The next day, Drew woke up around eight.

  Looking around at his surroundings, he'd nearly forgotten that he had moved into Uncle Ryhard's place the day before. Removing the sheets, Drew rolled out of bed, put on some slippers, and went downstairs.

  There, Drew found Uncle and Auntie Ryhard rushing to prepare for work. Uncle Ryhard was running up and down the stairs with boxes to get the shop ready for opening hours while Auntie was frantically cooking breakfast, which consisted of sunny-side-up eggs, thick-cut bacon, toast, and an assortment of local fruits in season, while answering a call from the medical facility.

  "Morning," Drew yawned while scratching his head.

  "Morning," they both replied while frantically running around the house.

  Drew offered to finish cooking breakfast for Auntie Richard as both needed to get to work. After all, it's not like he was in a hurry. Grabbing a plate, Drew removed the sizzling bacon strips from the pan. Meanwhile, Auntie puts on her coat, makeup, and purse simultaneously, and Drew is amazed at how she can do that. Noticing that Auntie hadn't eaten anything and was in a rush, Drew quickly assembled a breakfast wrap with white toast, an egg with a broken yolk, a slice of bacon, and a few pieces of avocado. As she was about to leave, Drew stopped her at the door and shoved the wrap into her hands, which she greatly appreciated.

  Unlike other Avians, Nightengales were omnivores, so Drew wasn't picky with what he ate, unlike others who remained conscious of their diet.

  Thank you. She mouthed to him before she stormed out of the building.

  Smiling, he returned to the kitchen and assembled a similar second wrap for Uncle Ryhard. As he gathered the wrap, a corpulent figure appeared at the dining table. His eyes looked even more colorless than the day before.

  "Morning Elias!" Drew greeted, placing down the plates of food.

  "Morning." Elias nonchalantly greeted the Avian. He was still wearing the same clothes as the day before, but now, he heavily reeked of body odor.

  "Oh, Elias, what a rare sight to see you here so early!" Uncle Ryhard exclaimed as he was about to go downstairs with another box.

  "I guess." He muttered, looking down at his plate with a mouthful of toast before asking, "So, what are your plans today?"

  Drew turned around and grabbed a glass of milk. He did not expect Elias to be the one to initiate the conversation. Then again, even though Elias was a shut-in, Amina did mention that Elias still conversed, though not as much as he used to.

  "Just going to some thrift shops to sell and buy some things. Why do you ask?"

  "I haven't left the house in a few weeks. I'm suffering from a severe Vitamin D deficiency." He mumbled as he bit into a piece of toast.

  Now that he'd mentioned it, Elias did look pale. Almost all the pigment from his skin was gone, and he looked like a ghost. That wasn't a healthy complexion to have. It would be a good idea to bring him along.

  "Are you saying that you want to come?"

  He nodded.

  "Why didn't you say that from the start?" Drew laughed with a mouthful of egg.

  Silence. Placing his piece of toast down, Elias left the table. He had barely eaten anything. Drew let out a troubled expression.

  "Thanks for the food. I'll see you in an hour." He said, then marched back upstairs to his room.

  "Sure," Drew replied, looking at the mostly full plate.

  As he disappeared, Uncle Ryhard popped into the kitchen. He sighed, then rubbed his beard.

  "It seems your presence has motivated Elias to leave his room."

  "Does he not leave too often?"

  "Nowadays, once or twice a month. He used to always be out and about until the day he graduated from Compulsory Education. He was a smart kid and a social one, too, but on the day he graduated, he looked as though he had lost all purpose in his life. I don't know what happened that day; he wouldn't even tell me or Amina. We've done everything we could to help him-we've failed him."

  The Avian was at a complete loss for words.

  "I don't know what to say..."

  "You and Elias are the same age. I presume he feels more comfortable around you because of that. After all, he hasn't interacted with anyone his age in a long time."

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Drew stared at him intently, trying to understand. What was Elias hiding? Why did he hide it? If so, how bad was it to make him hole up in his room for the past few months?

  "You should get ready. I don't want to burden you more than you already have."

  "It's fine."

  "I'll see you later. I've got to prep the shop. Also, after work, I'll tell you more about what you need to know."

  With that, Uncle Ryhard disappeared onto the shop floor while Drew cleaned up the dishes, placing Elias's leftovers in the fridge in case he wanted to finish them later. An hour passed, and Elias was waiting in the living room for Drew. He didn't do much except throw on a gray sweatshirt and brush his hair, which made him look somewhat presentable.

  "You ready?" He asked in near whispers.

  "Yup," Drew smirked, putting on his father's hat. "Let's go."

  Leaving the building, the duo was greeted by the unpaved, dusty road that divided Glass Road from the Slums. The crumbling cement buildings that lined the street looked as though they were going to collapse any minute while the trash on the ground rolled like tumbleweeds, kicking up more dust as they passed.

  Across the street, the same thugs as yesterday were hanging out in a dark alleyway, leaning against one of the building's walls, holding smoking cigarettes between their fingers. They glared at Elias and Drew like wolves, patiently waiting for their prey to fall into their claws. Walking across the silent street, Drew noticed the thugs emerging from the depths of the alley, stamping their feet on the cigarettes to put them out. They were going to tail them. Drew turned to Elias.

  "Is this normal?" He asked.

  Elias gave him a full reply for the first time since his arrival.

  "Yes, they will follow you as they have nothing better to do. They're lowlifes who flunked out of Star."

  "I see." Drew nodded as they continued to walk, "What about you? Have they ever picked on you before?"

  Elias shook his head, the fat surrounding his cheeks bouncing up and down.

  "No, my father would beat them."

  "What about you?"

  "I can defend myself."

  "Those thugs over there are Low F-Rank Warriors." Drew continued, pointing behind them. "Speaking of which, what Rank are you in right now?"

  "Mid-F-Rank"

  The Avian's eyes widened.

  "Mid-F-Rank!"

  He nodded, then looked down at the ground as if trying to recall something, "I would have been High F-Rank about now if circumstances didn't happen."

  "Circumstances..."

  He paused, stopping dead in the middle of the road. Luckily, no cars or people were watching. His face twisted into one of pain and sorrow, one of loss. His muscles scrunched up underneath the layer of fat. His face was the same. The same as Drew's when Uncle Winter died.

  Full of regret.

  Regret that he couldn't save someone because he was too powerless. His hand clenched into a fist, nails digging into his skin, creating small indentations. He bit his lip to the point where it was about to bleed. His eyes welled up, and small streams of tears began to fall. Drew understood this feeling quite well. He was shocked. Everything went silent. The world stopped moving. Time stops, and it feels as though you are all alone. Drew's emotions were brief, but Elias was a different case.

  It was clear that Elias had bottled his emotions for a long time, and Drew had accidentally, with his curiosity, pulled that trigger.

  "I'll show you," Elias spoke, his breath staggering, making a mad dash down the street. He was running from his past. The past that he couldn't tell his parents, the past that traumatized him to the bone, the past that forced him to hide in his room alone.

  Drew chased after Elias.

  He followed the footprints left in the dust, each one leaving a part of his story behind.

  The corpulent teen picked up his pace, sweat drenching his clothing, the heat from his face fogging his glasses. His face turned a tomato red. Drew was even surprised at how fast he could run. He could barely keep up despite his enhanced stamina and speed.

  They kept running. Occasionally, Drew looked back. The thugs tailing them earlier had fallen too far behind to keep up. Next thing he knew, they were no longer in sight, but Elias was still running at the same pace.

  They were reaching the end of Glass Road. The clear division between the poverty-stricken road and the bustling metropolis was growing clear with every stride they took. The paved cement roads and the high rises were now in their line of sight.

  Then, they came to a stop.

  It had been fifteen minutes, and they finally stopped before a small, crumbling, brick, three-story inn on the edge of Glass Road, right across from a gas station. Elias turned towards the entrance of the inn and crouched against the wall of the entrance, which was covered in smudged graffiti, the paint dyeing the ground in a myriad of colors nearly indistinguishable from one another.

  Drew had finally caught up with Elias, whose face became a complete mess. Tears rolled down the sides of his burning sides. The faint sound of sobbing escapes his lips. He crouched down for a moment. Arms were folded around his knees, and the sobbing grew louder. Drew crouched down at Elias's level and stared at him.

  His mind shattered.

  It was sudden, and Drew found himself at a complete loss.

  "What happened?" Drew asked calmly.

  Elias looked up. His eyes were starting to get red and puffy. Rubbing them, he looked up at Drew.

  "I need to confront it. I need to confront it. I NEED TO CONFRONT IT! DAMN IT ELIAS!"

  "Does it have anything to do with this inn?" Drew asked.

  Elias nodded. Suddenly, the inn door opened. The little silver bells hanging off the doorknob chimed.

  "Mother of Kraus, he's here again." The voice of a young girl emerged from the inn.

  Drew looked up.

  The voice came from a girl around their age. She had aquamarine hair fixed by golden clips into two ponytails. One short that came up to her chin on her left side and one on the right that went down to her abdomen. Her eyes were darker towards the top and lighter towards the bottom, with segmented heterochromia. Her skin was fair, but what stood out was her ears. They were sharper than a Human but less than a Llelf. Aside from her physical traits, she was dressed simply in a black windbreaker with a green tee underneath, which paired well with her brown khakis and generic white high-top sneakers.

  "I was just walking with him earlier. We chatted a bit before he darted in this direction." Drew said, unsure of what to do.

  He noticed the girl was about 160 centimeters, 15 centimeters shorter than himself. The girl glanced at Elias, who was in a pitiful state.

  "He does this every single time he comes." She said, wedging the doorstopper into the gap between the door and the sidewalk. She scurried over to Elias's side, crouched down, and wrapped one of Elias's heavy arms around her neck. "Help me out here and get him inside!"

  Drew nodded in agreement, helping the girl by taking Elias's other arm.

  "Thanks."

  With their little strength, they helped the Human, who had lost all of his strength, up to his feet and into the dilapidated inn.