"Shadow's ash."
Rudy blinked twice to deactivate his vision ability and looked at the spot where he saw the spiral trail of ashes. But of course, it wasn't there.
He activated his vision ability again and inspected the ashes.
"Why is it here? And… how the heck do I know what it is? It should be my first time seeing it… yet, somehow… I knew what it was. Why is it here in the first place, and what does it mean?"
Rudy asked himself.
'Shadow's ash… that literally means the ash of the shadow. But how can a shadow have ash? Is this a metaphor or a word with a hidden meaning? Shadow… shadow… sha…dow…
Rudy moved his hand to touch the spiral ash, but as soon as his hands got near it, the ashes began to reverberate crazily as though they were alive. Nonetheless, that wasn't enough to stop Rudy; he touched the spiral anyway.
He grabbed it in his grasp and muttered, "Reverse."
The next instant, the ashes exploded and obliterated the entire school and a few miles surrounding it. It was so loud and bright that, for a few seconds, it seemed like the sun had risen again.
Smoke and dust clouds were everywhere under the debris and pebbles of what was once a school. The only thing visible was a silhouette hovering in the air.
It was Rudy, and he was carrying Janet in his arms like a princess.
He looked at her with a worried expression on his face. He had stopped breathing, blinking, and thinking. He continued staring at her without changing his facial expression.
It was so silent around that no one would believe there was ever a massive explosion in the area.
Rudy had held his breath and didn't let it out until he heard Janet's heartbeat.
SIGH!
He sighed in relief and smiled a little, but it didn't seem like a happy smile.
His eyes suddenly glowed red, filling his eye sockets with crimson red color. That was his maximum capacity and capability of his vision ability. He glanced around the area and sharpened his gaze with a wry smile on his face.
Since the school ground was massive and no one lived around it, no one was hurt except the security guards on duty, the birds living on the trees, and the stray animals; they all died in the explosion.
It was so deadly that their bodies disintegrated into ash the moment the ashes of the shadow exploded.
"Ah…" Janet slowly opened her eyes and saw Rudy looking at her. She smiled at him and closed her eyes again. Seemingly, she thought she was dreaming, while in truth, she was simply too sleepy to understand anything.
"Janet…?"
Janet opened her eyes again, this time a little forcefully. She stared at Rudy in confusion until she realized she wasn't dreaming.
She looked at her hands and then glanced around, but all she could see was a starry sky and a half moon.
"What's…" She looked down and witnessed a disaster. She was too baffled to say anything.
Just a while ago, she was sleeping on a comfortable couch, and after opening her eyes, she found herself in the arms of the man she loved.
Rudy slowly descended and landed on top of the rubbles.
Janet got down and took a few steps around.
"Where… where are we…? And what happened?"
Rudy looked at his hands and muttered, "Did… I do this?"
Rudy thought he was responsible for the explosion, but that wasn't the case. He wanted to reverse the shadow's ash, hoping it would bring back the source of the ashes. But what he brought back by reversing the shadow's ash was the black matter the shadow had manifested on its finger.
"What's going on?!" Janet exclaimed, finally waking to her senses.
Rudy moved his hand forward and pulled a piece of rock in his hand.
Using telekinesis, he slowly pulled Janet close to him and hugged her with one arm.
"Wha…!"
Then, he jumped in the air and restored the school grounds back to how it was before the explosion. And his spot in the air was exactly above the couch of the infirmary.
After restoring everything, he simply sat down on the couch beside Janet and let go of the piece of rock in his hand, and merged it with the missing spot on the ceiling.
"Am I dreaming?!" she asked.
She looked at Rudy and said, "Can you pinch me?"
Rudy slowly moved his hand to Janet's face and placed it on her cheek.
"...."
Janet leaned on Rudy's hand and rested her face on it.
"I don't want this dream to end."
Rudy slowly pulled Janet's face close as he moved closer as well. Then, he gently kissed her on the lips, although only their lips touched.
Janet was lost, staring into Rudy's eyes as though nothing else mattered to her.
"Is it a dream?" she asked without breaking eye contact with Rudy.
"What do you think?" he asked calmly.
"I don't know. This feels like a dream but at the same time… I don't want it to be a dream…"
"I am sorry I left you here. I should have been careful."
Janet shook her head a little and said, "How is it your fault? You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, I should thank you for bringing me to the infirmary after I passed out. We are nothing but classmates.
You have no responsibilities to me. I am the one who is at fault. I didn't leave when I had the chance. It's my fault for falling asleep without being mindful of my surroundings. So you don't have to…"
Halfway through, Janet recalled the plan she was making before she fell asleep. Once again, she bit her lips and cursed her stupidity for missing a golden chance.
"You know what? Now that I think about it, it's partially your fault too! You have to make up for this!" She faked her anger.
"Of course. I will do anything you ask."
