Lockeroom's Pandemonium

Chapter Fifteen: Behind the Smile of Leandro

The Shadow ate her, and she cannot believe it was a possible thing.

Alina Vandergaugh fixed her shocked gaze towards the green leaves of the forest. She was standing at the top of a hill, her bow still at her hands, pulling the string, posture fixed in a shooting stance.

Earlier—probably a second ago—she was at the top of a tree, fighting for her life, helping Silver to clear out the raid of Harpies who have attacked them. Then she blinked, then a sharp second of darkness displaying in her eyes, then come the green surrounding of the forest being displayed at the top of a hill.

“Wh-Where am I?” she asked herself.

“Far from the chaotic attacks of the Harpies.”

Alina suddenly looked at the voice who answered him.

It was a man, a handsome one, but it wasn't Silver.

The black polo he wears, two buttons near the chest are open, and a simple jeans along with a rubber shoes, has made him outstanding and good looking. Yet, what caught Alina's attention was not his fashion sense, but the ring that perfectly sat on his ring finger.

It was beautiful. As if a rebellious diamond, the stone that decorates the ring is a black stone, perfectly carved in sophistication, shining even if the sun or any light does not manage to lick its beauty.

“Who are you, where am I?” asked Alina.

She does not ease from her fighting stance. She wielded her bow, pulled the string, and pointed it towards the man.

“Woah!” The man then, raised his two hands, positioned as if a criminal who was caught by the loud echo of the gun from a policeman. “I—I am not harmful. I promise.”

“But then why did you took me here?” Alina asked, pulling the string harder, starting to gather light in the middle of her bow.

“W—Wait, lady! I—I was just trying to save you! I—I saw you struggling as the Harpies attacked you, and I can't bare to see a woman struggling while I was just lying comfortably not a few distance away!” he said, panicking, voice stammering from the fear that Alina might release the string she had been pulling.

“I have a company! You could have saved him as well!” Alina shouted. She then readied to release the string.

“I could only save and transport one person! I can't carry you both! And, I have to refresh the skill before I could use it again!” he explained. The fear in his voice was obvious.

“I could have helped him! What if he's struggling right now? What if he's hurt? What if . . .” the thought pinched her heart. “What if he die because I was not there?”

Then Alina collapsed. Her heart was aching, indeed. But what hurts the most was her body. The burning sensation continuously creeped in her. It was as if her muscles were slowly melting, draining her energy, all because of the unexplainable heat—all because of the poison who were consuming her.

Then, the man ran towards him, concern was embedded on his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

He scooped Alina who were now lying helplessly on the ground. He let her sat, rest her back crushing his chest, and put his palm on her forehead.

“You have a fever,” the man said.

Then, something painful struck Alina’s chest. It was as if she was stabbed by a sharp knife, or a hundred degreed metal burn on her flesh.

She screamed. Because of the pain, she grabbed the man’s arm and squeezed it tightly.

“You were poisoned by a Harpy,” the man concluded.

Despite the fuzzy mind, Alina saw how the man opened the holographic inventory from his screen. He pressed the icon of a bottle, and sooner, the bottle materialized on his hand.

He immediately opened the lid of it, and placed near Alina's mouth.

“Here,” he said. “Drink it. It will make you heal from all your pains.”

Without hesitation (probably because of the hopeless pain she's feeling) she drank every drop of the green liquid on the bottle.

And the pain subsided, the fire cooled, his tired body felt serene.

Alina made a deep breath. Her eyes were tired, making her want to sleep.

“I—I have to go,” she said. But her body contested. Her eyelids are forcing to close. Her body, though not in pain, wanted to rest from all the sufferings she had experienced.

“No, Lady. You need to rest,” the man said.

She had to. She was tired.

But she cannot rest because she was not comfortable with the man beside him. It wasn't Silver. What if this man plans to kill her? What if this man plans to do something bad, something hideous to him? What if this man plans to make her as his own pawn, or bait, or whatever he might intend to do? It was a risky thing to sleep, for once she close her eyes, it could have been the last time she would do it—for she might be dead.

But the man assured him. “Lady, do not worry. I am a good guy.”

A good guy.

Is being a good guy enough to be a someone who could be trusted?

“And, one of the rules for the level two is to cease from killing, right? This is a survival state. Whatever need you could get, you have to get it.”

“But . . .”

“Don't worry, I will let you go as soon as you feel fine. For now, rest.”

As soon as she heard the last word that the man gave, she let her be defeated by her own eyelids.

She decided to sleep. She needs to rest.

“Say, what is your name?” she asked, even when she was already near the boundary of awake and sleep.

“Leandro.”

Then the man, named Leandro, smiled. The sense of evil tainting the curves of his lips.

He was triumphant.

Without any hindrances, without any bothering, without anyone who might stop him, he could now execute his hideous, disgusting plan.