I opened my eyes. It was dark in the room.

But I heard voices. I recognized… Genie’s voice. She must’ve been right on the other side of the door. But she wasn’t alone.
Even though the door was closed, I could hear them clearly.

"Aaron? Were you really worried about Gui Gui?"

I held my breath while he hesitated.

“Why do you ask?” He tried to keep his usual tone.

“Because I’m interested. She’s my best friend.”

“But why does it matter if I was worried?”

I begged to god that Genie wouldn’t spill it all out.

“Because I would like to know if you really are a cold-hearted bastard or just act like you are.”

“So this is your opinion of me?”

“So far, yes.”

Aaron kept silent for a moment before he said:

“Yes, I was worried. But I shouldn’t have shown it. It was a mistake.”

“Why?” Genie sounded angry.

“Showing your weakness isn’t recommendable here. Doesn’t get respect. I was actually disappointed to hear how Miss Tian reacted to Z7’s death.”

“He was her fiancé, for god’s sake!”

“Yes, and? I’m Miss Wu’s trainer. She should be the last one to see me out of my mind. It would weaken her respect.”

“You know what? No, you don’t, and I won’t bother telling you,” Genie angrily discussed with herself.

“What?” Aaron asked.

“Ask Gui Gui. If you say the same as you just said to me, she would bother telling you.”

“And why won’t you?”

“I’m not that patient.”

“So you give her patience great significance?”

“Yes. I never knew what it really meant to be patient before I met her.”

 “Really?”

“She even has the patience to cope with you.”

Aaron kept silent for a few moments before walking away with aggressive steps.

Genie and Selina sat on my bed while I ate some food. I had thousands of questions to ask them, but my hunger kept me from immediately bursting out with them.

With my mouth stuffed with food, I managed to ask:

“What about the others? Hebe, Jolin?”

"They're okay, but... Janosch, he..."

Selina hesitated. As Genie didn’t know who Janosch was, she just listened interested.

“What about him?” I sank my food so quickly that it hurt my throat, and I had to cough.

“The doctors don’t know what he was hit by, but they can’t wake him up. He doesn’t seem to be in pain; actually, he has a very strange, blissful expression,” Selina said.

“Can’t wake him up?” I repeated.

“No, he just sleeps. He isn’t in coma, isn’t dead or just unconscious. He sleeps very deeply, and no matter what we try, we can’t make him wake up.” She shook her head. Genie gaped.

“Oh god…” I silently whispered.

What if they never would be able to find a cure? Would he then sleep… forever?

I tried to chase the horrible thought away, and asked a new question:

“Then… what are the others doing now?”

“Jolin will probably be fully recovered within an hour. Rainie and Ella are reporting to Master Na, and Hebe is with Jolin,” Selina said.

“Miss Wu,” Jack said. I still felt a slight pain in my shoulder, but had insisted on going to the meeting with Jack, Rainie, Selina, Hebe, Ella and Jolin. Janosch should have been there too, but as things were… it was pretty impossible.

“Yes,” I said with a weak voice. Genie sat to my left and supported me. Jack’s strict tone scared me a bit.

"Miss Z10 told me that you insisted on sleeping outside when a whole cottage was to your disposition. Do you know how dangerous that was?” he asked. I shook my head.

“Didn’t the thought hit you that the murderer could still be nearby?”

I shook my head again and looked down.

“Miss Z10 also told me your reasons."

I nervously looked up again.

“You can’t let your feelings decide over your safety. That Miss Tian, Z13, then followed you, only shows that this can happen to even the best,” he smiled friendly. I took a deep breath.

“Furthermore, Miss Z10 and Z12 reported that you several times, and without problems, used your Skills without saying the command out loud. And that you cast a very rare curse at the attacker that he couldn’t block, which resulted in that your attackers fled.”

Truth was; if I had been in my right mind, I wouldn’t have been able to cast any curse at any living creature. It was purely a coincidence, the Ring acting for me.

“So in all, I will support your graduation.”

Graduation? Was my training finally over?

“Gui Gui! Where have you been, sweetheart?”

Alien caught up on me on my way home. I was extremely tired, and most of all wanted him to disappear.

“I’ve been… sick.”

“But your clothes are all dirty, and you have bruises all over you! What the heck has happened?” He sounded truly worried, but every loud sound was to me like a slap in the head.

“Please, keep your voice down…” I whispered, and quickly thought up an excuse. “I fell. On my way to ballet training.”

“Fell? Why did you go to ballet training when you’re sick?”

I stopped and sighed.

“I… I…”

Black.

It was the second time in one day I had woke up in a soft bed without knowing how I got there.

But when I opened my eyes and saw Alien and my maid by my bedside, I could figure out how.

Anyways, I asked:

“What happened?”

“You fainted. You must really be sick... But your parents said you had been on a school trip,” Alien said.

I told the maid to leave us.

“Are you keeping something secret from me? From your parents?” he asked. His voice had a sad but calm tone.

“No... or...”

“Xiao Jie...” It was the first time he had called me this. “I won’t demand you to tell me. But I’m sad I’m not worth your trust.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, it’s that I can’t. I’m not allowed to.” I hid my face in my hands.

“It isn’t illegal, is it?” In our society, “illegal” was nearly a swear word.

“N-no, not really...”

“But it’s hurting you, Gui. Look at yourself. You’re lying to your parents and your friends, you’re so sick that you faint on the street, you’re doing worth in school because you’re tired all the time. You’ve been gone for days. Can’t you see it?” He looked deep into my eyes. I felt the tears start taking shape.

“I... I’m not...”

He leaned back and sighed.

“I can’t decide over you. But I would be really happy if... you could make this stop?”

When the tears started to run down my cheeks, I whispered:

“Yes... yes I will.”

***
Preview:
-

“What did you say?!”
“I want to leave this, Aaron. As soon as I’ve graduated.”
-
“What is this?” I lifted the small piece of paper up. It was scented, but old and crumpled.
“It looks like... a poem, or... a riddle?”
-
This just couldn’t be true. I didn’t want it to be true.
“Why do I have to?” I whispered.