HIS EYES.

The next morning, the whole neighborhood was aware of the death of a man inside the Bandook Forest. It was the second death that they had recorded in two weeks.

"Mayor, I don't think this should be left behind." A man spoke, he was dressed like a hunter, and indeed he was one. He was speaking to the Mayor of the city as he had come to visit them. The Mayor was wearing a long blue coat as it was cold in the morning and was smoking a stick of cigarettes while listening to Hunter speak.

"Hunter, there is no need for you to get all crazy about this. It's a forest…a huge, wild, dark, and deep forest. What do you expect? There are wild animals in the forest and one of them could have done this." The Mayor replied. Hunter shook his head in disagreement.

"A wild animal could not have done this, Mayor. I agree that there are wild animals but whatever did this wasn't an animal, I swear."

The Mayor inhaled the last bit of his cigarette and puffed it out before throwing it into the trash. He blew out air while Hunter tried not to inhale it. He had done enough standing beside the man.

The Mayor then looked at Hunter seriously, "Hunter, I know how seriously you take your strange beings to be alive and I must applaud your obsession alongside brave imagination in them because it only takes a madman to believe in such things. Come off it, Hunter. This is reality and stop believing in fairytales like some obsessed teenager with Webnovel supernatural stories. Trust me, my daughter is a huge fan." He pat Hunter's shoulder but the latter was in discomfort, he removed the Mayor's hand and pulled him carefully along with him to where the corpse of the late man was.

His family was crying and weeping while the health entities were cleaning up alongside investigating the body.

"Excuse me, Mayor, can I have a word with you?" A neighborhood-based detective called as soon as he sighted the one he was waiting for.

"Yes." The Mayor responded and shifted away from Hunter. The two men went to a side to discuss.

"Mayor, I don't think that's a beastly attack." The detective said and pointed at the corpse a bit away from them.

"It's terrifying to look upon and aside from that, there is no evidence of claws or sting marks. This was exactly how the last victim looked. He was as pale and white…it was nothing I had seen before. If it were to be a beast then any part of his body could have disappeared but it didn't. His body was only drained of blood and weightless. Do you even get it?"

The detective shook his head as he explained with utmost heartache. The Mayor became more serious.

"So it's not a beast attack?" He asked him.

"I am over a hundred percent sure that it is far from being a beast attack. Something else is happening in the forest."

"Detective West, I appreciate your effort but I need you to understand my opinion as well because I don't want us to scream thief when there is no thief…"

"Yet the properties are being stolen." West interrupted.

The Mayor made a 'zzz' sound with his mouth before looking at the Hunter.

"Okay, you know what, I need you and him to work together on this case. Don't let anyone into the forest at night. I need you and the rest of your members to head over there during the day to confirm its attack. Give me your feedback by tomorrow."

"What about the students at Bandook University?" West asked him.

"I will pay the Vice Chancellor a visit then." He concluded as his eyes lingered on the building far from their reach.

*_*_*_*_*_*

"When I went out this morning, I heard about the death of a man. Rumor has it that he was killed inside the Bandook's Forest." Eli reported while the others slurped their noodles.

"Yeah…yeah, I also heard about that and I was flabbergasted. This is like the second death in two weeks if I am not wrong." Desmond supported.

"Really? That's so out of place but what was the man doing inside a forest at night? That should be the question. I believe there is no route inside a forest so what was he doing there in the first place?" Mack asked.

"Unfortunately, the dead can't answer," Eli responded and pulled up a pitiful look.

Fred walked into the cafeteria and he caught Mack's attention. He watched Fred go over to make his orders and then go back to find a spot to sit.

He placed his meal on the table and sat down where Mack was able to get a full glimpse of his face. This time around he wasn't covering his face, he was wearing a simple T-shirt and a black pair of jeans. Mack then realized how long his hair was. It wasn't that long though but it was probably shaved to shoulder length.

Mack wanted to try looking away but he couldn't help himself. His heart beat faster anytime he glanced at him but he didn't know why. He blinked and shook his head.

"Are you alright, man?" Desmond asked him.

"Huh…yeah, I am. Thanks." Mack replied and continued eating. His eyes wandered over to Fred again, what had happened yesterday came back to his memory, his touch and scent, his eyes…yes! His eyes.

After staring for about a minute, Fred looked up from his meal and Mack felt like his heart had been dropped into an ocean. He was able to maintain eye contact with Fred for about a few seconds before looking away, blood rushed to his cheeks as he tried to hide away in embarrassment.

This time around, the coin had been flipped out and it was Fred's turn to lead the staring contest even though there was already a winner and a non-voluntary contestant.

Mack tried to listen to what his friends had to say and occasionally nodded his head but he was clueless about the paramount topic for discussion. He tried to steal a glance at Fred again and locked eyes briefly with him.

Mack finished eating and stood up quickly.

"Bro, where are you going?" His friends asked.

"I have classes to take in the next ten minutes. We will catch up by evening." He dashed out with a consistent prayer in his mind; not to fall.

"But I won't…gosh, where is he headed to in a hurry as if a hot coal is burning his d*ck and he needs water to cool it off?" Eli asked in awe while Desmond chuckled.

"You'd better keep it down. You don't want the students to hear their teacher curse."

"What? Are they kids? Some of them watch porn twenty-four seven so what's the deal?" Eli answered and they continued eating.

"This year's semester is slowly coming to an end…" A random teacher spoke with his colleagues.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*

"Our students are in safe hands, Mayor. As you can see from my window, I have a very good perception and view of what is going on outside there. The distance from our school and hostel is a bit longer than you imagine. Moreover, we have the guards on watch every time so things are in safe hands." Lydia assured the Mayor.

"Phew, that's a relief, Lydia. The death wasn't surprising to me because if you go into a forest at night then you shouldn't think your chance of surviving is a hundred percent or even close to it but the way he was killed was astonishing. He looked like a ghost. It was so terrible. I don't want this to happen again so I am working with the neighborhood security of this town to help fight against whatever beast is in there." The Mayor said and lit another cigarette.

The two of them walked out of Lydia's office, heading towards the car.

"But how will they be able to do this?" Lydia asked.

"Do what?"

"Find the beast."

"Well, I thought it was a beast at first but Detective West…I believe you know him."

Lydia tried to think, "Er…my memories of that name are far-fetched at the moment."

"Oh, well, he is a reputable Detective alongside Hunter who is a hunter in reality, not name-bearing alone, the both of them were the ones who concluded that it wasn't a beast and their explanation was worth it. So I permitted them. In case they come over, please assist them with any information."

They got to the Mayor's car and stopped walking. Lydia smiled politely.

"The forest isn't our business, Mayor, so we won't have any information for them."

"But the name of the forest is Bandook's Forest." The Mayor replied as he held Lydia's gaze for a while. Lydia broke it and chuckled.

"Of course."

"I will take my leave now."

"Have a safe trip." She replied.

The car's engine started and zoomed off after turning around towards the gate. Lydia's face hardened and she went back to her office.