Strange Town (4)

 Aerine had never thought to seek help from him again, at least not very soon. However, in a desperate situation, she seemed to always think of him, just like how he saved her from that hopeless situation she was in. 

"What... What should we do? Tell me..." Divine seemed to have broken down as she squatted on the sand while crying. 

What has happened to them could really mess with one's mentality, especially for people who had never believed that supernatural events were real. 

In fact, even Aerine, who was part of the supernatural world, was also shaken by this situation. 

Sheena, while not crying on the ground like Divine, was also showing signs of breaking down due to fear. It was only Ronald who was trying to hold it in and appeared calm on the surface. 

Aerine looked at the town ahead of them. It was as peaceful as it had ever been, as though there wasn't a group of tourists who were desperate to leave this place. 

What was scarier was that, even though Aerine and the group had walked a few hours in the desert, whenever they returned, it was the same scenario, and the time seemed to have stopped for them. 

What was wrong? Aerine tried to calm herself. She thought of any creatures that she knew that could cause this phenomenon in this town. However, she was also not that knowledgeable in the supernatural world, and the things she knew were those her mother had told her about. 

But even then, unless she smelled them once, Aerine had no way of knowing exactly who or what had made this town strange. 

After a while, Aerine helplessly exhaled. At the end of the day, she was still weak. And if something dangerous were lurking around this town, there was no way she could protect everyone here, including herself. 

If they were on the sea... Perhaps Aerine could make use of the waves, but in this desert, which lacked water to begin with, her identity as a siren had little use.

Just how could she be involved in an unexpected encounter like this as soon as she left the city? Was she extremely unlucky? 

"Should we head back?" This question woke them up as they all looked at Ronald, who asked this question. 

Divine's eyes, which were soaked with tears immediately, began to be filled with fury. 

"Are you fucking kidding me? Return to that strange town?" Divine shouted at him. 

Ronald furrowed his brows from being shouted at, but since Divine's emotions were out of control at this moment because of the situation, he didn't meet her anger head-on.

Instead, he explained with a calm tone to them. 

"I know, this is all fucking scary. I'm also afraid, okay? But what can we do? Shall we wander all over this desert even if we know it's damn pointless?" Ronald couldn't help but raise his voice at the end of his words because of the height of his emotions. 

Divine, at last, didn't offer any rebuttals. Sheena had only been crying silently earlier. Aerine, on the other hand, was contemplating his words. 

After a few minutes, Aerine's shoulder slumped and she took a deep breath. 

"We're tired. Let's just... go back, for now." In the end, she had to agree with Ronald. 

Since they couldn't leave anyway, perhaps... They could wait until after their trip was over? Aerine was also not convinced by this, but how could they leave here when they were only being guided once more in this town? 

Worst comes to worst... Aerine would thicken her face and call for her contractor. Even so, she wasn't sure if he would heed her request. 

Divine seemed reluctant but had no choice but to swallow her fear as they returned to the town once more. 

When they entered the town again Divine almost broke down to tears once more while Sheena covered her face; her knees were shaking. Ronald almost cursed out loud at how ridiculous this was. Aerine also shut her eyes and touched her chest to calm her emotions while taking a few deep breaths.

It was because... The staff greeted them enthusiastically, just like their first day there, and they never remembered their group, even if... It had only been a few hours since they left. 

Unlike on the first day, there wasn't any light of excitement in their eyes, only fear.

Soon, time passed again, now that they were inside the town. The group didn't even have any intention to proceed with any activities or the objectives of their trip. 

There was no way they could concentrate.

And just as Aerine thought things wouldn't escalate for the worst... The next day, the horror surrounding them seemed to only begin. At first, it was Sheena. 

The town seemed to assimilate even the tourists to the strange town as Sheena began to show signs of being similar to the residents. And then it was... Divine. And the next was Ronald. 

Two days before the trip ends, Aerine is the only normal one left inside the strange town. For a moment, she had this thought of... Was she indeed the normal one or them? 

She began to doubt this after seeing her group do the same movements and activities over and over again. Aerine also seemed to become invisible to everyone's eyes unless she actively interacted with them. 

Standing on the balcony, Aerine watched everyone below. It was the same peaceful town, but the horror within even made her terrified. 

When would she be like them? Would she become like them after a while? Aerine had never been terrified of such a possibility. She still had a lot of things that she wanted to accomplish. 

She would still return and give her mother a proper burial. 

No, Aerine shook these negative thoughts out of her head. Why would she despair this early on? Even before, when she was on the brink of death, she still had the courage to hope. 

And so... that hope, managed to give her a miracle. She met a devil. 

They were never creatures of benevolence, and it was wrong to treat them as such, but Aerine could hope for something almost impossible again. 

Mr. Devil. Aerine shut her eyes and felt her mark as she sincerely called him. This was shameless of her, but… for her safety, she could call the devil over and over again. 

My everything is yours... and so... please, come and save me once more, Mr. Devil.

Miles away from Aerine's location, in a certain room, a man was leisurely sitting while his arm was leaning on the arm of his seat. Suddenly, his eyes opened abruptly, and he looked up as though he could pierce and see anything, no matter the distance.

"Heh, my siren is summoning me again? Interesting." 

Lucian amusingly smiled, and his body disappeared as though he had never been there to begin with.