It was already nighttime when Erend arrived at his house with Aurdis who looked nervous next to him.
Erend had already told his mother and sister that guests would come to the house. So now at his house, they both must have prepared some food.
Erend didn't know if Aurdis would like their food - normal human food. So he had a little bit of doubt.
But when Erend said that to Aurdis, she said it wouldn't be a problem because she would eat whatever her family cooked.
They both got out of the car and walked towards the house. Aurdis took a deep breath when they arrived at the door.
Erend could no longer persuade her not to feel nervous. So he could only leave her alone until Aurdis could see for herself that her worries were pointless.
Erend opened the door and led Aurdis into his house. This time she didn't enter through the portal but through the front door like a normal guest.
"Ah, you've come? Even though I want to buy fruit fir-"
Arty, his sister, froze where she stood when she saw the figure of a woman next to Erend.
Arty's eyes widened and shook slightly. Her mouth is slightly open. At this moment Arty seemed unable to believe what she was seeing.
Erend's question immediately made her wake up from admiring Aurdis' beauty.
"O-Oh, I have to go buy some fruit first," Arty replied. Her eyes stared nervously at Aurdis. "Uhm..."
"Oh, right. This is Aurdis," Erend said.
Aurdis bowed gracefully with a smile. "My name is Aurdis. It is an honor to meet you."
Arty was a bit taken aback because of Aurdis' unusual greeting. But because she had seen Aurdis' beauty, Arty considered her to be unique.
"O-Oh... I'm Artemis. You can call me Arty."
"What a nice name, Arty." Aurdis smiled at Arty.
Inside her Arty was surprised about how Erend could get a girl as beautiful as this. His brother never once brought anyone to the house apart from Billy - who only came while sharing food.
But once he brought a woman, Erend brought an amazingly gorgeous woman. Arty regretted ever doubting his big brother about whether he would ever marry.
Arty then said goodbye once again. She didn't forget to steal one more glance at Aurdis who also immediately noticed her gaze and returned it with a smile.
After Arty left the house through the front door, Aurdis said to Erend. "Your little sister is lovely."
"Yeah, I know." Erend smiled.
Then they both went into the house where Erend's mother was waiting.
When she saw Aurdis, her reaction was almost the same as Arty except she was much calmer and more in control of her feeling.
When Arty gaped at Aurdis, her mother just stared at her for a few moments before finally showing a warm smile.
They chatted for several minutes warmly. Even though some things were difficult for either Aurdis or Erend's mother to understand when they spoke. It can't be helped because they both come from different worlds.
Arty comes with the fruits. She then prepared everything on the table in the middle of the warm chat between Aurdis and their mother.
"So you guys knew each other about five years ago?" Arty asked after a moment of resisting the urge to ask.
Aurdis nodded with a smile. "Yes."
"That means... when Erend-"
"She is a volunteer on duty in the bunker." Before Arty could finish her question, Erend cut her off. "But that's all over now so there's no need to talk about it."
Erend said that so neither Arty nor his mother would ask any further questions about it. Because Erend and Aurdis still haven't thought of a strong enough reason for that.
Arty and his mother understood right away so they immediately changed their conversation.
"So, where do you live?" Arty asked.
"I'm actually from abroad," Aurdis answered. According to what Erend said earlier.
"Oh! That's interesting," Arty said. However, something was propping up Arty's mind. She somehow felt that there was a lie in that answer.
But Arty immediately pushed that thought away because she didn't want to be prejudiced against the only woman Erend had brought to the house after all these years. Arty really hopes that Aurdis is indeed a good woman.
They continued to talk after dinner was over. But the conversation didn't go very smoothly because Aurdis didn't understand most of what the Erend family was saying.
She felt a little sad and all that was on her face for a few moments. Yet Erend couldn't do anything because he didn't know what to do.
After the dinner was over, Erend said to take Aurdis home. Arty and his mother warmly escorted them to the front, saying that they would be happy if Aurdis came back.
Aurdis tried to reply with the best smile she had. Although in her heart she felt a little disappointed with herself.
When they got to the car, Erend pressed his lips together to see the somber look on Aurdis' face.
"Hey, it can't be helped," said Erend.
"You're right. We're from different worlds after all."
Erend felt a little regretful for his words because they further explained their problem. Something that Erend hoped would cheer up Aurdis turned out to have the opposite result.
"Sorry. It's not your fault. It's my fault for forcing me to meet your family even though I already know how it will turn out," Aurdis said while forcing a smile.
Erend just stared at her for a few moments. Even though the car is running in the middle of the highway, Erend doesn't care. He just wanted to see Aurdis's face without that sad smile.
Erend wanted to say something to comfort her but nothing came to mind. So he just turned his face back to the front.
What will happen to their relationship next? Erend can't tell.
In a very remote corner of the city, a seventeen-year-old young man is having dreams in his sleep.
The young man was twitching restlessly yet couldn't do anything but lie down. He wanted to run away from his dream but the being who was imprisoning him in that dream wouldn't let him go.
In his dream, the young man was running in the middle of a very cold snowy mountain. The snow was so thick that the youth's feet sank into the snow up to his knees.
He kept running in the snow and freezing wind. The youth looked back, wanting to check how far his pursuers had come.
However, his visibility was so limited in the middle of this blizzard. So he could only see the falling snowflakes without being able to see his pursuers.
He panted, his breath blown into white mist in front of his face.
"Shit! Shit! What the fuck was that?!"
He can only run. A moment later the youth tripped over something as he was looking back to see his pursuer.
His face sunk into the snow. He pulled his face up forcefully and could finally see what had tripped him up.
It is an enormous bone. The youth didn't know what bone it was because part of it was covered in snow. But he could at least tell from the size of the bones that whatever beast it was with these bones is enormous.
He glanced around and still couldn't see the beginning or end of this mass of bones.
The youth immediately stood up and continued running until he finally managed to escape from the mass of large bones.
Only to hit something hairy in front of him. Whatever it was, it just appeared in front of him from nothing.
The youth looked in front of him. His eyes immediately widened to see the form of a white wolf with red eyes staring at him.
The youth froze in fear. He couldn't take his eyes off the slightest bit from the white wolf's red eyes that seemed to radiate that rage.
Then the white wolf grinned. It looked very unsettling considering the wolf was grinning like a human grin but with a wolf's mouth and canines sticking out.
"P-Please... dd-dont kill me..."
The youth shook. Even just by looking at him, he felt that he had lost all of his life.
"I won't kill you," the white wolf said in a cold voice that could freeze the soul. "That is... if you will accept me in your soul."
"I-I'll do anything as long as you don't kill me. Please don't kill me!" the youth pleaded with a trembling voice. His whole body has also lost its feel. It felt like he had experienced death and left only his mouth to speak.
"That is exactly what I want, human child," the white wolf said.
Then the wolf raised its paw forward. Due to its size, the paws covered the light youth's entire body and engulfed him in the darkness.