Across The Realms

Chapter 5

"Cloth. Book. Glove. Light Stick with a ring on top, this might hurt if I threw it at him." Kairo jokingly contemplated on what was his best option was

Less than a day ago, he was an ordinary college student on summer break, but now Kairo is getting ready to throw his first stun grenade. Following the procedures arming the stun grenade, Kairo tossed it to the withered leaf filled floor between the werewolf and himself. With what was seen as a futile pause in movement for his two prey, the werewolf lunged himself at Kairo. As Kairo turned his back towards the werewolf and covered the eyes of whom he was rescuing as quickly as he could.

At this same moment, the stun grenade burst into a flash of light and scorched it's blinding sensation into the eyes of those who were left unprepared, accompanied with a minor fading screeching noise. In this case, the victim of such harassment was none other than the werewolf. The werewolf stumbled onto the ground by its back, rolling from side to side while covering his eyes with his claws and whimpering in pain.

Once the screeching noise reverted back to being overcome by the sounds of the forest, Kairo sought this as the opportunity that he had intended to create, to widen the advantage between him and the werewolf. So, he grabbed his pursued companion dressed in a candy red robe by the wrist and bolt ahead once more into the forest until the werewolf was nowhere in sight.

Soon, sunshine turned to an overcast. Droplets of water tapped onto the exposed skin of Kairo's clothes. Heeding this as a sign to find shelter in these neverending woods, they had to venture further and faster with a goal in mind.

Kairo took notice of something after all the running he had been doing with his current nameless companion and voiced out "Hey. I realised this earlier, but for a dude, you've got really slender arms."

Stomping her righting foot to the ground, she lifted up the hood of the robe that had been concealing her features all this while.

She slapped Kairo across the face and declared, "I'm a girl, you dumbass."

Frozen in place, Kairo stared at the girl as he felt a stinging pain on his left cheek.

"My name is Roselle Alucard and I don't care to walk around this forest anymore. Thankfully, I see a cabin not too far from here." Introducing herself, the no longer nameless companion further stated her findings

As night befalls the two lost souls deep in the darkness of the forest, they felt comfort in knowing that they were standing outside a broken down wooden cabin with lights shining from the inside.

"Maggot. Knock on the door, so that we may seek refuge. It's not good to still be outside in this darkness, while the werewolf is probably still hunting us." Roselle commanded Kairo in a condescending tone

"Maybe I should've just left you to be eaten." Kairo mumbled under his breath as he walked up to the porch and knocked on the wooden planked door

As he took a few steps back to stand beside Roselle, the door opened inwards and out came a tall elder cleancut bearded man. Clenching both fists at his sides, Kairo's intention to speak was interrupted by Roselle's silent whispers of worry beside him.

"Oh no. No. No. No. Why him?" Roselle hissed whilst shifting behind Kairo, holding tightly onto his right clenched fist with her left hand, pressing his arm against her chest with her right arm and peeped from above his shoulder

This sudden drastic change in attitude caused Kairo to sense that this middle aged man was much more of a threat than he appeared to be.

"Hi there, I'm Kairo and this is my compa... girlfriend. She... We were camping in the woods and came across a wolf monster of sorts. Would you please allow us to take shelter in your home?" Kairo requested with in a quavering tone

"Urgh... You must be talking about the werewolf of this forest. I've been trying to hunt it down for awhile now. Very well, please come in. There is a vacant room that the both of you can share." the old man explained

Loosening his clenched fist, Kairo held Roselle by the hand and took her into the cabin. Nodding his head as he passed by the old man by the doorway, entering a home with an interior much too cosy to be a cabin in the woods. A stone brick fireplace in the living quarters, staircase leading upwards and a separate wide spaced dining room. All this for one old man living by himself? Clearly something is amiss. Though, out of the kindness Kairo received, he held himself back on the many queries running through his head.

Closing the door behind him, the old man offered the two guests a room upstairs at the furthest end of the corridor.

"It should be big enough to compensate for the both of you for the night. I Should be expecting you to be gone by noon, yes?" the old man declared

"Right. Thanks." Roselle responded hurriedly as she pushed Kairo up the stairs and straight in the room they were provided

As soon as they entered the room, Roselle immediately shut the door and released Kairo from her grasp and tossed him to the ground. Kairo tumbled towards the ground, planting his face down into the wooden floor.

"Ow. What is your deal, woman?! You've been acting weird ever since we saw the old dude." Yelled out by an irritated Kairo while pinching his nose to stop a nosebleed

"It has to be him. He's the reason the werewolf stopped chasing us this far. He's the Keeper of this forest, a monster hunter."Roselle panickedly informed Kairo

"Isn't that a good thing? Then we're safer here." Kairo questioned while flailing his arms around

"It most certainly is not! He's gonna find out that I'm a vampire any moment now and I'll be dead!" blurted a worried Roselle

"I'm sorry. You're a who say what now?"

"I am a vampire and if that hunter is smart enough, he already knows it."

"So, what do you want? My blood?"

"No. We just need to get outta here, fast."

"Whatever the case, he's given us a place to rest. It's late, so go to bed. I'll keep watch."

"Are you sure?"

As the argument of who got to sleep pursued, Roselle eventually gave in to Kairo's convincing words. As she enjoyed her slumber on the queen sized bed in the room, Kairo decided to further look into what was written in his father's journal. Sitting on an antique chair under the light of the standing lamp at the corner of the room, he read.

"Werewolf. Once a man, but now given the form of a wolf under the influence of the moonlight. Case studies show that they fall under separate categories, they can control their transformation at will or are stuck in either form dependent on the moon's appearance. Their origins commonly fall under two categories, hereditary or probable change through surviving a werewolf attack. Further investigation required. Best stay away from them."

"Vampire. Naturally looks human, however feeds off blood. The legends of them being weak to sunlight is false. They also age slower than normal humans, much so especially if they are pure breed. Have superhuman strength and speed. Best stay on their good side."

These entries held a higher importance at the time, as they were the first two species of monsters he had encountered over the past day. Though with the intent to dive deeper into the contents of the books, Kairo's eyelids began to feel heavy. Which was natural for going through all this in just a day's worth. However, his whole body appeared to go numb. The abnormality of this situation begged to be questioned. As he slid off his seat and fell down to the floor with a thud sound, it was then that the noise of creaking wood approached the room. The door swung open, as a silhouette figure walked through into the darkness and overshadowed the barely conscious Kairo .