Chapter 155: Indebted

Aiden sat down on the bench right next to Miguel. Simply, Miguel removed the shirt that slowed the bleeding at his thigh. Then, he started looking down at the bleeding wound. 

Aiden clasped his hands together. "Miguel, is it?"

Miguel glanced at him. "Yeah?"

He smiled. "Do you accept this offer?"

"What? The healing? Of course I do, I'm freaking bleeding out, man."

Aiden chortled. "Alright," he looked over his shoulder and back at me and Hanso, "what about you guys ... do you accept my offer?"

I grimaced at him. "Well, this is random. But I do accept the offer, assuming it's the healing. Haven't really met the requirements to be called an offer, but whatever."

Hanso screwed his face. "Just heal him up already!"

Aiden glared at him. "You haven't accepted my offer."

"If we wanna, we can always find some other healer who would actually say what they want in return unlike you. You're lucky I'm not cut out for all the searching, when my friend's bleeding. I accept your stupid offer," Hanso pouted.

Aiden rubbed his hands together. "Alright! Then let's get to the healing!"

***

Aiden's hands were set to hover over Miguel's wound. He seemed focused as he kept his hands still. They shook a bit but remained rather stagnant for the majority of the time. He stared down at the wound, unblinkingly. Then suddenly, there was a bright green light, emanating from his palms and forcing me to squint my eyes to watch on. 

For a moment, this radiance reminded me of something. It was like I saw this before. Deja Vu. Or maybe it just reminded me of someone. Perhaps a friend of mine. A friend of mine who was forever lost because of me, my cowardice, and my selfishness.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had broken the first rule. The bright, green light drew a striking amount of attention to us, from, especially, passers-by. Slowly, the light had begun to falter. Slowly, the intensity decreased. It faded out of existence just like Miguel's wound. 

Even Miguel myself was dazed by the sight of it.

Aiden quickly retracted his hands, wincing in what appeared to be agony. His face wrinkled as he groaned aloud. Then, he quickly clutched a hand around his left thigh, squeezing it firmly: the spot analogous to where Miguel had gotten shot.

"Are you okay?' I asked, inching closer to him. 

"I'm fine," he said. "Healers experience a percentage of the pain they've relieved. Again, healing doesn't come free. Healing doesn't come free at all. Neither does help from a random stranger," he smirked. 

Suddenly, strange, hovering creatures had started to manifest at our shoulders. They materialized, conjuring from nothing but magic. They took the form of ugly, deformed, red single-eyed creatures with cunning smiles and spikey skin. Tiny monstrosities. 

Aiden smirked. "Bear witness to my second ability called 'Debtcollecter'. You're all indebted to me from now. You have only ten days to repay the debt or you'll be pestered to death. No pun intended. As long as those creatures are with you, you're mine. I'll even be able to track you. Absolutely nothing is free. You should've gone with your gut."

I furrowed my brows, and clenched my fists. He played us. Maybe his 'Debtcollector' ability was activated after healing Miguel. And just before healing Miguel, he asked us if we accepted his offer. That offer was what gave rise to what we were witnessing. 

I looked at Miguel and Hanso. They both had strange disfigured creatures hovering over their shoulders. The creatures were hideous. Vile in every way to the eyes. Miguel's creature was the largest. It wore a freakish grin that stretched accross its face, and bumpy skin where hundreds of wrinkles were present. 

I then slowly rotated my head. Such that I was able to see more and more of the creature hovering at my shoulder. I retracted my body, jolting back. The creature followed me. It hovered in front of my face, sending chills down my spine. 

What were these monstrosities? 

Aiden cackled. "Ahahah! That's hilarious. The look on especially your face, Ash. Pathetic. You fell for it. You haven't even seen anything from those little monsters yet. " he heaved, "I need to go put some more people under my cool, new spell. Now, if you would excuse me, I have business to do." He turned around and started walking off on us. 

I felt pathetic. Why did I even trust him? Hanso had his suspicions and kept them until now. But I killed my suspicions just because I was eager to help Miguel. 

I felt my heart thumping with rage. 

I furrowed my brows, and snarled, "I trusted you!" my tone escalated until it became a shout. 

I broke rule one. 

Aiden stopped. 

I continued, "I thought we established companionship with you. I chose you over Hanso. For noting. I'm never trusting any stranger ever again. People like you aren't to be trusted."

Aiden looked over his shoulder. "Well," he smirked, "good for you. If only you had that notion a little sooner." He turned around and continued walking. 

Hanso furrowed his brows. "It's not over yet, asshole! Where the hell do you think you're going!"

I looked I at Hanso. "That's right! If we take out the owner of the ability, then the ability will subsequently deactivate."

Hanso clenched his fist and darted toward Aiden, "That's what I'm talking about, Ash! We can't keep getting manipulated!" His legs moved faster than a spinning tire, such that I could only see blurs.

He halted, skating. He pulled an arm back, still skating. Then, he thrust the fist into Aiden's body. The fist went right through Aiden as if he were a ghost. 

Then, Hanso suddenly got hit from somewhere and collapsed with a loud groan. The creature at shoulder laughed maniacally with a high-pitch, squeaky tone.

Aiden continued to walk, without even looking back at Hanso. "All skills, and attacks are reflected unless you pay back your debt. See you guys soon."

Sitting on the behind, Hanso slammed his hand into the ground. "Damn it!" 

I qailed. "It was ..."

... another trap.