BLOODY LOVE'S
Episode 127's

Everything went quickly in Marco's eyes. The young man who was stabbed with a knife threw a sword at Marco— maybe the young man really wanted to stab Marco, or wanted to throw a weapon at his friend, Marco could not guess. But his sharp shoots swirled towards him. Nolan screamed and ran with his arms outstretched like he wanted to catch something. The dark blue coat he was wearing flashed lightly.

Then the boy fell right in front of Marco.

"Son?" Marco approaches Nolan, overthrowing the boy to check on him. The room was so dark, he could not clearly see Nolan's face, but the girl was still breathing. "Hey, answer me." He patted Nolan on the cheek several times. Anxiety attacks him. Its fault. He should have thrown the knife even tighter. He should have stepped on the young man's death first before turning to the one.

Nolan groaned slowly. "Sick," he whispered in a raucous voice.

Through the tail of his eyes, Marco caught a movement. The second young man had already regained his weapon. The young man's face flushed with anger. No more fear there.

"You're gonna be okay." Marco placed Nolan's head carefully onto the marble floor. He unbuttoned his top shirt to loosen the collar, then rolled up his sleeves. Marco wanted to leave one person for questioning, but now he changed his mind. How dare those people hurt the people he has decided to protect. It's humiliation.

Marco pulled his revolver from the waist and pointed.

"Hey!" The young man in front of him lowered his sword. The red face paled. "Hey, that's cheating! I thought you were going to take the sword—“

The sound of the revolver interrupts. A black bolt appeared on the young man's forehead, right between his eyes, then he fell slammed with his head first. His sword again flashed on the stone floor. Marco turned his face, looking at the first young man still breathing on his stomach on the stone floor.

"Also," the young man whispered in a hoarse voice. His breathing was fast and heavy, it seemed like it would soon die, but Marco would not let his guard down any longer. Marco walked up to him, pulling the trigger lever. His revolver barked in a quiet room.

There's only one bullet left.

Marco kept his gun back. He grabbed a nearby lantern and went back to Nolan.

The girl lay quietly on the stone floor, still in the same position as when Marco left her. Nolan was conscious, but looked shocked. Slow breath. Marco knelt to check, finding Nolan's coat torn off at the arm, near the shoulder. Fresh blood seeped from there.

"You just scratched in the arm. Not deep," Marco said after a careful examination. He took out a handkerchief from the back pocket of his pants, using it to tie Nolan's arm just above his wound. "You can wake up? Is anyone else sick?"

Nolan shook. He looked at Marco deeply right in the bead of his eyes. "Hidden," he whispered. "He's coming."

Marco can feel it now. The temperature of the room dropped below zero. The hair all over her body felt like it was being pulled up. Nape's crashing. The bead of his eyes moved itself looking in the dark, interested in gazing up, to the tip of the secret door.

A suspicious white mist appeared from there. Marco initially thought he had seen it wrong, but it became increasingly clear that on top of the stairs there was a strange blob that walked around like a caterpillar. Every time the creature moved, there was the sound of something being dragged, making it sound like it was laughing mockingly.

Marco felt dizzy from disgust and horror. But he didn't let that feeling rule him. His aching legs helped Marco maintain consciousness into the present and not sink into the illusion of terror. He tucked his hands under Nolan's body, lifting the girl to his back while commanding, "Hand! I won't take you again if you fall."

Marco took a breath and rose to his feet with Nolan on his back. He could not carry the lantern, but his eyes were used to it in the dark. He doesn't know if his guess is right, but Marco will bet.

He ran to the right corner of the room, next to the door that was touted as a decoration. Duke Ashington is no prankster. The man could not possibly make an empty tower and a decoration door. The door could definitely open, and the code was on the floor moving down to form a C1 pattern.

C1 is where the king's pawn is placed if you want to castling with the fortress. The floor of this room is patterned chessboard. They're in the castle tower. And Duke Ashington is a royal. Everything fits.

Castling is a chess strategy for swapping places between kings and forts. A step that can only be done once in a special occasion.

Duke Ashington was the king's intended pawn. This tower is a fortress in chess. If they wanted to get out, all they needed to do was do a castling move. King to C1.

Marco stepped on one black tile in front of the door. The tile where the white king pawn should be. The tile did not go down, they had indeed checked it before. Now, Marco turned his head to the right and jumped over one white tile to step on another black tile. Behind them, a black ghost chased down with a strange, evil laughter sound. The combination of stepping on the tile where the king was followed by the tile at C1 turned out to be fruitful.

The walls of the tower trembled lightly as Marco's stepped tiles dropped to ten inches. The door without the handle was lifted up, entering into the wall in a slow motion. Too slow. Nolan gasped in admiration at Marco's back, but Marco himself was so tense. He could feel the creature behind them approaching. His sore legs felt like they had been stung by thousands of bees. The new tower metal door opens fifty inches. If he stepped up, Marco was sure the door would be thumped shut again. And he did not know if the door would still be able to open in the same way.

Marco did not have to think for long. He is trained to make decisions as quickly as possible. So he lowered Nolan forward, lightly patted the boy on the cheek, then said in a gentle tone that he had never used even his nephews. "Thank you for protecting me. Go home there. This isn't your fight."

While Nolan was still confused about what he meant, Marco pushed Nolan's shoulder down until the girl's body fell to the floor, then rolled it with all his might through the gap of the door, out of the tower.

Nolan rolled hard like a ball rolling down a descent of the road. Shoulder hurts. His injured arm was as if sliced sharply. He grimaced and complained when his head hit a rock. Nolan is now outside the tower walls. The cold night air hit his body, sending freshness all the way to every corner of his lungs.

Nolan didn't have time to enjoy it. He turned back towards the tower. Marco stepped up and went after him, but as soon as the man climbed onto the normal tile, the door moved down.

"Marcoo!!" Nolan screamed, reaching. He could see that the black ghost had descended to the tower floor, creeping fast with its blistering wet face. He saw Marco's feet turning back from him, now facing towards the creature. There was the sound of metal spinning, the familiar 'click' sound, then the eruption of weapons that resembled the sound of fireworks. In the next instant, the door of the tower thudded shut, leaving the ashes of the ground flying.

Nolan crept towards the door, pushing it with all his might, hitting it with a fist, but to no avail.

He's alone now.

***

Thanks for reading this chapter. I'm always happy to read your impressions for each chapter. That's my mood booster. For those who ask crazy up, three chapters first yes today. Hehe 💕