Exchange(4)

Matthias was still recovering from his pain from when the bald man threw him out of the tiny room. He was in a hallway, narrow and rundown. The bald man had quickly hurried towards the front door when one of his colleagues called him. When he ran for the front door, Matthias could hear the floor screeching from his weight.

This is bad, what if that man decides to use me as his punching bag? Not to mention he seemed like he was into some really disgusting things. I really don't want to find out what that man will do to me when he comes back.

Matthias realised his situation has just gotten from bad to worse.

Maybe I really should just risk it all and escape from this horrible situation. Maybe Emis…. tch. That damn cat!

He tried looking for anything that would get him out of that rundown place. He looked around himself and down the hallway. He was searching for anything - a weapon, a door, a window or even a ventilation for him to escape that house, but to his frustration, he found none. The kidnappers must have really thought things through as it seemed like they left no room for errors.

He was thinking of going back to the tiny room when he heard conversations taking place from the front door. He couldn't hear all the details, so he went closer towards the door. There he heard voices of the bald man and was that voice coming from a woman?

It was a sweet and warm voice, making Matthias immediately think of his mother. He really was missing his home, and he just wanted to teleport out of that place and to his bedroom in Ime Island.

But something else caught his attention from their conversations.

"Our liege… preparing a huge gift for a king….. all activities are to be done…."

In an effort to better hear their conversation, Matthias peeked his head very close to the front door. That was when he saw the woman.

Blood red hair that was tightly put in a bun and a big hat decorated with lines of gold, her clothes were also tightly fitted and went just above her ankles. She looked like she was a very well-kept woman. But what made Matthias freeze upon seeing her was something else entirely. It was not coming from himself either. It was something else, something that is not him but that he could feel within himself.

It was a big, fiery and adulterated rage. And Matthias knew exactly where it was coming from.

Emis!!

Before he could do anything though, the woman was staring right in his eyes. There was some kind of excitement in her gaze, like she had seen a pet that she wanted to take back to her home.

But that excitement was soon replaced with disgust as Matthias puked in front of all of them and went into a state of dreamy haze.

________________

Matthias was inside a huge hall with tall ceilings and large windows. The sky was dark outside and the interior was lit solely by the moonlight coming from the windows. There was little furniture inside that hall and the walls were painted black with little to no decorations as well. The place looked like it had been desolated for a long time since no signs of life were present around him.

"Hello? Anybody here?"

Matthias shouted inside the hall just to make sure he really was alone inside there. Since no reply came, he took the liberty and started walking around, looking for a clue or anything that could suggest his location. Then Matthias found a door on one of the corners of the hall and went towards it.

The door led to a large hallway down the corridor. Matthias took his step down the corridor and looked around. Still with no signs of any clue, he continued on with his journey. Soon he reached a circular flight of stairs and went to the upper floors.

This place looks creepy.

His mind was battling inside on whether he should continue or just go back. But if he went back to the hall, what was there for him to do besides just… wait?

So he continued looking around the upper floors. It was then he heard the murmurings of two people. They sounded like they were having some deep discussions about beings? Or did he just hear them say celestial beings?

He hurried towards that room from where the sounds were coming. Soon he reached the front of that room and to his surprise, the door was halfway opened.

"Do not go inside."

Matthias jumped on hearing the voice from behind him. He was almost shrieking as well but just happened to close his mouth on time, largely because of his experience with Emis on that night it first visited him.

Matthias promptly turned around and lo and behold, if it isn't the lovely cat whose name was Emis.

"Emis?! What are you doing here? Wait, why are you here? And why do you suddenly appear behind me?"

"Boy, why so many questions every single time?" The cat sighed.

"You!! You're the reason I got kidnapped and you had the nerve to sigh in front of me?! And where were you when I called for you all those times?!"

"We'll talk when you wake up. Right now, you need to go back and DO NOT look inside that door."

The Nolte's eyes were sharp, sharper than they've ever been before, like it was daring Matthias to even take a single step inside that room.

"Wake up? Well, I've thought about it, so it really was my dream, huh. There could have been no other explanation."

Matthias let out a breath of relief, but then he realised something else.

"But Emis, why are you in my dream? And why are you telling me not to look inside that door?"

Without thinking too deep, he turned his head and took a peek inside that room. His eyes became as big as saucers when he saw what, or who was inside the room.

It was him, Matthias, but taller and with his hair longer. He was talking to someone in front of him. Who was it? Curiosity got the best of Matthias and he took a step towards the door.

"NO!!"

He heard Emis shout behind and suddenly everything went dark around him.