Chase

Chapter 14: Chase

Gray walked amidst a group of people, unsure of what the day would bring. His heart quivered with every step, worrying about any possible complications of his plan.

The sun was high in the sky, shining on Rosano with its full glory.

"What am I going to do if Nekare skips school? What if I can't find her? What if she actually attacks me? Will Casanova be inside my school to protect me?"

He took a deep breath to settle his anxiety, starting to address his issues one by one.

"If she skips school, then it'd mean the plan would have to be postponed. The same goes if I'm unable to find her. And if she were to attack me, I'd have to rely on Casanova, doing my best to trust him with my life. It's not the first time it happens, anyway."

"If everything goes alright, I'll finally be able to stop worrying about Nekare. But if it goes wrong..." he subconsciously gritted his teeth.

"I don't even want to think about it."

And if she gets regarded as a threat by Dusk Catcher, what should I do? Is Casanova going to handle it for me? If so, how?

His eyes widened.

Is he going to kill her…? No, she's my age, I doubt he would do such a thing! 

…Right?

Regardless, why do I care? If she seeks to kill me, it's fair she should be prepared for the same outcome! But still… Is it right for people to kill each-other so easily?

Gray sighed, shaking his head.

I'm couldn't be more wrong.

I have to stop to think of us as similar. For me, killing may be something wrong. But for them it's something normal, akin to swatting a fly. It's clear; I'm still too unfamiliar with this world I've been thrown into.

After a lion is born, he doesn't care about the gazelle he's slaughtering, tearing its flesh bite by bite; he just eats, for that's his nature—his only way of survival.

Therefore, since the Nephilim have to be incredibly careful to avoid being killed—be it by the unutterable and unimaginable creatures or other Nephilims; it's not too strange for them to turn against their own species for survival.

As he walked, he checked his hand, seeing nothing amiss; he wasn't dreaming.

The continued presence of this normalcy almost made him doubt about Casanova's method, making him feel vaguely worried. 

"I'm still unable to find out if I'm still dreaming…How is it possible?"

He slapped his face, punishing himself for his impatience. "I must stop complaining. Casanova said, 'The main objective of his method is to build an habit.'

Although it's displeasing, I have to deal with it.

I have no choice.

The cold breeze blew at him, whistling in the air; his hair swaying.

Gray emptied his mind of all unnecessary thoughts, only focusing on his plan, reciting the steps like a mantra. 

"Observe Nekare, follow her from a distance, find the right spot, use Dusk Catcher."

"Observe, follow her, position yourself, finish the plan."

"Observe, follow her, position yourself, succeed."

… 

After some minutes, he stood before his school, a pit slowly forming inside his stomach.

Strangely, the building looked bigger than usual.

Next to him, a horde of students stormed inside it, occupied with many topics of chatter within their groups of friends.

He looked at them for some moments before tailing them closely, using their massive numbers as a means to make a possible attacker consider their position.

Gray and the other students walked in the hallway, with each person joining their corresponding classrooms, turning the once massive group into a smaller version, decreasing with every time they passed next to a class. 

Finally, after climbing the stairs, he entered inside his class.

He immediately scanned every angle of the room to look for his objective, subconsciously touching the tissue containing Dusk Catcher, noticing the lack of Nekare's presence.

Since he was on time, it was normal for not all the students to be inside the room, making him feel at ease. 

Suddenly, he heard Rowan call for him.

Gray turned around, and noticed that his friend was gesturing for him to come to sit next him.

He silently nodded, making his way towards his friend.

He placed his bag next to his desk and sat on his chair, stretching his back to alleviate the anxiety.

The two chatted idly about the most trivial topics, causing Gray to momentarily forget about his worries.

"Dude, have you heard the latest piece of news?" Rowan exclaimed.

"I literally have no idea," he replied.

"Veronica broke up with Franco! And she did it right after he gifted her a new phone too!" Rowan whispered, a grin marked in his face.

"…Who are they again?" Gray asked, puzzled. 

Rowan's lips twitched. He turned around and sneakily pointed his finger at a girl on the third row of the desks.

She had long, black hair cascading down to her chest, a pair of black eyes able to entice every man she wanted, and pink lips capable of alluring even people of the same gender.

She was sitting alone casually, one hand holding her head, while she mindlessly scrolled on her phone with the other.

After seeing her beauty, Gray could understand of why her boyfriend had decided to buy her a new phone—even though they were still in high school. 

"Do you think I have a chance?" Rowan turned around and asked, infringing the bro-code prohibiting men to go after a woman who had just broken up with one of their friends. 

Gray thought for a moment and said, "You probably could, but are you really sure you want a girl like her? She's like a mosquito; she's just going to drain you before leaving, not to return ever again."

Rowan looked around, and with a grin marked across his face, he whispered, "I wouldn't mind being sucked by her…"

"…"

The two started laughing uncontrollably, attracting the attention of various classmates—including Veronica. Once they calmed down, Rowan turned around and scanned the room before remarking, 

"Franco isn't here, was the break up too rough?"

Gray said with a smile, "Who wouldn't feel like shit if their girlfriend had left them just after giving her a brand new phone." 

"You're right…" Rowan nodded approvingly.

Gray checked the palm of his hand, and after trying to build the habit, he searched for Nekare.

Nekare was sitting on the last row like always.

It appeared that he didn't notice her presence due to his chatter with Rowan.

"Alright, the plan can commence…" he noted silently.

Right then, the bell rung, and with it class started. 

Quickly after, the teacher entered the classroom, bringing his computer with him.

Costantino Perbellin was a man in his late fifties who lacked any hair on his head but possessed a pair of bright blue eyes, allowing him to be considered as attractive by his middle-aged peers. He wore a green sweater, black trousers and a pair of brown loafers.

The man greeted the students and connected his computer to the interactive blackboard, taking quite a bit of time struggling over the simple task.

Once he was done, he began informing his students about a new project the class had to partake in.

"Guys and girls, in the next week, me and your philosophy professors are going to collaborate for 4 or 5 lessons—we still have to choose on the precise details." 

"Anyways, the topic you'll have to study will be about the many Greek philosophies and philosophers who shaped this world and the ancient one."

"On the first two lessons, you'll have to study what I'm about to show you, while on the last two, we are going to make groups and assign a Greek philosopher to every single group to explain together on the next weeks."

"Understood?" 

"Yes." The students said together.

"Perfect. Today, I'll teach you about the first European philosopher; his name is Thales."

"I'm glad we are going to skip Greek today…" Gray thought, relieved that the teacher wouldn't check his missing homework. 

The teacher sat up and continued while walking across the room. "Thales, considered by Aristotle as the first European philosopher, was born in a date between the year 626 BC and 623 BC, in Miletus, Asia. Due to his place of birth being in the middle of the east and the west, it became a melting pot between various cultures, bringing together multiple ways of thought from the east, influencing the culture of their ancient world, and influencing his own philosophy."

"Like every philosopher in the pre-Socratic era, he tries to explain the cosmology and the substance of the universe, seeking a rational explanation, not based upon the dogmas of Greek society."

"Thus, Thales tries to discover the Arkhé. The Arkhé comes from the Greek word άρχή—which means beginning."

"From the meaning, you can understand that it refers to the origin of all things and phenomena. This way of thought is also called Monism—which comes from the greek word μονός, meaning alone."

"Monism is a doctrine, and it denies the existence of a duality within existence, such as the one between good and evil, the one between body and mind and et cetera." 

"For Thales, the origin of everything—this so called Arkhé is water." 

"After recognizing that water is the most fundamental factor for life—be it because of our extreme need for it, or its presence in all lifeforms—later discovering that water is the only thing that can change its form into solid, liquid and gas without changing its essence, he theorized of water being the beginning of everything."

"Our dear Aristotle explains, 'Thales, the founder of this school of philosophy, says that the permanent entity is water. Presumably, he derived this assumption from seeing that the nutriment of everything is moist, and that heat itself is generated by moisture and depends on it for its existence. He derived his assumptions from this: And also, from the fact that the seeds of everything have a moist nature, whereas water is the first principle of the nature of moist things."

"It's fascinating to think of how Thales—a man from the over 2000 years ago, was able to predict the presence of water inside our own cells. Thus, from his discoveries, we can conclude his sheer genius."

"In spite of that, however, his mind was still rooted and shackled to the ancient Greek dogmas, making him theorize about things that seem silly to us. For example, he thought that the earth was flat and floating amidst an immense ocean of water.

"Thales," says the Roman orator Cicero, "Assures that water is the principle of all things; and that God is the Mind which shaped and created all things from water." 

The teacher then smiled and continued speaking,

"Ironically, Diogenes Laertiüs quotes Apollodorus, saying that Thales died at the age of 78 years old during the 58th Olympiad happening in the years 548-545 BC, attributing his death to an heath stroke and dehydration." 

"I didn't expect this ending…" Gray was dumbfounded.

The professor then continued to talk about Thales, explaining his life, his theories and studies, adding some fun facts in the midst of his research.

He listened intently, yearning to acquire as much knowledge as possible, writing inside his notebook if necessary. He enjoyed the lesson, deciding to immerse inside the ocean of knowledge, so his worries could be washed away.

Finally, the bell rang, and the two hours of greek had ended.

Thus, it meant his plan had to be performed!

Gray immediately turned around to face Nekare, and noticed she was writing something inside her notebook.

He stared at her for some moments, doing his best to not be spotted, using the students who stood up after hearing the bell's ringing as a cover. 

"Yo, are you going to follow me on the courtyard?" Rowan said, breaking his focus. 

Gray, without turning around, shook his head, preferring not to speak in case Nekare possessed an ability able to greatly improve her hearing like Casanova's. 

After seeing his friend's refusal, Rowan shrugged his shoulders, took a snack from his pocket, and went out of the class. 

Gray stood up to get closer to the same group of people, blending amidst them.

While the students engaged in a conversation, he shot some glances at Nekare, noticing that she was still writing inside her notebook. 

"Stand up please! I can't use Dusk Catcher if you are here with everyone!" he silently begged.

Just then, his heart suddenly dropped. 

"Shit! What if she has the ability to read my mind?! After realizing this terrible complication, he did his best to block all the memories and thoughts about The Monolith and his predictions. 

He was downright terrified of the consequences that would've came if he even dared to think His name while someone was reading his thoughts. 

Although his worries were unfounded, he felt that being too careful wasn't going to harm anyone.

After some moments of mental struggle, Nekare closed her notebook, organized her desk, and walked out of the class at a normal pace.

Gray's eyes narrowed, and immediately, he began to follow her. 

The hallways were packed with people, making him be able to tail her from a small distance, blending amidst the students rather easily.

He couldn't try to take out Dusk Catcher without the risk of being caught by someone, however.

Since its activation period lasted three whole seconds, it made the situation more tedious. 

He kept a distance of about seven meters. And fearing that her ability increased her hearing, he switched his stepping patterns many times—sometimes loudly, sometimes quietly, and sometimes erratic, so Nekare couldn't recognize that the same person had been following her all along. 

The girl, after reaching the end of the hallway, turned left and went down the stairs. 

A chance! 

Gray increased his pace, going down the same stairs where their first meeting had commenced.

When he reached the staircase, Nekare was already close to the lower floor, causing him to take Dusk Catcher out of his pocket in an haste.

Since they were alone, he quickly unwrapped the eye, pointing at the girl.

1!

Nekare was almost at the end of the staircase; and now, she two directions to turn. 

Either right or forward!

If she turned right, Gray's plan would have to be restarted due to Dusk Catcher not activating in time, but if she turned forward, he could stay on the stairs, pointing Dusk Catcher without being caught by anyone! 

2!

She turned her body right, preparing to move towards that direction, causing Gray to move downstairs as fast as he could, not wanting to be haunted by the mystery of her intentions anymore. 

3!

Nekare completely disappeared from Dusk Catcher's view. 

"I-I think I got her!"

Gray stopped in his tracks and turned Dusk Catcher around, his heart still thumping out of his chest.

However, the eye was still a still jade-green, and it stared silently at Gray.

Its process of foreseeing didn't activate fully, making it return to its original state.

"Shit!" he silently cursed, not daring to voice his thoughts out, lest she were to see him.

Defeated, Gray ran downstairs and decided to keep tailing her, not wanting to waste his efforts.

The hallway was completely empty, however.

Nekare was gone, as if she had never existed.

The emptiness within that place—one that's supposed to be filled with people of all ages, backgrounds, and genders made the atmosphere feel haunting, almost unsettling.