Lucian chose not to sit in the living room. He passed Aurora without saying a word. To his left, Aurora glanced briefly at him as he climbed the stairs and disappeared upstairs.
"Is she angry with me?" he whispered softly. Perhaps his invitation had stirred up something that should not have been brought up.
He decided to let her be for a while. He stood up, walked to the door and locked it tightly. Then he opened the window to let fresh air fill the room.
Aurora turned and collapsed onto the long sofa. Silence enveloped the room; only her own breathing could be heard. She crossed her arms under her head and stared at the ceiling with heavy eyes. Soon, sleepiness dragged her into silence.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Kyle's body, now occupied by Lucian, sat in his chair. In front of him was an open diary. He wrote with trembling hands, recording the events, trying to find meaning behind them.
"What should I do next..." he muttered softly.
His thoughts returned to the night of the ritual. He was sure something was off. Everyone involved should have died, but Aurora was still alive. He held his breath, trying to piece together the scattered fragments of memory in his head.
He finally remembered: Aurora had been there that night, but had left before the blood ritual ended. Kyle fell silent, slowly rising from his chair. The dreams he'd been having over the past few days began to make sense. Flove, himself, and the mysterious figure called "Hollow."
He was the one who introduced them to the blood ritual. He said that with it, they could resurrect their loved ones. Kyle wanted to believe him, but his face hidden behind a hood made him doubtful.
Flove remained insistent. Eventually, they performed it in a house south of the city. That night marked the beginning of everything and the end for others.
Unbeknownst to them, three hours had passed.
11:20 a.m...
He was still sitting there, deep in thought about what to do next. Suddenly, Kyle heard footsteps approaching his room.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Just a moment..." he whispered as he stood up. The door opened and Aurora stood before him, her hair tousled.
"Hey, Kyle. Aren't you hungry?" Aurora said lazily.
Kyle shook his head and said, "No. If you want, there's a loaf of bread in the kitchen cupboard! So I think you should eat it."
Aurora nodded slightly, turned around and walked away, rubbing her eyes. Meanwhile, Kyle followed her from behind, making sure Aurora had left his room.
After making sure Aurora was in the kitchen, and hearing the noise coming from there, he walked to his room and closed the door tightly.
Kyle opened the cupboard and took out the money from his savings account, which he hadn't opened in nine years. Maybe there were thousands or millions in there? Kyle didn't know for sure, he just grabbed the money and put it in his coat pocket without counting the exact amount.
After that, Kyle took the hat on the table and put it on immediately. All preparations were complete, and he did not forget to slip his diary between the pile of clothes and shirts.
The wardrobe door was closed, and the key was placed on top of the wardrobe, covered by a small wooden box. Kyle sighed before leaving his room.
He locked his room and immediately walked down the stairs, lowering his hat slightly.
"Aurora..." he shouted, trying to find her. "Are you still in the kitchen?" The atmosphere became silent, no answer was heard.
Kyle walked towards the kitchen to check. But Aurora wasn't there. Kyle was confused and scratched the back of his head.
And suddenly...
"Ba..." Aurora shouted, touching Kyle's shoulders from behind.
His heart was beating fast, and he was gasping for breath from the shock. He turned around and said with an angry expression.
"That's not funny," Kyle said with a serious expression.
From behind, Aurora chuckled softly. She walked closer to him. Standing right beside him, Kyle suddenly fell silent.
Kyle turned his head, his eyes wide with shock, unsure of what to say.
"Hey, how did you do that?" Kyle asked, confused, looking at Aurora's half-transparent body. Only her head, chest and both hands remained visible.
"I just wanted to show you this, but at that time you seemed to be in a bad mood. So I put it off," replied Aurora, her body slowly returning to normal.
Kyle was still stunned, but in his heart he said, "This is really amazing!"
He looked at Aurora's face and asked her, "How did you do that?"
Aurora shrugged her shoulders and answered with a smile. "Hehe... You're curious, aren't you?" Kyle nodded and continued, "Perform a ritual, and you will get a role according to your body's endurance. Right now, my body only masters the role of a Magician."
"Magician?" Kyle asked curiously.
Aurora nodded slightly and tried to explain as briefly as possible, based on the limited information she had, about the role of 'Magician'.
"Last night, around eleven o'clock. I mastered that role, although only halfway, and I couldn't fully unleash that power yet. The ritual is very simple if you want to do it."
"Simple? Does it require a sacrifice to do that?" Kyle asked, still unaware of what ritual she was referring to.
Aurora touched her shoulder, then her eyes glanced at Kyle, signalling him to look in the same direction, at her own shoulder.
Both my shoulders have disappeared? She thought. Her eyes looked at Aurora.
Suddenly, Aurora removed her black gloves, revealing her split index finger, which was still dripping a little blood.
Kyle understood after seeing it; he knew that the wound was caused by a sharp object, such as a knife, glass, or other sharp objects.
"How do you perform the ritual?" Kyle asked again.
"Hmm...." she whispered, then continued, "Just like you did back then!" Aurora smiled after saying that.
Could it be the blood ritual Kyle performed to revive his mother? So, would I gain supernatural powers to do what she mentioned? The question kept swirling in his mind.
"What did Flove and I do back then?" Kyle asked, pretending not to know.
Aurora nodded afterwards and walked away. Right between the kitchen doors, she turned back and signalled for him to follow her immediately.
Kyle lowered his hat slightly, swallowed hard, and followed her. The two of them sat on the sofa facing each other, staring at one another.