LUCIEN’S POV
For days now, classes have been going on, and Adria hadn’t attended class. I didn’t want to go to her house at it could seem somehow and suspicious to her mother. So, I decided to ask her friends who had been coming to class without her, for a while now.
“Hello, Stacy.” I greeted her closest female friend who sat alone, doing a few things.
When she saw me, her expression changed as her face brightened up. Well, let’s hope this charm, helps.
“Good day, Professor.” She responded, with a smile on her face.
“I haven’t noticed your friend coming for classes for a while now, is there anything wrong?” I asked, inquisitively.
“Oh! Adria. Adria fell sick, and has not woken up for the past few days.” She replied me with a sad expression.
“What! Haven’t they taken her to the hospital?” I questioned, out of concern.
“No, her mother said she knows what’s going on, and then she’ll wake up as the medicine would work.” Stacy informed me.
“And how has the progress been? Any sign of her waking up?”
“To be honest, I really do not know what she is up to. But this is not the first time Adria gets this sick, and she always comes back hale and hearty, so I’m sure she’ll be fine, soon.”
Even as our conversation ended, I wasn’t satisfied with the information. I was concerned about Adria. Shouldn’t there be something I should be able to do about this?
ADRIA’S POV
I gulped down my saliva in fear, then took a step forward carefully.
“Hello?” I called out again with my eyes searching around.
I doubled my steps and took each step, in fear of what could go wrong. I had taken further steps into the cave and was now in the middle of the cave, still wondering if there was anyone in there.
Then I felt a cold light hand on my back and I looked back abruptly as a sharp gasp escaped my mouth, but I saw no one. My blood turned cold as a result of fear and my body became tense.
I began to move backwards and my eyes were searching around to catch a glimpse of anyone who could be here.
“Is anyone playing tricks on me?” I managed to speak out.
“Adria.” I heard a voice call out to me in a soft whisper.
I looked around and was beginning to get tired of this, so I turned back to run but bumped into someone whose eyes looked fiery, and his wide smile was as wide as that of a scary clown.
I fell to the ground on my butt and I was frozen in fear of the sudden appearance of this scary man.
“Oh, child. You don’t need to be scared.” He cackled, lightening up the tense atmosphere in the cave.
But the echo in the cave wasn’t helping situations for me. I moved backwards with the help of my hands as my legs felt too wobbly to stand.
“I think if you continue to act this way, you won’t complete your task.” He said, with a smile, revealing his surprisingly bright teeth.
I glanced at the hour glass which was running down fast.
“Adria, you need to overcome this fear. He will do nothing to you.” I thought to myself.
Then I managed to stand up and maintain a long stare at the man which was quite difficult to do, but as I had said to myself, I needed to stand up to my fears so I can be done with all that’s happening here.
“I am Adria.” I introduced myself.
“Well, I don’t have a name. But people call me by whatever experience they have with me here.”
“So, what were the experiences?” I asked, out of curiosity.
“That, I can not reveal to you. What’s more important is the personal experience you have with me.” He snorted.
“Then I can call you a guide, right?”
“Well, we’ll see about that. So, it means you need help to get something right?” He asked.
“Do people get other things from you?” I questioned.
“Yes.” He replied flatly.
“Alright then. I need to get to a trickster. Please show him to me if you know where he is right now. As you can see, my time is running out.” I pleaded earnestly.
“Not so fast, Adria.” He smirked.
“Gosh! What do I have to wait for again?” I voiced out, frustratingly.
“Well, you have to do something for me before I can deem you worthy enough of my guidance, you know.” The man said, and everything about me just irritated me.
How could he still want me to do something for him when he clearly sees that my time is running out?
“You want me to do something for you?” I repeated.
“Exactly. Just agree to it whatever I will ask you to do, and we’ll kick off.” He voiced out as he placed his hands on his waist.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked, inquisitively.
“Just agree to it, woman!” He responded sharply.
I found it hard to trust him, but then, I glanced at the hour glass and shut my eyes in frustration. I had no choice anyways, so all I could do was to agree to do whatever he asked me to do, as long as it wouldn’t hurt me, and it was within my capacity.
“Alright, I agree to it.” I voiced out reluctantly.
The man laughed out loud, looking pleased, then I found myself in the woods. It was a mystery to me as I found myself there, all of a sudden even when he didn’t snap his finger like any of the vampire could do.
“Why did you bring me here?” I questioned him as I wasn’t feeling all that comfortable right here. I didn’t want to be anywhere in the woods in the first place so it was only natural that I was going to question him, and also frown at it.
“Relax. After all, the day light still reigns.” He responded.
“What do I need to do? I do not have much time.” I reminded him, trying not to allow my voice to give out the fact that I was scared.
“Look around you, Adria. All I need you to do is here in the forest, and funny enough, it is so simple. I know you are tensed because you do not know what to expect, and if it is possible that you will be able to do it. You fear about many things right now, and it is okay to be scared.” The man said and twirled twice.
“Just cut the crap, and cut to the chase!” I snapped at him, beginning to feel frustrated.
“Easy, easy. Alright, you see the tallest tree up there?” He asked as he squinted his eyes at the tree, and pointed at it.
The tree was really tall that I could see the branches way over the other trees. I noticed it looked gigantic, and a bit intimidating, and it made me wonder why he was showing me the tree.
“Yeah, I can see it. It is so easy to notice.” I responded as I looked back at him.
I wasn’t comfortable with the way he was grinning and it made me just want to leave here as soon as possible, away from his discomforting facial expression.
“Good. As tall and gigantic as it is, it is the easiest to climb. Do you believe this?”
“Hold on, hold on. What are you trying to insinuate? You want me to climb this?” I exclaimed sharply.
“Of course. But I tell you, it is really easy to climb, and you do not need to fret about it.”
“How do you expect me to believe you? Are you trying to use a literal term for me, because I don’t get it!” I cut in sharply.
“Young woman, you do know that you are the one at a loss here if you do not get to the task. Also, your time is running out.” He reminded me, sternly.
I sighed, and looked at the tree.
“What do you need ne to get for you?” I asked, reluctantly.
“The biggest mango.”
That was so weird. So, he needed me to get him a mango when he could just get it himself. In fact, he was the one who was supposed to be good with trees as he had possibly been here for years.
I had no choice than to try, anyways. I began to climb, and just as the man had said, it was really easy to climb and as that realization hit me, I began to chuckle.
It was so surprising that a tree could be this easy to climb, and I tried to increase my pace to get there faster. But I noticed one thing, and that was the fact that my clothes were wet, and the tree seemed like I was clutching unto water itself.
Suddenly, my breath began to seize, and I started to hyperventilate, gasping for breath. I looked down at the man, and noticed I wasn’t even far from the ground even after I had climbed a lot.
“Wait, you… you are the trickster.” I voiced out weakly.