Throughout the next couple of days, Rhys’s routine became clear.
Go to the food district, make lunch, wait for dinner, and sleep.
Rhys was getting used to his new life here, being able to talk to new people every day.
He also learned the perks of his new body.
Crowd: [WOWWW!!!]
There he was, lifting two muscular dudes with each hand.
For him, they might as well had been a feather.
Which was wild with his skinny frame.
Random: [I-is there anything else you can do?!]
Rhys hears the request and starts jumping up around five meters off the ground, with the muscular guys still standing on his hands.
The crowd went crazy with Rhys’s abilities.
With some even handing him some money after the fact because of the outstanding performance.
Rhys: [Oh!
Hi Dylan!]
He catches Dylan and his sisters walking by and runs over and shows him the 500 yauras that he made from his work.
Rhys: [I’m making so much money!]
Dylan: [I know!
That’s so cool!]
Now, you guys may think that he’s fine and dandy with life as of the moment, and you’re almost right.
There is one thing that’s been bugging him, though.
That same person keeps quietly following him everywhere.
They’re always writing something down and disappearing into the crowd like clockwork.
He thought about telling someone, but nobody else seemed to notice, so it’ll make him look as if he’s gone crazy.
Rhys: [Let’s go buy something!
My treat!]
Elya and Silvya were thrilled at the news; they squealed with joy and started skipping around him really quickly.
Rhys can feel that person’s eyes; staring right into his soul.
*SLAM!
The guy at the candy apple stand almost died from a heart attack after that jump scare of an intro.
He straightens himself up and sees Rhys’s rainbow beady eyes staring daggers at him.
Candy Apple Dude: [U-um, can I fuckin’ help you guys?!]
Rhys: [Gimme four candy apples please!]
The seller hurriedly gave him the candy apples, and Rhys handed him 50 yauras before leaving.
Rhys’s payment confused the seller.
For those four, it was only 20.
Rhys: [Here you go Elya!]
Elya: [Yay!!]
Rhys: [And here you go Silvya!]
Silvya: [Yipee!]
They head out of there, leaving the seller in disarray with the creature he had just witnessed.
Dylan: [I wonder why that seller was so startled…]
Rhys: [Yeah, me too…]
More of that stabbing feeling on the back of his head.
Making it harder and harder to keep it together by the minute.
If only there were a secluded place for them to talk.
Oh, wait, there was!
An alleyway was just around the corner, he remembered from a past trip.
Rhys: [H-Hey!
You guys!
I need to go do something in private.
Dylan, you can take over, right?]
Dylan: [I mean… yeah, but—]
Rhys: [Great!
I’ll see you guys in a minute!]
He dashes off before Dylan or the twins could stop him.
Now learning how fast he could run.
The stinging in their eyes kept lingering on him, just until he made it to some cover in an alleyway.
Weirdly enough, he didn’t have to catch his breath or anything after.
Which was a pleasant change.
He turns around, placing his hands on his hips in the meantime.
Rhys: [Okay, whoever you are that is watching me; please come out.
I already know what you’re doing.]
He waits a couple of seconds for no response.
Then he feels irritation building inside him, so he tip-toes deeper in.
Rhys: [Dude!
Stop trying to hide from me before I hunt you down myself.
This is your last warning!]
He turns around to see an ominous figure slowly creeping its way over.
Since his last declaration was all talk, a sense of dread filled his throat; and he walked backwards, only to find the end of the alley there.
Rhys: [O-okay!
Maybe I was exaggerating a bit, you can just stay right there if you want!]
They stop in place, about 2 metres away.
Rhys: [Alright!
What the hell do you want from me, man?]
???: [I’ve been tasked with watching over you…]
The stranger lends a hand to Rhys.
???: [And I think I’ve seen enough]
Rhys hesitates for a second, thinking holding hands with people is weird and gross.
???: [Please take my hand, will you?]
Rhys hesitates once more, but eventually gives in.
Slowly stepping over to whoever this is.
He grabs their hand with caution, and immediately gets shocked.
His body convulses violently while slumping onto their body slowly.
The person smirks under their mask and leaves with Rhys in tow.
???: [That was way easier than I thought…]
Rhys’s eyes slowly opened as he reclaimed the rest of his senses.
His head felt heavy and drowsy, with the strobe lights shining right in his face.
Then he wondered, how’d they have strobe lights.
1: [Hey!
You awake yet?]
This seemed to be someone else from their silhouette.
Rhys: [G-God damn it!
What the fuck was that for?!
Dick!]
2: [You didn’t seem like the type to just go along with us at the moment…]
Someone else chimed in from what seemed to be far behind the first guy.
They unfortunately were both out of sight for Rhys, only having the ominous void in front of him for leverage.
Rhys: [W-where the hell am I?!]
He tried to move, but it seemed like metal chains tied his hands and legs to the chair.
3: [You don’t need to worry about that right now…]
The third one sounded even further away and to the right.
They also sounded older each time.
Rhys looked pissed, ready to rip them all apart in a matter of minutes.
The third one even started sweating a little when he sat Rhys’s gritted macaque teeth.
His foot was also tapping loudly on the metal leg rhythmically.
Rhys: [So… who are you, and what do you want from me…?]
1: [Has Dylan ever told you about the urban legend?]
His body stiffens a bit.
Not knowing whether to lie.
Rhys: [The one about that creature in the woods?]
2: [Good job!
And how do you think that urban legend came to be?]
Rhys shakes his head.
3: [Well… apparently.
There was this one being, similar to you.
Showing up only hundreds of years ago, out of the sky.
He was tall, pale, and had a full head of hair.]
Rhys listened attentively.
2: [They say he killed every single human that was near him before going into hiding somewhere far away.
Not even the toughest humans could lay a scratch on him]
Rhys: [So I’m guessing what you’re saying is, that thing is real, and it’s living in the forest south?!]
1: [Yes!
Exactly!
That thing has been sitting there, waiting at night for any prey it can find!
Over the years, we’ve been keeping the residents safe with the outside curfew.
But some people still get killed by that thing… It’s so annoying!]
Rhys: [And?
What do you want me to do about it?!]
1 & 2 & 3: [We need you to kill that thing once and for all!
We know that you might be our only hope right now!]
Rhys was stunned, never thinking in a million years that he would sacrifice himself for people who didn’t need the help.
Rhys: [What!
No!!
I’m not doing that!!!!
Are you fucking crazy?!!
I’m not risking my life for something like that!]
1: [Aw darn, that’s too bad… I mean; we could kick you out of our village forever, making sure that you never see your new friends again… but I think there are better solutions.
Don’t you think!]
Rhys didn’t know what to do anymore.
In between most likely dying, or never seeing Dylan and the sisters again.
He exhaled deeply.
Rhys: [Fucking hell, FINE!
Just get me out of this thing already!]