I nodded, even though he still hadn’t looked at me. “Who sent you? And where are you from?” Harlow cut in, still curious. “Well,” he said, pulling down a notebook and opening to a page, writing as he spoke, “let’s just say that a magical society isn’t as grand as it seems.” “Anyway, back to your studies of this place, what have you found out?” Shadow asked, breaking the tension before things escalated. “Shades and Sight-Seers can see, I have those two narrowed down to a specific group. There’s one more group, though, that I can’t figure out a pattern for,” he said, finishing up his notes as he spoke. “I was hoping maybe you guys could help.” Harlow and I nodded in unison. Chaiyn handed me a different notebook. “That’s the info I’ve gathered.” I nodded again and opened the book, angling it so that Harlow could see too. I skimmed through the notes, catching on the more important details. /I know that Sight-Seers and Shades can see, but I’ve found another group that can as well. A few select seemingly random regular people can see, as well as a good chunk of werewolves. I’ve noticed that all of these groups have a slight aura of danger around them, and a few have it more so than others. The ones with more of it tend to be a little more on the angry and short-tempered side. I have no clue what this means, even my sight has limits./ I looked up. “What do you mean, your sight has limits?” “I’m a Sight-Seer. How else do you think I know that we can see?” “How do you know that the others can see?” “I’m a Shade as well. I’ve observed the different groups of people that have come in here exploring and concluded that they could see or not see.” “Wolf,” Harlow murmured. “Yeah?” “These people who can see in here… they sound like the ones with monsters.” “But I could see before I had the monster.” She shrugged. “Maybe it’s ones that have, had, or are going to have the monster.” I remembered Ren telling me that regular people could get the monster as well, though it was rarer than werewolves. I nodded. “Makes sense.” “So you guys have an answer?” Chaiyn asked, picking up his pen again. Harlow nodded. “Make sure you catch all of this. It’s a pretty lengthy explanation.” She began to talk, describing the rare-ish occurrences of the monsters, describing the effects and who could get it, describing how it’s cured, and finally, describing our theory. Chaiyn caught all of it, documenting it in his wavy handwriting by pen. A full five minutes later, the two finished their documentary. “That’s a pretty sensible theory,” Chaiyn mumbled, mostly to himself. Harlow nodded. “Alright, we’ve helped you, now can you answer one more question for us?” He looked up, his startling gray eyes reflecting light that peeked in through a break in the trees. “Probably. Depends on the question.” “What is that keeping track of?” Harlow asked, gesturing towards an hourglass on a shelf in the corner, filled with slowly falling bright green sand. Chaiyn bit his lip. “That,” he said slowly, “is how I measure how much time I have left.” I raised an eyebrow, confused. “What do you mean?” He looked away from us. “Maybe it’s time you left. The dinner bell will ring soon, and I‘m sure you don’t want to be late.” As if on cue, the dinner bell tolled once, then twice, then three times, as usual. I sighed. “We’ll go, but I for one am coming back tomorrow. You’d best be ready with some answers.” Chaiyn nodded, only slightly. “Go on. Don’t miss your meal.” Harlow, Shadow, and I turned around and ran down the pathway, Harlow and I leading Shadow. I looked back at the Seer’s lair once, and saw him sitting on a makeshift stool, head buried in his hands, hair falling over his face, body slightly transparent. I gulped and looked forward. I had no clue what Chaiyn was going through, but he needed help, and very, very soon.
Notes/Credits: If you're reading this, you probably know I wrote The Wolf Boy. Well, here's the sequel: The Monster's Curse. This is Chapter 20, Pt 2. Previous Chapter(s): Chapter 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652476202/ Chapter 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652950608/ Chapter 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177024/ Chapter 4: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177565/ Chapter 5: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655621072/ Chapter 6: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/656955201/ Chapter 7: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657580423/ Chapter 8: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657583863/ Chapter 9: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657586191/ Chapter 10: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657668860/ Chapter 11: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/658404211/ Chapter 12: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659115920/ Chapter 13: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659116659/ Chapter 14: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659117186/ Chapter 15: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659420154/ Chapter 16: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661425573/ Chapter 17: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661428771/ Chapter 18: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661974554/ Chapter 19: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/662108449/ Chpt 20 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663144219/ Credits: Me, for being the author Shannon Messenger, JK Rowling, Eoin Colfer, and many other authors for inspo @aqua_di_angelo, @AL600AWESOME, @Lanze_cupcake_face11, and @Yayabinks for inspo and supporting the story! QOTC: What theories do you have about Chaiyn's past?
