Chapter 4: I Won't Let You Die
The sun begins to arise, and it replaces the moon on the horizon. Inside a room in the cathedral, two women wearing white attire are standing in front of a man.
"Santos, we already healed his wounds," one of them said.
The other woman turns around and sees Afitera laying on the bed with his eyes closed.
"I have mended his eye," she turns around and looks straight into Santos' eyes, "it was bad, and his eyeball is pulled from its place. I can't possibly assure you that the boy will live longer."
Santos says, "He'll die? No! He cannot die. He means a lot to me, Sister Rana."
Rana moves her eyes, drifting from his eyes, and she inhales deeply. "Half of the people in this village blamed the innocent young man for the deaths of their loved ones.
"Angie and I couldn't find a way to convince the people to not indulge in that fabricated belief.
Even though we persuade them to not harm the boy; he will still be liable to blame for the bad things that will occur in their lives."
Santos' fingers begin to bend towards the palm, and his brows are knitting. "I-I will make them pay!"
Angie moves her hand towards his shoulder and inhales deeply. "We all know that you can't do it. Since 'that' reason of yours is stopping you from standing for him."
"Angie is right," Rana rubs the temple of her nose, "Santos, if you are truly committed to being a father for him, hence you must choose between him and the people of this village."
Rana's eyes are narrowing as she stares directly into his eyes whilst Santos is looking at the ground.
Angie is quickly moving her eyes from Rana to Santos. Angie begins to play with her fingers as sweat is falling from the sides of her head.
"Guys…" Angie keeps tapping her fingers against each other, "the time is running! The boy might wake up anytime. Please, don't cause a tumultuous moment here."
"I'm not trying to cause a violent movement here," Rana glances at Angie, "I was just teaching this idiot right here about the word 'reality' which he cannot do."
"What are you implying? That I'm not a man of my word?" Santos glared at her.
Rana looks back at Santos with her restricting eyes. "Are you affected, Santos? Now, what?"
She steps closer to Santos while looking straight into his eyes. "Be a man and learn how to stand up on your own feet. Padre Ferdinand doesn't own your life, for you are the one who owns it."
Rana looks away and begins to step across Santos, while Santos, remains looking down while shaking his head.
Angie stops in her footsteps beside Santos, bows down, and says, "I'm ashamed for how she acts, please, forgive her."
Santos remains staring at the ground whilst Angie gallops from the room. He looks behind him and witnesses the door closing.
"They must be right," he whispered.
The wind blows throughout the townlet, and the human beings scattered on the road are enjoying the fresh breath of wind.
Santos is sitting on a chair placed beside the closed door. His eyes are darted on a book on his lap; it's open, revealing pages with lengthy paragraphs.
"This book is," he licks his thumb and flips the pages, "all about mythological creatures!"
Meanwhile, inside a forest. In front of a carriage inside a forest, a young woman is facing two women and their eyes are looking down.
The young woman rubs her nape. "How come both of you didn't find him?!"
She yells at them. "He was right beside me at that moment!"
"Lady Lumina, you need to calm yourself down," one of them says, the one with the thin body, "I'm sure he's safe and sound somewhere in this village."
Lumina raises her hand to her lip, opens her mouth, and begins to bite her fingernails.
She put her hand away from her teeth. "The people in this village have hatred for him.
"I'm concerned that the blame for those wicked creatures that I've slaughtered might be established upon him."
"Your goal, miss," the other one spoke.
Lumina looks at the one who spoke. "My goal is nothing without a key, and he is the key to finding the true purpose of my goal."
In the interim, a pair of eyes open. A young man laying on a mattress in a room arises from the bed.
The blanket slowly falls from his shoulders. He looks at every part of the room, not until he sees a man; he's sitting on a chair and his eyes are on the pages of a book.
"Are you alright, boy?" he asked.
Afitera looks at the palm of his hands. "It seems that I was healed… how, Sir Santos?"
Santos closes the book and puts it down on the round table beside his chair. He stands up and walks toward Afitera.
"Here," he halts in front of him and gives a plastic bag to Afitera, "wear this."
Afitera holds the plastic bag and pulls it from their grasp of Santos. Afitera looks up and sees the eyes of Santos looking at him.
Afitera speaks, "But… where are we going?"
Santos turns around. "We'll visit a person that I truly adore, someone who took care of me."
"That person," Afitera mumbled.
Moving on, at the cemetery, Afitera and Santos are now standing in front of a tombstone.
There are only a few people around the cemetery; some are standing in front of the tombstone and some are sitting in front of it.
Afitera takes a short peek around him and sees the entire grass field with tombstones embedded in the ground.
"Is this a paradise?" Afitera whispered.
"Paradise?" Santos shifted his attention towards Afitera.
Afitera moves his eyes toward Santos and he nods. Afitera turns around and says, "It's peaceful around here, and no one wants to lay a finger on me; it's like they don't know me."
Santos narrows his eyes at the young man, and he looks away as fluid begins to flow from his eyes.
Santos rubs the tears from his eyes, and he sniffs. "You, too, are a human being. You have the right to be sad, happy, angry, or nervous. Afitera, aren't you mad with the people who harmed you?"
"Why do I need to be angry?" Afitera looked at Santos.
Santos remains staring at the young man's eyes, which are glued on him. Santos begins to open his mouth, but he looks at the tombstone beside him.
He closes his mouth and licks his lip while gently tapping his belt. "You know, Afitera, we human beings have the right to feel and do what we seek."
"You must stand for yourself, boy," Santos touches his hat and pick it from his head, "I cannot assure you that I'll always be by your side."
Afitera kneels down in front of the tombstone. He holds a piece of his shirt and begins to pull a large piece of it.
Santos remains looking steadily at Afitera. Thence, Afitera arises from kneeling and steps backward.
"Your shirt," Santos looks at Afitera with widening eyes, "it's your last t-shirt, why did you do that to your shirt?"
Afitera moves his eyes to his shirt and speaks, "Not all people can afford a cloth like this. I'm sure that person you adore yearn for clothes, I'm sure that even a spirit needs something warm."
Santos' eyes begin to widen, and it narrows, his brow begins to furrow as fluid fills his eyes; it flows in a gentle stream down to his chin.
Moving on, at a long wooden seat in a park, both of them are sitting on it while their eyes are wandering everywhere.
Santos holds his hat, and moves it away from his head; gently waving it. "What do you want to eat, Afitera?"
Afitera inhales deeply whilst Santos shifts his eyes toward him.
"What's bugging you, boy?" Santos asked.
Afitera continues to look at a certain direction. "I'm just not used to this kind of peace."
Santos puts his hat back on his head, and moves his eyes toward the young man.
"If you want to leave, then we can go, boy." Santos began to move from his seat.
Afitera smiles a little. "Even though those people hate me, I still am thankful for I have you as my father."
Santos goes back to his seat, and he gazes at Afitera. He moves closer to him as he surrounds his arms around Afitera's chest, and he pushes Afitera's head closer to his chest.
Santos caresses Afitera's hair. "I'm luckier to have you in my life, my boy."
Santos embraces him tighter. "I won't let you die, my boy."
In a forest, a woman crashes on many trees until she hits the ground. She coughs as she stands up.
Her eyes are narrowing upon a man floating in front of her.
He utters a soft laugh while staring at the young woman.
"Bene! You won't decide for my life!" Lumina straightens her whole body, "I won't let you!"
A harsh force of wind blows all over them. Bene remains chuckling, and he points his finger at Lumina.
"Whether you want it or not," he stops chuckling, "you will obey the clan's will."
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