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Wonderland Untold Tales part 1

Wonderland Untold Tales

Volume 1

Takano Masamune

Chapter 1: Story (1)

***

“I love you…” Those were the words I heard ringing in my head… The man that stood before me was tall, not overly muscular, handsome, and incredibly alluring… However beneath his feet there was the corpse of a man I recognized…

I had just witnessed my first confession as well as a murder…

Usually anyone would be over the moon to have someone admit their feelings to them but my heart wasn’t pounding with excitement but fear instead… How was I supposed to respond to this person?

As I stood there completely baffled by the sight, I heard the police siren in the distance. This man Patrick Starlight, was his name. He grabbed my hand and lead me away from the police. And I couldn’t even resist him as I was still panicked.

In the empty alleyway, it was midnight, the only sounds around us were drunken men staggering about, the police sirens, an ambulance in the distance and the sound of my own heavy breathing…

While the man that held my hand in his wasn’t moved at all. He wasn’t out of breath, he wasn’t conflicted, he was so calm that it made me feel all the more on edge.

What is going to happen to me now?

“You don’t need to respond to me right now… But please consider my feelings… if possible…” Patrick spoke in a low manner, I couldn’t quite tell if he was disappointed by my silence or angry with me. He let go of my hand and handed me some money. “You lost your wallet, right? Please go back home, I’ll call a taxi for you.”

“That guy…” I managed to mutter under my breath.

“Don’t worry about him, go home and rest. I’m sorry about what you saw tonight.” Patrick moved closer to me and placed his hand over my eyes to cover them. I could feel a faint scent of copper in the air, it was his blood stained hand that he held up to me. I was terrified… Why was he apologizing to me?

“I’ll… go back now…” I told him. And he did as he told me, he called a taxi for me. But I didn’t allow the taxi to take me back to my apartment. Instead I went to a friend’s house. Jenifer… she was my childhood best friend and someone that always managed to reassure me whenever I was feeling down.

But instead of speaking with her I simply fell asleep. I wanted the sleep to wash away the inexplicable emotions I felt that night… and tomorrow I’d return to my usual life… the same old life…

*

*

*

“You’re not even paying attention in my class, are you?” The professor had an angered expression on his face and I had fallen asleep on my desk. Quickly I wiped away the saliva that I had on the corners of my mouth and turned towards the teacher.

“I’m sorry, I’ll pay attention.” I apologized quickly but as expected it wasn’t enough, I was kicked out of that class.

“Seriously? Again… that’s awful, why would the professor treat you so unfairly?!” My friend Jennifer looked more upset than I was, to be this wasn’t any different than usual so I didn’t pay it much mind.

“Are you sure you’re alright? After that nightmare you had…” Jennifer seemed genuinely concerned for me. She’d been the best person in my life ever since we graduated together and decided to study in Uni at the same time. She’s a warm person that makes others comfortable…

But I don’t want to make her more worried about me than she already was… And I lied to her about what happened that night being a dream…

However it’s been stuck in my brain, the horrifying images and the stench of blood, the warmth of that man’s body and the coldness of the air. I couldn’t even focus in class or in my own room… I’d hear noises and get scared from my own shadow…

“Did you hear the news? This Patrick Starlight guy! The one that we used to study with! He’s super famous right now…” Jennifer innocently showed me several videos of the guy. The same one I saw standing over the corpse… I looked away before I could say anything.

“…yeah… cool…” I remarked in a low voice while my eyes wandered about. I couldn’t avoid news about a celebrity.

Patrick and I used to study together, we weren’t close or anything, in truth we didn’t even speak for the entire duration of our high school years…

So what I felt had happened that night couldn’t have been the truth, right?

“Did you have a crush on him or something? Why are you acting so bashful?” Jennifer continued to pry, she was someone that hated seeing her friends upset but I fear that if I told her the truth I’d just end up making her equally as terrified as I was…

I could go to the police… but if I did that, would they even believe someone like me?

I just happened to be there and saw it… then I ran away with the killer! If anything the police would start suspecting me more and maybe even set me to trial or something… what if they think I was his accomplice?

I can’t let word of this come out… no matter what…

“Girl! Could you stop being so lost in dreamland already? I need you to give me an answer, are we going to the event or not!?” Jennifer seemed overly excited, I had been so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn’t paid attention to her at all. I agreed without hearing her out and that…

…was truly a huge mistake…

Chapter 2: Story (2)

***

The event that Jennifer spoke about turned out to be this huge gathering all focused on one person… Patrick Starlight. Out of all the people in this world, it just had to be him, right?

I thought we would go there unnoticed, after all the crowd was so large that there was simply no way anyone would see us two among the sea of people… I was wrong…

As two large men dragged me to the man’s dressing room I felt my heart was going to be ripped apart, only then he spoke in a soft voice…

“Did you think about my confession?” Patrick asked me and I didn’t have a reply. I simply averted my gaze not wanting to meet his. After all those were the eyes of a killer.

As much as I didn’t want to get on his bad side, I also didn’t have the strength to speak with him or even argue my case. I wasn’t allowed to leave, the guards that stood at the door were there with scary expressions on their faces.

“I know I said I’d give you time… but you’re giving it too much thought…” Patrick’s words continued being as warm as before, but his eyes were ice cold. I didn’t know which one of my senses I should listen to.

This man was full of contradictions… one after another…

“You’re beautiful tonight.” Patrick continued as if that cheap compliment he paid me offhandedly had to mean anything to me.

I continued to look elsewhere…

“Do you want an autograph for your friend?” Patrick continued as if speaking to himself since I wasn’t responding. Before I could even say anything, he grabbed a sheet of paper and signed it. “I remember her name was Jennifer from school… too bad I never really spoke to her back then, neither you…” He continued.

I’d always found him odd as an individual. Patrick had been the type to stand aside and read. He was never one to actively interact with others around him. He wasn’t the type to engage in conversation, even if you were to speak to him he was so stand offish…

So why was he so carefree now that he’s graduated?

It feels… like he’s a totally different person…

“I’ve always liked you.” Patrick admitted, again, his eyes continued to be fixated on me and I couldn’t help but look back. There was something enthralling about him, was it his appearance or the aura that was being emitted from this person, I couldn’t tell… not at all…

“I recently signed a few commercial roles… meanwhile I have a book that’s coming out soon. It’s a crime thriller.” Patrick began explaining in this careful and methodical manner.

“Is that why you killed that man? For research for your book?” I muttered it so lowly under my breath that one definitely wouldn’t be able to hear me… but he did somehow.

Patrick lowered himself so we can meet at eye level. “I didn’t kill him.” He told me and yet why did his eyes look like that? There’s no way he’s telling the truth…

No man that’s honest would run away from a crime scene if he had nothing to hide… no one…

“Then prove it…” I told him and suddenly he laughed. It was a sort of visceral laughter that felt gut wrenching to me. Why did this man stand there so carefree?

It’s because he doesn’t think anything of me…

He’s not afraid of me the same way I’m afraid of him…

It’s not even surprising…

“I’d never hurt you, you know that right? If you do decide to be with me, I can assure you of that…” Patrick’s words meant nothing to me. All men were like that, they’d make a thousand promises but none of them would be honest or sincere.

“I’m not interested.” Finally I gave him my reply and I could feel my hands were shaking. This wasn’t a good situation but I felt like he wouldn’t go as far as to kill me here, right?

“I see…” Patrick gave a sign to his men as if to let me go. And I headed out the room in a hurry. The moment I rejoined Jennifer the shaking in my voice and the trembling of my hands and legs had mostly subsided.

I was horrified, my heart was beating outside my chest. It was stressful…

“What took you so long in the bathroom? You know that he’s going to be here soon, right?” Jennifer spoke to me so casually and for a moment I felt reassured by her presence. That was all up until that man showed up on stage.

Patrick had this sort of aura that made others drawn to him… even back then when he didn’t speak with anyone or even acknowledge their existence he would still be someone others wanted to get close to.

Or so to say, he was handsome, really handsome.

And maybe that pretty privilege of his was the reason anyone at all took interest in his antics. The second reason as because he was extremely intelligent. And I don’t just mean book smarts…

He always knew things that others couldn’t even begin to comprehend or had even thought about much less considered.

That was the type of existence he’d always been…

So a part of me shouldn’t be surprised he became a sensation like he is right now… but another part of me always thought he’d always been disinterested in things like that… after all…

He always had his nose shoved into a book and that seemed to be enough for him…

So what exactly changed to make him this way?

And out of all the people around why would he confess to me?

We hadn’t even spoken with him, we barely even so much as glanced at one another’s direction… or maybe it was because of that time…

Chapter 3: Story (3)

***

The one encounter I clearly remember with Patrick was all the way back in middle school…

Back then everything seemed a little bit more simple…

“Do you need help?” I asked, the first day I met him, he was as stand offish as ever, which was the reason he was bullied. I hadn’t stepped in to stop the bullying, I simply walked towards him and offered my hand after it was over.

I saw Patrick on the bathroom floor, sitting down, his hair and appearance overall disheveled. It seemed like he could barely move.

He didn’t take my hand but got up on his own and we made eye contact. He stared at me for a while and then silently left…

That was all that I remember… but surely that wasn’t enough for him to become like this towards me, right?

“Hey… you’re being so quiet! Liven up a little bit!” Jennifer urged me but I felt sick seeing Patrick out on that stage acting like nothing has happened…

“I want to go home.” I told her and turned around.

“Wait, Abel! I’ll come with you just give me a minute-” I could hear Jennifer being lost in the crowd as I hurried my footsteps to make it out. But before I knew it there was someone out there waiting for me.

“You’re not allowed to leave.” A man’s voice sounded strongly as I tried to walk past him. “You’ll remain here until it’s over, it’s dangerous outside…” He warned me but how could that make any amount of sense?

“It’s much more dangerous for me to stay here, trust me.” I remarked and yet again my exit was blocked.

I stayed there for a while until I saw the opportunity to run past that guard, the moment I stepped outside another array of trouble was waiting for me…

“Abel, right?” Yet another voice I didn’t recognize spoke to me. It felt like a bad dream. I was being chased through the streets until I got into a familiar back alley… coincidentally… the same one that Patrick and I had been in before…

…out of all people why chase after me?!

“Come with us quietly-” The man’s voice was interrupted, soon enough a brawl ensued. I couldn’t even recognize who was fighting who in the dark of the night.

I continued running until my legs could no longer keep me up straight…

“You must have been scared…” Yet again… Patrick showed up out of nowhere, how would he even know where I was? I was surely far away from the event… wait…

“Weren’t you at the event? What are you doing here?” I finally mustered up the courage to ask him. He stared at me as if he couldn’t understand.

“The event means nothing if you’re in danger.” Patrick spoke quietly in a low whisper that sent shivers down my spine.

Then I was taken away to the man’s home… Without any way to contact the outside world, I was being kept in as a pet…

“It’s no good if you don’t eat anything.” One of the maids said while offering me a new meal, she took away the one she brought in a few hours ago, I hadn’t touched it at all.

And I didn’t answer her either…

“You can’t die like this, it’s too sad…” The maid continued, I didn’t have any intention of dying whatsoever, but I wasn’t going to accept food send in by that man either.

Not because I doubted he’d poisoned it or laced it with drugs, but because I was more or less certain that he had done it…

I wouldn’t put anything past him…