Chapter 5

"What clan? Foxes?" William repeated Stella's sentence, which sounded like the speech of a madman. "You must be so crazy, girl. I'm sure this is just a dream. Oh, come on, God, I've let their death go. But don't make me hallucinate like this," he muttered, tossing his hair as he walked back and forth.

The girl named Stella looked at William with knitted brows. "Come on, William; you're not hallucinating. You still remember me in that horrible room. OK, I'm sorry for killing them."

Reflexively, William's head turned with his mouth wide open, looking at Stella, who said sorry so easily. Life is not a toy that, if lost, can be bought back. William moved toward Stella, still brandishing a baseball bat, although his legs were boneless. He was afraid of suddenly being torn like a lamb.

"You're a psychopath, Stella. The police are after you, and they'll know you're here. Please, don't bother me, please." William begged, his eyes bloodshot, a mixture of fear and anger.

"I know that your world won't believe in our existence. But, just so you know, William, your world isn't only filled with humans," Stella explained firmly, approaching the baseball bat as if she wasn't afraid that the stick might crush her head. "And I've hypnotized the cops, so yesterday never happened, and they'll think it was an animal attack."

This time it was William's turn to understand why the girl had come to his house. He moved backward until his thin body was cornered against the wall. Being killed is not painful compared to a hypnotic process that can erase all feelings and memories with his family. William certainly did not want that to happen.

"I'm not going to kill you or erase your memory, William." Stella's voice was low, dropping the baseball bat that was still suspended in the air. "I can't hurt an old man like you unless circumstances force me. But, you must believe me, this world is not only filled with humans." Stella repeated her sentence with irises that lit up and then dimmed again.

William's brow furrowed even more. He didn't understand what Stella was saying even though he tried to digest the logic of that sentence. William even pinched himself several times to ensure that this was not an illusion due to the death of his wife and child. But, even though her skin was red from being pinched, the woman's figure was still standing there.

"This world is still a mystery even though you try to uncover it. A little open gap always contains secrets repeatedly," Stella said away from William and stepped into every corner of the house. According to her, it was quite gloomy if inhabited by humans. She sat on the velvet sofa, which was collecting dust. Stella coughed while wiping her nose, then scratched her head.

"How long have you not washed it?" sneered Stella to the host. "Sorry, my nose is too sensitive. Alright, William, I didn't kill you. Don't look at me like that, okay." Stella folded her arms across her chest with her mouth pursed.

William cleared his throat, landed his butt on the couch and faced Stella as he put his baseball bat on his lap as a precaution. His eyes were still staring, examining the long-haired girl who was now wearing Jessica's pajamas, making William feel very sad. Stella, who could see the changes in the puff of smoke on the old body and the changes in her heartbeat, understood that she was still grieving.

"Are the two bodies I saw last week your family?" guessed Stella.

William couldn't help but nod weakly. "You're wearing my son's favorite nightgown. I miss them."

"Forgive me."

William nodded. "How did you come here just because of my scent? How could you live after the doctors opened your body? How did you even hypnotize the police? Wait! Are you the one I saw around the corner? But your eyes are a different color."

Stella's sensual ruby-red lips expanded, and the irises lit up again like fireworks in the night sky. William must admit that the golden and emerald green eyes are frightening but also amazing. Rarely do humans, and animals have different eye colors due to genetic disorders. William nodded silently; maybe Stella was one of them.

"As I said before. This world is full of mysteries, and I am the last clan of foxes here, William. I don't know why I was revived with a body like this. After all, I escaped from that terrible place yesterday to go to the river Gordon to find my family. However, I realized that time had long since turned around until nothing was left there."

William gasped, still trying to avoid reality, but all that vanished when a strange figure sat quietly before him.

His mind suddenly dizzy; it was too strange if a corpse submerged in mud could be healthy and looking at him as if he had just napped yesterday. With his fingers clutching the baseball bat tightly, William thought he needed psychological therapy.

"S-so it's true that you're the body that was found?" asked William in a trembling voice. "W-What happened? Shouldn't your body be left with only bones?"

Stella leaned back against the couch. "It's a very long story. If you already know everything, can you keep this a secret?"

William was silent for a moment petting the girl's request. Tonight, maybe he was insane listening to imaginary stories from Stella's lips. The girl who should have become a ghost, not an impromptu guest stare,d at her with a big smile.

Inevitably, he nodded as he said, "As long as you don't kill me, I'm someone good at keeping secrets. Does that also have something to do with the color of your eyes?"

She laughed. "Yes, of course. And I hope my story isn't just a bedtime story because what happened to me in the past will be something big in the future. I know what you're thinking." The girl's fingers tapped her forehead with a crooked smile.