Chapter 75 - Another Breakable Friendship : Part 2

The night sky creaked open outside Rune's window with a peal of thunder, loud and ringing in her ears and bright enough to light her dark bedroom. The wind tousled the trees outside and tugged her window.

It reminded her of that day when her mother died. The atmosphere was agonizing as it clawed her inside, tugging her soul with phantom horror, reminding her of every harrowing second.

She tried to breathe and relax. She had learned how to overcome the heavy feeling inside her chest whenever her brain decided to remind her of the tragedy.

Rune would never forget that the criminal who had killed her mother had been executed. Even though deep down, she wanted to be the one to kill the criminal herself, Rune always managed to push the thoughts away.

Because she wasn't a bad person.

A bad person was a criminal. A bad person was the one who murdered people no matter what their intentions were.

Just like the mute murderer.

She denied it. She denied everything, despite how the mute murderer tried to protect her and even went against his own allies just to save her. The mute murderer who was supposed to be mute bit back at the mercenary that day just for her mere being.

But he had killed countless people. He had killed too many.

You could not cleanse a black pool with a drop of soap.

Rune's breath had relaxed down, and she could feel her heartbeat slowly go back to normal. She closed her eyes and let her soul be taken away by a good night sleep.

And then she heard it. The muffled agonizing scream across her room; the room where Axel stayed, the room where her best friend slept.

Like getting a jolt of lightning, her body rose from the bed as fast as the light. She slammed her door open and ran.

She was in her grey pyjamas with red hair that she let loose. Some of the locks clouded her vision as she tried to make sure the boy was alright.

Her chest raised up and down when the girl stopped right in front of the Vergessene's door. She hurriedly knocked with lingering worry within her.

"Axel, are you okay?" She anxiously asked, voice thick and unsteady—a thousand thoughts creeping through her mind like spiders, crawling and whispering all the worst things.

When she received no answer from Axel, she could feel the dread eating her slowly and steady as she sat on the tip of her dilemma. Cold spiderlike fingers raced up and down her spine, taunting every second she breathed.

"Axel?" Rune tried to call once more, with her voice almost trembling. "Axel, it's me, Rune. I heard a scream." She tried to get an answer again, choking slightly on her words.

The scenario reminded her too much of the day her mother died. A sudden stab of fear assaulted her, causing her to feel as if she was dying.

"Axel, I'm going to open the door!" She exclaimed and gripped the doorknob tight. Stranged pain rose in her throat as she opened the door slightly.

Then suddenly, the door was closed again with a loud force from the opposite side. "Don't!" Axel shouted, making Rune jump back in shock. Hazel eyes turned wide at the door. She found herself on razor's edge of panic.

"I'm fine." Axel tried to reassure yet it still sounded inconvenient for her. Something was wrong. He needed help.

She tried to make Axel open the door for her a few times. The boy still insisted on staying inside.

She knew he was hiding something big. But she would wait until he decided to tell her whatever problem he was facing and knew that she would always be there for him.

So then she sat in front of Axel's room, waiting. She leaned on the door without knowing that Axel was right on the opposite of her. Rune drifted to sleep on cold tiles, staying as she waited for her best friend to come out.

The following day, she woke up to the sun and the sound of birds, feeling all the ache within her body. She blinked as she realized she had fallen asleep sitting. But by how she still had her back on the door, Axel still would not come out from his room.

She gently stood up and faced the room again. She brought a hand to the door with a knuckle ghosting over it, trying to decide whether she should know or not.

Rune brought her hand down and walked away from the door. The girl would glance one or two times over her shoulder to make sure if the boy maybe would open the door.

She would leave him be for now. It's the weekend anyway. There was no school today.

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Axel had been trying to control his disappearing hands all day, focusing on making them solid. He did not know what was happening. Maybe this was the side effect of becoming a demon.

He had been ignoring the fact that he might be a demon right now. He still believed he was a human. He hoped he was still a human.

Axel walked to the mirror again, noticing how the moon had found its way on the sky again, telling the boy that he had been staying inside all day. He didn't even drink or eat a single thing.

He took the blue lens and put it on, covering the part of him that he'd grow hatred on. He took a deep breath, made his way to the door, and opened it.

Right when the door opened, he quickly met the sight of Rune in front of the door, sleeping on the floor. Her red hair covered her whole sleeping face, and Axel found himself crouching down beside her.

He brushed the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ears. Axel watched her sleeping face in a daze. He could see her breathing as her chest heaved up and down at a certain rhythm.

Then Rune slowly opened her eyes, causing the hazel ones to meet with the pair of blue ones. She took a while as she tried to grasp the situation.

When the realization kicked in, the girl jolted up, almost bumping her head with Axel's chin.

"You've come out! I was so worried!" She exclaimed in relief and hugged the boy out of nowhere. She hugged him like the world was going to end soon.

"Something's- something's wrong with me." Axel began, muttering in her ears as he melted in her hands. "Something's really wrong."

"Mmm-hmm. It's okay, it's okay." She hummed, soothing the boy.

"You know. It's okay to be weak, right? It's okay to cry." Rune continued as she never let go of the hug, attempting to calm the boy.

"I can't cry." Axel croaked. He really couldn't cry. His tears would turn black, and they would remind him how he wasn't the same species as his best friend anymore.

"Something's wrong when I cry." He whispered, afraid that he might actually shed tears again in her embrace.

"But I see no harm on crying," Rune answered. And boy, how it sounded so comforting in his ears.

"I know." Said the boy, hopeless. "I just can't." He added, and Rune only tightened their hug. It was a slightly funny sight how Rune almost disappeared within the boy's arms when she was the one who was comforting him.

Axel pushed her away gently and made a distance between them. He stared at her with two meaningful blue eyes, searching for warmness with her delicate face.

"Rune, I'm not a good person." He stated, feeling how a sudden lump was choking his neck.

"I'm the worst person you could ever possibly befriended." Axel continued, finding himself diverting his gaze away to the floor instead of looking at the pair of hazel eyes.

"You are still the best in my eyes no matter what happens." She answered it fast with no hesitation.

And how it only made Axel drown in guilt even more.

"And what if I'm someone you hate, Rune?" Axel asked, almost hauntingly.

"I could never hate you." She yet again said fast, too reassuring.

Axel was too scared that it would crumble the second she found out, the second he told her who he was.

Axel bit his lips. "But what if- what if I'm worst than a human could ever possibly be? What if-"

"But in the end, you're still Axel in my eyes." Rune cut him off and hugged him for the second time, calming him down.

"I will always be here for you, Axel."

Axel wished it was true.

He would believe it was true for now.

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Axel did not have nightmares that night.

He did not dream of demon Cain's hand stabbing his chest. The erupting pain, the neverending force within him, and-

Oh, Aster was talking to him. Axel was not listening at all as he let his food turn cold while swimming in his own thoughts.

He had been anxious when he came to the school that morning. Axel would always tuck his hands inside his pockets as he feared that they would disappear again.

The day went well without any weird things happening to him. However, the boy could not push away the lingering bad feeling that had been haunting him all day.

Axel waited. He waited for something to happen while at the same time praying for nothing to happen.

The cafeteria was loud with students' chatters, but the sudden noise coming from the speakers were louder.

There was a loud screeching noise from the speakers all around the school. It made a ringing voice, causing everyone to cringe at the sound.

"Test test, hello?" A familiar voice echoed around the school so suddenly, making the students stop whatever they were doing and focus on the voice source.

Axel's breath hitched at the sudden familiarity. His heartbeat raised, and cold sweats started to form on the palm of his hand. Spams of worry crossed his face as it turned pale.

"Axel, can you hear me?" The voice continued, and oh how Axel knew who that was.

"I'll assume so, considering people are banging the door in the room I'm in." He casually stated, and the youngest Vergessene could hear the smirk just from his voice.

Everyone's eyes were on him now. Aster raised an eyebrow to him while Rune blinked at him as if waiting for answers.

"Anyway, this is the mercenary speaking, and I'm here to talk to my murderer."