Chapter 5: Anxiety
In a dark room, a young man with an emaciated appearance was sitting with his arms around his legs and his head hidden between them.
The young man was not more than 10 years old and his whole body was full of small wounds, even his arms looked like they had been scratched constantly as they had several scars and dried blood on them.
The young man swayed back and forth as if he was afraid. But there was nothing around him to make him feel that way, literally nothing.
But in the stillness and silence of the darkness, a thick, lethargic voice echoed in the young man's ears.
"The hearts...I need the hearts"
As soon as he heard the voice, the young man seemed to suffer a panic attack. He covered his ears tightly and began to scream madly.
"AHHHHHHH!"
He screamed and screamed until his throat was sore and hoarse, his ears were self-inflicted wounds, and his body was shaking uncontrollably.
Suddenly the voice disappeared, and the young man slowly opened his ears to make sure it was really gone.
When he realized that it had stopped, he felt much better, but his fear did not seem to subside. Instead, he went back to hiding his head in his arms and cowering as usual.
Soon after, in the total darkness, a voice was heard again.
The young man panicked again, but when he moved his arms to cover his ears and saw that his surroundings were filled with warm colors and not the darkness he was so familiar with, he didn't know how to react.
Arlan squinted his eyes from the discomfort of the light, even as he kept his arms half outstretched. Realizing that there was no voice and that he was in a strange place, he slowly lowered his arms, preparing to cover his ears again at any moment.
Looking around, Arlan realized that he was lying down in a hospital room. He didn't know how long it had been since he had seen anything but darkness, as his sense of time was completely shattered, but to be in such a different place...so nostalgic, made him feel strange.
Arlan remembered visiting a hospital ward earlier in his life, though he couldn't remember exactly what it looked like, a hospital ward was what he most associated with where he was.
It was all very confusing for Arlan, he couldn't remember how he got to this place. The only thing he remembered was that he had been on vacation with his parents and then the endless darkness had swallowed him up for who knew how long. It was then that the voice began to echo in his head.
Slowly, his senses began to open, and he realized that he was not alone in the room. Next to him, on the right side of his bed, was a black-haired woman with blue touches around her neck, dressed in an elegant full body suit typical of a professional bodyguard. The young woman looked to be no more than 20 years old and had her eyes closed tightly.
And to the left were a couple of men arguing. When they noticed that he had opened his eyes, they stopped arguing and focused on him. Arlan felt suffocated by the contemplative gaze of the men and couldn't help but tense his body.
He felt physically weak and various parts of his body ached from injuries that were unfamiliar to him, and he also felt lethargic and sleepy. Although Arlan didn't know it, his body was full of painkillers and anesthesia to keep him calm.
His arms seemed to be made of lead, and he could barely move his legs, plus there was a strap holding his torso tightly. It made him feel trapped somehow, but he had neither the energy nor the will to try to free himself from his bonds.
He was so focused on his surroundings that he didn't notice when one of the men spoke to him, so the man was forced to speak again to get Arlen's attention.
"Can you hear me?"
Arlan recognized the voice as the same one he had heard a moment ago and unconsciously looked at the man speaking to him.
The man appeared to be old, but had a strange energy about him that made him look younger than he seemed. His hair was gray, and he was wearing an elegant suit, along with several luxurious accessories.
Leonard saw that Arlan seemed to be paying attention to him, so he took it for granted that he was listening to him, so he decided to try to converse with him.
"Can you understand me?"
Arlan was a little slow, but he slowly nodded his head.
Seeing this, the men's reaction was one of surprise, as it was something they had not expected. Arlan's answer was something that took them by surprise.
"Do you know your name?" asked Leonard eagerly.
Again, Arlan took a few seconds to answer because of his stunned state. But when he opened his mouth and tried to speak, all that came out was a faint sound from his throat.
He tried to speak again, but the words didn't seem to come out.
Getting a little anxious at not being able to communicate, Arlan began to panic, just as he had when he heard the voice in the dark.
Leonard, seeing Arlan's panic attack, quickly put his hands on Arlan's shoulders and forced him to look at him.
"It's okay, just answer with your head"
Thanks to the man's sudden touch, Arlan was distracted from his fear, which helped him answer correctly by gently nodding his head in understanding.
"Is your name Arlan Vondel?"
Arlan took less time than the other times to answer by nodding his head.
Seeing this, Leonard smiled broadly and spoke excitedly.
"A pleasure, Arlan, I am your father, Leonard Fisher"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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