AN: Whew, another interesting chapter to write XD Hope you enjoy~
Chapter 23:
An incessant nudging pulled Fafnir from his sleep. Content with both the warmth and Flavio's body resting next to his, he was not at all ready to get up for the day yet. Hana could bang those pots and pans together all she wanted; he was not getting up from this bed. He wanted to sleep in for once.
"Fafnir. Fafnir, wake up."
Flavio's voice was hushed, desperate. Not a tone he would use in an attempt to wake him before Hana's shocking good morning ritual.
Something was wrong.
That belief was made stronger when Fafnir opened his eyes and was greeted by darkness. The room was pitch black. It was still night. Even so, he could see the barely restrained fear on Flavio's face as he stared at him, cuddled up against him to seek not his warmth, but his security.
"They're outside," he whispered.
That promptly woke Fafnir up. "What?"
"Someone's outside the door."
Fafnir half sat up and turned to look toward the door. The lanterns of the hallway remain lit all night, so a beam of light illuminated beneath the door. But it was broken in two places.
As if someone stood on the other side.
A metallic noise resounded through the room. It was a telling sound and Fafnir immediately knew what it was, it was the door handle. It moved slowly but creaking loudly in the dark silence.
They were testing it. Testing the handle. Rattling it until the lock engaged with a loud, significant click. The sound, the obstruction, meant that a lock was engaged. Any normal person would back off. But they continued to test the lock, pushing against the locking mechanism over and over again. As quietly as possible.
Fafnir bristled. He did not know what the time was, but it was clearly the middle of the night. They obviously did not care. They hoped that if they tested the lock enough times, they could jimmy their way in. Or they hoped to inflict psychological damage to Flavio, to make him scared.
Flavio pressed himself against his side and whispered into his ear, "It's them. It's just like before."
Without hesitation, Fafnir threw back the blankets and slipped out of bed quietly. He turned to Flavio and helped him out of bed. "As soon as I step outside, lock the door behind me."
Flavio held onto his arms, uneasy and unnerved, but nodded his head, nevertheless. "Ok."
The door rattled and buckled violently, and suddenly, and Flavio jumped about a foot in the air. Fafnir, however, immediately turned and darted toward the door. He quickly unlatched the lock and threw open the door and lurched out into the hallway, his cursed arm held out in front of him in a defensive manner.
Instead of coming face to face with someone, anyone, he was welcomed by an empty hallway. But from the corner of his eye, he spied a shadow as it darted down the stairs, thundering down each step, staying just out of sight.
"Hey!" Fafnir shouted and dashed off after them.
He vaulted down the stairs with ease and landed in the foyer of the inn. It was empty, quiet. But the lanterns were lit, illuminating the area. The fingers of his cursed hand clenched and unclenched in an agitated manner as he quickly surveyed the area.
A movement from the corner of his eye soon caught his attention. A shadow darting into the dining hall.
He leapt to his feet and was immediately on the shadow's tail. He reached the dining hall and slipped into the room. It, too, had numerous lanterns lit, allowing for him to get a good view of everything inside.
Unfortunately, it appeared that the only other person loitering about, poking at the left-over food from the dinner rush, was an elderly man. A veteran. Someone he had seen a few times hanging around the inn.
"Hey!"
"Eh? What? You talking to me?" the old man returned, both blasé and confrontational.
"Did you see anyone?"
Grasping a cold turkey leg, the man used that to point randomly to the other side of the room. To a door that led to the back garden. The door was open, letting the bitter cold winter air into the building.
"Out through there," the old man replied. "Like a bat outta hell, I tell ya."
They escaped? Damn it. He was looking forward to finally getting his hands on the slimy bastard.
They certainly knew the backways and oddities of the inn.
"I don't get youngsters and your fashion these days. Hood and scarf? With googles? At night? Fool asking to break his neck." He then took a rough, savage bite out of that turkey leg.
Fafnir did not ask him for his critique on the guy's clothing. It was not useful. The bastard could change his clothes easily enough. He needed a physical description.
They were a slippery one.
He was still going to prowl around the room to ensure that the guy did not try to use the open door as a distraction to swing around to get back to Flavio.
"Fafnir? What happened?"
Bertrand's voice prompted Fafnir to turn around. He was not at all surprised that Bertrand had been lured out of his room by the commotion. But he was somewhat surprised to find Hrothgar with him.
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "The bastard was outside the room. He got away, though."
The old man mumbled something about youngsters and being inconsiderate of their elders, or some other incoherent nonsense. He rubbed the small of his back and heft his explorer bag higher upon his shoulder as he ambled further into the inn.
Fafnir rolled his eyes at the old man but decided to ignore him as he focused his task on searching the dining hall and closing and locking that blasted door. He was not sure how fruitful that little venture that would be. What happened before, in the laundry room…they had unlocked the door. They had access to a key.
Someone who worked at the inn?
He needed to speak with Hana. Someone might have stolen a master key or made a copy without her knowledge.
"That man…?"
Hrothgar's question pulled Fafnir from his musings. He turned toward the redheaded protector and found him staring in the direction that the veteran had disappeared in.
"What about him?" Fafnir asked.
Hrothgar looked at him, confused. "Is he an explorer?"
Fafnir shared a look with Bertrand. "Appears so. Why?"
"I've never seen him before," Hrothgar revealed. "Never in the labyrinth. I know of most explorers within High Lagaard, rookies to veterans. But I have never met him."
What?
Wait, shit.
Fafnir immediately darted in the direction the so-called veteran wandered in. He briefly heard Bertrand tell Hrothgar to go check in on Flavio before he joined in on his quest to find their new target.
They checked the back hallways, clinic, and office room of the inn. No one and nothing were to be seen. It was a quiet and cold early morning. Only the sound of Fafnir and Bertrand's footsteps were heard. Even Hana seemed to have retired for the night. It was that dreary of a night.
The guy was nowhere to be found.
God damn it…
"Well?" Bertrand asked him when they regrouped.
Fafnir shook his head, frustrated. "I can't find him."
"Neither can I."
Fafnir dragged a hand over his face, once again cussing to himself. "Damn it."
Bertrand crossed his arms over his chest, a deep frown on his lips. "You don't think…?"
"I don't know."
That 'veteran' could not have been the one behind everything. The one at the door moved so fast down the stairs, akin to that of a survivalist or dark hunter. Someone lithe and agile. Someone who knew how to use the shadows to their advantage. And no matter how nimble and agile someone was, their age always played a factor. And that guy was old.
Whether he was the stalker or not, there was little denying that the guy was involved. He had to be either the lookout or the distraction. Both, most likely.
And he did his job well.
He needed to see if Flavio was all right.
As they trudged through the foyer of the inn, they were stopped dead in their tracks when they heard the muted sound of shattering glass and a loud, but equally subdued thud. Shortly after that there was yet another sound of breaking glass.
Fafnir and Bertrand shared a concerned look.
"What was that?" Bertrand asked.
"I don't know." But he certainly did not like it. "It came from upstairs."
They raced up the stairs, where they found Flavio and Hrothgar were out in the hallway with Arianna and Chloe. The latter two wrapped up in throw blankets to fight off the cold, while Flavio had a thick winter coat wrapped around his still too slender frame.
Fafnir immediately made his way to Flavio's side and slipped an arm around his waist, tugging him against his side. "What happened?" he asked.
"A noise came from your old room," Flavio answered, his face pale and trembling slightly.
Fafnir glanced at the door leading to his own room and frowned. "Hana hasn't rented that room out yet." Realisation struck him and he placed his hand on small of Flavio's back. "Wait, I still have the key. It's in my bag."
Flavio nodded his head. "I'll get it."
He slipped from Fafnir's grasp and into his room. Fafnir wandered cautiously toward his old bedroom and stopped just outside the door. He could not help but feel that something was off.
He sniffed the air as an odd odour touched his nose.
…Smoke.
Shit.
"Fafnir, here."
Fafnir tried to keep a stoic expression as he quickly retrieved the key from Flavio. But he did push him back to Hrothgar, silently telling him to stand aside, as he hastily unlocked the door. And swung it open, letting it slam against the wall behind it.
The smell of smoke and the sight of flames immediately greeted him.
Fafnir's eyes widened at the sight before a scowl promptly replaced the expression of surprise. "Damn it, get the alchemy grimoire stones!" he ordered.
Bertrand uttered a curse as he crashed into his own room. He reappeared moments later with a small bag full of stones, spilling a few of them out into his hands in search of the much-needed ice skills. When he found two stones, he tossed one toward Fafnir before he threw the bag toward Hrothgar, who caught it easily.
With a deep breath, Fafnir threw himself into the room. He used the freeze grimoire to encircle the flames, to trap it in the corner of the room and to prevent it from spreading. With the thick, stone walls of the inn, there was little threat of the building catching fire and burning down like with the restaurant. But the flames could still cause a lot of damage.
That was their intention, no doubt.
After a few minutes and a few more elemental attacks, Fafnir and Bertrand managed to douse the flames. The bed and the desk, however, had been badly damaged, nearly rendered to ashes. If Fafnir had been in the room, in that bed at the time, he would have been badly burnt.
Of if the asshole had targeted the next window over…
"That was definitely from a fire gas bottle," Bertrand murmured as he studied the damage.
And it had been thrown in through the window, after it had been broken with a large stone.
That old bastard…
Fafnir moved from the room, coughing lightly as he stepped out into the hallway. Two incidents in one night. And one near kidnapping during the day. The guy was not happy with them.
No. The guy was obviously annoyed that his little abduction attempt failed.
And was making sure they knew it.
"Fafnir?" Flavio was immediately back in his arms, his hands grasping the front of his shirt as he stared into his eyes with fear in his own. "W-was…was that how they set the restaurant on fire?"
Fafnir sighed and wounded his arms around him in hopes of comforting him.
More likely than not. With Regina not knowledgeable in the use of grimoire stones, she would not have been able to get the flames under control. And with so much flammable pieces of furniture close by, it grew too large too quickly.
She never stood a chance.
"What should we do now?" Arianna asked quietly.
Honestly, Fafnir was not entirely sure what to do moving forward. There was nothing stopping the bastard from targeting other windows. From firebombing other rooms. A guaranteed way to piss off a lot of explorers and draw attention to the situation, but it was clear that they were willing and able to do anything and everything to get their hands on Flavio.
As if the restaurant did not already prove that.
"Arianna, I want you and Chloe to share a room. Hrothgar, mind sharing Bertrand's? I want everyone close by just in case something else happens tonight."
"Yes, of course," Arianna immediately replied.
"I don't mind," came Hrothgar's response.
Bertrand sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not going to be easy, but we should try to get some sleep. Even if it's just for a couple of hours."
"Agreed. There isn't any more we can do. We could be running around all night and still be several steps behind. Let's hunker down for the night and talk more about this in the morning."
Sleep was to be difficult or fleeting at best, but holding themselves up in their rooms was their best course of action for the time being. One more incident, though, and Fafnir was commandeering the tearoom again and having everyone move in there.
With great reluctance, everyone moved to their assigned rooms, and Fafnir guided Flavio back to his. He kept his arms around him the entire time, unfurling just one arm long enough to close the door and lock it. He twisted the door handle a few times to ensure that the lock was firmly in place, only when he felt it latch in place was he satisfied enough to turn away from it.
And to give Flavio all the attention he deserved.
"Did anything happen while I was gone?"
Flavio motioned toward the desk with a short wave of his hand. "Another knife was embedded in the door."
Fafnir pressed his lips together, frustrated. There were three of them. Hrothgar still had a hold of the second one. "I see."
Three scratches in the door, a stalker with possibly a spare key to the inn, and now a fire damaged room. There was no other choice.
"We need to tell Hana," Fafnir sighed. "We can't keep her out of the loop any longer. Not after this."
With a wince, Flavio turned his downcast eyes to the floor. There was that unreasonable guilt again. He sighed and leaned forward, allowing his forehead to thump against Fafnir's shoulder. "Did you see them? Did you catch sight of them at all?"
Fafnir threaded his fingers through his hair and kissed him lightly on the temple. "Only a glimpse. But…I think someone else is involved." That caused Flavio to tense, but he pushed forward. "Have you seen an old guy, looked to be a veteran, with long black and white hair, always complaining about his back?"
Flavio immediately lifted his head from Fafnir's shoulder to give him a puzzled look. "That old guy? You think he's involved?"
"Yeah, he definitely is," Fafnir replied firmly. "As a lookout or a distraction. He disappeared as quickly as your stalker did."
"B-but…"
Flavio looked positively sick, so Fafnir helped him to sit down on the edge of the bed. As he sat there, he dropped his head into his hands, his fingers threading through his hair in frustration.
"I don't get it…" he mumbled into his hands. "Why? Why is this happening? How much longer is it going to keep happening? Why won't it just stop?"
Fafnir wished he had an honest answer for him. He could make promise after promise about how he would do whatever was necessary to keep him safe, to bring the whole situation to an end. But Flavio deserved more than promises. And while Fafnir would indeed do those things, their assailant was also hell-bent on tormenting Flavio.
And what they had planned next, Fafnir had no idea. No matter how much he wished he did.
All Fafnir could do was pull Flavio onto his lap and hold him as close and as tightly as possible, for as long as Flavio needed him.