figure was caught by the monster; a shrill scream came from its mouth. With a soft caress, the monster spoke deeply, "YOUR DEATH IS THE BEGINNING OF TORMENT"
With a terrifying bellow, the monster opened its mouth with its large, sharp teeth, ready to devour the figure. The figure could not even speak as its fear held its voice.
The monster then bit the figure's body, making it start to bulge as its veins became apparent. Pain overcame the figure as its eyes flashed different colors, its face becoming lifeless, and a terrifying aura loomed over it. Its body exploded and healed rapidly, being destroyed seamlessly.
After a while, the monster licked its lips as it seemed to laugh while its body disintegrated. The figure stood, its features dulled by an overcoming aura. As the darkness dispersed, the figure could finally be seen. It had hazel eyes, brown hair, and a tall stature… it was… Caspian.
A glow of light then emerged, a light that could burn through your soul. A voice then shouted, "Condemnation to all beings! A cleansing must rise!"
The figure of light then directed itself toward Caspian, and as it reached Caspian, his hand exploded into bits. His reaction was nothing as his hand grew back; anger suddenly rushed him.
With a stomp, he angrily launched himself at the light; a thirst for destruction corroded his mind. The figure of light then directed itself toward Caspian once more, and as it reached Caspian, everything faded to black.
"HAAH!" Caspian gasped loudly as he sat down on his bed in a rush. He was breathing heavily and raggedly as he quickly glanced at his body. His body was covered in sweat and dirt…? As he took a deep breath, he couldn't help but cough at how disgusting it smelt.
He gazed outside the window and saw that it was still dawn, but he felt his sleepiness fade away just after smelling the horrid air.
Grace, who was outside, asked in a loud voice with apparent concern, "Are you okay, Caspian?"
"Yeah, I'm fine mom, just needed a breath of fresh air," Caspian replied as he started picking those pieces of grime off his body. His face couldn't help but twist due to the putrid smell.
He then stood up, rushed to the shower, and rinsed himself off. With a deep breath, he looked at himself in the mirror, confused and shocked at what had happened, "What the fuck was that dream… it felt surreal."
He then sat down on the bathtub as he felt his body tremble. His eyes were shaky as they started glowing lightly tinted with red. He then turned on the shower to cool himself down, and after a while, he got dressed and looked at his bed.
The bed looked disgusting as it was filled with this dirt. He then removed all of his sheets and brought them to the laundry room. Grace saw him as he did that and asked, "What happened? And what's that smell?"
"It's these sheets."
When Abby, who was currently cooking, heard that, she laughed loudly as she said, "Did you pee on your bed, little baby?"
Caspian couldn't help but chuckle as he said, "No, but something weird happened. I had this weird dream or vision, as you may call it, and when I woke up, my body was covered in grime with this awful smell."
"Did you, by any chance, go through a breakthrough!?" Abby excitedly said.
Grace, who was contemplating it, nodded her head lightly. "That could be the case since your body cleanses itself when breaking through, as I told you before. But that doesn't explain the visions that you were saying. Congratulations on the breakthrough, though. You still have a bit more till you evolve, but everything counts."
Caspian's mouth curved upwards as he said, "So that's what you meant by cleansing…. And about that vision, I think it was just a nightmare, so it's best we forget about it."
"Aw, our baby still has nightmares," Abby said childishly, making both Caspian and Grace laugh.
"Well, I'm gonna get these sheets clean."
"Yeah, and we still have work today, so go get ready," Abby said.
"Yeah, yeah, I already got ready in advance."
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After about half an hour, Caspian finished washing the clothes, and they all had already eaten and got ready.
Grace then said, "Well, I gotta go help in investigating those chimeras, so I have to go. Stay safe, Caspian… Abby. I left a car for you outside to use, so you don't have to bother commuting to the station."
Both Caspian and Abby nodded their heads as Grace left the vicinity. They then looked at each other as they also left the apartment. Even though Caspian had slight trauma over the situation, it all felt so surreal that it didn't even affect him that much.
Caspian and Abby then entered the new car and quickly headed toward the station.
After a while, they arrived, and both headed to their duties. Caspian then entered his office and saw the stack of paperwork that he hadn't done because they had to compile all of the documents about the blood types yesterday.
He was exasperated, but he just started doing all the paperwork and making sure that he'll be able to finish all of it in one day. Just as he was drinking coffee, there was a knock on his door. He beckoned the person knocking to come in, and a scarlet-haired woman came in.
"Anything new, Scarlet?" Caspian asked as he placed his mug down.
Scarlet nodded and replied, "Yeah, the cleaners found something in the previous victim's house. I just forgot to give it to you yesterday."
"Oh?" Caspian said curiously. Scarlet then pulled something out of her purse that was contained in a ziplock bag and handed it over to Caspian.
Caspian grabbed and glimpsed at it and saw that it was a smartphone. He then glanced at Scarlet slightly as he opened the zip lock bag and looked closer at the phone. Caspian then pressed the power button, which didn't open, causing Scarlet to say, "I still haven't turned the phone on. It could be low on battery or dead."
"Well, let's take our chances and say that it has no battery," Caspian smiled wryly as he grabbed a charger from his drawer and plugged the phone in.
Luckily, it actually charged, causing both Caspian and Scarlet to sigh in relief.
After a while, Caspian turned on the phone.
"Hmm, who doesn't have passwords on their phone nowadays?" Caspian had a wry and empathetic expression on his face.
Scarlet simply sighed as she said, "She's probably an introvert or just a person who doesn't go out that much. Poor girl."
Caspian nodded in agreement. Caspian then started snooping around the phone and saw nothing that suspicious, including the messages she got and other stuff. Then Caspian finally decided to look over the photos.
As he glossed over the images, he saw pictures of the girl just over a year ago. She looked like an average introvert who takes care of themselves but just doesn't go out that much. Some pictures of her art, and then after that, over two weeks ago, the photos drastically changed.
There was another person in the pictures, their face barely visible as it was blurred due to the person moving, but the girl's appearance changed into someone that looked incredibly outgoing.
And after that, just a day before her death, four pictures were revealed. One was of a random building, and the other one was her and her boyfriend, whose face was now barely visible. Next was a picture of her naked with her boyfriend unseen, and lastly, a picture of her with an ecstatic face and a bulging body, with some of her body parts exploding.
Caspian's eyes shook as he saw that. A feeling of tiredness and pain attacked his head as he clutched it tightly.
Scarlet, who was looking at Caspian, was sincerely confused as she asked in a worried tone.
"Caspian…?"