54 | candle; emerald flames

When the banquet ended, the Teller stood up first.

Her raven dress melted into the harsh shadows on the ground, before she faded like a whisper into the darkness, leaving the impression of her stark green eyes.

Wren glanced sideways, looking at something that wasn't there. She stopped any of the children from standing up, raising a hand. "Give it a moment. It may be another one of her tricks."

After a few moments, the door creaked open and closed once again, a sliver of black trailing on the ground.

Lucas thought he saw the obscure green pupils staring from the shadow.

Wren scoffed. "Ha... it's a good thing you noticed last time she played a trick. We'll need to be more careful. It's a game of cat and mouse, and we're the damn prey."

"You'll be responsible for the girls." reminded Lucas. "I don't think we're allowed to stuff ourselves into a single room."

"How lecherous, considering sleeping by my side?"

"You're not my type."

"Is it my personality?" Wren winked slyly, with a mischievous curl to her lips. "Or my gender? I don't judge."

Lucas wiped his mouth with a napkin, idly organizing his utensils. He lifted his gaze languidly. "It's everything about you."

He said it with such a solemn air that the room fell into silence and Wren felt a tickle of genuine irritation. "Excuse you, I'll have you know I was rather popular in my youth. I'd be the one rejecting you!"

"I was an intelligent child in my youth." said the man shamelessly in response.

"Yeah? What happened?"

He paused, shrugging calmly without any fluctuations in his tone. "I'm equally intelligent and lovely now.

"......" Wren opened her mouth, before clamping it shut and sighing deeply. "You... you really have no shame, do you?"

"Why should I feel shame for telling the truth?"

Berry threw his chubby hand into the air, raising it high as he waved it wildly. Lucas glanced sideways, bending his head to listen. "What is it?"

"I think you're lovely, mister Lucas!"

"...thank you."

Rome and the little girl he helped earlier widened their eyes in surprise at the thanks, opening their mouths as if to praise him as well before he cleared his throat, rubbing his temples.

"Since this seems to be dinnertime, we likely have a few hours before curfew. Have you noticed anything that determines the time of day?"

Will cast his gloomy stare over. "The flames... it was orange before we entered, and now it's white..."

Lucas mulled over the suggestion. "Orange may determine the time between waking and dinner, while white determines the evening? If that's true, we'll have to keep an eye if it changes colour again."

"Should we return to the rooms just in case?" asked Wren cautiously.

Even if she'd become a little twisted after becoming a Teller, mysterious and strange as she was, she hadn't reached a point that she would put children at risk.

Lucas shook his head. "I estimate there'll be at least an hour. The other way of clearing a Story is to find out the history behind everything—they would leave time to explore those secrets."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Everyone will die, including me." said Lucas indifferently, causing a stir of terror to spread over each child's face. "But if we play it too safe, we will die regardless."

Wren clicked her tongue, yanking the seat out and standing up. After confirming that her body was still intact, she nodded at the children to leave their chairs as well. "Remember, we may have a contract, but I won't die so easily even if you do."

"I'm aware."

The children followed Lucas out in an orderly fashion, with Wren taking the end of the line this time. It was almost comical, resembling a scene of teachers going on a walk with elementary students.

Berry, by far the most clingy child of the group, insisted on holding Lucas' hand. The latter had stared silently, and said not a word in response.

The boy had taken that as a silent agreement, grasping onto Lucas' hand.

On the other side of Lucas, Rome kept peeking at Lucas' other swaying hand but said nothing. While Lucas noticed the peeking glances, he wasn't sure he could be prepared to attack while two children clung to his both sides.

In the back of the line, Wren snickered purposely loud at the scene.

Will stood in the middle with a candle stand, casting a dull glow on them all. It had been left outside the dining room when they exited.

The floorboards creaked noisily under their feet, and each old and sealed door felt as if it would gently squeak open as they passed. Berry's hand tightened, clutching closely to Lucas.

"I'll assume that Teller is representing Maleficent." muttered Wren from the back.

"The Story of Sleeping Beauty has many versions. It's hard to predict her reasonings." replied Lucas.

He didn't mention it out loud in order to not disturb the children, but the many versions of sleeping beauty were rather different from the commonly spread tale. Of cheating, sexual assault and even stranger ordeals.

What he could gage, was that Maleficent held malicious feelings to Sleeping Beauty. In the commonplace tale, it was out of spite for not having been invited to the child's birthday party.

In older, more twisted stories, it was out of jealously due to the King's lust towards the cursed woman.

Sleeping Beauty, Aurora, had gotten pregnant—and later taken in by the King. In one version, his wife who despised his affair, wanted to kill the children and feed them to her husband.

A warped, terrible tale.

However, perhaps something similar had occurred. After all, the Teller's main target seemed to have been the children in the hospital.

"It may be a combination of multiple versions."

Clatter!

A raspy voice echoed through the midst of them, causing the children to jump. Will dropped the candle in pure terror before realizing his mistake. However, his hand trembled and he couldn't pick it up.

Lucas frowned, stalking to the middle and salvaged it before the dim flame completely burned out.

Printed in the waxy cylinder was a melted face, distorted and creepily realistic, despite being carved into wax. The enormous eyes didn't blink, but the mouth continued to move.

"Heheheh... did I scare you?"

Lucas held the candle at an arm's length, holding back from flinging it away out of sheer disgust. It was the only light they had.

A vibration ran along the drooping surface, as if mimicking laughter.

Then the flame roared to life wildly, bursting out in jagged spikes. Lucas felt a burning head graze his cheeks as he pushed the nearby children back, away from the fire.

His eyes widened in surprise as blinding, hot pain made his arm convulse.

The metal hosteler scorched his palm, searing into his flesh as the scene of cooked meat filled the air. Wren grimaced as she watched Lucas' twitching expressions, despite his firm hold on the candle.

He fell to one knee, holding the candle above his head so that it wouldn't touch the carpeted floors, mouth forming a silent scream of anguish.

If he dropped it, they would be plunged into darkness.

Then all of them could die.

His hand shook in pain as the flames continued to roar, before the warped face chuckled with its melted mouth.

"...not bad... not bad... hehehe..."

The flames curled back into itself, making the blinding light fade into a dim and dull glow once again. Lucas' hand trembled, but he didn't let go. The residue heat still inflicted pain on his hand, but an amount he could endure.

He bit the inside of his cheek to mask the unbearable pain with more pain.

Had this happened before he went through several Stories, he might be shaking on the ground in a half-awake state. The physical upgrades to his self aided greatly.

Will rushed forward, panicked. "You... how... why didn't you let go..." His voice rasped from his hurried speech, uncomfortable with talking too much.

Lucas shook his head, appearing unperturbed though his words were stagnated.

"There's... wood and carpet on the ground that the candle might set aflame, or if the flame extinguished, then there's no promising our survival."

He didn't dare risk it, with 20 children to monitor.

He'd already lost two.

Although it didn't show, and Lucas chose not to dwell on the nagging feeling, it was true that he felt a hint of blame in the back of his mind.

For not being cautious enough, for not being able to protect the doctor's precious patients. Perhaps there was no method of protecting them, but he couldn't help but think of the 'what if?'

An air of gloominess settled over Lucas, further dampening the dark hallway. The candle observed him with glee, revealed carved teeth.

Wren remained planted at the back of the life, having yanked several children back from the flames' reach. Her sharp eyes zeroed onto Lucas' burnt hand. It didn't seem to be a third-degree burn... and with his present self-healing ability, he would be fine.

She laughed to herself. How warped had her mind become for an injury like this to be just 'fine'?

Lucas narrowed his gaze. "Do you intend to do that again?"

"Hehehe... what if I say yes?"

"Then I'll find the nearest bathroom." stated the man without hesitation, as the candle frowned in confusion. "I'll dunk you into the dirty toilet water for 10 second durations at a time, over and over until you can't light up again."

If a candle could show fear, Lucas was sure that it was showing it.

"How filthy! You need me—I am the only light that you have—"

"If you're going to attempt to kill us again, then we're better off dying in the darkness than in your flames."

He rubbed his stomach in slow circles. "I need to use the bathroom."

A tremble rushed up the candle in a panic, mixed with both horror and disgust as Lucas moved ahead, tilting his head around as if searching for a restroom.

As he did, he peeked at the other children. "Do any of you need to use the restroom? You won't be able to go later at night."

A dozen hands swept high in the air, and the candle's shaking grew more violent.

Lucas continued walking, as he turned the melted face towards him and allowed a soft, almost gentle smile to grace his lips. The smile didn't reach his indifferent gaze.

"Are you ready to take a swim?"

The candle regretted all his life decisions at that moment. "Have you no pride, speaking of such cruel, inhumane and disgusting actions?"

"I have plenty of pride." smiled Lucas gently. "I'm proud of being cruel."

"Alright, alright! I... I won't do anything again! I swear!"

Lucas squinted, shaking his head sorrowfully. "Unfortunately, I can't trust you anymore. I need to assert—" He paused, turning to Wren. "What's the phrase? The popular one, where one needs to assert...?"

The woman stared at him blankly before bursting out into laughter. "Asserting dominance? You need to assert dominance?"

"Yeah."

"Pfft— I'll say, most don't use that phrase seriously."

"Doesn't it apply to this situation?"

She pursed her lips, then shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, it does."

The candle listened to the casual conversation between the only adults in the group and feared for its hygiene and safety. Shouting, it broke through the conversation. "The flame turns green 10 minutes before you must return to your rooms!"

Lucas looked away from Wren, at the panic engraved into the wax. It was a rather disturbing sight. "I can warn you as soon as there's danger! I have that ability!"

"Tell my why I should trust you in ten words or less."

"Why ten words?"

"Because I've found the restrooms."

Lucas stopped outside a broken wood door with the word 'bathrooms' displayed on a sign above, directly opposing the regal gloom that had been in the previous rooms. He directly pushed it open, holding up the flame to illuminate the room.

There were rows of densely packed stalls and hand sinks that were stained in odd shades of yellow.

Wren peeked inside, raising an eyebrow. "I was expecting some creepy, gothic bathroom. This reminds me of an old school bathroom, but creepier, older and grosser."

"For convenience?" wondered Lucas, solemnly debating the toilet's appearance.

The mirrors were lined in rusted gold engravings, and soft whistles of wind seemed to seep through the cracks of the door from an unknown opening.

He turned to the children. "You have five minutes. If there is anything, even a whisper in your ears, then scream."

All twenty heads bobbed in understanding before they hurled into the stalls. Lucas waited at the entrance, while Wren stood further inside to keep an eye on any suspicious activity.

Lucas breathed slowly as he leaned at the doorway, peering down the endless corridor. At the creaking wood, that pressed with invisible footsteps, and the pupils watching in the shadows.

At the unnerving silence that blew down the hall.

The candle's dim flame flickered as the carved eyes stared at Lucas' profile. "Do you have confidence in surviving?"

Lucas coldly looked over and spat out two words. "That's six."

The floorboards creaked louder over a growing weight, and Lucas narrowed his eyes down into the deep darkness. He glanced at the flame; it was still white.

"If you lied to me..." said the man slowly.

The rasping voice replied. "I didn't lie."

Creaaaaak—

Lucas' pupils contracted, a wisp of emerald lapping at the walls before disappearing. His burned hand still trembled vaguely from pain, but he curled his fingers around tighter.

The flame was still white.

The last of the children stumbled out of the stalls, washing their hands in a well-mannered behaviour. Water splashed against the sinks, the sloshing sound of running water loud.

Will picked up a sleepy child whose movements had slowed and sharply twisted his head to stare at the doorway.

Lucas' eyes flickered to the candle as its mouth twisted in joy.

"I didn't lie." It repeated slowly. "You can survive before the flame turns green, and the ten minutes runs out."

White sparks danced in its wick, like a low laughter.

"You can," said Lucas in affirmation as he slowly turned his head back into the darkness.

The voice laughed. "But not you will."

A white face was staring back at him.

It smiled.

The bellows of laughter rumbled through the hall as the distant face approached at an alarming rate. Lucas spun around, shouting, "Run!"

He scooped up the slowest of the children, while Wren picked up a few stragglers as they crashed through the bathroom door and rushed down the hall. He didn't dare turn back.

Rome glanced back at the pale white face that trailed behind, chasing after them, gulping loudly as nausea rushed through his body.

"Damn! Which way?" yelled Wren as the candle in Lucas' hand flickered wildly, dimming and brightening at random.

They sharply turned down a hall, skidding against the carpet placed at random on the ground. Lucas looked sideways, trying to recall the direction of the rooms. But no many turns that he did, he couldn't find them.

His navigation skills weren't terrible... that meant the castle was playing tricks on them. Then a vague memory splintered into his thoughts, of the dead old man in the Cinderella Story.

He hadn't wanted to use the equipment, knowing that it would disappear after.

His eyes flickered to his thumb, where an old ring tightly sat, forgotten over time. Yet he never removed it and never used it.

Lucas fell silent before drawing up the image of the location he desired in his mind.

Taking a shallow breath, he yelled, "Old man, show me the way!"

A red burst of light erupted from the ring, before condensing into a straight, long line that led into the distance.

"Follow the red light!"

It led them down a series of turns in the twisting corridors before they arrived in front of a familiar double set of doors. The rooms that they'd originally arrived in.

Wren glanced at a second pair of double doors beside it.

"Well, look at that. Our rooms are right next to yours."

Lucas didn't waste any time herding the children inside. Beside him, Wren behaved in a similar fashion, displaying a sense of calmness that couldn't completely mask her panic.

Even if she could find a way to live, these children could die.

The white face turned down the hall, a dozen meters away from them. Lucas pushed the last boy into the room, glancing sideways as adrenaline coursed through his veins.

The ring shattered around his thumb, crumbling to glistening shards.

As the door slammed shut, the man belatedly realized. The face simply floated, watching them through stark green eyes without a sound.

What was it waiting for?

———XXX———

[ding! message from lukiyo]

Hello, hello, this chapter shall be edited tomorrow morning/afternoon! This pains me to admit, I read through half before feeling slightly creeped out since it's almost midnight (yes, I scare quite easily) and then I got more and more creeped out...

Therefore, forgive me and my weak mind, but I'll definitely edit any errors in the morning! I did a quick skim for any glaring issues T^T

Sweet dreams (if it's night for you) or good morning (if it's day)!

Thanks for reading!!!!!