Chapter 103 - 104. A Strain Of Melody
"Tha, why do I always hear wood knocks anytime I am with you? Are you like that kid who has a big bear stalker or a giant penguin?!" Winnter looked upset with the knocks.
"I do," I was a bit hesitant, "But he is not here right now. He--'' I hadn't finished my words when suddenly Winnter spontaneously ran to leave us.
I didn't know what had happened but I decided to run after Winnter who was ahead of us. It was not easy because we had been left behind for some distance. Faintly, a strain of melody was heard from our front, but it was enough to answer the question of why Winnter ran so suddenly.
"Tha, put on your earmuffs!" Mickey, who was behind us, yelled to remind us.
We followed his instructions and continued running with the light from Zent's body.
After tens of meters of walking, I saw Winnter was ahead of me with swarms of rats filling up the bottom of the dump, the walls were filled with cockroaches and other smaller insects. They were all gathering as if they were watching one huge animal in front of them.
That creature was as big as an adult horse with horns towering, almost reaching the top of that tunnel. "Aras?" I said softly, looking at little branches fulfilling the horns with holes in every branch.
I saw Winnter was silent listening to voices, while Aras seemed undisturbed with our coming. It looked so calm as if it was used to having humans around it. this made us confident to come closer and it saw our direction.
Its face was not exactly like a horse, it was wider with ears on each side of the head. The hair was clean and white, its tail was thick with a part looking hard like its horn covering its back and its tail as well.
After we were a few steps closer, Aras ran around its place a little. On the other side, Winnter gestured us not to come closer.
We stopped and in front of us, Winnter moved closer to that creature. "Psst!" Winnter tried to attract the attention of Aras.
They were only a few meters away. I saw Winnter was talking to Aras although I did not know what they were talking about.
But there was something strange in that interaction. That creature ignored Winnter, it was looking at me, instead. "Winnter," I called her, afraid.
Mirai and I decided to walk closer towards Winnter, but that animal ran in my direction. "WINNTER!" I bent down, fearing that Aras attack me. But I felt no pain when something happened so fast.
Winnter helped me to get up. I opened my eyes and saw that the place was empty. All animals that were previously swarming here had gone away. I took off the earmuffs and shone my surround with the flashlight in my hand.
"It has gone," Winnter sounded disappointed. She looked at me. "Next time will do." She added.
I just nodded because I was still shocked by what had just happened. After some moments we decided to get out of the tunnel. The air was getting stuffy so it was hard to breathe in down here.
Two weeks passed, Mirien 's case had not found any bright sides. Meanwhile, the same case kept popping up even outside Euron. All the cases had similar endings, no solutions.
All the victims of that murders had similar characteristics, the loss of one of the body organs. None had a similar loss. People started feeling the gripping fear because the victims were of all ages, from children to the elderly. Even one of them was homeless without any identity.
The search for Aras came to a dead end. Azalea asked us to find Aras faster because it had caused one of the search teams to go down. It was their own recklessness that caused the victim from the team. Naar was pulled out from our team. That creature indeed gave us such a soothing atmosphere, but in certain conditions, it was deadly for anyone who listened to it as well.
"So, we are only two and a half?" Said Winnter, half-mocking.
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Mirai cut off irritatingly. "I am here!" She added.
"Yes, sure!" Winnter replied unwillingly, then she threw her eyes to the things in front of her. It was letters from other teams about the progress of the search.
"I feel that the creature always avoids us," I said as I opened and read the letters one by one. They were able to find Aras but it was kind of hard to catch it. "Don't you think so? It seems that it keeps running away from us, doesn't it?"
Winnter was thinking about something, while Miai was just listening to our conversation. "How if we try to get help from other teams to catch that Aras?" She was pretty sure with her plans. "I believe I can catch this animal. It is just like you say and I think you are right, Aras is hiding from us," She added.
I couldn't agree more with her idea. Winnter started writing a reply letter to one of the teams which would help us in this mission.
While waiting for the response from that team, we continued our search.
That night we started the search again. The territorial security was tightened after one more victim went down. The street lights were turned off over nine at night so that people would prefer staying at home, no visitors were allowed or the doors were opened at that hour, the windows had to be closed. The police went patrol on the streets and the small streets, or even alleys, like the alley of my house.
"Are you sure we start searching at seven?" Winnter sounded unsure with her question.
"No other choice. I just finished doing all my work at that hour. Even so, it was the best I can do," I begged her to understand. "Come on, don't be mad."
Winnter looked upset. Initially, she was willing to start the search at five, but I refused it because I needed some rest after work. "I am not sure we can be at home at nine," this too came into my consideration.
"What kind of terror is it that makes everyone so restless?" Winnter nagged non-stop while making things ready for that. Moreover, the night hours that required everyone to be home before nine made her upset. "If that is the work of collector, I will certainly chop up and smash the body." She threw Mirai's drinking bottle on the dining table rudely.
Mirai was shrunk due to fear. She picked up her bottle with her shaking hands. "If there is no good progress tonight, we need to be patient for a reply from the other team for their cooperation with us," It was her final decision.
…
It was still seven in the evening but the streets were getting quiet and far from any activities. Many shops that usually opened until over midnight or even in the morning were facing restrictions, only until eight. Mirai was at home with Mickey. I didn't feel secure with that little girl being in such a situation.
"Are you aware of who Mirai is actually?" Winnter stopped a while.
"Yes, I am," I replied. "I am just worried about taking her out under such circumstances, not safe for her," I knew what Winnter was up to, why I didn't take Mirai that night.
"No, that's not what I mean, Tha," She cut it. then she showed me a page of her notebook she carried with her all the time. "Mirai is just like you but in your young version, a Youenha who doesn't realize her strengths. She is like you but not exactly the same. She often behaves emotionally, easily explodes and sometimes uncontrolled. While you are more mature and able to control your emotion." Winnter told me.
I didn't really catch her explanation so just kept quiet and looked at her who was walking ahead of me. Actually, it was like a blow for me. I still didn't understand who I really was, and just walked based on my instinct that led me to the steps I took.
When I was able to keep up with her, again I heard that knock. It sounded similar to when I walked out of that shop that night, or when I was in the drainage, meeting Aras.
I looked around and again I saw nothing. Some street lights in the alleys were turned off while it was still at eight.
I chose to ignore it and to catch up with Winnter. "Where are we going tonight?" I asked her while I was keeping up with her.
"Tha, we are following the voices carried by the wind. I have very good hearing, far above normal man, and right now we are following where those voices are leading us." She sounded ambiguous.
…
Winnter stopped in front of the ruins of an old building outside the outskirts of the city.. We had been walking far from the settlement, no lights but the moonlight shone dimly over us.