Chapter 12 My Senile Master

Bang.

The brute man threw me to the ground. My head and body slammed hard onto the ground. Things became fuzzy. I shook my head and screamed.

"Ouch! Would it kill you to be gentler?"

I rubbed my head to ease the pain and looked up. I looked around the unknown place and felt disgusted by the sight of it. The place was dark and filthy. The floor was filled with blood and dead bodies. Some were cut into pieces, and some had bite marks as if they were eaten alive.

"Oh crap!" I jumped up when I saw the pile of dead bodies I landed on.

"...she...new...flesh..." I heard whispers from behind. I turned around and saw children around my age chained and locked in here. Some children had scars and blood all over their body. Strangely, they had no wounds, but there were blood on them. I looked at the piles of dead bodies. "You got to be kidding me..."

I looked back at them, and they were all staring at me. Some with fear; some with contempt and some were staring as if they had found their prey. As I looked into their eyes, I felt like I could be eaten alive. My heart tightened until I thought my heart could stop at any moment. I tried to gasp for air, but every breath felt like it could be my last moment.

Creak...

The metal door behind me opened. A few men came in and cleared the pile of dead bodies on the floor. One of the men looked at me and said, "What are you standing there for? Move!"

I was startled and said," O-Oh, no. S-sorry." I quickly moved away and found an empty spot to calm myself and away from their gaze.

As I calmed myself, I loosened my fist and looked at what Master Jay gave me. There was a long piece of paper, and it wrote, "When you see a senile old man, approach him and you might live."

'Senile old man? I don't need a senile old man to make myself senile.'

When I finished reading the paper, the paper evaporated into thin air as if it were never there.

'What was that for?' I wondered.

I sighed and saw a finger pointing deeper into the tunnel. I turned my head and saw Lyndall sitting beside me.

"Lynd-". Lyndall placed a finger on my mouth.

"Come. Come. " Lyndall stood up and ran deeper into the tunnel.

'I hate anything related to horror, but I can't leave little sweet Lyndall running around all alone in this terrifying place. He might get eaten by these cannibals.'

I let out a big sigh and followed after Lyndall into the deep, dark tunnel.

I slowly walked deeper into the tunnel. "Lyndall. Lyndall. Where are you?" I whispered.

As I walked deeper into the tunnel, it became darker like a black hole. The light from the tunnel entrance became dimmer with each step. I was struggling to see what was in front of me. Suddenly, I felt a chilly wind accompanied by a foul smell. It smells like something decomposing in there for a very long time. I nearly fainted from that horrible smell. I immediately pinched my nose and ran far into the tunnel. When the smell subsided, I took a deep breath of air. "I think I stepped on some corpses along the way. Ouiii~. Why is it so cold here? I'm almost freezing to death." I hugged myself to keep warm.

I looked around for Lyndall, but I still couldn't find him. "Where is he? Someone haven't eaten him yet, right?" I bit my nails in worry. "He can't be further in, right? How can he stand the cold?" I was shivering down to my bone. "Oh... but if he can stand it. Why can't I?" I stood slouching and slowly wriggled myself deeper into the tunnel.

I walked inside the tunnel for hours but still couldn't find Lyndall. "I feel like I'm walking in circles in the dark. It's not like I'm not used to it, but can you at least not make it so damn COLD!" I shouted. I could hear my scream echo inside the tunnel. "Oh? Am I almost there? The echo stopped. I better hurry and get out of here before I become a human popsicle." I ran as fast I can. As I ran, I saw a glimpse of light at the end of this dark tunnel. I ran even faster, and when I reached, the light became so blinding that I had to close my eyes.

I slowly opened my eyes. "Ugh. What happened?" I was muddled. "I remembered chasing after a white light in a cold tunnel, then I don't remember anything else."

"Llyne?" I heard a little boy's voice.

I turned towards that voice and saw Lyndall. "Lyndall?" I pinched his peach like cheeks. "Is that really you? I was so worried. I walked so long and finally found you. Don't disappear like that on me ever again, okay?"

"Fwahahaha. And people called me senile old man. I guessed they haven't met ya yet, young lady." A gruffy voice was ringing in my ear.

"Senile? Me? Wait...so really you are the one people called senile old man?" I turned and saw a 70-ish skeleton looking old man with grey hair and long grey beard. He had wrinkles running along his face and had a vapid expression.

"Is that what they called me, young lad?" The old man went back to playing chess all by himself.

"Didn't he just say that people called him senile? Why is he asking me if people called him senile?"

Lyndall raised his shoulders.

'Okay. Now that I've approached him, what am I supposed to do?'

'Ah, maybe I can ask about this place. If I know more about this place, it might be easier for me to survive.'

"What do you know about this place, old man?" I asked.

The senile old man said, "Everything. There's nothing I don't know. If not, I'm a dimwit!"

"Well, I thought maybe you knew something and were willing to share it with me?"

"I can't tell ya for free. Ya must give me something in return."

I agreed. "Okay. What do you want?"

"Be my student, and ya must call me, Master."

"That's all?"

"No. Answer all my questions. Mhmm." Old man nodded.

"Sure, Master."

Master leaned back with his eyes open and went silent. Lyndall and I were staring at Master for a few minutes, but he never responded.

"Master? Are you okay? You didn't die from excitement from getting your first student, right?" I nudged Master but there was no response. I moved closer to check his breathing and pulse.

"Ouiii...Master is dead. How sad. Just when he got himself a student then he died abruptly." I laid him down and closed his eyes. Suddenly, Master opened his eyes and sat back up.

Lyndall and I hugged each other and screamed. "AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! A ZOMBIE!!!!"

Master rubbed his eyes and said, "Fwahaha. I had a nice sleep."

"Nice sleep? You weren't breathing! We thought you were dead!" I screamed.

"Dead? Don't try to jinx me. I still have many years to live." He pouted.

"I bet you probably steal people's lifespan by scaring the heck out of them."

"And who are ya to be criticizing me? A thief?"

"What's there to steal? You look poorer than me. And why would a thief criticize you?" I rubbed my head. "I think I'm getting a bad headache. Anyway, did you forget that you are supposed to teach me about this place?"

"Ey? Ah! I remember now. Ya, that crazy young lad."

"I don't want to be called crazy by someone like you! And I have a name, ya know? It's Llyne." I got so frustrated. My veins were popping out. Lyndall tried to calm me down.

"I teach ya everything ya need to know about this place, but you need to obey everything I say, got it?"

"That wasn't the deal, Master."

"Hey, beggars can't be choosers. So are ya up for it, kiddo?

"Alright. But no funny acts, Master or you'll be sent to the next life sooner than you know it."

"We got a deal. Let's shake it, ser-, student!" Master reached out his hand.

I grabbed Master's hand and squeezed it as hard as I could. "You almost called me a servant, didn't you, Master?"

"Oooo~ I didn't. I didn't. I didn't." He freed his hand and massaged it. "Ya sure got some strength, brat. What did ya parents feed ya?"

"Are you going to tell me now?"

"Nah. We'll start the lessons tomorrow, kiddo. I feel sleepy, so I'm going now. Ciao!" Master suddenly vanished into thin air.

"He just vanish! How?" I asked Lyndall. Lyndall raised his shoulders. "I'm not going crazy, am I?"

Yawn.

I suddenly felt sleepy. "Hmm? Why...? ...So sleepy...". I tried slapping myself awake, but I still couldn't stay awake. I couldn't even think straight. 'Again. This damn drowsiness.' As my eyes gently closed, I heard Lyndall's voice as he placed his small hands on my head. "Goodnight, Llyne. Sweet dreams." Lyndall smiled and fell asleep.