Legend of the Flaming phantom

Chapter 21: Mysterious Message

As I walked to my room, I passed by everyone in the lounge. They looked at me, but they said nothing as I continued to my room. When I reached my room, I opened the door and entered. I closed the door behind me, then walked over to Addison's bed. I kept the lights off, so the only light came from the electric clock on the nightstand. I sat down on the foot of the bed and looked at Addison's face.

The scar that she received from the man back at the village already made me feel guilty, but the cuts and bruises that were spread across her body made me feel worthless. I could have prevented this if I had just paid more attention during Squad Zero's raid. As I mentally beat my self up, Addison opened her eyes.

Addison sat up and rubbed her eyes. As her hand came into contact with her left eye, she winced in pain, making me feel guiltier. The room was dark, so she still hadn't seen me. She looked in my direction and finally saw me. Before I could say anything, she practically jumped from her spot and wrapped her arms around me. I opened my mouth to speak, but she spoke first.

"Don't you dare feel guilty, Cyrus," She said. "I know how you think, so let me tell you, this isn't your fault."

I hadn't expected her to say something like that, but it dug deep. Addison was staying strong, while I was blaming myself for what happened. The second she said these words, I broke down crying. I tried to keep it in, but my emotions flowed out like a river. Addison held me tighter and began crying as well. She put her head on my shoulder, and we sat there, crying in each other's embrace. After a few minutes, I managed to control myself and stop crying, but Addison continued for another five minutes. She was such a gentle girl, and she was in such a terrible position.

When Addison stopped crying, she let go of me, and she wiped the tears from her eyes. She grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes.

"No matter what happens, don't blame yourself for what a monster does," She said.

I silently nodded, and she gave me another quick hug. She threw her blanket off, then stood up. I stood up as well. Addison took a step forward and almost fell down. She was weak from a lack of food and water. I put my arm around her and helped her walk to the door. I opened the door and light flooded into the room. We walked into the hall and began walking to the lounge. When we reached the lounge, everyone looked back at us. They all stood up and ran toward us.

Dakota was the first to reach us, and when she did, she wrapped her arms around Addison. April reached us next, and did the same. Soon, everyone except Chris was group hugging Addison. When everyone let go, they began asking questions about what happened and how she was feeling. While everyone was talking to Addison, Jericho turned to me.

"You did well," He said.

"Thanks," I replied. "By the way, Ashley told me at the last bunker that you had a key to the food storage, do you have one for this one?"

"Yeah, I assumed you were going to say that. Ashley won't allow me to give anyone the key, so when everyone is done talking to Addison, I'll unlock the food storage for you."

"Thank you, Jericho."

"No problem."

Everyone continued asking questions for what seemed like hours. When they finally stopped, I helped Addison walk back to the kitchen with Jericho following. When we reached the kitchen, I helped Addison sit down, as Jericho unlocked the food storage. Jericho walked into the storage, and when he returned, he was holding a can of beans.

"It may not be luxury, but it's food," Jericho said.

Jericho took a can opener from a drawer and opened the can. He poured the beans into a pot, lit the stove, then began to cook the beans.