1
● Return ●
"Hello, Dylan Tyler."
Once again, it repeats, as always. How many times have I been here? Four; yes, this is the fourth time I've seen this same place, heard the drops falling.
"Can you untie me?" I asked.
"Of course," my grandfather said.
He removed the ropes, and now I'm more comfortable.
"Thanks. Can you leave me alone?" I asked.
He looked at me with a strange expression, but he nodded and left the room.
I lay on the floor, grabbing my legs, curling into a ball. My eyes fill with tears again, and I start to sob.
"Daddy, they… they bother me at… school, ah."
"Dad, I have… died three… times, ah…"
"Don't worry, we'll talk to the teacher, son."
On my side, there is only silence.
"Daddy, do you hate me?"
"No, my boy. On the contrary, you are the most important thing in my life."
I want to live, but at the same time, I want to die.
2
The butterfly named Mia was perched on the window. She wouldn't think that the boy inside was crying for something that transcended human limits.
"Why are you crying?" Mira asked.
The boy just cried. Mia felt a sorrow, the same one she felt when she had to leave her mother.
"Hey, don't cry," Mia said. "I'll help you—temporarily, of course. I'm not really one to be someone's Evo, you know?"
He was a wolfwiz; the boy was of that race.
"I'm Mia."
"I'm… Dylan Tyler."
3
"Dylan?" Michael said.
"…." I get up to try to answer.
Michael opened the door, finding me in tears.
"Ah? Do you need something?"
"To sleep in a bed," I said.
And once again, the same thing happened. Again, I talked to Rufus; again, I talked to Michael; again, I insulted his mother; again, I talked to my grandfather. Everything, I did it all over again.
But in a much more distant way, with more worry—which only made me angry. In fact, everything makes me angry now.
I only have one month to get out of here. I only have one month to get Michael out of here. I only have one month to avoid the ritual.
I only have one month.
"Uncle Rufus, do you have your key?" I asked, an hour before everything.
I made a contract with a white butterfly named Mia. It's temporary, only until I reach the others.
"Ah, yes, look," he said, holding up a silver key.
I grabbed it immediately. And I pointed it at him.
"Stay still," I asked. "I don't want to hurt you."
The butterfly landed on my shoulder.
"This ends here and now," I declared.
"…"
"You're coming with me," I said.
I don't know what I'm doing, or even what I'm going to do. Rufus is completely frozen, trembling, staring at me as if his muscles were tensing up.
"Air ball," I said.
The air moved through my hand, the key trembled a little, and the cool breeze quickened its pace. It generated a loud sound, and a green air ball formed, which I launched toward the window.
I threw it, putting all my desperation into it, and my chest was relieved of a great pressure.
Finally, I'm going to get out of this place. What is this? It's not just relief, but also… hope?
"Air im—"
"Air bullet," Morty said.
"Water ball," Michael said.
Everything was fast. The air bullet detonated with a bang; it went toward Rufus, so I lunged toward him, and then a bubbling sound rang out. It hit Morty.
And, without realizing it, the bullet crossed through my leg, causing blood to spurt, along with a part of my leg.
"Ah, Dylan," Rufus said, his eyes wide open.
"Ah, ahg," I said.
Pain, so much pain. Heat, it's so much too. My head hurts, my leg hurts more. The room is destroyed by the window, but…
"Fire demolate," my Uncle Darius said.
He was wearing gray armor and holding an axe, which was red, just like the burning fire born from it after the sound of a lighter.
The glowing, flame-covered axe headed toward Michael.
"Air impulse."
Why did I do that?
The weapon was brought to my neck, and it passed through my chest, making a diagonal cut. There was only one thing holding my body together, and that was a thread of skin. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts.
"Well, well, Dylan. What, did… they not tell you that? Well, I will," Morty said. "No, you are not a hero."
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts. Red.
Dylan Tyler died. His body was decapitated, blood ran all over the floor, along with his entrails and eyes.
Michael and Rufus screamed, and for them, the world existed no more….