Down System

Chapter 4

Ferno was a good name to match his scathed face. Since the moment he told me his name, he didn't let go of me with those burning eyes. What in the world was the problem of this young boy?

"Can you please stop looking at me with that flaming whatsoever eyes?" I asked him. "I haven't stolen anything from you. It's like you're gonna kill me."

The kid turned his gaze away from me and took a glance at the window. "I didn't say you had stolen something from me."

"It's as if you're telling me that by just the way you stare at me," I let out a sigh. "But anyway, can I ask? If you don't mind."

"What?" Ferno uttered in a very cold manner without looking at me.

"What are you doing at the lake? And, why was the dragon chasing you?" I interrogated. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't get over about the dragon. It was like a dream seeing that one."

The boy steered his sight at me once more, still holding his sharp aura. He was about to say something when someone had entered the room.

"So, you're just here, you damn boy?" a strange woman said, wrenching Ferno's ear that made him groan.

"You should make it harder, Momma," one of the two girls who followed the woman in here, mouthed.

I assumed the woman was Ferno's mother and the two other girls were her elder sisters. It seemed like they have the same attitude by just the way they look at this poor boy. What was wrong with them?

The woman's stomach was a bit round, so she must be pregnant for weeks, or mayhap, it was just her belly. But no matter what was the reason behind that potbelly, scolding the sickened young boy with physical violence wasn't right.

Even the two girls who seemed to be twins were acting ill as if Ferno had hardly tweaked their long red hair. Crossing their arms, they smirked wicked-eyed at the poor kid. How were they able to love such impetuosity?

Still twisting Ferno's ear, I had planned to talk to the woman, but Mommy Morrigan just came which made her stop from what she was doing.

"Who are you?" Mommy asked as the three women turned around.

The woman crossed her arms. "I'm the mother of this naughty kid," she said, pointing Ferno out. "Are you one of the helpers of this infirmary?"

"Ah, no," my mother shook her head. "My name is Morrigan and she's my daughter, Aleera," she pointed me out as well which made the three women direct their blasting eyes at me. "We saw your child at the lake the other day, so we helped him and brought him here."

"Oh, is that so? Well, that's very good to hear. But, if I were you, I should have not helped this boy anyway."

Mommy Morrigan puckered her eyebrows. "What are you sayin', Ma'am?"

"He's just a waste of time," the woman said, glaring her eyes. "If you were the mother of this child, you'll know what I'm saying."

"I'm sorry, but I think you should not speak those words in front of the kid."

"And why wouldn't I? Let him hear these words, lest perchance he would change his behavior."

"You're his mother and what he's showing right now is just a reflection of your attitude," my mom said. "If you wanna see the changes in him, you should be the change first."

"And who are you to tell me things like that?" the woman asked, raising her brow. "You probably don't know who I am. I can also squeeze you."

I stood and went to my mother. "Mommy, let's just stop talking with her. We can't deal with a narrow-minded person anyway," I told her in a very low tone.

The atmosphere inside the cell got even more vehement with the ablaze eyes of the three women who were looking at us. There was no wind to dampen the ire; even this was tranquil about the matter.

I gaped at the clenching fist of the woman. Did my murmur come to her aural? I had whispered the softest I could, and if she still heard what I had said, then she got an elephant ear.

Ferno's mother still had the plans to upbraid Mommy, not until the senior entered the square.

"I presume you already know her," the old man said to Mommy after giving short pleasantry.

Mommy Morrigan nodded. "She's the kid's mother. It's so nice meeting her, huh? Such a different woman."

The senior smiled. "I guess you're doing all fine. But anyway, can you leave now?"

"As in now?" I asked the old man, wide-eyed.

"Definitely, young girl," the enormous old geezer responded as he sat in front of me to level my height. "What seems to be wrong with what I've said, eh? Are you against the culture?"

"We're going home now," Mommy interfered as she whirled her arm in my shoulder even tighter. "Just please make sure to give us an update when the kid is finally recovered."

The senior arose. "You can count on me, Morrigan."

Even the time we exited the cell, Ferno's family were still badly glancing at us. I didn't know where they got those folded brows which seemed to couldn't be straightened anymore.

When we came home, Mommy Morrigan told Daddy right away about what had happened in the hospital. She wasn't surprised anymore by Daddy's astounded reaction.

"That sounds so rude," Daddy Perseus said.

While chewing the food, I was bothered by Ferno's family to the point that I couldn't finish eating. The way they acted towards the kid was reckless and unacceptable. They were getting into my nerves!

Ferno's indifferent temperament was possibly a fruit of his family's character. He was neither good nor bad, I presumed. But whatever he was showing to the people wasn't his fault.

"Why aren't you eating, baby girl?" Mommy asked me when she noticed me looking at the food in imbecility.

"A-ah... I guess I'm full," I answered.

"But you haven't eaten half of it yet."

"No, it's okay. She must be really full," Daddy meddled. "Would you like to just finish up drinking your milk?"

I nodded. "But, can I just drink it in my room?"

"Why? Don't you like to stay here in the dining until you're finished?" Mommy asked.

"I guess she's tired, Honey," my father told my mom as he steered his gaze at her, then back at me. "Would you like Mommy to send you now to your room?"

"Yes, please," I smiled, but it didn't reach my eyes.

I faced the mirror when I was finally in my square, all alone. I touched my face and stared directly at my brown eyes. I couldn't help myself look in disbelief. I was in my younger self but I was fully aware that the way I see things were completely far from my physical age; my perspective was based on my older self. What was probably my purpose in this past time?

The moment I saw myself lying on the grass of Bermuda, the feeling was ineffable. I didn't know how was I there, but the only thing I knew was...

"Wait," I whispered, taking time to remember every event that had happened.

The day of my death sentence had brought me in the past.

My eyes were closed as my father prepared his sword to behead me. The moment the crowd of men shouted at the count of three, I didn't feel anything, but serenity. Would it be that I was killed and resurrected in the past?

I bit my lip as the cold whisper of the wind had reached my auditory nerve. The window was closed, yet the air was still able to touch me as if it was telling me something I should know about.

Still feeling the caress of the breeze, my eyes burned when the king who had sentenced me to quietus, ran inside my mind. He was the reason for this torment. If staying in the past meant not seeing him again, then I would do everything to get back to the present to take the crown off his head.

Remembering him was a sore, yet also a grimace in the brow. Was it just a coincidence that he had the same name as the boy I met at the lake?

His name was Ferno.