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GAME OF EXITS CHAPTER 12: THE LONE KING
“Daddy! I want chocolate ice cream. And lollipop. And… cake. And balloons….”
“Of course! For my one and only princess. The cutest and the brightest in the whole world. How about… a new doll? You want a new doll?”
“Yeeees! And… and a teddy bear. Fluffy teddy bear! When are you coming home from work?”
“Soon. Very soon. Big teddy bear? Larger than my princess? Fluffier than cotton candy?”
“Yeeeees! I love you Daddy!”
“I love you more. Please give the phone to Mommy. I’ll tell her I love her….”
Ryan’s eyes become teary as memories of his seven-year-old daughter and dazzling wife keep on flaring in his mind. Ryan can almost feel his daughter’s soft, warm embrace and his wife’s sweet kisses and gentle touch, giving him a sharp pain in the chest, thinking that his princess and queen can possibly lose their king.
“…I love you too Hon…. I have a surprise for you tonight.”
“Really? I love surprises! Your surprises.”
“Of course, you do.”
“I wish I could go home right now….”
A teardrop falls onto the floor.
“Damn that video….” Ryan leans against the red door and wipes his eyes with his right hand. His white polo, white slacks and white leather shoes are now darkened with grime and stained with droplets of his own blood. He stares at the five persons standing at the EXIT door, stoic and cold. From a distance of about 17 meters, they stare back at him creepily under the bright fluorescent bulb as though they were robots programmed to torment the first person they see. Ednelle’s hands and arms suddenly glow like lava, and both of Marco’s arms turn into razor-sharp double-edged swords. With one gesture, Liezel creates red smoke on the floor, encircling her and her allies.
Wasting no time, Ryan encloses his opponents in a large glass prism and constricts it in an attempt to crush everyone inside. The prism, however, turns into maroon dust as soon as Ednelle touches it. Without delay, Marco darts toward Ryan, his sharp arms slightly raised, ready to slice anything blocking his way. Ednelle bolts behind Marco, her arms positioned to make more dust. Adding to the assault, Eduard turns into a spiked steel boulder, rolls, and accelerates toward Ryan. Liezel and Ralph remain standing close to each other at the door. Using her right palm, Liezel draws a circle in the air more than half her size, producing a hovering yellow ring of smoke, like a hula-hoop. The ring follows her attacking allies, hovering near them.
Upon seeing the barrage of threats, Ryan produces a thick glass wall, dividing the room into two. Unsatisfied, he encloses himself in a pyramidal glass cage with spikes on the outside walls, resembling a deformed gigantic sea urchin. Marco continues running, undeterred, and cleanly slices the wall into several pieces as if it were gelatin. Ednelle annihilates the first defense by touching the glass wall, instantly pulverizing it. Edward overtakes his two allies and rams himself against Ryan’s final defense, spikes versus spikes, almost shattering Ryan’s fortress. Ryan knows that he will face his doom if he does nothing sensible, so he produces lots of pointed glass on the ceiling like stalactites and immediately sends them raining on the three attackers. Liezel is quick enough to send her smoke ring just above Marco, and all the pointed glass that go through it instantly vanish, leaving Marco without a scratch. Ednelle quickly protects her head with her arms, but the attack lacerates her back. Still discontented, Ryan produces a glass log in front of his fortress. It quickly grows longer, pushing Eduard away and sending him rolling back across the room, finally banging against the wall near the EXIT door like a billiard ball struck by a large cue stick.
“I AM FAR STRONGER THAN ALL OF YOU!” Ryan growls. He steps forward and repeats the same strategy that he has just used against Eduard, but this time, two pointed glass logs emerge on the east wall and rapidly gets longer, growing directly toward Ednelle and Marco. Things happen too unexpectedly and too fast for Marco to counter-attack, and for Liezel to manipulate her smoke—the glass log hits Marco’s chest, thrusts him toward the west wall and squashes him there like a bloodless cockroach smashed by a giant hammer. Fortunately for Ednelle, she manages to touch the glass log directed her way, pulverizing it straight away. Taken aback, she steps backward while facing Ryan and shakily walks toward Ralph. At the same time, Eduard turns back to normal and also approaches Ralph.
“One down,” Ryan mumbles. Seeing the retreat of his opponents, he turns all his glass into white dust and produces a new protection—this time, a thick glass cube with spikes on the outside walls. Also, he produces loads of spiked glass on the floor, resembling cactuses, in an attempt to hamper his opponents’ attacks. “I’m losing so much time using my power, but they leave me no choice. Do or die….”
A mannequin suddenly appears on the west wall and falls straight onto the floor. Ryan looks at it and cracks a smile, thinking that the battle will soon be over. Sooner than he expected. At the EXIT door, Ralph touches Ednelle’s head. At once, Ednelle’s wounds heal. Then, a spherical blue smoke as large as a tennis ball appears and hovers above Ralph’s head. Afterwards, Ralph touches Eduard’s head, healing all the scratches on his body. Immediately, a marble-sized blue smoke emerges and hovers above his head. Meanwhile, Liezel controls her circular yellow smoke and makes it hover above her.
“They sure like smoke,” Ryan mocks. “Now what? I guess I can crush them like that ‘sword-guy’. They should be thanking me for giving them time to regroup. Damn this pay-with-time power…. I wish I could finish them without producing so many glass…. Maybe… maybe I’ll just end them with this trick….” Ryan tries to produce pointed glass from underneath his opponent’s feet, but he fails. Not long, he is struck by the theory that he can’t produce glass directly from the floor inside Liezel’s red circle. Irritated, Ryan produces a glass column above Liezel and lets it fall onto her. The column passes though the circular smoke hovering above Liezel and instantly disappears. “I’m right. I can’t produce glass from the floor inside the circle, but I can still attack them from other directions….”
Without warning, Ralph points at Ryan, and the tennis ball-sized blue smoke shoots directly at him. Upon hitting the glass, the smoke detonates and blows apart Ryan’s defense. Shards of glass fly in all directions, and Ryan bangs against the wall and falls onto the floor, light-headed and shocked. Shards of glass pierced through Ryan’s torso, upper chest and left hip, leaving him groaning and writhing in pain. Right away, Eduard turns again into a spiked steel boulder, bulldozes the ‘glass cactuses’ on the floor, and heads straight toward Ryan who is trying to get up, shaky and disoriented. Ednelle sprints behind Eduard, her arms itching to send Ryan into his grave. Meanwhile, Liezel sends her yellow smoke near the ceiling directly above Ryan. The smoke turns blue, and a number of pointed glass suddenly materialize from it and start raining onto Ryan. Fortunately, Ryan succeeds in enclosing himself in a small glass prism just in time to protect himself against the fatal glass rain and Eduard’s ruthless assault. Ryan manages to slump on the floor, his back leaning against the door. Blocked by Eduard, Ednelle jumps from behind him and dives onto Ryan’s defense, arms positioned to end the fight with maroon dust piled on the floor. Ryan’s vision is still blurry, but he manages to lift Eduard with a rising glass column, essentially blocking Ednelle’s path. Ednelle collides against Eduard, instantly turning the spiked steel boulder into dust. To finish the combo, Ryan produces on the floor a small glass column shooting upward, giving Ednelle a sharp uppercut that instantly knocks her out.
Ralph runs toward Ednelle and touches her. Immediately, a spherical blue ball as large as a basketball emerges and hovers above his head. Terrified of being blown away again by Ralph’s explosives, Ryan wastes no time to produce two sword-like glass shooting up from the floor, instantly impaling Ednelle who is still lying on the floor, and devastating Ralph’s head. Seconds later, three more mannequins appear on the floor, replacing the dead bodies. Suddenly, a glass column emerges from Liezel’s blue smoke and lands onto Ryan’s prism, almost breaking it. The column topples over and strikes the floor, crushing some of the remaining ‘glass cactuses’. The smoke turns yellow again, retreats, and hovers directly above Liezel.
Ryan fortifies his defense by enclosing himself with another glass prism. “Princess…. I’ll buy you the fluffiest teddy bear…. I promise….” Ryan collapses onto the floor, bleeding and worn to a frazzle, while Liezel is standing silently inside her red circle. The shards of glass piercing Ryan’s body turn into dust, making Ryan bleed even more through his open wounds. Worse, with Ryan unconscious, his prisms turn into white dust, leaving him totally defenseless….
Somewhere in the trail of dreams…
“Johnrey, stop! Why are you so stubborn?” Joriz chases Johnrey who is slowly walking toward a large tree.
“Why are you scared? It’s just a plane.” Johnrey continues walking. “This is what I’ve always wanted. This is a dream come true.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Joriz blocks Johnrey and pushes him back.
Johnrey’s eyebrows clash. “Who are you to stop me?!” Johnrey punches Joriz’ left cheek, leaving him with a bleeding gum. “Get out of my way.”
“How dare you!” Joriz strikes back, punching Johnrey in the nose. “Are you crazy?! Huh?”
Johnrey wipes his bleeding nose with his hand. “What’s happening? Wait…. Why is my nose bleeding?”
“Oh come on….”
“What? Did something hit me?”
“Very well said.”
“Huh?”
“You know, I’m totally confused right now. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I think so. But why is my nose bleeding? Did something happen?”
“Okay, let me ask you something…. Do you see a plane… right there?”
“What plane?”
“Oh my. This is driving me crazy.” Joriz spits blood.
“And why is your mouth bleeding?”
“LET ME GO! I WANT TO SEE MY MOM!” Aeron yells. “What is this? I can’t move! Hey!”
“He’s hallucinating… and out of his mind….” Joriz tells Johnrey.
“I know,” Johnrey says. “I’m aware of that. That’s why we stopped him.”
“And I think I know what to do.”
“Huh?”
“Watch me.” Joriz faces Aeron and strikes him in the nose.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Bringing him back…. Aeron, are you okay?”
“Ugh… W-what’s happening?” Aeron groans.
“See? Mission accomplished,” Joriz says.
“Why am I… Hey! Why did you paste me with this—”
“Relax. It’s okay. I’ll let you go. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Why am I not okay? Are you messing with me?”
“Oh. At last. I’m glad you’re back.” Joriz finally undoes his power and frees Aeron.
“What was that for? And why are we here? Near a cliff….”
“This forest can make us see things and go nuts. Good thing I found out that a punch in the head can do the trick.”
“You punched me?” Aeron wipes his nose and spots blood on his hand. “You really punched me?”
“Yes. But listen: A punch is the remedy for hallucination.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Please! Just believe me. You were acting like you were chasing your mother. And Johnrey was seeing a nonexistent plane.”
“My mother? Are you sure? She’s here? W-Where?”
“Arrrgh! She’s NOT here! Now I know how hard it is to explain something. I understand my teacher now.”
"What are you talking about? Wait…. If we hallucinated, why didn’t you?”
“I don’t know. I’m just glad I didn’t…. By the way, we have to go back and find another way.”
The three start heading back, cautious of the possible threats that may be lurking on both sides of the trail….
“My mom is really here,” Aeron says, pointing at someone near a tree several meters ahead.
“Please. Don’t—” Joriz stops talking as soon as he spots a woman in a long white dress actually standing near a large tree. The woman slowly walks and stands in the trail, blocking their path.
“You think we’re hallucinating?” Johnrey asks Joriz.
“I don’t know. But this is not good.”
“Mom!” Aeron says. “Why are you here?”
“Aeron, be careful!” Joriz shouts. “Maybe she’s not—”
The woman shrieks, producing an earsplitting sound that reverberates throughout the woods.
The three cover their ears, but the shrill sound is too intense for them to tolerate, leaving them groaning in pain.
“This is too much,” Johnrey says. He aims his right palm at the woman and produces a devastating gust of wind, uprooting many trees and sending the woman flying deep into the woods. Then, Johnrey collapses onto the ground, gasping for air.
“Are you okay?” Joriz asks Johnrey.
“I… can’t… b-b-bre—”
“What should I do?”
Johnrey struggles to breathe. After ten seconds, his breathing turns back to normal. “That was… very painful.” Johnrey takes a deep breath as he lies on the ground. “I don’t think I can do that again.”
“I’m relieved you’re okay. But your right ear is bleeding. That sound was really something. I thought I was going to die.”
“Hey, why did you do that? You just killed my mother!” Aeron grabs Johnrey by the collar, almost lifting him off the ground.
“Your mother can yell like that?” Joriz asks.
Aeron remains silent. “Yes…. I mean, no. I think… you’re right.” Aeron releases Johnrey. “She can’t be my mother. She never shouted. I’m sorry…. I just miss her so much.”
“What happened to her?” Joriz asks Aeron. “Your mother.”
“My parents…. They usually fight,” Aeron says. His face suddenly turns bitter. “I can’t forgive my father for hurting Mom. She’s too kind to deserve him. One day, my mom disappears. Just like that. I don’t know what happened to her. And my drunkard father didn’t care….” Aeron snaps out of his memories. “I’m talking too much. Let’s go.”
“Okay. I’m sorry for asking.”
“It’s okay. Hey, Johnrey, you wanna keep on lying there?”
“I still feel some pain in my chest. But I’m okay now, I think.” Johnrey slowly gets up.
“You practically destroyed the trail,” Aeron tells Johnrey as he looks at the mess created by the scattered leaves, broken branches and uprooted trees.
“I didn’t expect my power to be that strong. What should we do now?
“Of course! For my one and only princess. The cutest and the brightest in the whole world. How about… a new doll? You want a new doll?”
“Yeeees! And… and a teddy bear. Fluffy teddy bear! When are you coming home from work?”
“Soon. Very soon. Big teddy bear? Larger than my princess? Fluffier than cotton candy?”
“Yeeeees! I love you Daddy!”
“I love you more. Please give the phone to Mommy. I’ll tell her I love her….”
Ryan’s eyes become teary as memories of his seven-year-old daughter and dazzling wife keep on flaring in his mind. Ryan can almost feel his daughter’s soft, warm embrace and his wife’s sweet kisses and gentle touch, giving him a sharp pain in the chest, thinking that his princess and queen can possibly lose their king.
“…I love you too Hon…. I have a surprise for you tonight.”
“Really? I love surprises! Your surprises.”
“Of course, you do.”
“I wish I could go home right now….”
A teardrop falls onto the floor.
“Damn that video….” Ryan leans against the red door and wipes his eyes with his right hand. His white polo, white slacks and white leather shoes are now darkened with grime and stained with droplets of his own blood. He stares at the five persons standing at the EXIT door, stoic and cold. From a distance of about 17 meters, they stare back at him creepily under the bright fluorescent bulb as though they were robots programmed to torment the first person they see. Ednelle’s hands and arms suddenly glow like lava, and both of Marco’s arms turn into razor-sharp double-edged swords. With one gesture, Liezel creates red smoke on the floor, encircling her and her allies.
Wasting no time, Ryan encloses his opponents in a large glass prism and constricts it in an attempt to crush everyone inside. The prism, however, turns into maroon dust as soon as Ednelle touches it. Without delay, Marco darts toward Ryan, his sharp arms slightly raised, ready to slice anything blocking his way. Ednelle bolts behind Marco, her arms positioned to make more dust. Adding to the assault, Eduard turns into a spiked steel boulder, rolls, and accelerates toward Ryan. Liezel and Ralph remain standing close to each other at the door. Using her right palm, Liezel draws a circle in the air more than half her size, producing a hovering yellow ring of smoke, like a hula-hoop. The ring follows her attacking allies, hovering near them.
Upon seeing the barrage of threats, Ryan produces a thick glass wall, dividing the room into two. Unsatisfied, he encloses himself in a pyramidal glass cage with spikes on the outside walls, resembling a deformed gigantic sea urchin. Marco continues running, undeterred, and cleanly slices the wall into several pieces as if it were gelatin. Ednelle annihilates the first defense by touching the glass wall, instantly pulverizing it. Edward overtakes his two allies and rams himself against Ryan’s final defense, spikes versus spikes, almost shattering Ryan’s fortress. Ryan knows that he will face his doom if he does nothing sensible, so he produces lots of pointed glass on the ceiling like stalactites and immediately sends them raining on the three attackers. Liezel is quick enough to send her smoke ring just above Marco, and all the pointed glass that go through it instantly vanish, leaving Marco without a scratch. Ednelle quickly protects her head with her arms, but the attack lacerates her back. Still discontented, Ryan produces a glass log in front of his fortress. It quickly grows longer, pushing Eduard away and sending him rolling back across the room, finally banging against the wall near the EXIT door like a billiard ball struck by a large cue stick.
“I AM FAR STRONGER THAN ALL OF YOU!” Ryan growls. He steps forward and repeats the same strategy that he has just used against Eduard, but this time, two pointed glass logs emerge on the east wall and rapidly gets longer, growing directly toward Ednelle and Marco. Things happen too unexpectedly and too fast for Marco to counter-attack, and for Liezel to manipulate her smoke—the glass log hits Marco’s chest, thrusts him toward the west wall and squashes him there like a bloodless cockroach smashed by a giant hammer. Fortunately for Ednelle, she manages to touch the glass log directed her way, pulverizing it straight away. Taken aback, she steps backward while facing Ryan and shakily walks toward Ralph. At the same time, Eduard turns back to normal and also approaches Ralph.
“One down,” Ryan mumbles. Seeing the retreat of his opponents, he turns all his glass into white dust and produces a new protection—this time, a thick glass cube with spikes on the outside walls. Also, he produces loads of spiked glass on the floor, resembling cactuses, in an attempt to hamper his opponents’ attacks. “I’m losing so much time using my power, but they leave me no choice. Do or die….”
A mannequin suddenly appears on the west wall and falls straight onto the floor. Ryan looks at it and cracks a smile, thinking that the battle will soon be over. Sooner than he expected. At the EXIT door, Ralph touches Ednelle’s head. At once, Ednelle’s wounds heal. Then, a spherical blue smoke as large as a tennis ball appears and hovers above Ralph’s head. Afterwards, Ralph touches Eduard’s head, healing all the scratches on his body. Immediately, a marble-sized blue smoke emerges and hovers above his head. Meanwhile, Liezel controls her circular yellow smoke and makes it hover above her.
“They sure like smoke,” Ryan mocks. “Now what? I guess I can crush them like that ‘sword-guy’. They should be thanking me for giving them time to regroup. Damn this pay-with-time power…. I wish I could finish them without producing so many glass…. Maybe… maybe I’ll just end them with this trick….” Ryan tries to produce pointed glass from underneath his opponent’s feet, but he fails. Not long, he is struck by the theory that he can’t produce glass directly from the floor inside Liezel’s red circle. Irritated, Ryan produces a glass column above Liezel and lets it fall onto her. The column passes though the circular smoke hovering above Liezel and instantly disappears. “I’m right. I can’t produce glass from the floor inside the circle, but I can still attack them from other directions….”
Without warning, Ralph points at Ryan, and the tennis ball-sized blue smoke shoots directly at him. Upon hitting the glass, the smoke detonates and blows apart Ryan’s defense. Shards of glass fly in all directions, and Ryan bangs against the wall and falls onto the floor, light-headed and shocked. Shards of glass pierced through Ryan’s torso, upper chest and left hip, leaving him groaning and writhing in pain. Right away, Eduard turns again into a spiked steel boulder, bulldozes the ‘glass cactuses’ on the floor, and heads straight toward Ryan who is trying to get up, shaky and disoriented. Ednelle sprints behind Eduard, her arms itching to send Ryan into his grave. Meanwhile, Liezel sends her yellow smoke near the ceiling directly above Ryan. The smoke turns blue, and a number of pointed glass suddenly materialize from it and start raining onto Ryan. Fortunately, Ryan succeeds in enclosing himself in a small glass prism just in time to protect himself against the fatal glass rain and Eduard’s ruthless assault. Ryan manages to slump on the floor, his back leaning against the door. Blocked by Eduard, Ednelle jumps from behind him and dives onto Ryan’s defense, arms positioned to end the fight with maroon dust piled on the floor. Ryan’s vision is still blurry, but he manages to lift Eduard with a rising glass column, essentially blocking Ednelle’s path. Ednelle collides against Eduard, instantly turning the spiked steel boulder into dust. To finish the combo, Ryan produces on the floor a small glass column shooting upward, giving Ednelle a sharp uppercut that instantly knocks her out.
Ralph runs toward Ednelle and touches her. Immediately, a spherical blue ball as large as a basketball emerges and hovers above his head. Terrified of being blown away again by Ralph’s explosives, Ryan wastes no time to produce two sword-like glass shooting up from the floor, instantly impaling Ednelle who is still lying on the floor, and devastating Ralph’s head. Seconds later, three more mannequins appear on the floor, replacing the dead bodies. Suddenly, a glass column emerges from Liezel’s blue smoke and lands onto Ryan’s prism, almost breaking it. The column topples over and strikes the floor, crushing some of the remaining ‘glass cactuses’. The smoke turns yellow again, retreats, and hovers directly above Liezel.
Ryan fortifies his defense by enclosing himself with another glass prism. “Princess…. I’ll buy you the fluffiest teddy bear…. I promise….” Ryan collapses onto the floor, bleeding and worn to a frazzle, while Liezel is standing silently inside her red circle. The shards of glass piercing Ryan’s body turn into dust, making Ryan bleed even more through his open wounds. Worse, with Ryan unconscious, his prisms turn into white dust, leaving him totally defenseless….
Somewhere in the trail of dreams…
“Johnrey, stop! Why are you so stubborn?” Joriz chases Johnrey who is slowly walking toward a large tree.
“Why are you scared? It’s just a plane.” Johnrey continues walking. “This is what I’ve always wanted. This is a dream come true.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Joriz blocks Johnrey and pushes him back.
Johnrey’s eyebrows clash. “Who are you to stop me?!” Johnrey punches Joriz’ left cheek, leaving him with a bleeding gum. “Get out of my way.”
“How dare you!” Joriz strikes back, punching Johnrey in the nose. “Are you crazy?! Huh?”
Johnrey wipes his bleeding nose with his hand. “What’s happening? Wait…. Why is my nose bleeding?”
“Oh come on….”
“What? Did something hit me?”
“Very well said.”
“Huh?”
“You know, I’m totally confused right now. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I think so. But why is my nose bleeding? Did something happen?”
“Okay, let me ask you something…. Do you see a plane… right there?”
“What plane?”
“Oh my. This is driving me crazy.” Joriz spits blood.
“And why is your mouth bleeding?”
“LET ME GO! I WANT TO SEE MY MOM!” Aeron yells. “What is this? I can’t move! Hey!”
“He’s hallucinating… and out of his mind….” Joriz tells Johnrey.
“I know,” Johnrey says. “I’m aware of that. That’s why we stopped him.”
“And I think I know what to do.”
“Huh?”
“Watch me.” Joriz faces Aeron and strikes him in the nose.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Bringing him back…. Aeron, are you okay?”
“Ugh… W-what’s happening?” Aeron groans.
“See? Mission accomplished,” Joriz says.
“Why am I… Hey! Why did you paste me with this—”
“Relax. It’s okay. I’ll let you go. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Why am I not okay? Are you messing with me?”
“Oh. At last. I’m glad you’re back.” Joriz finally undoes his power and frees Aeron.
“What was that for? And why are we here? Near a cliff….”
“This forest can make us see things and go nuts. Good thing I found out that a punch in the head can do the trick.”
“You punched me?” Aeron wipes his nose and spots blood on his hand. “You really punched me?”
“Yes. But listen: A punch is the remedy for hallucination.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Please! Just believe me. You were acting like you were chasing your mother. And Johnrey was seeing a nonexistent plane.”
“My mother? Are you sure? She’s here? W-Where?”
“Arrrgh! She’s NOT here! Now I know how hard it is to explain something. I understand my teacher now.”
"What are you talking about? Wait…. If we hallucinated, why didn’t you?”
“I don’t know. I’m just glad I didn’t…. By the way, we have to go back and find another way.”
The three start heading back, cautious of the possible threats that may be lurking on both sides of the trail….
“My mom is really here,” Aeron says, pointing at someone near a tree several meters ahead.
“Please. Don’t—” Joriz stops talking as soon as he spots a woman in a long white dress actually standing near a large tree. The woman slowly walks and stands in the trail, blocking their path.
“You think we’re hallucinating?” Johnrey asks Joriz.
“I don’t know. But this is not good.”
“Mom!” Aeron says. “Why are you here?”
“Aeron, be careful!” Joriz shouts. “Maybe she’s not—”
The woman shrieks, producing an earsplitting sound that reverberates throughout the woods.
The three cover their ears, but the shrill sound is too intense for them to tolerate, leaving them groaning in pain.
“This is too much,” Johnrey says. He aims his right palm at the woman and produces a devastating gust of wind, uprooting many trees and sending the woman flying deep into the woods. Then, Johnrey collapses onto the ground, gasping for air.
“Are you okay?” Joriz asks Johnrey.
“I… can’t… b-b-bre—”
“What should I do?”
Johnrey struggles to breathe. After ten seconds, his breathing turns back to normal. “That was… very painful.” Johnrey takes a deep breath as he lies on the ground. “I don’t think I can do that again.”
“I’m relieved you’re okay. But your right ear is bleeding. That sound was really something. I thought I was going to die.”
“Hey, why did you do that? You just killed my mother!” Aeron grabs Johnrey by the collar, almost lifting him off the ground.
“Your mother can yell like that?” Joriz asks.
Aeron remains silent. “Yes…. I mean, no. I think… you’re right.” Aeron releases Johnrey. “She can’t be my mother. She never shouted. I’m sorry…. I just miss her so much.”
“What happened to her?” Joriz asks Aeron. “Your mother.”
“My parents…. They usually fight,” Aeron says. His face suddenly turns bitter. “I can’t forgive my father for hurting Mom. She’s too kind to deserve him. One day, my mom disappears. Just like that. I don’t know what happened to her. And my drunkard father didn’t care….” Aeron snaps out of his memories. “I’m talking too much. Let’s go.”
“Okay. I’m sorry for asking.”
“It’s okay. Hey, Johnrey, you wanna keep on lying there?”
“I still feel some pain in my chest. But I’m okay now, I think.” Johnrey slowly gets up.
“You practically destroyed the trail,” Aeron tells Johnrey as he looks at the mess created by the scattered leaves, broken branches and uprooted trees.
“I didn’t expect my power to be that strong. What should we do now?
