What is this light?Wait a minute...,is this light at end of the tunnel that everyone talked abo- never mind,it just the ceiling light.
"Ark..?Ark!You are awake!"Eve shouted out in happiness.
"Yeah... yeah,what happened?"
The last thing I can remember is that woman with the horn.Who was that anyway?
"Is this a hospital?"
Eve nodded in response.But then her face looks sad all of a sudden.
"We found you at that place,with almost every bones in your body broken,laying on the ground almost dying..."
She looked away and I saw guilt flickering in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"I.. I'm sorry Ark.If it wasn't for me or my sister,you wouldn't have gotten injured like this"
"No need to apologize.It was my decision to help."
"But still... If only we got there earlier,you wouldn't have to get injur-"
I reached out my hand to her and gently patted her head.
"It is okay,I am alright.I am enough with the fact that I am not dead."
"Well... It because of those bastards that we were late.They said they wouldn't go unless it is safe to go an-"
"Stop pouting.It make you look like a toddler throwing a tantrum."
"I am not pouting!.....okay,maybe just a little but I can't be not mad about them!"
She puffed out her cheeks, folded her arms,and turned her head with a dramatic
"Hmph!"
"Anyway is your sister safe?"
Before she can answer There was a knock to the door.And before we say anything,the person opened the door and entered the room.
"Excuse me,are you Ark?"
The person seems to be a detective even though she is wearing normal clothes.
"Yes,I am.What do you need help with?"
"I am detective yeomin and I am here to ask some questions about the animal attacks."
She looked over to eve as if she is telling her to get out but she put on a fake smile.
"Miss lady can you please let us talk alone for a moment?"
Eve frowned her eyebrows and turned her head to me as if she is waiting for my response.
I faintly smiled and nodded to her and she left to room.
Then the lady handed me a file folder,so I took it and opened it.
There are some photos of the lady with the horn but all of them are a bit blurry.
"Did you perhaps see this person near the animals?"
"I did saw her.What is up with her?"
"Everything about her is classified for now but can you tell me if you fond out anything about her"
"Well... She did said that this attack was only a warning."
"A warning?"
"Yes and she seems to be the one controlling the animals"
The detective started to write down something her note book.
"Anything else?"
"It is all I know"
"I see,thank you for telling me."
"Thank you for your corporation.Here is my card,you can call me if you find something interesting."
Then she took her leave.
I would have never guessed that the first phone number a girl give to me would be from a detective.
After she left, Someone knocked at the door again.
"Agh... Again?.... Come in."
It was a nurse carrying... a green rock?
"Are you Mr.Ark?"
"yep"
"Someone who said to be your friend asked us to deliver this to you."
A friend?I don't think I would have a friend that would give me a rock while I am crippled for life because of a gorilla.
"Why didn't he or she deliver it themselves?"
"He said he was in a hurry and he barely had any time to stop by."
Sounds fishy.
The nurse gave me the rock and the note and left.
I wouldn't have cared about the rock but the handwriting on the note,... it is identical to mine.
The note said the followings-
"Break the stone"
"You don't have time,They are currently hiding at 84 st,bet 13 and 14 the grey house ."
"Tell that detective and go there yourself.You will know what to do when you get there"
"What the.... break the stone?Is this some kind of a prank?"
A location of a place?Could it be the attacker or maybe it is a trap.
What ever it is,better to keep the detective updated about this and check the house.
I stared at the stone for a long time, turning it in my hand. It looked ordinary.No cracks, no markings. Just that faint pulse, like it was breathing with me.
Break the stone.
Easier said than done. I couldn't even lift my hands without biting back a scream. The fight with the gorilla had left me shattered bones, pride, maybe even hope.
But something deep inside whispered: You don't need strength. Just the will.
"Screw everything.I will be crippled for life anyway."
So I did the only thing I could.I clenched my fist and slammed the stone against the metal rail of the bed. The pain shot up my arm, white-hot. The stone didn't shatter. It exploded.
Not in fragments,no debris, no dust. Just light.
It poured through the cracks in my hand, through my skin, into my bones. It wasn't warm. It was alive. A force that rushed through me like a river breaking through a dam.
My body arched. My breath caught.
Then I felt it.Bones knitting together, muscles mending, the fire in my nerves cooling. The ache in my leg vanished. The tightness in my chest eased.
I was standing Infront of the bed, flexing my fingers like I still couldn't believe they worked. My ribs didn't ache. My leg wasn't screaming every time I moved. I felt... whole.
The door swung open with a creak, and Eve walked in,
"Okay, I brought you that soup you hate, but they were out of—"
She stopped.
Her eyes locked on me, and her mouth hung open.
"You're standing," she said slowly.
I turned to her, offering a sheepish smile. "Surprise?"
She blinked. "You couldn't even sit up this morning. What, did you suddenly develop superpowers while I was gone for five minutes?"
"Kind of," I muttered.
Eve marched up to me and poked my chest.
"Explain. Now. Before I start assuming you've been replaced by an alien clone or something."
I laughed, soft and tired.
"Okay, okay."
I sat back down and pulled the crumpled note from the table.
"A nurse brought me something. Said some guy left it for me. No name."
I handed her the note. She unfolded it and read it out aloud.
She looked up. "...You broke it?"
I nodded.
"Yeah. And it just... exploded. Light everywhere. Next thing I knew, I could breathe again. Move again. It was like the pain got washed out of me."
Eve stared at me, then at the note. Then back at me.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"You weren't even gonna tell me?"
"I didn't want you to worry."
"You idiot."
She punched my shoulder,gently.
"You're my best friend. Of course I'm gonna worry. That's, like, my full-time job."
If the stone can heal me magically,things about this isn't natural anymore.Should I also go the place as the letter told me to?
I smiled, guilt tightening in my chest.
"I was going to leave tonight,alone."
"Too bad,"
she replied, arms crossed.
"You're not getting rid of me that easy. If you're walking into something weird and dangerous and maybe magical, I'm walking in with you."
"You sure?It will be hella dangerous." I asked softly.
She grinned. "I will go pack some snacks."
I laughed, really laughed, for the first time in days.
"Okay," I said. "We leave tonight."