Eleven's Ghost

Chapter 30: Victims And Bullies

The lesson ended within two hours, and everyone left for a fifteen-minute-break. Only Yayis, Louise and Shams stayed behind. Shams looked at the highest row and saw Janne’s long golden hair falling off the desk. He walked towards him. “Hey, are you sleeping? Class is over.”

The others joined him, curious. They frowned, seeing the pills on the desk. Shams sat down next to Janne and pushed him gently. He gasped as Janne fell off his seat and collapsed on the floor. He carried him and laid him on the desk. “What is this? What happened?!”

Louise smelled him. She opened his mouth and sampled his saliva then his blood. “Poison. There’s poison in his veins. There’s also a sleeping elixir and a nerve wrecker. It’s in his blood, so he was injected with these.”

“There pills are medicines.” Yayis said, organizing the pills back in their bottles.

Louise stared at Janne seriously. “Pills won’t help at this point. His vitals are dropping, and his organs are failing rapidly as we speak.”

“Allow me?”

They heard a soft voice from behind and saw a light-blue-haired woman. She smiled at them. “I can help.”

“Who… Who are you?” Shams asked, suspicious.

She nodded. “My name is Adora. I’m the teacher of the next subject. Introduction to magic. My specialty is healing. I can help him.”

They nodded and let her through. She rested a hand over his eyes and forehead and another over his heart. “Does anyone else possess healing abilities?”

“I do,” Yayis said.

She nodded. “Keep healing his heart. It will keep his body alive.”

Yayis did as instructed, and Janne moaned in pain, his senses returning to him. He coughed blood briefly before falling back in a deep sleep under Adora’s control. His head titled to the side as she let him go. A blue circle appeared underneath his body, and all of his blood came out of his belly at once. He didn’t react. She stared at the dark blue blood and started splitting it with a blue light, purifying it.

“It started happening too early this year…” she muttered, “Maybe he should stop coming to class.”

“Wh-What do you mean?” Shams asked. “What started?”

She didn’t answer and placed the blood back in place after cleaning it. Yayis stopped healing, and Janne regained consciousness shortly afterwards. He gazed blankly in front of him, dark circles around his eyes. He tried to sit but fell to the floor instead. His hand reached for his pills. Yayis helped him sit and drink his medicines. “Do you want me to take you to the dorm? You’re in no shape to study. Take a rest today.”

Janne was shaking in his hold, vapours coming out of his mouth as he struggled to breathe. “I’m… fine,” he breathed.

He stood up, leaning on the chairs. He smiled faintly, seeing Shams. “Uh…” He took a step closer to him but kept his distance. “Did you sleep… well?”

Shams lowered his head and didn’t answer him. Janne fell silent, his smile fading. He took a couple of steps backwards and walked to the exit.

Adora stared at him leaving.

“Miss, would you please tell me why does everyone hate him and tries to hurt him or avoid him?” Shams asked. “I’m… I feel like I’m missing something.”

She shook her head. “I don’t have enough knowledge about his case. I’m sorry I can’t help.”

The students stared coming into class, and the next lesson started. Janne went missing for the rest of the day. Yayis and Shams left the school building after the lessons ended.

“Janne didn’t show up after all,” Shams looked down sadly, “I hope he’s okay.”

“We should check on him after we go to the library.” Yayis patted his shoulders.

Shams nodded, and they took the train to the research department. Older students were there. Yayis and Shams walked along the corridors surrounding a yard, mesmerized by the architecture. Yayis gasped, bumping into someone.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” He laughed awkwardly, backing away and rubbing his nose, “I wasn’t looking where I was…” His eyes flashed wide, looking up. “Going?”

He stared at Iblis with round eyes. “D… Dad?”

Iblis had his hair pulled back and braided. He wore a simple white shirt and black pants. He stared at his son, dropping the books he was carrying. It didn’t take long before blue lightning shocked him, and he fell to his knees with a whine.

Yayis gasped and sat in front of him, pulling him into a hug. “Dad!” He caressed his white hair and started crying. “Dad.”

It took several minutes for Iblis to recover from the lightning. He looked at his son again. “Y… Yayis.”

He lowered his head and rested a hand on his face. “Why are you… here?” he was speaking with obvious difficulty. Yayis squeezed him and kissed his shoulder. “Dad. I… It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I found you. You’re really here…!”

Iblis started gathering his books and gasped as the lightning shocked him again. He collapsed to the floor and started coughing blood. He gazed down, his eyes almost closed.

“Go… away,” he whispered, “Go…” His eyelids shut closed, his body relaxing on the floor.

“Dad!” Yayis rolled him on his back and saw a collar on his neck. He tried to remove it but couldn’t. He healed his father until he opened his eyes again. Iblis gazed up at his son, barely conscious.  His neck was burned, dark veins popping from around the collar. The burns extended down to underneath the shirt. Yayis unbuttoned his father’s shirt and examined his belly. His lips trembled as he saw a round mark on his side. “My nightmares… They’re real… He really… did that to you.”

Iblis remained silent. He sat up again and gathered the books. “I… work… here,” he said. “I’m always… here.”

He stood up and staggered slightly but felt someone supporting him. Glancing to the side, he saw Malik. He gasped and fell back down, looking up to him with round eyes. Malik stared at him in silence.

Shams smiled awkwardly. “Wh-Why are you scared of Malik? He’s just a teacher here.”

Iblis blinked and glanced at him. “Just a teacher…” He glanced back at Malik. “Just…”

He glanced at Yayis and fell silent. He stood up, holding the books. Malik then pushed him to the wall and stared into his eyes. “I know what you did.” He frowned and slapped the wall next to his head. “Don’t say a word.”

Iblis nodded, trying to hide his obvious fear. Malik rested a finger on his collar. “I disabled it. Enjoy your reunion.”

He glanced at Yayis then left the library. Iblis shut his eyelids, his body sliding to the floor. Yayis knelt in front of him and kissed his forehead. “I know… what you did as well.” He smiled. “You listened to me. Finally.”

Iblis stared at him with tired eyes. He couldn’t smile. He lowered his head without replying. Yayis held his hand. “What’s wrong? Are you still in pain?”

Iblis shook his head. “Why did you come here…?” He glanced at Shams. “Surely, it wasn’t to see me.”

Shams nodded, a bit embarrassed. “We… had in mind to look for you though. We just didn’t expect to find you so soon.”

Iblis stared at him for a few seconds in silence then glanced back at his son. “Why do you want to look for information about Ihdaachar?”

“Because… I miss him.” Shams sighed and sat down, not finding any good reason. “Wait… How did you know…?”

“Reading the mind isn’t an uncommon ability among different races.” Iblis stood up. “Come with me.”

They followed him up to the twentieth floor. Iblis lit up the room and sat down on a nearby bench. “Go to the ninth aisle. You will find materials that might interest you.”

He rested a hand on his face again. “I will sit here for… a… bit…” He rested his head against the table next to him and fell asleep instantly. Yayis sat beside him and laid his head in his lap. He caressed his hair and leaned down to kiss his forehead. He frowned, feeling abnormally slow brain activity. He examined him and looked down sadly, realizing that his father had fallen in a coma. He tried to stay firm but burst into tears. He ran his hands through his hair and caressed his father’s cheek with the back of his hand. “Don’t sleep… Not now, please.”

He shook his head and hugged him tightly. “Please… Come back to me, please!” He looked down fearfully, not knowing what to do.

He kissed his father’s head from time to time and poured all of his energy into healing him.

Within a few hours, Shams returned with a bright smile. “I learned so many things! But nothing too–” He stopped talking, seeing Iblis lying on the floor with Yayis on top of him, both unconscious.

“Cherry!”

Cherry appeared out of his shadow. “Mastah!”

“Please, heal them until I call for help!”

Shams ran out of the room. By the time he returned, only Yayis was there. Iblis was nowhere to be found.