QUARTET ALLIANCE: LEND A HAND (Wild Duty & Judgement)

Chapter 5: You've Seen It

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2:03 A.M

-Zen's house-

It was really late into the night. Wouldn't be considered day just from reading the time. The sun hasn't rose yet and people were supposed to be sleeping. A few hours ago, Cicero was able to explain to Omi that the message that keeps popping up isn't from an error in his device or connection. The page itself had a problem or S'probably what they want to show it as. They want the page to appear like that...because they wanna be mysterious or something. M'not sure, really. As Cicero said.

Omi only nodded with his lips formed into a straight line. What a let down. He was looking forward for volume two.

Zen allowed his friends to sleep over. He was weirdly in a good mood. It's probably because Micheal bought him coffee and donuts last night. He had an extra bedroom with two beds in which he let Omi and Micheal sleep in. And his own bedroom had only one bed. He told Cicero to sleep on his bed and he'll sleep on the floor with a mattress. Oooo what a gentleman. Cicero giggled upon hearing the request. When the green head teased him, thinking he wasn't serious, but then asked if he'd be comfortable and Zen assured him.

Right now, Zen couldn't rest, shifting around in different positions. He rested for about two hours only the moment he layed his head down. That obviously wasn't enough. He wasn't able to sleep. Not because he was sleeping on the floor or because he drank coffee. He kept hearing sounds of a cat in pain right outside the window. Every five seconds, he would sit up straight and turn to look at the window, but nothing was to avail what he heard. He couldn't see any sign of a cat's shadow.

More whining, more meowing, and Zen finally got up and walked slowly to the curtain. He pushed it aside slowly, to not wake the green head up. He looked out the window, twisted his head left and right until his eyes landed on a bright cat sitting on a tree branch. It was like the voices got louder when the animal was in his sight. It became louder and louder that it started hurting his eardrums. Zen blocked his ears and shut his eyes while sliding down slowly to a crouch on the floor. He never felt this vulnerable or weak. Make it stop. He chanted in his head.

At last, the noises lowered down from screams to talking to whispers and hushes of a lady saying some incoherent words to silence. Silence. It felt weird for it to go back to silence. Zen was grateful. The only thing he could hear now was the air conditioner along with Cicero's slow breathing. He tied to calm himself and match the pace of his quickened and panicked breathing with Cicero's calm and relaxed one.

It wasn't perfectly matched, but it was enough to allow Zen to calm down and go back to where he was laying down.

However, this wasn't the first time this happened. The night Rehan came late, Zen also kept hearing voices, but it was never this bad. It didn't allow him to sleep, but when Rehan arrived, he was passed out in no time. He was able to sleep and a good one at that. The red head was always thinking if he was able to sleep because of the blond's presence. But then again, the more he thinks about it, the more ridiculous it starts sounding. Really? There was no way. It was just a coincidence.

He blinked slowly and let his his tired eyes rest while he walked. He soon regretted it when he tripped over his nightstand, knocking off all of the stuff placed on top of of, emitting a loud noise, crashes and thuds caused Cicero to shift and release a tired groan. The green head rubbed his eyes and they soon opened, appearing dark green under the dim light. He unhurriedly sat up and fixed his tired out vision on the red head who was having trouble standing up.