Morning soon came.
A calm wave of blue light shone its way throughout the windows.
Curled up in a ball, Valen lay in his bed. Looking at his trembling hands, he let out a shaky sigh.
'It's morning time already…?'
Valen began to dig his head deeper into his chest, hugging his knees again. He really did not want to go to school today. He looked at his phone for the time.
Tuesday, October 1st
6:30 AM
School didn't start until 7:50 AM.
Getting up, he looked in the mirror. All of the blood that was on his forehead was gone, and there seemed to be no scars left either. Last night really did happen, huh…?
Hesitantly, he touched the scar that ran over his nose. Looking back at his hands, Valen clenched them tightly.
[Hiera]: "I'm so glad you'll be willing to work alongside me, Valen…"
Hiera hugged Valen tightly as she let out a soft sigh. They stayed like this for a few moments until she let go and stared at him with a happy expression. Suddenly realizing again all of the blood spurting out of his head, she gasped.
[Hiera]: "That's right—you're in so much pain right now! Let me hurry up, then."
With one hand raised, palm facing her other hand, she made a swift motion with the other, causing blood to spurt out.
[Hiera]: "Open up wide!"
Hovering her blood-soaked palm over Valen's mouth, he began to drink. Strangely, it didn't taste bad at all. It was almost sweet, with a hint of saltiness.
After a few moments, she pulled away.
[Hiera]: "I don't want to risk giving you too much at once, or you might die…"
A strange feeling came upon Valen. It felt like something was closing, almost immediately after he finished drinking her blood.
All of the blood that was previously dripping down his face began to slowly creep back up.
[Hiera]: "Oh, wow, that began rather quickly!" Hiera exclaimed with a look of both surprise and joy. "Your healing powers are already top-notch, Valen!"
As he raised his hand to his forehead, he noticed that the deep gash was gradually shrinking. Looking back at Hiera, she held up the palm of her hand, which was now completely healed. It had happened so quickly that he didn't even notice it.
[Hiera]: "To get stronger, you'll have to consume the corpses of demons and humans. Though humans give you a lot more power, so I would go with them."
Valen nervously gulped, processing this information. With a tense look on his face, he looked Hiera right in her eyes.
[Valen]: "I… I want to get stronger without hurting any humans."
Hiera tilted her head with a look of curiosity.
[Hiera]: "Even after everything that's happened to you…"
A moment of silence passed.
[Hiera]: "Hmm, okay. I won't force you to kill any humans then. Just know, though, that things will be a lot harder sticking with demons..."
Hiera then got up, patted her clothes, and looked at the sky.
[Hiera]: "Valen…"
Looking down at him, a soft smile formed.
[Hiera]: "Sleep well tonight, okay?"
Crossing her arms behind her back, she skipped her way down the bridge, back into the forest.
***
'There are still so many questions I need to ask.'
Valen, getting out of his grandmother's car, waved goodbye. He shut the door and began making his way up the stairs to the front doors of the school. People were staring at him, as usual.
Though the emptiness he felt in his heart lessened the sting of their gazes.
He didn't see Hiera anywhere when he entered the building.
'Maybe she's running late to school.'
Letting out a soft sigh, he made his way to his first period.
Upon entering the classroom, he saw Hiera sitting in her seat, reading a book. The noise from the door made her look over, and she smiled softly once she realized it was Valen.
[Hiera]: "I was starting to think you wouldn't come at all!"
Hiera was sitting at her desk, motioning for him to come sit with her. He pulled a chair from the desk next to hers and sat down.
[Hiera]: "What's wrong? Is there something on your mind?"
Hiera had noticed the troubled look that was all over Valen's face. He shook his head from side to side and formed an awkward smile.
[Valen]: "So… Um… About last night—"
Before Valen could finish his sentence, Hiera immediately put a finger over his mouth.
[Hiera]: "We can't talk about that at school, Vaaallleennn…" She pointed up to a camera, sitting in the corner of the room, turning side to side mindlessly.
[Hiera]: "How about this, we'll hang out again today. Then you can ask me anything you want, okay? Just be sure to ask your grandma, and I'll ask my parents too."
Valen nodded quickly and looked away in embarrassment. Hiera blushed softly, smiling as she gazed upon him.
Shortly after, students began to enter the classroom and settle themselves. That's right, it was almost time for people to start walking in the first period. Valen felt someone tap on his shoulder, and he turned around almost immediately.
[Valen]: "Oh, sorry, this is probably your—"
The student who tapped him had a nasty look on their face.
[---]: {" I'm surprised you didn't ask for a class change. I mean, you are stuck in a class with him. "}
Oh, right. It was the boy who had asked Hiera that question. Valen had completely forgotten that he was sitting there.
Without finishing his sentence, Valen got up and nervously backed away.
[---]: "Well, this is new. Hiera talking to this thing? How funny." The boy scoffed as he glared at Valen. "Is he bothering you, Hiera?"
[Hiera]: "No-nononono! He and I are friends now, so please calm down, Marc!"
Hiera quickly replied as she frantically waved her hands and shook her head.
Marc. He had short, black hair that barely brushed his ears, which was also very well-groomed. Standing at a height similar to Valen's, his skin tone was pale. He had always been hostile towards Valen, but recently it had seemingly gotten worse.
Marc stared at Valen for a few moments before smacking his teeth and sitting down. Hiera gave Valen a look which seemed like she was silently saying 'I'm sorry'. They both waved goodbye to each other and Valen made his way to his seat.
People who had entered the classroom stared, witnessing what had just gone down.
The bell rang as Valen finally sat, and the teacher came in. Class began as normal.
Throughout class, Hiera gave Valen glances and made playful faces at him. Valen, not knowing what to do, would just awkwardly smile and look away. Hiera liked how awkward he was.
Class ended, and everyone got up and began leaving. When Valen got done packing up, he saw Hiera was right beside his desk, waiting for him. Smiling softly, she waved at him.
[Hiera]: "Let me walk you to class again, like yesterday. Okay?" Hiera said, with a hint of softness in her voice.
In the front of the classroom, Marc stared at Valen with a grimace as he began to leave.
Now, Valen looked forward to lunch. He and Hiera would sit together in a booth during lunch. They would talk about each other's days and miscellaneous things. He didn't have to sit alone anymore and envy everyone else sitting and talking to their friends. Even if it wasn't the real Hiera, he still felt the same butterflies in his stomach.
How sick is that?
Strangely, throughout the day, Valen had a lingering feeling as if he was forgetting something important. He kept pushing it aside though. Before he knew it, school was already over and he was outside.
[Hiera]: "WHAAATTT?! You forgot to ask your grandma!?"
Hiera exclaimed loudly, her face visibly upset.
Oh, that's what it was.
Valen scratched his head as he let out a small, awkward laugh.
[Valen]: "It's okay, though—I can just ask her when she gets here. She'll most likely say yes, so we don't have to worry."
A notification popped up on Valen's phone. It was his grandmother, saying she had arrived at the school parking lot.
[Hiera]: "Oh, is she here now?"
She tilted her head slightly as she questioned Valen. He nodded, and she gently smiled.
[Hiera]: "Well, let's hurry up then! The sooner we ask, the sooner we can know!"
Hiera took Valen's hand, and they started walking toward the parking lot.
When they both arrived at the car, his grandmother rolled down the driver's seat window and tucked down her sunglasses slightly.
[Viera]: "What's this cutie doing with yew?"
Her voice had a hint of suspicion in it as she raised an eyebrow. Valen immediately began blushing and shook his head.
[Valen]: "This is my friend, Heria. We both have a class together, and we sit together at lunch. We've hung out before. But anyways, um, I was wondering if she and I could maybe hang out over at your house today—ifthat'sokaywithyou."
The air was heavy. Veria stared at him, like she was trying to pierce her way into his mind. With each passing second, Valen got more and more nervous. Ah, now he's sweating.
After what felt like ages, she scoffed, closing her eyes.
Immediately popping her eyes open, she leaned out of the window with her mouth wide open.
[Veria]: "Valen, why didn't you tell me you had a girrrlffrieeennddd!?!?!"
[Valen]: "No—nononono! I just told you, we're friends! Not dating! Nope! No! I swear!"
As he yelled this, he waved his hands frantically, his face slowly turning red.
His grandmother chuckled as she leaned back inside the car.
[Veria]: "Of course, you both can hang out there. After all, I can see that she makes you very happy."
Pointing at Valen's and Hiera's interlocked hands with a smirk on her face, she furthers her point. This makes him even more flustered.
[Hiera]: "Aaah—Thank you for letting me stay over, Miss!"
Hiera burst, bowing to his grandmother.
[Veria]: "It's no biggie. And also, you can just call me Veria. No need to be all formal. Now, are you two gonna get in or what? I got a fantastic TV show at home waiting for me."
Both of them hurriedly got in the car, and Verosika drove off almost immediately.
***
Upon entering the house, Veria plopped right onto the living room couch. Grabbing her remote, she started to scroll through channels.
[Veria]: "Now you two don't try to do anything funny up there, alright? Just be normal kids." She said, not even looking back at them.
[Veria]: "Shoo away, now."
Valen and Hiera nodded and quickly headed upstairs. In his room, Hiera looked around, examining everything.
[Hiera]: "Oh wow, so this is your room, huh?"
[Valen]: "Yeah, it's not very interesting… It's dull."
Hiera then shifted her gaze to Valen and smiled.
[Hiera]: "Well, I think it's nice. Simple, yet it gets the point across!"
Plopping onto Valen's bed, Hiera spread her arms out like an eagle.
'She doesn't have any manners, huh…?'
Valen smiled slightly while shaking his head.
'That's what being a demon does to ya.'
Oh—wait. He just remembered.
[Valen]: "So, um… About my question—"
Hiera had turned over onto her belly and started patting the edge of the bed, swaying her legs in the air like a child.
Valen raised an eyebrow before walking over and sitting on the bed next to her.
[Hiera]: "Now, what was it?"
She tilted her head to the side, staring deeply into his eyes.
[Valen]: "I was wondering… Is the real—" He paused for a moment before continuing. "...original Hiera really gone?"
An eerie grin formed on Hiera's face. Suddenly, Valen was pulled further onto the bed, and he was laid out on his back. Hiera then got on top of him and stared him in the eyes. Valen couldn't help but sweat, feeling nervous about what was to come.
Unbuttoning her shirt, the whole torso of her body was slowly revealed. This time, though, the large cut from before was now gone.
Suddenly, her chest began to split open, the tear running down to her belly. Once again, the black substance emerged.
Valen was stunned, his mouth hanging slightly open. The horrible feeling of needing to run away had come back.
[Hiera]: "Touch it."
Hiera said calmly, with a warm smile.
Valen had frozen up. Touch that? Who in their right mind would?
Looking back up at Hiera, the unnervingly calm smile had sent waves of chills throughout his body.
Hesitantly, he began to reach his hands towards the black substance. As his hands made contact with it, his arm was suddenly pulled in. It made him sit up, and his eyes shot wide open.
The texture was slimy—very slimy. The way it wriggled and moved around his fingers was too much. Hiera panted softly as her innards kept wriggling around his arm. Valen was starting to wonder what the point of all of this was, when suddenly—
[---]: "Valen? Valen! Can you hear me? Please, please help me—"
In an instant, his arm had shot out of Hiera's innards. The cut began to slowly close, and eventually her torso returned to what a normal one should look like.
[Hiera]: "Sorry, she's still not used to everything yet."
Hiera nervously smiled while scratching her cheek with a finger.
What was that?
It was like at that moment, he could hear the real Hiera speaking to him. Valen was shocked.
Looking back at his arm, he noticed that it was completely dry. There were no signs at all that it was inside of her. Valen stared for a few more moments before looking back up at Hiera.
[Valen]: "How… How did you get her body?"
She looked at him blankly and tapped her chest.
[Hiera]: "She committed suicide."
Valen couldn't believe it. Not giving him a moment to process it, she kept on.
[Hiera]: "Well, tried to. When I arrived, she was already in the process. It was the hanging method, but she didn't do it correctly, so she ended up suffocating."
Then, she pointed to her face with a thumb and grinned passionately.
[Hiera]: "That's where I came in, I could tell she didn't want to die! It was all in her eyes. So, I made a trade with her. I could save her, in return for her body!"
Then, looking to the side, she puckered her lips.
[Hiera]: "Though, I guess there were slight miscommunications between us, because now she's actively trying to get her body back."
Letting out a sigh, she shrugged.
[Hiera]: "It's too late now, though. Deal's already made!"
Valen stared at her, appalled at everything he had just heard.
'So she's still alive…'
He glanced to the side, squinting as he leaned back against the bed, lying flat.
'Though, she's actively suffering…'
'I wonder, could all of this have been prevented if I wasn't such an asshole back then?'
Idiot.
Valen felt a warm sensation wrap around his torso. Turning his head back to Hiera, he realized that she leaned down to hug him. Leaning back up, she stared at him sorrowfully.
[Hiera]: "Did I make you upset? I'm sorry, Valen…"
She had a genuine look of guilt on her face.
Valen couldn't shake the feeling of wrongfulness, even though he understood that his feelings were justified.
Both of them stayed silent for a few more moments.
[Valen]: " — "
[Hiera]: "V-Valen…"
Hiera blushed, her eyes gazing down at Valen's hair. His arms were wrapped around her backside as his face was stuffed into her chest.
[Valen]: "I'm… I'm so glad I'm not alone…"
Valen's voice was shaky. Hiera could tell that he was at his limit. Sniffling, his arms wrapped around her became tighter.
Hiera then let out a sigh of relief as she smiled gently and wrapped her arms around his back.
[Hiera]: "It's okay, let it all out…"
Valen felt an indescribable feeling of emptiness. At the same time, though, he felt a new sense of motivation. The real Hiera was there… But at the same time, she wasn't. He had no idea how he was to get her back, but he was determined.
'By any means necessary…'
'I will save you, Hiera!'
***
An hour had passed, and they were both sitting beside each other on the bed. They were all out of things to talk about or do. Looking out the window, Valen could see that the sun was starting to set. The sky had a nice shade of orange.
[Hiera]: "Ummm… What time is it?"
Hiera wiggled her fingers while turning over to Valen. Grabbing his phone, he turned it on.
Tuesday, October 1st
6:40 PM
[Hiera]: "Oh–shoooot! I'm supposed to be home by 7!"
Hiera suddenly got up and began walking towards the door.
[Hiera]: "Hurry, Valen!!! Let's go get your grandma and get me home!"
They both quickly ran downstairs into the living room, where she was sound asleep.
[Veria]: "—"
[Veria]: "Mmm, what…?" Veria asked, her voice very drowsy.
***
[Veria]: "Well, I'm glad you told me at the last minute,"
Veria's voice was full of sarcasm as she turned past a traffic light.
Both Valen and Hiera could only exclaim 'Sooorrryyy!!' apologetically. Veria let out a sigh and smirked.
[Veria]: "It's okay, I know how kids are these days."
Both kids then immediately shouted in unison, their faces flushed with embarrassment.
[Hiera]: "No–you have it all wrong!!! We had just lost track of time, that's all!"
Her face turned even redder as she frantically waved her hands.
Veria began chuckling and let out a big sigh.
[Veria]: "Sure, if that's what you say…"
[Valen, Heria]: "WE'RE BOTH VERY SURE THAT WAS ALL THERE WAS TO IT!!!"
She chuckled even more as the kids yelled in embarrassment.
***
[Hiera]: "Thank you for taking me home, Miss—I mean, Veria."
Veria leaned on the door to the driver's seat as she lit a cigarette.
[Veria]: "You're welcome, Valen's girlfriend."
[Valen]: "I-I told you!!! She's not my girlfriend!!!"
The two girls laughed at seeing Valen so embarrassed.
[Veria]: "Next time yew come over, please tell me before what time you oughta get home, alright?"
"Next time…?" Both Valen and Hiera said, their eyes widening.
[Veria]: "Yeah, of course. I figure this isn't the last time you two will hang out like this."
Hiera, blushing a little, smiled softly as she looked at Valen.
[Hiera]: "Well… See you tomorrow, then, Valen. I hope we can hang out like this again…"
[Valen]: "Oh–Yeah, see you tomorrow! Have a good night, okay?"
As Hiera began to walk away, she paused briefly before turning back and quickly approaching Valen.
[Hiera]: "That's right—I wanted to ask if I could have your phone number!"
Valen stared at her, dumbfounded at the request.
[Hiera]: "If we exchanged phone numbers, then we could talk anytime! And then maybe we could also—"
She stopped herself, covering her mouth as she blushed.
[Valen]: "Uhh-Yeah! We can do that! Definitely!"
A nervous, faint smile formed on his face.
After they finished, Hiera walked toward the front door of her house once again. When she reached it, she turned back to wave at Valen before entering a code and stepping inside.
[Veria]: "You got a girl's phone number. Lucky you, huh?"
[Valen]: "Shut up!!!"
***
When the both of them got home, Veria plopped right back onto the couch and put up her arm, making a peace sign.
[Veria]: "Well, I'm out for the night. There should be some things in the refrigerator if you're hungry."
Not even a second after she said that, Valen could already hear snoring coming from the living room.
Valen formed a small smile before heading upstairs.
'Today was massively better than yesterday.'
Clenching his fists, he gave a look of strength.
'I've learned a lot of useful information. Though I'm not sure if—'
Valen paused for a moment before continuing.
'No, I will save Hiera and the world from these filthy demons.'
But, how exactly was he going to get to his end goal?
That he wondered.
It was late at night. The midnight sky glistened through Valen's window as he slept gracefully.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
What was that noise?
Valen exhaustedly got up, looking at the window.
There was nothing there. Maybe it was just a squirrel. Lying back down, he began to drift back to sleep.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
[Valen]: "Okay, seriously, what is that…"
Valen slowly got up and went over to the window.
Everything looked normal, at least to him. He scratched his head as he squinted his eyes.
[Valen]: "I'm too tired for this…"
Turning around, he began to walk to his bed when the knocking noise came back. Immediately rushing to the window and opening it wide, he peeped his head out the window and examined his surroundings.
Left,
Nothing there.
Right,
Nothing there.
Down,
Nothing there.
Up,
" — "
A huge, fox-like creature loomed above him, gazing down with its swirling eyes that felt almost hallucinogenic. Shaking his head, he quickly pulled his head back into the window and tried to close it, but before he could—
[Valen]: "Waa—!?"
At the speed of light, Valen was in the air. The sight of everything below him made him screech in terror. He could see his house, just barely. The size of it from his view made him realize just how far up in the air he was.
The fox-creature suddenly reappeared behind him, grabbing Valen in its mouth and immediately dashing through the air. Despite the sharpness of its teeth, he found it surprisingly comfortable. Feeling himself dozing off, he struggled to keep his eyes open. Eventually, though, he gave in.
***
[---]: "Queen Miaera! Queen Miaera! We've brought more food."
Valen's eyes slowly opened. Everything was so blurry. All he could make out were white blobs everywhere, looking at him.
After rubbing his eyes, though, he could see.
Ah, it was all so very clear to him.
He was alone in a dark forest, surrounded by even more of the fox-creatures. There were about—at least 30 of them.
Emerging from the woods, a new face greeted Valen.
She had long, black hair. It was up in two pigtails and her furry ears peaked out of the top of her hair, twitching slightly. Her eyes were closed shut, giving her a serene and calm appearance. Her skin tone was completely white, and she had a very noticeable natural blush. She wore oversized white clothing that resembled a blend of a robe and sweatpants. A bright red wool lining ran from the top of her robe down to the waist of her sweatpants.
[---]: "Queen Miaera! Please, try our new meal we have brought to you."
A fox shouted out to the woman who had just come from the woods.
That must've been 'Queen Miaera'.
With a flick of her finger, a large gash instantly appeared on Valen's belly. Blood began spurting out almost immediately, and he yelled in pain.
It hurts–ithurtsithurtsithurts!
Valen had never been in this much pain before. Not even the head bashing yesterday had felt as bad as this did. Looking down at his stomach, he saw that his insides were starting to spill out.
Kneeling, Miaera began sipping on the blood inside his stomach like a bowl. The fox-creatures around her stared intently as she continued to sip, some of their mouths hanging open.
'Why isn't my stomach healing? Is anyone going to save me? God–It hurts so badly, it hurts it hurts please make it stop–when will it end? Just kill me already!'
Valen gritted his teeth, trying to distract himself from the pain. Finally, after what felt like ages, she got up and licked her lips.
[Queen Miaera]: "My review—Disgusting. Utterly disgusting, I'm appalled that you even brought me this."
Her face had contorted into a look of revulsion. She clapped and began to walk away.
[Queen Miaera]: "Foxes—Please discard this. It seems he's one of her minions. He sure does reek of it."
The foxes all began to trudge, slowly inching closer and closer to Valen.
Valen quickly got up, stumbling. His legs shook violently as he looked around him.
Seems like he was really deep in the forest. There was no hope of anyone saving him.
Clenching his eyes, he pushed in his spilling guts and prayed that it would heal.
[Valen]: "—"
The feeling, the same as when his forehead was closing suddenly, came back.
Opening his eyes, he saw that his stomach was already in the process of healing. The foxes, watching this happen, widened their eyes in both shock and interest.
[---]: "So he's one of those–The ones who can heal! That must mean he's very advanced…" Another one of the foxes called out, its voice trembling slightly.
The one next to it licked its lips.
[---]: "This would definitely make me quite stronger…"
Valen, clenching his fists, got into a fighting stance. Miaera vanished into the woods as she glanced at him.
[Valen]: "I just found a new reason to live…"
Pounding his chest with one hand, he yelled enthusiastically—determination shining brightly in his pupils.
[Valen]: "So I'll be damned if I let you end it here!"