บท 9: Then the cloak fell

The dark of the night hadn't completely faded yet. A boy was strolling through the cold, deserted streets, wearing a hooded sweatshirt. The sound of his footsteps bounced off the brisk walls around him. It seemed that November's cold had cloud everywhere, but the snow hadn't fallen yet.

After a while, the boy stopped at a door and pulled back his hood, revealing his face. It was Drake, standing at Alan's house. He pressed the doorbell and waited until the door opened.

Alan rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching like a lion waking up to the sun, as he hung his legs beside his bed. He walked, wearing his slippers, to the main gate and opened the door, he blinked at Drake, surprised to see him. After all, it wasn't a usual time for a visit.

"Drake, what are you doing here at this hour?" Alan asked, his face groggy with sleep.

Drake frowned at him, clearly displeased with the welcome, and turned as if to leave without saying a word. Alan quickly stepped forward and pulled him inside.

"There we go, our little angry bird," Alan teased.

Drake resisted and said, "No, I want you to come with me."

"Now? Come on..." Alan replied, noticing the frown still on Drake's face.

"Okay, alright... at this time? Fine," Alan hesitated before nodding. "Just give me a moment to put on my shoes."

As Alan went inside, Drake stood anxiously, glancing at his friend's footsteps. He seemed eager to show Alan something, as if desperate to make him understand his misery.

"Hurry up, Alan!" Drake exclaimed, his voice louder than before.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming! What's the rush?" Alan countered as he hurried to get ready.

Drake grabbed Alan by the arm and dragged him like a child.

"Hey! I can walk on my own!" Alan protested, trying to free his hand but failing.

"Alan, no. You're going to see with your own eyes that I wasn't lying," Drake said in a steady voice.

"Lying? About what? Hey, that hurts!" Alan finally managed to pull his arm free and looked at Drake angrily.

"Just walk with me quietly. I'll explain everything," Drake insisted, not slowing down. They approached the alley beside Drake's house.

Alan covered his nose with his hand. "What on earth is happening here?"

Drake remained silent, urging Alan forward with a nod. "Go ahead and see for yourself."

Alan gave Drake a strange look before cautiously moving ahead. He pointed a finger at Drake, warning him, "If this is a prank, you'll pay for it."

Drake just frowned, waiting to see Alan's reaction. As Alan stepped into the alley, he struggled to make sense of what he was seeing. The scene was unclear at first, but then his face turned completely pale, and his eyes widened in horror. He stumbled back, as if recoiling from the sight of the dogs—lying dead, completely torn open, their bodies buried beneath swarms of flies.

Alan bolted out of the alley, shouting in fear. "What was that?!" he gasped, his voice shaky. "What the hell was that?!" He struggled to find his words, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

Drake looked at him and grinned. "Come on, let's go inside, and I'll explain everything."

Drake led Alan into his house and straight up the stairs to his room. He held the door open for Alan, who was still trembling with dread.

"Want some water?" Drake offered as Alan sat on the bed, still visibly shaken. Alan shook his head slightly, lost in fear.

"What was that?" he asked, his voice weak, his hands still cold.

Drake walked over to the window, leaning against the wall as he stared at the closed shutters. He sighed before beginning to recount everything that had happened since the night after his birthday—the red eyes he saw, the barking dogs, and the bruises he received during that terrifying night. He also told Alan about the previous night when he had rushed home after everything that happened at the bar. Finally, Drake described finding the dogs torn open, their bodies lying in the alley as if they'd been slashed with some sharp metal.

Drake looked at Alan, his expression questioning. "Do you still not believe me?".

Alan remained silent with a harsh expression impressed on his face, constantly looking downwards. Drake pressed on "Did you hear...",

Alan suddenly burst out, "Shut up. Just shut up! I can't believe you'd do something like this just to prove you're right!" His voice was a mixture of anger and frustration. Alan was convinced that Drake had orchestrated everything to make him believe in these horrors—to prove that everything he thought, everything he saw, was real.

You killed them, and you're saying that—"

Drake furiously leaned in and interrupted, "I killed them? I didn't do that. Understand?" He lifted his hand in warning. "O just shut ...", suddenly, Alan's face turned pale as he gazed into Drake's eyes. "Your eyes, Drake...", his voice lowered.

Drake's eyes were now glowing a hot, ominous red, and his appearance wasn't normal. It seemed as though his body was shrouded in a dark shadow. And his voice barely comparable to a human, as he growled "How dare you call me a liar?" , unaffected by Alan's words.

"Drake, now you're scaring me," Alan stammered, his voice trembling with fear. Panic overtook him as he ran towards the door. Drake took a step towards him, fury in his eyes, grunting as if was possessed by something but then he violently shook his head and dropped to his knees with a cry, as if battling something inside him.

For a while nothing happened, and everything remained still in space. But, in a blink of eye, a dark shadow appeared out of Drake's chest, who was still lying on floor, unmoved.

Alan's face turned blue as if his soul wasn't in him anymore. In dread, he started crawling on his back to move away from the cloud. He wanted to shout for help, but his lips got glued with fear, his self control didn't seem to be in his possession.

The dark black shadow started to spread all around the room, it's heating, raising the temperature every second. The walls of the room began to drip out water due to it's condensation.

Alan had still closed his eyes tightly, like a pigeon, who can't fly, and is ready to be the dinner of a cat. The cloud's dark ambiance, now just close to touch Alan's skin, who's still pushing himself backwards into the bed's front leg, to keep the cloud from touching him. He held his breath, as there is no left for him, determined to keep himself from inhaling it in his body.

All of sudden, the cloud clammped shut back in Drake's chest, trailing down all through his body like black snakes. The impressions were fading as quickly as they were being formed.

Drake snapped open his glowing hot red eyes, that set back to their normal colour in a while.

Alan was still closing his eyes, frightened completely, trying to push himself back in the bed's board, tears twinkling on his cheeks.

With his hands, Drake tried to get up on his feet. "Are you ok—", Drake muttered these words, while he stumbled a bit but, somehow managed to stand erect. Alan opened his eye swiftly with Drake's word's and the sounds that he made while standing.

"Don't come closer!— Just don't!", Alan's word's were trembling, terribly, as he straightened his legs on the ground vividly and rushed to open the door.

Drake stopped his feet with his words, frowning at Alan in agony. "Alan— what happened?",Drake in a soft, careful voice, but pressed the last word to see his friend leaving. Drake moved a step towards Alan

" Listen, Alan, please!", he said softly.

"No, just don't come... " Alan ran start towards the stairs, dashing as fast as he could, skipping many steps on the stairs.

Drake headed him for a while but thinking that it's worthless stopped upstairs and let him go.

Miss Maggie saw Alan, rushing down the stairs as if someone is late for their flight, Inquired politely "Good Morning, Alan —What a nice...", before she completed her words, Alan whirled past her like a hurricane, without uttering a single word.

He didn't even looked at her and left Drake's house swiftly.

Miss Maggie looked at Drake standing upstairs, "What happened?, Did you both have a fight?".Drake shook his head with an expressionless face and went back into the room, without giving a word.

He didn't even looked at her and left Drake's house swiftly.

Miss Maggie looked at Drake standing upstairs, "What happened?, Did you both have a fight?".Drake shook his head with an expressionless face and went back into the room, without giving a word.