Leo slowly walked across the hall, body drenched in sweat and his breath labored.

  The entire night, he had punched away at Patrick’s hardened body, leaving not a single bruise. But unlike in the fight with Thane, he couldn’t grasp how to cause those shockwaves again. It seemed that the Lieutenant was speaking the truth about awakening as an Unchained.

  Leaning onto a wall, he clenched his hands in frustration.

  ‘Why? What am I missing?!’

  Out of the hundreds, no, thousands of punches he threw at Patrick, not one had he felt a ripple of his Refraction. Even with Patrick’s guidance, he could only throw his weak punches at his unbreakable figure.

  The weird thing was, it wasn’t that he didn’t feel it, it felt as if a chain prevented his gates from opening. If he could just find the key, he could use his Refraction to the fullest!

  Of course, he knew when not to rush things. Patrick had told him of the long process in finally grasping his Refraction. It would be nothing but a miracle to actually use his abilities in just a day, let alone weeks.

  But he still felt it. His weakness compared to the others. When he had been hitting Patrick, he felt the gaping difference between the two. If he was a rifle, Patrick would be a tank, unable to be penetrated by his meager attacks.

  Suddenly, Leo turned around looking into the dark dorm. The lights had been dimmed as it was lights out with the shadows enveloping the tables and doors. They also seemed to be hugging the columns holding the roof up.

  He had gotten a creepy feeling of being watched behind him. Unfortunately, nothing was to be seen, only the eerie darkness filling the large dorm. But he could tell something was wrong with the room’s lights faded. It was obvious this wasn’t a natural phenomenon. Goosebumps quickly spread across his body giving him a small shiver.

  Not wanting to wait for trouble, he quickly went to his room only to find the door cracked open.

  Not wanting to stir the others, he quietly called out. “Anthony? You awake?”

  He peaked through the barred opening of the door, but due to his height, he couldn’t see the floor closer towards the door, only able to see a small shine coming from the table.

  He moved away and peeked through the door crack only to see the light having disappeared, with only the dark room and Anthony snoring in his bed alongside the mirror facing his sleeping figure on the empty table.

  ‘Huh…’

  Confused, Leo quietly entered the room, barely opening the crack more and closing the metal door behind him. He looked at the mirror to see nothing special about it. Scanning the dark room, he saw nothing out of the ordinary either. But what was this feeling he had?

  Although everything was normal, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong. He continued to whip his head around, looking for any abnormalities, but the dense darkness obscured his vision. He moved to flick on the lights only to be stopped by an invisible, no, shadowy hand.

  Leo staggered back but quickly collected himself, prepared to fight back before a familiar voice whispered into his ear.

  “Don’t make a noise, just come out to the hallway leading to the Medbay, we’ll talk there.”

  Leo simply nodded. With that confirmation, the shadowy figure released her grip and disappeared. In the corner of his eye, he saw a blur slip through the door’s crack below.

  Confused and concerned, Leo quietly left the room, shutting the door completely behind him.

  He walked into the hallway leading to the Medbay where he saw the area darker than before, with the moonlight barely cutting through revealing a shadowy figure waiting for him.

  “What was with that, Connie? Why’d you have to do that all of a sudden?”

  Connie stepped forward, revealing her expressionless face replaced with a more serious expression. She raised both her hands up waving them around.

  “It was a last minute thing, but I can confidently say it was for your own safety. You’re welcome by the way.” She pointed at him. “But you got some explaining to do, Leo.”

  Leo was baffled. Why did he have to explain something to her now?

  He couldn’t help but feel slightly offended as he asked in a confused tone, “Explain? What do I need to explain to you about this? You act like I wronged you somehow. But must I remind you you were the one who just appeared in my room?” Leo pointed at Connie as he came to a realization. “And if anything, you’re the one that needs to explain! You’re a Smogborn yet you haven’t mentioned that once! And to top it off, you used it to stalk me!”

  Leo folded his hands. “I thought I was going crazy, but I guess my senses were just right! So? Why don’t you explain that?”

  Connie simply shrugged. But this time she spoke in a much colder tone. “First off, I was not stalking you, I was going to catch up on my much needed sleep. And second of all, who the hell are you to decide what I tell you about my life? I’ve minded my own business and never pried, so what gives you the right to pry into my life? Whether I’m Smogborn or not doesn’t concern you, if anything, it’s more of a reason not to tell you.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  ‘Wasn’t she prying now, though?’

  Connie leaned on the barred window. “But I’m not here to talk about that shit, we’ve got a much larger issue.” She snapped her fingers.

  Leo took a step toward her only to feel something sharp press onto his neck. Stopping in his tracks, Leo glared at Connie without moving his head. “What’s the meaning of this?”

  “It's a precaution. Depending on your answer, I might just kill you, so listen carefully.”

  No longer was the expressionless look on Connie, but a more hostile expression painted itself onto her face. Her eyes were filled with murderous intent as she locked onto Leo’s figure, waiting for any sudden movements for an excuse for her to strike.

  Leo felt the sharp objects press further into him as she asked, “Now answer. What are you doing with a demon contractor?” Although her voice was soft, it was still as sharp as a blade. It was as if she were holding back all she could to destroy him right then and there.

  ‘Demon contractor? The hell is that?’

  Clenching his teeth, Leo quickly opened his mouth. “I have no idea what a demon contractor is, but I can tell you that I don’t have anything to do with a demon, at least not anything friendly.”

  Suddenly, the sharp sensation increased. The moonlight now shown on Leo, allowing to barely see what was causing this pain. At least a dozen black spears were pointed directly at him, all visibly shaking as if expressing Connie’s rage. Each spear oozed some kind of black smoke, not letting Leo see the main body of the weapons. But it was clear as day that these spears had come from Connie’s Refraction.

  Connie yelled, “Liar! How could you say such a thing when you are in the same group as one? Not only that, you protect him! Enough of your lies, spit it out!”

  Confused, Leo hesitantly asked, “What do you mean I’m grouped with one? Anthony’s not what you think!”

  He could hear her teeth scraping against each other as she struggled to stop herself. “Out of respect for our former friendship, I’ll make sure this ends quickly.”

  “Hold on! Hold on! For the love of god, why do you think he’s a contractor!?” Why the hell was she so insistent on calling Anthony a contractor? What had he missed that she didn’t?

  The spears began to reel back, as if preparing to be shot out, all aimed at Leo.

  “I’m telling you, I have no clue what you’re talking about!”

  The spears quickly shot out, aiming to kill him.

  Leo raised his hands in desperation, protecting his head and body. He squeezed his eyes shut and yelled, “I really don’t know!”

  …

  Silence filled the gloomy room.

  Leo slowly inhaled and exhaled. He was alive, or at least, he thought he was. Touching his body, he felt everything still intact and untouched. He opened his eyes to see the spears gone, with the darkness that had encapsulated the hallway replaced with the shine of bright moonlight through the bars. Connie stood in the hall, her figure clearly shown as she fell to her knees.

  A soft, weak voice broke out of her mouth. “Thank goodness…”

  “Huh?”

  Weakly lifting her head, she dropped a note near her knees. “I can’t really speak right now…but please read the note…I’ll be asleep for a bit. I’ll approach you again when I’m feeling better…”

  With that said, she slowly sank into the shadows below her as if sinking into quicksand. Before she completely sank, Leo heard her mutter under her breath, “Stay safe…”

  With her gone, all that was left was the folded note she left behind.

  ‘The fuck?’

  First she tried to kill him, now she’s here warning him to be safe? If anything she would be the danger he has to watch out for!

  Carefully, he walked toward the note, worried about any more traps she set. He picked up the wrinkled note and unfolded it. Upon reading it, his stomach couldn’t help but churn.

  “Hey Leo. If you’re reading this, I guess this means you’ve earned my trust, kinda.. Congrats! Anyways, I know my actions may confuse you and cause you to be more cautious of me, but please understand I did it for my own safety. I’m not physically speaking to you because after I used my Refraction to such an extent, I can’t help but fall into a deep sleep in the shadows. But that’s beside the point. The main issue at hand is your friend, Anthony. I can smell that he’s a demon contractor, and based on the smell, it isn’t some run-of-the-mill demon, but a powerful one. I can’t figure out who or what Anthony’s done, but I know he’s finished the three rituals towards finalizing his state as a contractor. Whatever you do, don’t confront him about this without me, Patrick, or any other guard. If you can, please find a stronger person to help you with this. I know this may not be easy for you, but please be careful in the meantime. I’ll contact you once I’ve reawakened. Please dispose of this note when you’ve finished reading.”

  ‘Smell?’

  What did she mean by that? Of course, Leo was skeptical of this note. How much of this was true? How could he just blindly trust someone he’s met this week, let alone somebody that just threatened his life?

  Of course, one could never be too careful.

  He had to find someone to back him if he was to confront Anthony about her claims. Demon contractor? Him? He couldn’t believe such accusations without seeing it for himself.

  But now begs the main problem.

  Who was he to ask for help?

  If the demon was so much stronger than him like Connie said, Patrick was out of the question. Sure, Patrick was pretty strong, but he had no huge offensive capabilities. If anything, he’d be a meat shield at best. Connie was asleep, so she’s brought out of the equation. That only left one option.

  One of the guards.

  But which one could he rely on? Sina? No, he barely even spoke to her, if at all. Hoffman? He didn’t really know how strong he was, so no. Either way he didn’t even know if he’d be granted permission to see Sina to begin with.

  Wait, was he an idiot?

  Teddy! He was the closest guard he had approached so far. He seemed decently strong and he somewhat trusted him more as they had interacted more. If anything, he seemed happy to help if asked.

  But how much could he tell him? Would he just kill Anthony right off the bat if he knew about the accusations?

  Squeezing the note, he decided to discuss this more with Connie once she woke up. After hearing her out, he’ll bring both Connie and Teddy for this confrontation once and for all.