Removing the blanket from his face slowly as he felt his heart racing with nervousness, Ward began to see something strange in the darkness of his room. It was a black shadow.
[ I'm here, can you see? ]
Again Will's voice appeared in Ward's mind, but Ward was confused since he couldn't see his friend's appearance very well. Only a black shadow was there.
"I can't see you very well, it's dark," Ward said as he tried to force his eyes a little to see his friend in the darkness, but unfortunately, he couldn't see anything.
[ Right. I'll turn around slowly, maybe then you'll be able to see my face. But you have to promise me that you won't get scared. ]
Ward heard those words and swallowed his saliva as he thought of an appropriate response. What would happen if he said he wouldn't be scared and he ended up being scared? Would Will be angry?
'But I need to answer. If I don't answer maybe Will will leave and I don't want that.' Ward was worried about how his relationship with his friend would turn out if he said no.
But he also worried about his relationship if he said yes and ended up being afraid of Will.
He didn't know what to do at the moment.
[ Do you promise? ]
Hearing that question, Ward eventually answered without thinking.
"Yes, I promise." He said as he felt his throat close a little because of nervousness. His words almost caught in his throat.
[ Okay, then I'll turn around slowly. ]
Then Ward began to see the shadow moving slowly. At the same time, his nervousness increased.
His hands began to tremble as he gripped the blanket.
'Damn, should I have promised that?' Feeling a great need to protect his face, Ward began to see two large red glows coming from that shadow. Two large red balls.
Those eyes looking deep into him began to cause great terror in Ward. So he pulled back a little to get his body from away the thing in front of him.
[ Here I am. Why are you crawling away? ]
At Will's words, large white teeth that glowed in the dark appeared. Just below these two big red balls, a huge mouth appeared.
Perhaps a mouth big enough to swallow Ward's entire head.
'Shit, shit, it's that demon.' Ward thought silently as he moved a little further away.
Ward looked at his sister's bed next to him, but Luna wasn't moving. He wanted to scream for her, but he remembered the promise he had made with his friend.
'Is that really Will? I'm not being tricked?'
[ Why do you look so scared? You promised me you wouldn't be scared. ]
"I'm not... I'm not scared, I'm just a little surprised by your appearance." Ward said with a little trembling in his voice.
[ You're trembling. ]
Ward noticed that shadow coming even closer to him. The shadow that had previously been at Ward's feet began to walk across the bed towards the boy who by now had shrunk his body to the wall beside the bed.
"I'm not, I'm fine."
[ You're scared. ]
"I already said I'm not, all right?" Ward who's voice was a little shaky couldn't control the level of his voice very well, so he ended up speaking too loudly.
Luna who heard her brother's voice slowly opened her eyes as she mumbled Ward's name.
"Are you okay?" She asked as she looked at Ward's bed. But because of the dark, she couldn't see little Will on her brother's bed walking towards his.
[ You're not going to answer? ]
Will asked as he smiled at Ward and walked closer and closer.
Ward felt every hair on his body tingle the moment he saw that smile. His eyes widened because of the extreme dread he was feeling.
'Sister.' He closed his eyes and small tears appeared. At the same time, he lifted the blanket and shielded his face as his body trembled and he felt an enormous need to call his sister.
But looked he was paralysis, his voice wouldn't come out.
'Sister, please get up.' He thought as he cried.
"Ward? Are you okay?"
Ward heard his sister's voice calling him again, and at the same time, he could see a light through the blanket. It was as if his sister had turned on the lampshade that was next to the beds.
Ward pulled down the blanket that protected his face as he breathed a sigh of relief.
But as he removed the blanket, Ward's heart stopped beating at the same instant.
[ Are you all right, Ward? ]
Will's face, right next to his, took him by surprise. At the same time, the brightly lit room had turned dark again, it was as if the previous light had never existed.
Will stared into the eyes of the stunned Ward, who was paralyzed with fear.
Ward felt his body go limp as his straw mattress was soaked in his urine.
Soon after, his heart seemed to start beating again, but in an accelerated manner.
As he felt his vision go dark, Ward noticed Will's mouth slowly "swallowing his face".
####
It was morning, Luna woke up slowly and wiped her eyes as she crawled out of bed.
"Good morning, Ward." Thinking that Ward was already awake, she stood up and greeted him. But since she got no response, she got up and went to the bathroom and washed her face.
Once in the bedroom again, she went to Ward's bed, which was a bit of a mess.
His blanket was wrapped around his body like a butterfly cocoon. Also, his blanket was a little wet and it was stinking.
"Time to wake up, come on." Luna shook Ward to wake him up without caring about the stench of urine from the blanket. Since Ward did this sometimes, she was used to it.
Although now they are in an inn.
"Whatever, I'll let him sleep a little longer." After that, she began to change clothes to start her first day's work. She put on her dress and also the apron.
After that, she went down to the first floor and chatted a bit with Raquel. As it was very early, the guests had not yet come down for breakfast. So Luna had coffee with Raquel before going back up to her room.
"Hey, Ward, are you still sleeping?" Luna approached the bed and then pulled the blanket forcibly off Ward's body. The boy's body rolled on the bed as she ripped the blanket off.
Looking down at the bed, Luna saw her brother sleeping peacefully.
"Hey, it's time." She moved closer to him and gave him a small slap on his forehead. But she got no response again.
"Hey, Ward. Wake up!" Starting to get worried about the state her brother was in, Luna put her face close to Ward's nose to see if he was breathing. Fortunately, his breathing seemed normal.
His heart was also beating normally.
"What's going on? Ward? Hey, Ward?" Luna shook Ward a little more, and then immediately slapped his face a little to wake him up.
"Waa?" And after her slap, Ward's eyes suddenly opened and he grabbed Luna's wrist tightly. He looked at her as if he was very angry, making Luna extremely scared.
"Hey, you're hurting me." She said as she tried to loosen herself from Ward's grip.
"You so weak and you were thinking of joining the adventurer's guild?" Ward said as he tilted his head and looked with his wide eyes at his sister.
"What is it now? You're acting weird. Let me go already!" Getting a little impatient, Luna slapped her brother's hand hard. After the slap, Ward seemed to have come to his senses and looked at Luna worriedly.
Not understanding what he had done, he looked around startled looking for something.
"Hey, what is it? Are you feeling anything?" Noticing the desperation and concern in the look in her brother's eyes, Luna approached him and hugged him lovingly. Ward received her hug but continued to look around.
He looked in every corner of the bedroom looking extremely frightened.
"Did you see something? Was it that demon again?" Finally remembering the demon they had seen yesterday, Luna looked at Ward as she asked this, but the boy did not answer.
He remained silent looking around.
"I can't leave you here like this." Luna hugged him again trying to calm him down.
At the same time, The door to the room opened and revealed a worried Raquel.
"What's wrong? You're going to be late."
"It's just that Ward doesn't seem to be feeling well."
"What's he feeling?"
"He was taking a while to wake up and then now he is scared and was looking around non-stop."
"Maybe he just had a bad dream."
"Could be... But..." Luna felt Ward's body shake.
"That doesn't seem to be because of a nightmare."
At Luna's words, Raquel curiously approached Ward and looked at him.
Realizing the state he was in, she also looked worried.
"It's okay, you can take care of him for today, you can start the work tomorrow."