novel
| ← Ch.078 | Ch.080 → |
After wandering for 30 minutes, the girls walked outside of Central and reached the edge of the neutral zone. There weren't any signs or borders that marked the area, however, so they did not know where exactly they were.
People were watching them. Young and pretty girls like them were worth money. They waited for Dor and Li to take a few more steps. And it was when the two girls stepped over the boundary of the neutral zone that they heard the words, "You shouldn't go that way."
As the people watching Dor and Li waited with bated breath, a man stepped in front of them and blocked their way. His hair was black as ink and came down to his waist, and he was quite good looking.
"This is the end of the neutral zone, " the man told them as he leaned against a crumbling building. Dor and Li realized that they were one step away from leaving safety.
"Look there."
The man pointed somewhere into the distance. Following his finger, Li made eye contact with the greedy eyes of those who had been watching them and jumped in surprise.
"You guys were in danger."
"Thank—thank you."
Li bowed gratefully. Dor looked at the man confusedly and bowed also. They followed the man and walked back into the neutral zone, where they introduced themselves to him.
"Li and Dor? What pretty names. Oh, that's right. I have something good to show you."
The man searched his pockets and pulled out two large, colorful lollipops. Their sweet scent made Li and Dor drool.
"Here, take them."
The man held one in each hand and gave them to them. The two girls hesitated a bit, but the man lightly prodded them on to take it. His pumpkin-colored pupils looked kind.
"My brother and Rabbit said we shouldn't receive things from strangers..." Dor mumbled, unable to take her eyes off the lollipop. The man's shoulders drooped. He looked so disappointed that Li, not wanting to hurt him, took the lollipop from him, and Dor's hand quickly followed. Seeing this, the man smiled sweetly.
The lollipop was shaped like the horn of a ram and was as big as their hand. The moment they tore off the clear wrapper, its smell tickled their noses and spread sweetness through their senses. Li, who hadn't had any sweets since she arrived in Wonderland, and Dor, who had had snacks only once a month, put the lollipops in their mouths as if in a trance.
The lollipop was so sweet that it numbed their tongue. Li took a couple of licks but got sick of it and placed it back in its wrapper, but Dor bit through the whole thing and chewed on it delightfully.
"Is it good?" the man asked. Dor and Li nodded, smiling brightly. They had been walking for five minutes when the man grabbed their shoulders and pulled them into the shadows of a building.
"Shh."
Li was about to say something when he blocked her mouth and warned them to be quiet. A little later, sinister-looking men passed the path they had been walking. Dor whispered to the man.
"Are they scary people?"
"They are scary people, " the man whispered back. The scene in front of her looked like an uncle playing with his niece, and Li had to stop herself from bursting out laughing.
It was then Li's vision started to blur. She shook her head to try to get rid of the dizziness and saw that Dor was already falling asleep leaning on a wall a few steps in front of her.
She wanted to call out to the man standing next to Dor but realized that she had not heard his name. Anxiety started to creep into her heart.
"Do—r... !"
Li tried to walk toward Dor, but her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor. The man approached her. Li's eyes widened as she saw the manic happiness in his glistening eyes.
"Such a pity, " the man said as he touched her cheeks. Li slapped away the hand that felt like crawling bugs and shook her head hard, but half asleep, she couldn't get her body to move correctly.
"You're pretty young looking also. I'd like to take both of you, but..."
The man, Duke, was feeble; he could carry only one girl. His preference was not for the catlike Li but the naive and innocent Dor.
He left Li and went over to Dor and examined her face in detail. It would have been better if she was blond, he thought. That's when he remembered another girl with blond hair. The girl in her late teens was older than what Duke preferred, but her innocent-looking eyes were precisely his type. He licked his lips and got up after placing Dor on his back.
Through her hazy vision, all Li could do was watch Duke's back and Dor's light brown hair waving to and fro as they retreated from her.
At that moment, someone watched Dor, Li, and even an unaware Duke. That someone was Dum, and he was lost in thought.
It was mere coincidence that he had come upon this scene. He hadn't done anything when he had seen Duke following the two girls walk out toward the end of the neutral zone because of his jealousy toward Dor.
His vision of Duke was progressively getting smaller. Duke would take Dor to his house, kill her, and start embalming her.
Dum sighed in annoyance and headed toward Li. Li stared up at him with blank eyes. Her lips twitched but closed. Dum supported her as they walked out of the alleyway.
"Can you hear me? I'll follow Duke, so you wait where it's safe. If you pass out of this alleyway, it will be the neutral zone."
Dum passed through the alley, leaving Li behind, and quickly walked to Duke's house. Li, unable to resist the oncoming sleepiness, kept sleeping and waking up. At this rate, she was sure she would fall asleep comfortably in a tiny cradle. She clenched her fists and desperately prayed: Please. I can't fall asleep now. Wake up! Move!
"Please... move..."
At that moment, the heavy feeling that was pressing down on her when she had not been able to wake from her sleep moved inside her. That something mixed quickly with its surroundings and made Li's wish come true.
With a strong enough will, power can be summoned from its surroundings and cast into effect. People called this magic.
The first time Li was able to call upon her powers, she was able to cast away all the sedatives circulating through her body.
"Huh?"
Realizing her sudden clear-headedness, she stood frozen for a moment in confusion. Then coming back to her senses, she reached into her pocket and pulled out an old cellphone. March had previously used it, and he had given it to her for emergencies. She called March and waited anxiously as the phone rang. She heard a familiar voice over the speaker.
"Hello?"
"March!"
"Li? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
When Li called March, SoYoon had been explaining a request he needed to fulfill. When she heard Duke's name over the phone, she bolted from her seat.
"I'll go to Duke. You bring Li."
March clenched his teeth and knew that was the best way to resolve the situation. Instead of answering, he started to run toward the place Li had described. He heard Li sniffling through the phone, but there was no time to comfort her now.
Parting ways with March, SoYoon ran to Duke's house. His house was 40 minutes away from March's. She sprinted and arrived much sooner.
The first thing she saw when she arrived was Dum walking out of Duke's house with a sleeping Dor hanging from his side.
| ← Ch. 078 | Ch. 080 → |