Ennard briefly glanced at the books that had fallen to the ground, then he fixed his eyes on a man standing not far from him, looking intently at several people running away. Not having thought that he would need help like this, Ennard exhaled silently and picked up his book. He hadn't even been here a week and he almost got into trouble.
His cheek also hurt, he hoped it wasn't bruised or else his uncle would pester him mercilessly with scolding. However, he definitely had to thank this man—damn his eyes looked so empty when their gazes met.
"Thank you, uh ..." He didn't know his name, nor had he seen him in class.
"Michael Afton."
"Afton, yeah, Afton. Thanks." Ennard gave a faint smile, but all he got was a small nod. "My name is Noah Alexander, by the way, you can call me Ennard."
"Why?"
"Because my mother called me that."
"Why?"
"Because ... my mother called me that?"
"But why?"
Ennard looked around before staring back at Afton who tilted his head in confusion. "Just respecting the nickname from my mother." Ennard shrugged and nodded at his own answer, Afton seemed to understand. "Anyway—"
Before he finished speaking, the man left him there alone. He was briefly dumbfounded. What's wrong with that person?
Even so, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his body got goosebumps all over, the air felt frozen as he spoke to Afton. He had to hold himself back from throwing up his guts, refrain from taking a step back so as not to get too close to Afton, force himself to look normal. Hopefully the look in his eyes was normal, it felt like he was always trying to look in all directions instead of Afton.
That boy ...
A kid around 10 years old who hovered behind Afton. Blood everywhere, torn clothes and fresh flesh—he didn't want to remember the details. Looks like an accident victim. They were always scarier to him than other creatures.
Ah crap, maybe he'll really spit out his breakfast somewhere else.
-EC-
His alarm clock rang loudly, his senses had been collected but Ennard hadn't opened his eyes, still feeling lazy. Thinking back to when he was talking to Afton, that figure seemed to haunt him. Ennard tried to forget him, but he couldn't. Each time he tried to forget it, he ended up feeling nauseous and Robert would tell him to sleep rather than keep on taking his meds.
"Ennard! Breakfast is on the table, I have business at work!"
Speaking of his uncle.
He didn't reply, his head ached and his body heavy—would he be sick again? He couldn't skip class today; there is an important quiz from the annoying lecturer in his department. Ennard groaned a little tiredly, he decided to force himself. He opened his eyes.
The boy was right above him.
He could clearly see his empty eye socket with bloody heads—wait, was that the brain from his exposed cranium ...?
Ennard screamed loudly.
"Hah! I knew you can see me!"
---
Medium AU: Two Realms [COMING SOON]