RED EYES
Myth or Fact

It's been five hours that Erasmus and I have been silent. We don't talk to each other anymore. I'm lazy to talk to Erasmus. I think Erasmus is still angry with me. I'm glad he didn't make a sound, but I feel awkward with him if we keep quiet.

Erasmus's car was really old and dirty. My ears did not hear Erasmus's voice, but my ears almost bled from the sound of this junkyard. I really did not expect that Erasmus, one of the children of a wealthy family, had a car that was not much different from a sack of brown rice.

"Hey, do you have earplugs?" My toot. To be honest I also wanted to destroy this gripping silence by talking to him.

"There's something I have to tell you." Erasmus replied outside of my topic.

"What?" My reply.

"You know a prophecy about all the witches gonna kill all the creatures of the earth?"

I never thought he would ask about a little boy's fairy tale. I'm silent. This conversation is not important.

"I'll tell you a legend in your world. There are not only humans on this earth. There is also Garde, but humans think Garde is a witch." He started telling stories.

"I don't care." My reply. He laughed softly and continued his story.

His smile and laughter returned.

"At first Garde lived with humans, but Garde always hid his identity. Humans assume that they're dangerous because they see us as having magic capable of disrupting their lives." I listened to the story but did not look him in the face. I honestly don't care about that bedtime story he told me.

"If you were a Garde, would you hide?" Ask Erasmus. The question made me look at his face.

"Maybe I'll be their killer because I'm human. I'm not a witch or Garde." In response, he shook his head. He smiled after hearing my answer. He was always smiling.

"All humans killed Garde back then because Garde was thought to be interfering with their lives in order to preserve nature. Garde also makes a place to live in the middle of a very beautiful forest. They guarded nature in their abode and hid the place with portals. However, the Garde know the task they have, which is to keep nature together with other earth creatures. Some of Garde were tasked with keeping nature outside his home in secret." Erasmus.

"However, not all Garde have power. Those who have no power seek power in any way. You also know that Garde has a human-like heart that can be clean or dirty. One of the Garde who has no power seeks his power and forms a people, power blinds his conscience. Garde kills a human with his powers, another human witnesses it until the human seeks Garde to be killed. The king learned of this and tried to execute Garde who killed the man. But his people are trying hard to protect him. The king also called Garde who killed the man and his people as witches, they were locked up in a place that was always experiencing drought."

"Easy! I'm so scared to listen to your story." I complained. Erasmus laughing.

Erasmus took this car to a forest. This forest road is very damaged, many rocks on the ground are red. This old car is running worse. Why would Erasmus take me to this place?

"Do you want to kill me in the woods?" I asked Erasmus and he laughed softly.

"I beg you to believe your life to me once." Reply with friendly.

He stopped the car he was driving in the middle of the forest. I look around this place. Lots of trees and old vehicles. If you pay attention, Erasmus cars are the best cars in this place.

"Come, down! We've arrived." Bring Erasmus. He pulled my hand.

I got off this old car. I still look around the forest. It was strange to see dozens of old cars lined up in the middle of the forest. Are all these cars owned by someone else? Where are all the car owners?

"Prince!"

I looked towards the direction the voice came from. The voice that had just been heard, was not Erasmus' voice. Isn't it just me and Erasmus here?

Before long I saw a strangely dressed man approaching Erasmus. Black man in red brick clothes. To me, what the man was wearing was not clothes, it was like a wide cloth that covered his arms and body to both knees.

"I came with princess Hera." Erasmus told the man a lie. My name is not Hera.

The strangely dressed man bowed and let us pass him. Erasmus held my hand firmly. My feet began to itch from stepping on and over the grass that was as high as my knees. I still don't understand why Erasmus came to this place. I don't even understand myself following Erasmus.

I turned my head, intending to run away in an Erasmus car if I had the chance. However, the dozens of cars I had just seen had been destroyed. Everything in this place is like magic. The man in the strange clothes also disappeared. The trees I saw looked different. This place changed in an instant, as if controlling magic.

"Where?" I ask myself. Erasmus clasped my hand even more, until it hurt.

Now in front of me and Erasmus was a dark cave. My whole body was shaking and feeling cold. My heart beats faster. It felt like crying because a strange, strange man was taking me to a place I had never seen.



He looked towards me. His eyes were no longer black, his eyes were green. His face looks more pale. Things that were never in my mind happened.



"Your eyes..."

"Your eyes are like mine." His words cut my words. He can still smile at me.

His left hand clasped my right hand tighter. His right hand touched both of my eyes for a few seconds. I don't know what he's doing, all I know is it feels like my eyes are seeing the light that's piercing my eyes.

He also took my hand off. Step over to the bushes and trees. I approached his steps with my legs constantly trembling.

his steps stopped before the thorny tree. He stuck his finger into the thorn. Stupid, he let his finger hurt. His red blood came out from the skin of his index finger. He stuck his injured finger on the ground not far from the front of the cave.

"Stupid, your hands will be infected." My reply. What he did was a very strange thing.

Light came out of the cave. My eyes grew as the cave gave off a light and there was a portal to another place. The light turned like a puddle of flowing water, like a waterfall at the mouth of a cave. Everything in this place is like magic.

Erasmus pulled my hand. My feet are still and I don't want to move. I couldn't understand where Erasmus was taking me. This place is too weird for me.

"Come on!" Bring along. I-i refused.

I shut up and held back the pull. He also took my hand off. He continued to look into my eyes that were looking at the portal that seemed to exist in the magic world. All like fairy tales or legends.

"You're a witch?" My toot.

I asked her silly questions too. I still can't believe what's going on with me right now.

"I am Garde." The reply.

"You're talking about that stupid legend again?!" I snapped.

"That's the truth, Claire." Erasmus Reply.

There was no choice in my head, only one option was to walk away from Erasmus. I don't want to go crazy for watching this magical world.

"I shouldn't be here. I gotta go. Sorry, I think you're taking me too far." My reply and Erasmus did not return my words. He looked at me and grabbed me tighter.

"If I let you go, who will take you out of this place?" Erasmus asked with a face that looked annoyed.

"Please, come with me for five days. After that I'll give you the money, stock up and let you go to another country."

"One day." I bid.

"Three days or do I let you get lost?" He returned my offer.

I had no choice but to go with him. I don't have enough money to travel anyway.

"Unconditionally!" My love.

"What?" The reply.

"Keep your promise."

"More than that." Reply with certainty.

Stupidly, I followed him.

....