XIX

"Xhien!" a voice calls from a distance. It was a female's voice. It sounds worried and scared. He tries to run towards the voice but he doesn't know where it was. "Xhien!" the voice screams again. He decided to just run and see who could be calling him.

He is not sure if he is the one the voice calls but he knows that it could be him. He looks around the place and all he can is white. White ceiling, white walls, white tiles, everything is white. There are no hints of any other colors that exist in the human world.

He runs on the left side of the big room when he realized that he lost the voice. Scared and lonely, he tries to run back from where he came from. He runs and runs and runs until he was exhausted. He sat down for a moment and re-think his strategies on how to get out of the place.

A few moments later, he heard the voice calls him again. This time, the voice from his left so he immediately stood up and follows the voice. Even with his exhausted feet, he came across a new place. He turns around to see if the place from earlier still exists, but apparently, it was long gone. He stares at the place before walking around it.

He stops behind a huge tree that gives out a darker shade. It's like a tree where you can sleep or hide behind it and no one will know you are there. It has the same height as a Narra tree but with bigger leaves and a wider trunk.

Its roots were sticking out from the ground that he almost tripped when he accidentally steps on one of them. He sat underneath the shade of the big tree and puts his head on its trunk. Minutes later, he feels his eyes drooping down, trying to fight his urge to sleep, but he gave in when he knew he can't avoid it.

The sounds of the violin can be heard from afar. It is followed by the sound of people singing and a gong banging. He tries to open his eyes but when he did, he can't see anything. Everything he sees is black so he tries touching the trunk of the tree.

It's still there but he just can't see it. 'Did I go blind?' he asks himself as he stands up and looks around him. 'Yeah, I guess I am,' he mutters as he walks carefully around the tree.

The sounds of music can still be heard from where he is but he just can't see where it came from. "Xhien!" the voice screams again, this time, it sounds so near and clear. It's a male voice with a hint of femininity in it. The voice sounds familiar as if he had heard it many times before.

"Xhien!" it screams again. He turns his head and slowly follows the voice. He tries changing but his body just won't cooperate. He groans and starts walking towards the voice. "Where are you?" he frustratedly screams, getting annoyed as time passed.

"I am here!" the voice screams. He was shocked to hear him answer back but he was also glad that he did. "Speak again!" he orders hoping that the voice will speak again so he could follow it. "Stop bossing me around, dumbass." The voice answers back earning a small chuckle from him.

He immediately follows the voice before it was again and he was welcomed into a new world one more time. "Where the hell am I anyway?" he whispers as he looks around. He remembers he can't see shit yet he tries blinking his eyes.

When he re-opens them, he was surprised to see the magnificent view in front of him.

In this new place, there is a large waterfall that has such clear water that falls from the rocky mountain up above it. He gasps at the sight and didn't wait for a second before jumping to the lake where the falls are located.

He giggles to himself as the cold water hugs his aching body. It was as if a healing remedy from all the running and walking that he did. He still doesn't know how or where he is but he is enjoying this.

He was swimming for a moment when he heard the voice again. "You dumbass, free me so I could join you," the voice said. He turns around and sees a tiny cage and he curiously went to it. He pushes a huge bush and saw a tiny boy in that cage. He is so tiny that if he didn't help him carefully, he might die.

"Are you okay?" he asks. The boy looks at him before rolling his eyes and he looks at him with a sheepish smile. "Right," he said and tries to release the kid from the cage. Once released, the boy suddenly jumps to the river and asks him to join him. He was hesitant at first but eventually, he joins in.

They swam for a while and when he saw that it is getting dark, he climbs up to the grassy field and looks at the boy, who was now standing behind him with teary eyes. "I am sorry, I only call you when I am in trouble. I promise that I won't do it again. Have a safe trip, Mr. Wolf," the kid said and kiss him on the cheek.

~0~0~0~

He opens his eyes and pants before looking around him. He was still in the darkroom that is located on the island. The moon is shining brightly outside that it also serves as a small light on this room.

He looks beside him and sees that Stephen is still sleeping. He holds his head and tries to reminisce everything that had happened to him. He looks at his chest and touches his face. He even looks at the mirror to make sure that didn't go blind.

Fortunately, it was all a dream. "It felt so real," he whispers to himself as he sits down on one of the stool beside the small table where he and Stephen eat their food. "What the fuck is that dream?" he asks again muttering incoherently, not noticing that he accidentally wakes up Stephen.

"Hey, are you okay?" Stephen suddenly asks, earning a scream from Triton. Stephen looks at him dumbfounded and blinks his eyes.

"Oh, sorry I scared you," Stephen said as he stands up and sits in front of Triton. "Is something wrong?" Stephen asks again as he watches Triton trying to avoid his gaze. "I had a nightmare," Triton whispers hoping that Stephen didn't hear it.

Stephen did hear it but didn't say anything. He is not sure how to comfort someone who just had their nightmare so he just asks him again dumbly. "What?" he asks and Triton just smiles at him.

"It was nothing, shall we sleep again? The night is still young," Triton said with a grin plastered on his face. Stephen smiles back and nods at him. They hug each other on their way to dreamland hoping that one day, Triton could tell Stephen about the nightmare and Stephen could ask Triton about it.