Chapter 185: 185-I Chose Love
Matthias:
I held on to Jessie’s hand as tightly as I could, pulling her with me to the mansion. I had caught a few things from Clementine’s talk. She mentioned that the mansion was very hard to break into. I paid attention to her conversations because, sometimes, she actually said important things. Whenever she spoke, I knew I had to listen carefully. And this information was probably going to save us.
Once we reached the mansion, we rushed inside and I slammed the door shut. Strangely, halfway through, those things had completely stopped chasing us. Inside, I looked at everyone’s faces, they were terrified.
"What the fuck were those things?" the new member, Mira, cried, clutching her chest. She was badly bruised, and blood poured from her shoulder. One of those things had bitten her, and I even heard her bone crack.
"Can’t you just transition to heal?" Oriana asked, her face pale with fear.
There were too many questions and no real answers. What were those things? Where did they come from? Why were there so many of them? And why did they suddenly leave?
"I don’t know. Whatever the case, we’re safe here," I told them. But my eyes kept drifting to Jessie. I was worried about her. She looked devastated. When she turned to me, I saw tears in her eyes.
"My sister is out there. How will she survive this?" she asked, her voice breaking with urgency.
"Your sister is as strong as you. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine," I tried to reassure her, though I wasn’t even sure I believed it myself. Clementine had said her sister was running from one of those things last night, and Jack claimed he saw her survive. But how much longer could she last?
"We need to go out there," Jessie whispered. "The things disappeared, so that means we’re safe. We should find my sister."
Before coming to the academy, I never imagined I’d fall in love with anyone. I was usually alone. I didn’t trust anyone. I didn’t like anyone. I hated every human being. But here I was, deeply in love with the one person who was truly different from the rest.
"She’s right. We should go," I said. As soon as the words left my mouth, the others shook their heads in disagreement.
"Of course you’ll say that, because you’re in love with her. But why the hell are we getting dragged into this mess?" Sebastian grumbled.
The three new squad members from the blue team were Beta, Mira, and Sebastian, who didn’t seem to connect too well with the others. They mostly only cared about themselves.
The reason they came with us in the first place was because they thought our job would be easier than fighting in the big city to protect the people in the tower. But once they realized the monsters were here and the mansion was the safest place, they didn’t want to leave.
"Then you guys can stay back. Nobody’s forcing you to come. We’ll go, because I promised to find her sister, and I won’t step back from my word," I shot back at the ones who refused to help.
"I’ll come too," Oriana said suddenly, surprising us. She was far more willing to help than the others. I had noticed she was skilled at fighting and finding ways to protect both herself and the group.
"Fine, you guys can go if you want to die so badly. Those things will just chase you back again, but we’ll stay inside. We’re not stupid enough to risk our lives for someone we don’t even know survived," Mira snapped.
As soon as she opened her mouth again, I shot her a sharp look, warning her to shut up. If she made Jessie cry one more time, she wouldn’t hear the end of it. I was certain of that, and she finally seemed to realize it.
I took Jessie’s hand and started to lead her away. Just as we were about to head out, we opened the door and came across something unexpected. The Crusaders were returning.
"Wait, they’re back already? What if they want to go home? I don’t want to leave yet," Jessie whispered.
Oriana, standing beside her, stepped forward to speak with them. But the Crusaders didn’t look like they had good news. Their faces were heavy with disappointment until their eyes landed on me. Suddenly, they looked hopeful. I couldn’t understand why. People usually didn’t react that way to seeing me.
"What is it, you guys? Did you do it?" I asked as they approached. Ian stepped forward, shaking his head.
"No. We need you. You initiated this cloth," he said, holding up the same piece of fabric meant for cleaning that he swung it around.
They patted my shoulder as they passed me and went inside, and I already knew why. They must have run into that thing too.
Once we were all inside, Ian pointed at the door.
"Close it. Those things are called Wendigos. They’re afraid of sunlight and fire. As long as there’s bright light outside, we’re safe. But the moment the clouds cover the sky, we won’t be." He explained everything in one quick breath, making sure we knew what to expect.
Everyone rushed in and shut the door, just as the clouds began to gather and block out the sun once more.
"So that means Matthias has to go with you guys this time?" Oriana asked. We had already heard this question before, but I guessed she just wanted to see how I’d react. My plans were different from what they were now suggesting.
"Yeah. He has to come with us," Joshua added, the same guy who once acted like cleaning a stone was such an easy job. And now he had the nerve to ask me to go with them.
I noticed Jessie glance at me, sadness in her eyes. She must have realized that if I went with them, I wouldn’t be able to stay by her side. The choice was mine now. I gave them a small smile and said, "I’m not going anywhere with you guys. I’ll stay with Jessie."
As soon as the words left my mouth, everyone stared at me in shock.