Chapter 10: Everything unraveled
Silence.
Once again.
The story ended with a long and uncomfortable silence. Fluggie hated this so damn much, but she couldn't get out of it, considering how her boss was speechless the whole time, every time when she finished saying something. She couldn't tell how he was feeling just by looking at his face. Blank. His expression was completely blank. Maybe he was shocked to hear the entire story about that unexpected night, or he simply had nothing to say. Or maybe, it was a combination of both. But no matter what, she had finished telling him the whole truth behind her pregnancy, and was eagerly waiting for an answer. Yes, eagerly. She seriously could not understand one bit, about how Black Hat always yelled at her when she didn't want him to, yet remained silent when she just wanted him to open his mouth to talk, even one word was fine.
Thankfully, he granted her wish.
"That was how Ryan was born, huh?"
How was she supposed to answer that?
Seemingly not meaning to get a reply out of her, he continued after a sigh. "My stupid drinking habit, that is…"
She still remained silent, letting the demon talk again.
"Anyway, that thing is clear now. But still, you haven't fully explained the story."
"What do you mean, sir?" She raised an eyebrow, finally having some courage to look at him. At his chest, exactly. "I told you everything."
"No, you didn't." He said. "What happened after that, and how Ryan discovered his power… I have to know all."
"Oh, yeah… Right…"
Fluggie hugged her naked chest lightly as she slowly sat up from the bed. The cold was sending the chill to her body and she hurriedly looked around her to search for her clothes. But before that, she looked over Black Hat, who had fallen asleep again. She raised an eyebrow at him. She was still wondering why the whole time they were doing… "it", he managed to keep every piece of clothes on him. I mean, she wore nothing during that, even her bag (because he threw them away, of course), and she was all sweaty like crazy. And yes, it was annoying as hell, having sweats all over your body. So now, she was super impressed of how he was able to sleep through with that amount of sweats on his body.
Sighing, she picked up her clothes and headed for the bathroom. She needed to take a bath, like seriously, right away. Beside, the last thing she wanted right now was him waking up and questioning about how she was here naked beside him.
By the time she reached the bathroom, she walked past the mirror… until she stopped when she thought she just saw something in the corner of her eyes. Standing in front of the mirror, her face became pale.
Red marks.
Red marks… There were three of them, covering her neck.
…
A few minutes passed and all she could do was stand there motionlessly as she continued staring at her neck. Frightened and scared were the only two things she was feeling. Those weren't some ordinary hickeys at all, she could clearly tell. Those were marks, literally marks. Well, to think about it, she shouldn't be surprised, considering how he was a demon with those sharp teeth. Honestly, she didn't mind the fact that he bit her. But what was the most important here was the question: how was she supposed to hide these? She had lived with Black Hat for so long, and she was sure that there was zero chance he wouldn't question about this. Of course, she couldn't say such ridiculous thing like 'This is a lab accident'. That definitely did NOT look like a lab accident, and she was one hundred percent sure that she wouldn't get away with that stupid lie.
…
Oh yeah, scarf! Yeah! She had some in her room, and she could just wrap one around her neck and lied that she was sick, that was al she had to do! She face-palmed and chuckled quietly, blaming herself for not thinking about that in the first place. She started to cough a few times before smiling.
"Yeah, these fake coughs sound real to me."
She finally had a solution, but she still had to be careful, though. She usually got super nervous when she was lying and he would notice right away. So she had to try to speak as fluently as possible.
"Hmm…" Black Hat spoke up. "No wonder why I sensed something fishy the next morning when you came in with that scarf."
"I'm sorry…" She fiddled her thumbs, feeling embarrassed. "But anyway… about Ryan's power…"
"And… peek-a-boo!"
Fluggie opened her hand and said, greeted by the giggles of the eight-month-old Ryan. It was nighttim, and Fluggie just finished some of her works, so she figured that she would play with him for a while. Well, he was her son after all, and she couldn't just let him with 5.0.5 and Demencia the whole time. She was glad that she decided to stay with him in her room, because they were having great time.
Looking up at the clock, she saw that it was eight o'clock at night, and she picked Ryan up. "Okay honey, time for bed."
Ryan babbled something that told her that he refused to sleep. She found it very cute, but bed time was still bed time. She chuckled lightly as she carried him toward his crib. After gently putting him down, she pulled up the cover and kissed him on his forehead.
"Night night, my Ryan."
Ryan babbled something again, squirming inside his crib as he frowned. She didn't quite understand what he was meaning until a while later.
"Oh, Mr. Bun Bun! I totally forgot about him."
She looked away and started to search for the fluffy stuffed rabbit 5.0.5 made for him not long ago. Taking no time at all, she found it, but it was put in a box an extremely tall shelf, where she usually put her tools. Maybe she accidentally put it in there while cleaning up. Sighing, she went to get the chair, but stopped when she heard happy giggles behind her. Turning around, she was startled when she saw the toy was floating in the air.
"What the-"
She watched it float toward her son, whom she was startled again by looking at. His left eye and hands… they were glowing a red light. She was speechless. What the heck was going on?! What had gotten into him, her dear Ryan? At first, she doubted that Black Hat had to do something with this ,since he was the only one capable of having supernatural power here, but she quickly convinced herself that he had nothing to do-
Wait a minute…
Black Hat...
Black Hat…
She froze in place once she realized the reason.
Ryan was her and Black hat's son. Black Hat was the only one who could control things through his mind. Black Hat's power was at his left eye, and Ryan's left eye was glowing as he was using magic. So that meant this power…
He got this power from his father.
Her knees crashed to the floor below.
How was she supposed to hide this away from her boss now?
"…" was all Black Hat could say.
Again, tension filled the room.
Fluggie had her reason for hiding, she wasn't kidding. It was mostly about Ryan. If Black hat ever found out that the boy was his son, which he did, then who knew what the demon was going to do? What if he couldn't accept this truth and kick them out? Or more terrifying, what if he just wanted to keep her to work for him and extruded Ryan away? Or even further… what if he tried to… get rid of Ryan? Hell, there was no telling what this eldritch was capable of doing.
"Thank you for taking your time, Doctor."
Her eyes widened.
He snapped his fingers, resulting in a click of the doors. "I opened the door, you can go now."
She was still speechless.
"Go, Fluggie. It's late now."
Hands shaking, she quietly nodded as she went to pick up the blue prints and walked out, quietly closing the door behind her.
When she got into her room, she backed herself to the door and cried her eyes out.
Three days had passed.
Yet Black Hat showed no sign of doing anything out of ordinary.
And that scared Fluggie.
From that very night where Black Hat finally got to hear the story behind all of this, there was always a very awkward yet scary tension between them whenever they were near each other. And because of that, she cursed herself for staying in the same household with him. Eating, sleeping, working,… She had to do everything with him in presence. Just by walking past him down the hallway sent the shiver down her spine. She doubted that the other two noticed, though, since they showed no sign of suspicion or concern and just were themselves.
She kept wondering what her boss was thinking…
Until the night of the fourth day.
"Good night, Ryan."
Fluggie said as she turned off the light, leaving Ryan sleeping soundly in his crib. She closed the door behind her and sighed. Today was such a tiring day and she still had tons of works to do, which already made her want to yawn.
As she started to walk toward her lab, she shivered lightly. Why was she sensing something unusual here? The more steps she took, the more she was getting this feeling. Or was it just the cold weather outside? Trying to ignore it, she reached her lab and went inside. Just by the first moment she took her first step into the room, she got that same feeling again. The room was filled with only the dim light of the lamp she accidentally left switched on when she left the lab. With a shaking hand, she quietly closed the door and cautiously looked around. No one. No one was in sight… Still remain careful, she went to the light switch near her workbench.
But then, a voice spoke up.
"I've been waiting for your arrival, doctor Fluggie."
Black Hat. There was no mistake that it was Black Hat, the demon she was feeling afraid of these times.
She wanted to turn around, but for some reason, her entire body refused to move and she stood motionlessly in her place with her back facing him. She could hear his heels clanking on the floor loudly in the silent room, the tension rose each time he took one step forward. From that very day, she was so scared by the feeling of them being alone, which she tried to prevent from happening. Yet here they were, alone with each other in the laboratory. She had to admit that he was good at hiding and lurking in the darkness without being noticed at all.
He stopped once he was right behind her.
"You've been avoiding me since that day, Fluggie. Don't think that I didn't notice."
She didn't respond, letting the silence filled the entire room. It was so quiet that she could hear her own rapid heart beat. One second, two seconds… Each second went by slowly and none of them said or did anything. She had the urge to speak up, but her lips was frozen in their place.
As she was wandering with her thoughts, her heart skipped a beat when his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to his chest. Her heart beat increased and she could feel like it was about to explode in any minute.
"B- Boss?"
Finally, she was able to say something.
This time, it was his turn to stay silent.
Three seconds, four seconds…
"I'm sorry, Fluggie."
To be continued…