REGGIE POV
It hurt. My body hurt.
I couldn't move. It was as if I was locked up in a cage which was closing up on me. It was dark, and the voices were distant and unclear.
Where was I? What happened to me? Why can't I move? Why can't I speak? Why can't I open my eyes? I tried but I couldn't.
I was weak. My body seemed to have died and was suddenly restored.
"Reggie," I heard that one voice that made me still and all my questions vanished, but it was too far away. So far that I couldn't figure out where it came from. "Oh goodness, Reggie," I heard again. "Doctor, he moved."
In a minute, I felt hands all over my body but I was too numb to react. Voices spoke again but that remained unclear.
"Thank goodness he is fine," I heard the voice again. "I thought I lost him."
And then, I remembered where I knew that voice from. "Mom- mother," I forcefully called out and broke every barrier making me weak.
I opened my eyes to the bright lights in the room, and shut them back immediately. They were so bright that I thought I would go blind forever.
"Goodness, he is awake," I heard that familiar voice again, but this time, I slowly opened my eyes, adjusting to light. The first person that came in view was Dianne, who was hovering over me with her brows narrowed and her eyes red. She had huge eyebags and looked weak.
"I thought I lost you," she repeated and I realized she was the voice I heard, not my mother's. "You scared me."
"Wha…what happened?" I managed to ask, feeling the sore in my throat.
"I got a call from a strange number telling me to come to the forest, and when I got there, I found you lying unconscious. You had no wounds, but dried blood on your shirt," she answered and sat down beside me. And also, we found the squad 8 vice captain dead some distance away, which was strange and the lady who called was no where to be found."
I squinted my eyes, trying to bring back the memory of what happened. Slowly it began to return until I recalled everything. The sudden attack by Eight and my battle with Matt Lance.
Eight had stabbed me in my heart and I was sure I died, but how did I survive?
"You should get enough rest. You are still weak," she said with a smile playing on her lips. "And also, your teammates came to visit. They said they would return after their mission."
I nodded and laid back, thinking about Eight and how she had killed me.
"I will be back. I need to speak to my sergeant," she said and walked out of the room but my mind was too occupied to say anything.
I failed. Even though I promised to fight the twelve ranked ghouls, I couldn't defect the lowest. She won without a fight. It was so easy- talk about being a king and having the omnipotent power. I am nothing but a failure.
Maki had chosen wrongly. I was not fit to be their king. He was wrong about me. I shut my eyes and made to gain access to hell's palace, but I couldn't. I was blocked out.
"So you figured it out," I said and smirked. He figured I wasn't the right king seeing how weak and useless I was. John and his friends were right, I can never get anything done. I exhaled deeply and shut my eyes.
"Reggie," I heard a low voice called out to me. "Reggie, wake up!"
I opened my eyes and looked around. "Maki?" I called but no reply.
I was sure I heard my name been called. It was clear, even though the voice was low. "Maki, where are you?" I asked, looking around to see if he was with me, but he wasn't.
"Dang it!" I cursed and rubbed my neck.
I need answers. I need to know what's going on. I need to know how to get to Maki and know about this Eight. What if I am too relaxed? What if she comes for me and finish me off? I can't sit still doing nothing.
I climbed down the bed and tiptoed to the door. I slowly opened it and peeped out to see if someone was coming, but there was no one in sight. Carefully, I opened the door and stepped out with my hospital robe on. That wasn't a bother to me at that moment, all I wanted to do was go out and find answers.
I hurried out, going as fast as I could before I would be caught and called back. Luckily, Dianne wasn't in sight. She must have gone back to the army headquarters after an emergency call.
I stepped out of the hospital and took to my heels, running as fast as I could. I kept running with nowhere in mind, no place to go. Who would give me answers? Who would I speak to?
Realizing I didn't think that through, I stopped and placed my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. I was foolish to have left the hospital without thinking about it. I kept panting heavily, trying to catch my breath while thinking of what to do.
Looking around, my eyes caught sight of an inscription on a billboard. 'To all questions, there is an answer. The new edition of A Man's Way, is out at the district library-'
The library. That's where I will find my answers. I stood up and continued my journey, this time, heading to the library. I walked into the library and got people's attention on me, probably because of my hospital robe. It was crazy and most of them would wonder if I had escaped the hospital, which I did, but I cared less about what they think.
I walked to the book shelves and began to search for books or anything related to the ghouls. I searched and searched and there was a few of them which was easy to find. It was surprising because I thought a book about the ghouls- the humans enemies- would be hard to find especially when it contain details about them.
I sat down by the shelf and rested my back. One by one, I began to read through the book and its just as I suspected, they were meaningless. They were all fictional books about ghouls. One was about romance between a ghoul and human, another horror, and so many others. They had no real details about Maki or Eight. I let out a deep breath, feeling frustrated.
"Hey Reggie, what are you doing here?" I looked up and found Georgia staring at me curiously. She collected the book I was reading and knitted her brows. "And what are you doing with a book about the ghouls? Are you into this kind of romance?"