Grayson stood there motionless, his ears perked up, and his nerves focused. It seed like it took quite a while, but he didn’t feel anything.
Did he hear it wrong?
Just as he was about to ignore it, the sound ca again. There was no way he could mistake it twice. Grayson, who had briefly flicked his ears, looked around with a frown.
There were only houses lined up side by side across the street in the residential area, and there was nothing special to see. Maybe it was harder to find sothing unique in a town that was so common.
He had to concentrate once more to find the direction of the sound. He took the sound as a signal and moved forward. The next ti he heard it, it was clearer than before.
‘Help .’
As the distance gradually got closer, his destination beca clearer. Grayson stopped in front of one of the similarly-looking houses and looked around.
“Help ... ...!”
The child cried out again, as if he had heard Grayson’s footsteps. This ti, he could tell for sure. Without hesitation, he opened the side door and went inside. He felt the crunchy grass under his feet. It was half-withered and brown, showing that it had not been cared for for quite so ti.
“Please save , please save !”
The child’s voice continued with even more desperateness. He must have heard Grayson’s footsteps. He put his ear against the wall and waited for a mont, but the house was quiet as if no one was there. The child must have known that and was crying so desperately.
Thinking that far, Grayson looked down to where the sound was coming from. There was a large cellar door there. The sound was muffled by the closed door, but he could hear it clearly. Perhaps it was because there was a hole sowhere to let in air. Grayson knelt on one knee and put his ear to the door.
“Is anyone there?”
In response to Grayson’s question, the voice inside shouted even louder.
“Yes, yes! I’m here! Please save , let out, please! Please save , I’m scared... ... .”
The voice mixed with tears was hoarse from how much he had cried.
“Oh, my... ... .”
Grayson asked again in a pitiful voice.
“What’s your na? Why are you in there? What happened?”
The boy sniffled and answered.
“I, I’m Santiano. My dad said I was a bad kid and that I had to stay here... ... .”
The words disappeared into sobs. Grayson nodded as if he understood.
“I see. Okay, I’ll help you.”
This was sothing he often did. Helping others, what a wonderful and selfless act. Grayson was always ready to help others and willing to do so when the opportunity arose. It was just like he had learned since he was a little boy. This ti was no different.
He opened one of the double doors. On the floor of the basent that seed so deep, a small boy who couldn’t even reach Grayson’s knees was looking up at him with a nervous expression. Santiano’s expression was full of anticipation and hope, stretching out his arms and standing on tiptoe, hoping for a miracle. He believed that he could finally get out of this dark and scary basent, that this brightly shining adult man would save him, and that these nightmare days would end. He believed that salvation had finally co to him.
However.
“... ... Huh?”
Suddenly, Grayson jumped into the basent. The door he had opened slamd shut with a dull sound, and darkness enveloped all around him again. Santiano had no idea what was happening. He just stood there, blinking blankly, and the man’s gorgeous face was reflected in the faint ray of light coming through the gap between the double doors. Only then did Santiano realize that the man had not rescued him, but had instead entered this horrible space. The child imdiately beca lost in thought.
“What, what are you doing? You have to get out!”
Santiano shouted in confusion. Grayson tilted his head in confusion as he looked at the child’s confused face.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
“Why? You’re being punished right now.”
“... ... Yes?”
When Santiano asked again, still not convinced, Grayson added in a reassuring tone.
“Don’t run away while you’re being punished. That’s sothing only bad kids do.”
Santiano couldn’t figure out what he was talking about.
What is this man talking about?
Grayson spoke thoughtfully to the child, whose face had turned pale and bloodless.
“But Santiano, don’t worry. Don’t worry.”
He slowly held out a hand. Grayson smiled brightly and said to Santiano, who flinched back in surprise, with his hand in the air.
“I’ll be with you.”
The child’s eyes shook violently. Grayson whispered as he watched the hope that had blood so brightly fade away.
“It’s okay now that we’re two.”
Hope completely disappeared from Santiano’s face, and shock and fear took its place.
* * *
After things had settled down to so extent, the firefighters who had been dispatched gathered together to go their separate ways. After Ezra, who had taken the last picture, returned the phone, the other guys who had been waiting until then rubbed their trapezius [N O V E L I G H T] muscles and sighed.
“As expected, Dane Striker. Once he’s popular, the girls go crazy.”
Soone said sothing, and everyone chid in.
“Wouldn’t it be just the girls? The guys were trying to take pictures with him earlier.”
“How about we do a campaign with Dane as the model? If we put up sexy pictures like this, it’ll be really effective!”
Another man chid in, excited at the words of his colleague who spread his arms wide.
“Like a public service announcent?”
“Then a fire prevention campaign would be perfect!”
“How about sothing like this? Sothing that comforts people. I heard there’s a service like that these days, and it’s run by the fire departnt. I think Dane would react really well if he said he’d go.”
“Oh, that’s good too. Dane, what do you think? Isn’t that a great idea?”
The guys who were talking nonsense and excited waited for Dane’s reaction. Dane, who had been silent until then, opened his mouth with a blank look in his eyes.
“I hate volunteering the most in the world.”
That was the end of all the discussion. The reason they took a picture together and signed autographs earlier was probably because they were doing ‘work.’ Dane strictly separated his work and personal life, so if he wasn’t working, he would have just ignored anyone who asked for it for whatever reason.
Haa-a-a-a, Dane opened his mouth wide and yawned. DeAndre whispered quietly after seeing him like that.
“Did that kid have another party yesterday?”
The other guy nodded.
“It’s very possible. Dane always goes to the club on his days off.”
“Anyway, just be diligent, that way.”
“Co on, stop it. Let’s hurry back, it’s too late.”
Ezra banged the car and said. Dane got in first, and the rest followed, giggling. They realized they were one person short just before the car started moving.
“Huh? What? Sothing’s missing.”
DeAndre imdiately responded to soone’s words.
“Miller’s not here?”
Everyone who realized it only then looked around in confusion. No matter how many tis they looked, Grayson was nowhere to be seen.
“Damn it!”
“Miller, Grayson Miller!”
“Where are you? Let’s go back, get out!”
“Miller!”
“Grayson Miller! Damn it!”
They got out of the car again with a swear and called Grayson’s na loudly, but there was no response. After looking around the area, they gathered again and were shocked to see that no one had been able to find anything.
“Fuck, you son of a bitch!”
DeAndre kicked the car wheel in frustration. The others were also in a bad mood, although not as much as DeAndre, who was breathing heavily and snorting.
“What should we do?”
The others started to complain and get angry at Ezra’s words.
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