Chapter 98: Ch98 – Curiosity Killed the Cat

Ryan’s fingers examined the hot, black bracelet under the cover of the wooden overhang.

Ryan listened to the rain drumming above his head. Water spilled from the edges in heavy streams, splashing into the mud below.

Most of the crowd had moved away from the stands.

Their attention was either fixed on the dead Blackwood boy and the grieving nobleman kneeling beside him, or fixed onto the half broken statue.

No one paid Ryan any mind.

He was alone.

The bracelet rested in his palm, its metal still warm and bright.

Ryan turned it slowly, watching the light glimmer along the thin engravings.

Then, something caught his eye.

An armoured figure emerged from the rain and walked past the stands without slowing. Mud clung to the plates of their armour and a mace still hung loosely from their hand.

It was the mystery knight.

They passed only a few steps away from Ryan.

Close enough that Ryan could hear the dull scrape of their boots against wet stone.

But the knight never even glanced his way.

Ryan wanted to call out in thanks, but the mystery knight seemed to be in a world of his own.

Within moments the figure disappeared down the path leading away from the arena.

Ryan watched them go.

After a moment he looked back down at the bracelet.

“Alright, time to find out what you are all about,” he muttered quietly.

Ryan slid the metal band over his wrist.

The bracelet settled against his skin with a faint tightening sensation, the warm metal pressing lightly against his pulse.

Ryan waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened.

The rain continued to roar outside the shelter.

For several seconds the world remained exactly the same.

Ryan exhaled through his nose.

Do I have to chant something or—

Ryan lifted his head.

A man was walking toward the stands from the direction the mystery knight had gone.

Ryan frowned slightly.

The man’s armour looked old. Not just damaged from a combat but—old. The metal plates were battered and worn in ways that spoke of years of battle rather than a single fight.

His gait was slow but steady.

Then Ryan noticed something strange.

The man had no arms.

Both sleeves of the armour ended abruptly near the shoulder, the metal jagged and broken where the limbs should have been.

Yet the man walked as though nothing was wrong.

Ryan straightened slightly.

“Hey,” he called.

The man didn’t react.

He kept walking, his gaze fixed somewhere ahead of him.

Ryan tried again.

“Are you… alright?”

Still nothing.

The armoured man passed within a few steps of Ryan now.

Up close the damage to the armor was even clearer—there was even a deep gouge in his thigh he hadn’t noticed yet.

The man didn’t look at Ryan.

He didn’t even seem aware he was there.

Ryan frowned.

“Hey,” he said, louder.

The man continued forward.

Ryan felt a chill crawl slowly along his spine.

The figure approached one of the thick wooden support beams holding up the stands.

Ryan opened his mouth to call out again—

The man stopped.

He tilted his head slightly, as if only now noticing the beam blocking his path.

Then he stepped around it.

The man walked past the pillar and continued into the rain beyond the shelter, disappearing slowly into the grey curtain of falling water.

Ryan stared after him.

For several long seconds Ryan didn’t move.

His gaze slowly drifted downward.

The bracelet around his wrist was glowing.

Ryan looked back toward the rain.

Then back at his wrist.

But there was something out there—in the rain—something that Ryan’s eyes didn’t catch sight of. A small, barefoot figure, looking directly at him.

Ryan’s fingers moved before his brain could tell them to.

He yanked the bracelet off and hurled it to the floor.

What the shit was that!

Was that a man? It can’t have been, he had his arms slashed off! He even had a deep wound in his thigh?

A terrifying thought creeped into his head.

Was that a… ghost?

Ryan immediately glanced over his shoulder to make sure nothing was sneaking up on him.

But it went around the pillar, that means it can’t go through objects…

No… it can’t be—Was that a… zombie!

He pressed his hands against his face, trying to steady himself.

“Okay. Calm down. It’s… nothing. Just tired. Just rain making this obscured,” he muttered, though he didn’t believe himself.

He sank down onto the wooden bench, rain still drumming above him.

The part of the arena beyond that he could see was nearly empty.

The corpse of the Blackwood boy still lay somewhere further away to Ryan’s left.

His fingers inched back down to the bracelet that lay above the mud.

He picked it up again, slowly this time, weighing it in his hand.

“I shouldn’t… I can’t… this is insane,” he muttered, voice low, almost to himself.

He held the metal band over his arm, hesitating.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” he muttered, pushing the bracelet down his wrist.

Ryan felt that same tingling feeling again.

Then—

“Hey! I know you can see us— you definitely saw Geoffrey, you tried to speak to him, stop ignoring me!”

There was a black haired young girl, no older than nine, sitting on his lap and waving her hand in his face.

Ryan’s eyes widened as he took in her small, rain-soaked, agitated face.

“So… you DO see us,” the girl said, a mix of excitement and joy was in her voice..

Ryan’s mouth went dry. His heart thumped in his chest. He couldn’t say he had expected this.

His knees wobbled. His arms flailed slightly, trying to keep balance.

And then gravity—or maybe panic—triumphed. Ryan toppled backward over the bench.

He fell onto the muddy grass.

The girl landed squarely on top of him, small and solid, her wet hair plastered to her forehead. She didn’t cry. She simply looked down at him, eyes wide and unblinking, as if saying: Well? Now what?

“AAAGGHHHHhhhh,” Ryan shrieked.

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