Solflare: The Painter's Secret-Chapter 157: Wet Footprints

Tiny fiery sparks flew ahead. A man wearing a long grey robe stood there, grinning. On his head, he wore a torn crown that was tight on his skull.

"Dad!" Leon screamed heavily as he saw the blue eyes of the man.

He dashed forward, ready to hug the person. But the further he moved, the more the distance between them stretched.

"Wait for me, Dad!" Leon stretched his right arm. He managed to grab the flowing tip of the robe the person wore.

But in a flash, it turned into smoke.

As the motes flew in the air, the smoke fogging the side cleared as the man swung his robe. A sharp light pierced Leon’s chest the moment the man shifted his gaze to him.

"It’s time you’ve got to push harder."

That was the only word the man stated, then vanished.

Before he completely turned invisible, Leon caught a glimpse of the red cloth wrapped around the handle of the gold sword at the man’s back.

Then, as his gaze locked on the tip of the sword’s handle, his chest began to ache.

He jerked upright on the bed, gasping heavily for air as though he had been drowning.

Outside his window, the two fig tree leaves moved from the window’s stool and continued their leap in the air.

"What did I dream of?" he brushed his palms on his sweaty face, then slowly calmed his breath.

At his side, Lily turned, increasing her grip on the blue-black cloth. "I have missed you, Dad."

She murmured in her sleep, then giggled.

Silence fell over the room the moment her giggle faded.

Leon stared at her for a long moment, his pulse spiking, refusing to slow.

"If Lily had seen him too, then this wasn’t just a dream," he said in a soft voice, locking his gaze on her smiling face.

As soon as his gaze dropped to the floor, his lungs paused.

Wet footprints marked the ground beside the bed.

He hesitated, his legs hovering above the ground. He shifted his gaze from the wet ground to Lily’s face, then back to the ground.

"The bedsheet is in the same style I wrapped it around her," he squeezed his gaze at the size of the footprints, then glanced at Lily once more.

He looked once at Lily, still sleeping, then back at the prints.

He stepped on the ground, then began following the prints. They led away from the bed in a crooked trail, glistening faintly in the dim morning light.

He traced them to the bathroom door, which was already open. Leon slowed, entering through the door.

"Wait." He turned and looked at the door once more. "Didn’t I close the door before sleeping?"

He frowned, his eyes drifting from the door’s handle to the frame itself.

"Maybe I opened it."

The door swung shut behind him as he reached the mirror.

"What is that?" he squinted at the bone stuck inside the mirror. He reached toward the object lodged in the mirror and pulled it free. "A bone?"

He turned it once in his hand, his frown deepening. Then, when he looked back at the mirror, he froze.

The hole that had been left behind was already closing, the surface sealing itself as though nothing had pierced it at all.

"This isn’t normal." He stumbled two steps back. Soft thuds echoed at his side as he increased his grip on the bone.

But when he turned, no one was standing there. His fingers twitched, blood spilling out of the tip of his middle finger as the bone moved on its own.

"Fuck!" Leon hurled the bones at the mirror. It struck the glass once, then stayed there. Hovering.

Leon swallowed hard, his eyes focusing on it for more details.

Beyond the walls of the Storm mansion, the city was already coming apart.

Panic spread like wildfire through dry grass. Footsteps pounded the streets, engines roared in haste, and screams tore through the air.

At the middle of the street, two vehicles collided.

Metal screamed, glass burst, and flames climbed fast.

In the first vehicle, a four-year-old girl was still alive, tears dripping from her slowly reddening eyes.

She tried freeing herself, but the windshield that had struck her lower hip didn’t allow her to turn.

Blood stretched down the vehicle and mixed with the diesel, turning it reddish.

When the fire personnel of Bastion City arrived at the scene, they folded their hands over their lips.

Two of the men in hydrated suits dashed forward toward the vehicle.

They pulled out those they could. But by the time they reached the girl, the heat had already worsened.

Theo stood still beside the burning vehicle when the little girl spoke. "Leave me and save Diago."

"There is no way we can save her, Theo," Nicho stated, then gave a long, grieving sigh. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"We’ve gotta try." Theo held onto the handle of the car’s door, helplessly trying to force it open.

"Look!" Nicho pointed a trembling finger at the black eyes of the girl. "Man, I’m sorry to say this. The girl is already dead."

Theo slowly pushed his hands forward. His eyes automatically closed when the girl’s head slipped from his hands.

When the other team members joined them, Theo stood there, shaking. The girl’s final words echoed in his head over and over again. "Leave me and save Diago."

Leaning by the side of the fire truck, tears fell from Theo’s eyes as he shifted glances from the doll to the now-quenched vehicle.

Two men closed in with him, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "You did all you could, man."

They tapped on his skin, then went toward the ambulance.

Theo slowly walked toward the stretcher on which the corpse of the girl was being carried. "I’m sorry."

He whispered, then placed the doll beside the girl’s side. He watched the medics carry the girl away.

He sat in the fire truck with his face buried in his palms while the city groaned around him.

The chaos wasn’t just at Bastion City, nor at Thule at large. Other countries were also facing their own.