Fast and nervous, Markus accompanied Halora to the school where an extremely terrible incident took place. As soon as he heard the news and her name, he hurriedly rushed to her house.
But along the way, he noticed a lot of people gathered nearby who seemed to be looking for someone.
Every time he recalled people throwing stones, tomatoes and other stuff that would make Halora guilty of a thing that she never did at all.
He gasped, stole a glance of Halora who looked nervous and eager to save everyone from the evil witch's hands.
"Hey, do you need some water? You looked too frightened!" he told her in a hollow voice. "There's an unopened bottle right on the dashboard! You can drink it to boost your confidence–"
"No, I am not that thirsty! I... I am just thinking what to do, what to say in front of all the victims who witnessesd and experienced a traumatic incident!"
After all this time, the ring remained and stayed loyal to the daughter of the real keeper. It could be a faithful faith, manipulate anything as the keeper wish to.
However, on the bad side, if the ring used for black propaganda, and bad intentions, the power within it would be uncontrollable that could even destroy the universe.
And now that the truth slowly prevailed on its own, things around her became too confusing, hard to catch and difficult to believe in.
"Y– you know what? I've been dreaming of Damara...," she paused.
"Damara? Who is she?"
As the dream flashed back to her head, Halora surrounded by a cold breeze. She embraced herself, glanced at him and she replied, "The woman you saw on the new– and she's the queen of black witches who always appeared in my dreams."
The way she spoke about Damara, it caught his attention with no reason. Markus met a lot of people before, particularly different women but no one had ever been in the same manner as Halora.
Every small thing she did made his pulse stopped pounding like he always heard after a gunfire.
He scoffed, slowly reached for her hand as he drove the car in a neutral speed. "I don't know what is going on but don't worry, Halora– I am here always for you."
A sweet smile flaunted on his lips while he squeezed and held it gently. He couldn't ask for more than seeing the girl who stole his heart at the very first sight.
Hence, as the situation bothered Halora to death, she didn't put any malice regarding his sweet, caring actions. What matters the most was to save, redeem and give the ring to Damara whom she thought was the real keeper of such expensive jewelry.
Out of the blue, the moment she looked at the window at the right side of the road, she saw a familiar car that passed by.
If she was not mistaken, it was Roy's sports car and by the route he was heading about, Halora knew that he came to fetch her.
"Stop the car!" she said in a hurry that confused Markus.
He looked at her with a lot of questions on his face but he just took a deep breath and pulled back the car at the safest area along the road.
As quick as it was, she took her phone from her pocket. And without hesitation, he dialed Roy's number but it was out of the service.
She began to panic, imagining things that possibly happened to them while she was on her way.
She stomped her feet, rubbed her nape until she accidentally called Sebastian.
"Where are you?"
A deep, serious voice suddenly froze her entire body. All of the hair on her skin lifted up when she heard it clearly.
For a couple of seconds, she left speechless and nervous. Halora made a promise to Sebastian but now that she failed to keep it, guilt slowly instilled in her system.
"I said, where the hell are you?"
As he repeated the same question in a coldest way, Halora blinked her eyes out of guilt. She sighed, glanced at Markus who turned his head suddenly.
"S– Se– Sebastian! I... I d– didn't mean to call you–"
Halora closed her eyes when he cut her alibis through cursing and hitting the steering wheel. She was certain, she was afraid that he might lose his control and attack Markus instead of helping the authorities to resolve such mysteries.
"Stop with your b*llshit alibis, Halora! I went to your house but you weren't there! And you know what, people were angrily gathered at the place and they wanted to kill you as a vengeance!"
"H– how did you get that information? You know that I didn't wish things like this to happen!" she replied.
On the other line, Sebastian took the chance to locate Halora's location. He tried million times but out of nowhere, she called him that took away all the doubts and worries.
As he listened to her voice, he quickly drove fast, connected the call to the speaker. "I heard them screaming those things the moment I arrived at the place. I am warning you, Halora, stay where you are and never give the ring to her."
At that very moment, tears shone to her eyes as the confidence she had built vanished too abrupt. Her knees trembled as she nearly passed out all over again.
And the longer she stayed with Markus, the more Sebastian wanted to kill him. "I... I am s– so... sorry, but I can't help it but to break and disobey you, Sebastian. I hope you will understand my decision."
After she said those words, Markus took the phone from her hand. He looked angry, wanted to punch Sebastian as hard as he could for being an asshole.
"Back off, bad boy! She will no longer listen to you even this difficult time. And to tell you honestly, she agreed that I'll be her only one suitor and she will never fall in love with a man like you!" he told Sebastian that shocked Halora.
She wanted to clear things between her and Markus but the call ended up that tore her hear into tiny pieces.
~
~
Pain drawn to her face as she didn't clear her names before it became a long, serious misunderstanding. She knew she made a mistake but she didn't either know why Markus said those lies to Sebastian.
For heaven's sake, if only she had an option, she wouldn't have hopped into his car and accepted his offer.
As she earned enough courage to confront him, Halora unfastene the seatbelt. She was disappointed of him as she thought, she already made things clear between them.
She inhaled some air, turned her head at the young, fine man who looked confident despite the lies he just created.
"I'm sorry, but I can't accomplish this with you."
It was such a cold, straightforward statement that hit his heart as bad as a gunshot wound. He shook his head back and forth, tried to reach and hold her hands but Halora moved back away from him.
"Please, please just let it pass, Halora! I... I don't have any intention and if I didn't say those words, he would have been here, forcing you to leave with him instead of helping those pitiful people who were at risk!"
His voice raised up that shocked her system. She didn't want to be shouted by anyone else and that moment, Halora decided to just let it go and leave.
She said coldly, "L– let's go! You're right and I shouldn't be arguing with you anymore."
Fortunately, Halora chose to forgive him. And if there was a thing she had to choose, she had rather be in the danger than those innocent souls of vulnerable people.
Before she would have a change of mind, Markus held the steering wheel and started the engine.
But, he didn't leave yet as he scoffed, stooped to her as their faces were only an inch away from each other. It disturbed her even more and thought that he would kiss her.
Halora quickly closed her eyes, held her breath back that made him smiled mischievously.
"Just closed your eyes, Halora. I'm not done yet." he murmured as she freely listened to him.
And then on, Markus fastened her seat belt and stared at her natural look. It was a close encounter and he will never forget everything about her.
Before he could lose enough control, Markus quickly seated back to the driver's seat and he said, "Hold tightly, I'll be a professional race driver this time!"
"Eyes on the road, Markus. We have to be there before things became too much to control." Halora looked at the road as her eyes glinted. "May you help and lift my soul to be strong enough to face the queen of black witches– Damara." she added.
Little did they knew, as they quickly rushed to the scene, Sebastian had finally found them.
He followed them secretly until his phone rang too loud. Sebastian answered it and the only voice he heard was a woman in vengeance.
"Bring a girl named Halora or I will slash this young boy's neck!"