Chapter 4 [Part 2]

Reito and Tris have been looking for the paper everywhere but luck was not on their side today

Tris sat down on a nearby rock and huffed before speaking "It's not even windy… then where could it be?"

Reito silently glanced at him before averting his gaze to look around

Tris got up and stretched before continuing to walk towards other bushes

"Found it" Reito announced as Tris jumped and ran more like bolted towards Reito

"Where is it!?" Tris impatiently announced, looking at Reito

Reito raised a letter and Tris nodded

He opened the letter and looked inside it, only to get only a few words

River of Sirens

Reito frowned, Already knowing this clue… He glanced towards Tris with an eyebrow raised but deadpanned when he saw Tris's expression

Tris looked like he had just seen a ghost as he stood there without moving a muscle

"What?" Reito asked but saw that Tris was still in the same position as he was before

He moved a hand in front of Tris and fortunately that snapped him out

"Reito! Do you know anything about that river!?"

"No"

"Of course! Because nobody is dumb enough to jump right at their deaths!" Tris started pacing back and forth as he started gritting his teeth in fright

"What do you mean 'Jump right at their deaths?' " Reito rubbed his forehead, already expecting an upcoming headache

"The river of sirens is difficult to go through! Once you enter their territory near the river then your doomed! The sirens will hypnotize you and lure you near the river before pulling their sharp claws out and ripping your heart right out of your chest! And then they drop your body in front of the forest for everyone to see!" Tris looked more terrified as he explained everything

"Is this all confirmed?"

"Yes! An elderly woman found her son's dead body near the entrance of the forest with all his limbs intact except he was missing his heart, The woman explained that there was a hole in her son's chest where his heart is supposed to be" Tris put a hand over his heart as if the sirens will come and attack at him any moment

"The people that kidnapped master as truly clever for choosing such a dangerous path…"

"Of course! Which psycho goes through a dangerous path just to not get caught"

Reito thought for a bit before looking at Tris

"I'll go to the river while you look after Rael and Lian"

Tris looked at him like he had grown three heads and started shaking his head

"You can not go there! What if you don't return!? What will I tell your master then!?"

"Lian can not protect herself with her lack of fighting skills, Rael is in a vulnerable state to even acknowledge his surroundings, Both of them needs someone to protect them and by the state of you earlier, it seemed you were terrified of the river… so I am the only option left"

"I won't let you go there! Aunty Lian and Rael won't agree either"

"It's either that or master gets to suffer!!" Reito gritted his teeth as Tris looked at him sternly

"Fine… but be careful, I do not want to be the one to be the bearer of bad news to Hoshi…"

Reito nodded as he saw Tris run inside the house

He started walking towards the forest but halted in his step when he realized something

"Where is the river located again…?"

*********

"What place is this" Reito frowned as he raised a tree branch to see clearly

All he could see were tree, animals, flowers, fruits, flowers and sunlight… but no sign of any river

Reito pursed his lips and walked forward; He dusted his shoulders as his long hair that was once tied in a low ponytail had become a tangled mess

"Master will kill me if he ever saw my appearance" Reito murmured but stopped in his tracks when he saw something in the corner of his eyes

There was a deer peacefully sleeping in the sunlight

His eyes narrowed as he licked his lips, He hadn't had deer in so long and he was currently starving as well

Reito opened his mouth like a predator as his sharp canine teeth started showing

In a split second, the deer was on the ground bleeding as Reito held it tightly

Reito's eyes darkened at the sight of the deer taking its last breaths, His mouth unconsciously formed into a grin as his bloody teeth were shown

***********

In the dark dungeon, sounds of chains could be heard as some prisoners were asleep as others were bowing their heads down, scared to the point of not ever raising their heads

Hoshi's breath was coming out shallow as he thickly swallowed saliva to keep his throat from drying out completely

He weakly tugged on the chains but nothing worked, just like all the other days

Hoshi's lips trembled as his eyes started to tear up

"I am once again helpless…" Hoshi pursed his lips before glancing at Bella who was peacefully napping near his foot

He looked up at the chains restraining his wrists and observed them

"Here goes nothing" Hoshi whispered before tugging hard at his wrists to the extent to make him want to scream in pain but Hoshi gritted his teeth as he kept pulling his hands in an attempt to break the chains

He stopped when he couldn't handle the pain anymore as his body tensed from the pain

"Am I fool to think that simple force can break the chains…" He murmured as he started breathing heavily due to exhaustion

"Rael… Uncle Steve… aunty Lian… Reito… Please be safe…" Hoshi whispered as his eyes started to feel drowsy

Unbeknownst to him, Black worried eyes stared at him from afar