The Fear I Loved

chapter 10.

Two days slowly dragged by in fits of unforeseen rises of fever and the cold sweat. Ailiseu barely got out of the bed, already burdened by the fact that she was unable to celebrate Haru's birthday party. 

The young lad never mentioned about it and instead kept busy with the house chores. 

Mrs. Young made sure to stop by once every few hours or so. She would bring in some freshly warm made meal and eat together with the pair. Sometimes, Caspar would join the trio and go along as if nothing had happened. He did not want to instigate the tragedy whilst Ailiseu was hardly recovering from her fever.

When things didn't go as they planned, Ailiseu had finally recovered after resting for the past two days and a half. 

She started her morning with her usual routine, which was prepping Haru for his morning class, buying fresher groceries and working on the house chores. She was already thinking of going back to the bar with Caspar, of whom hasn't brought up anything about the recent events. 

At times, she felt uneasy for the paranoia that someone might be stalking her. She kept her profile on the low at times and stayed at home when necessary. She tried forgetting about it and straight up visited Caspar.

"I need to talk to you." she said, in a quiet and hushed tone.

Caspar glances behind his shoulder. His Mother was out shopping for groceries. He's unsure whether the two should go somewhere else to discuss about what needed to be discussed or instead stay in the living room.

The lad ushers Ailiseu to come inside and she took off her shoes before stepping onto the living room.

"Water?" Caspar asks and Ailiseu returns a curt nod. 

She fumbles around with her fingers, drumming them on the surface of the wooden table. Her mind has yet not forgotten about the tragedy. If she thought about it too deeply, the bile coming from her empty stomach would rise up again. She did not want Haru to worry too much.

Caspar comes back with freshwater on a glass and sets it in front of Ailiseu. She gives him a brief thanks before gulping the contents in half. 

Once again, silence looms over their surroundings. Both kept their gazes set down on the table, afraid to start the dreaded topic. The hushed yet lively atmosphere dawdled outside the house. It was starting to get stuffy the more silence the two become.

Caspar clears his throat, "About that night ..."

Ailiseu clenches tightly onto her fists. 

The topic has to come out anyway.

"It was horrible, wasn't it?" he began indirectly, touching the surface of the situation as for now. 

He made brief glances at Ailiseu's reaction, waiting to stop at the right moment in case her reaction took the wrong way.

"Did anyone else make it out?" Ailiseu continues.

Caspar exhales a heavy breath that had seemed to grate against his lungs. He hasn't run like that in a long time and it deeply traumatised him. 

"I was the only one who managed to run. I didn't see anyone who was following me." 

Ailiseu swallows the dry lump in her throat. She almost could not swallow the bile back down. 

"Someone was following me ... sort of." Ailiseu almost whispers in return.

Caspar barely glances up at the lass, as the ends of his hair rose up in fear.

"Caspar, who gave you the invitation to the Lord's palace? Did you see anything else that happened inside the palace?"

"He said he was a fellow servant from the palace. I didn't question much about his sudden appearance ... and it was too generous of them to scout for servants. So I accepted the offer. The neighbouring bars were given the same invitation. And about the palace ..." Caspar explains and halts for a moment.