Chapter 3

After she was done with everything, Winona returned to Hudson's side. Both of them gazed at each other in the dark living room. Hudson continued lying on the couch. Meanwhile, Winona sat next to him while looking at him. Both of them just stared at each other for a while. Some time later, Hudson couldn't resist asking, "Will you kill me?" At first, Winona shook her head. However, after a bit, she nodded. "It depends on the results derived from the monitoring period. If you show any signs of being infected, I'll kill you." "So, the so-called monitoring period happens when you sit next to me and stare at me the whole time?" Hudson asked. "What else could it be?" she replied. Hudson was starting to doubt himself. Was this woman really his classmate? Why did he have a feeling that this Winona was vastly different from the Winona at university? "Don't tell me you're going to stay in my apartment," Hudson asked. Winona nodded in response. Hudson was speechless, to say the least. He felt that the things that had happened tonight were extremely ridiculous. First of all, Anne, the campus belle, had confessed to him and even wanted to sleep with him. When they were about to engage in foreplay, she turned into a monster and ripped out his heart. After that, he got rescued by another beautiful student in his class. Now, she wanted to stay in his apartment. Could it be that he was the protagonist of a male-centric novel that would give him unlimited power and a harem? At that moment, a ringtone blared loudly in the room. Hudson realized that this wasn't his phone's ringtone at all. He watched as Winona pulled out her phone. It turned out that this was an alarm she had set. "Time's up," she said as she got up to her feet. Hudson thought that Winona was going to leave his apartment soon. He was about to heave a sigh of relief when he saw Winona undoing her shirt's buttons. Then, she began sliding her skirt off her hips. Soon, she stood in front of Hudson in nothing but her lingerie. "What are you doing?" Hudson asked suspiciously. That monster had pulled down his pants halfway earlier. Now, he was only wearing his boxers. Winona glanced at Hudson before replying with a poker face, "It's 10:00 pm now. I usually take a shower and go to bed at 10:00 pm if I don't have a mission going on. A regular sleeping schedule is the secret to having a longer lifespan." After that, she walked toward Hudson's bathroom without any hesitation. Hudson was extremely confused. Soon, sounds of flowing water drifted from the bathroom. Hot steam seeped out of the gaps of the door, allowing one to fantasize freely about what was going on inside the bathroom. Hudson could only sit on the couch stiffly. His gaze kept drifting toward the bathroom uncontrollably. The sounds of the water filled his eardrums. Every trickle and drip seemed to strike him in the heart. To think that two beautiful young women had taken showers in his bathroom in just one night. What the hell was going on? Hudson's mind kept replaying the scene of Winona undressing before him. Her smooth skin, delicate collar bone, and her… "Why is my life starting to turn into a soap opera? Is this really a good turnabout in my life?" Hudson asked himself. He shook his head violently, forcing himself to not fantasize about Winona anymore. He looked down at the destroyed heart in his hand. The bright red muscle continued to pulse weakly in his hand, its existence serving as a reminder of the crazy things which had happened tonight. As he cradled the heart gingerly, he slowly sat up on the couch. Still, there were remnants of pain darting about in his system. All he could do was shuffle on the spot slightly. "What the hell is going on…" Hudson mumbled under his breath, a deep frown gracing his features. Anne's mutation and Winona's mysterious identity were things that had gone beyond his perspective of the world. Hudson was puzzled and confused. He was also starting to fear the unknown. At that moment, he felt a sudden itch flaring from his chest. He wanted to scratch at it, only to remember that he had a hole in his chest. There was no way that he could scratch it, right? But his hand had already touched his chest. Strangely enough, there wasn't any pain at all. Hudson lowered his head to see zero traces of the gaping hole on his chest. All that was left were bloodstains and the extracted heart, which were evidence that the attack wasn't a hallucination at all. He got up to his feet and flexed his limbs for a bit, realizing that the pain was gone too. The development of things has been nothing but shocking so far. At that moment, the doorbell rang. Hudson wanted to get the door at first, but he soon realized that he was covered in blood. Not to mention, his clothes were in tatters too. More importantly, his apartment was a huge mess. Although Winona had already burned Anne's body, the blood puddle on the floor was still there. Hudson rushed back to his room as quickly as possible and changed into fresh clothes. He tossed the ruined heart into the trash can and approached the front door. Regardless of who the visitor was, he mustn't let them into the apartment no matter what. Having made up his mind, Hudson asked, "Who's there?" "It's me." A young woman's voice drifted from outside the door. That two-worded response was enough for Hudson to recognize who she was. He opened the door before gazing at the woman, albeit exasperatedly. "What is it?" The young woman was Natalie Cooper, Hudson's ex-girlfriend. She stood at the doorway in a white dress that complemented her amazing skin and made her look very beautiful. But she wasn't smiling at all. Instead, she just stared at Hudson icily. "We need to talk," Natalie said bluntly, her tone firm and decisive. Hudson frowned. He replied impatiently, "It's really late now. If you want to talk, we can talk tomorrow." All he could think about was the incident involving Anne and Winona. Right now, he wasn't in the mood to deal with his ex-girlfriend. Besides, if she were to lay her eyes on the chaotic evidence in the apartment, it might cause unnecessary trouble for Hudson and Winona. However, Natalie didn't seem like she was willing to let Hudson go. She folded her arms in front of her chest while cocking a brow. She sneered at him. "It's useless for you to keep dragging things out, Hudson. I don't love you anymore. Even if you keep spamming me with greeting messages every morning, noon, and night, I will never respond to any of them." Hudson scratched his head. He remembered sending Natalie those text messages like a pathetic, snivelling simp up until last week. But ever since he witnessed her holding hands with that Quinton guy while being lovey-dovey with him, he had officially given up on her. After that, he no longer bothered Natalie. Hudson thought everything was already over. He didn't expect Natalie to seek him out at a time like this. "Yeah, I know. I'll delete your number right now," he said. Hudson was about to pull out his phone, but he realized that he didn't have it on him at the moment, seeing as he had just changed his clothes earlier. "Ugh. I didn't bring my phone with me. I'll delete your number later. If that's all, you should leave now. It's pretty late at night, after all." As Hudson spoke, he moved to close the door when Natalie jammed the door with her hand. "Hudson, can you stop acting like this? Stop coming up with so many excuses! You should always focus on the future! Why are you still pestering me?" "When the hell did I pester you? Didn't I stop contacting you for a week?" Hudson said. Natalie chuckled coldly. Her brow still raised, she looked at Hudson coldly. "Stop playing hard to get. It won't work on me. Hudson, Quinton and I are truly in love with each other. I don't care about his wealth at all." Hudson was confused. Natalie could love whoever she wanted. Why was she even telling him all of these things? "I told you I agree with you. We've already broken up with each other. I'm not going to pester you anymore," Hudson said. "Then hurry up and delete my number! You don't have your phone with you, but you're at home right now. Can't you retrieve your phone? If you don't want to do that, I'll grab it for you," Natalie said. "Don't!" Hudson yelled. Hudson still had a heart in his trash can, after all. How could he possibly let Natalie into his apartment at this time? At that moment, the bathroom door opened, and Winona's voice drifted from the living room. She said, "My mistake. I need to monitor you closely at all times, which means we need to bathe together as well. By the way, I didn't bring my own pajamas, so I picked up some clothes from your bed. What are you doing at the doorway?" Winona walked to the front door, clad in only a white translucent nightgown with thin straps. Her curves could be vaguely seen beneath the fabric, making her look extremely sexy. The nightgown barely went past her hips, where a pair of long and slender legs stretched out from beneath the clothes. Winona had smooth and flawless skin that seemed to shimmer under the light. Winona's sudden appearance clearly caught Natalie off guard. She took a step backward subconsciously and eyed Winona up and down, her expression soon darkening. "Winona Lloyd? Why are you here? You're even wearing my nightgown!" Natalie said. Oh, right! Why was she wearing Natalie's nightgown? Hudson's mind was buzzing in chaos. So much had happened today. Everything that had happened so far could've easily stunned anyone. Natalie was already here to cause trouble for him, but to think that Winona would worsen the situation. Just as Hudson thought that his mind was about to explode, Natalie suddenly scoffed. She plastered a fake smile on her face before outright mocking him. She said, "No wonder you didn't want to let me in… It turns out that you have a woman at home with you, huh? You really are something, Hudson Jarrott! To think that you're able to entice Winona with your charms!" Hudson fell silent at Natalie's words. She wouldn't have believed it if he were to tell her that Anne was here too. Just as Hudson was about to respond to Natalie, he felt an arm moving to hug his arm all of a sudden. The soft sensation was immediately transmitted to his skin. Hudson was stunned as he turned his head slightly to see Winona putting up yet another façade. She smiled at Natalie before saying, "Who's this old lady, Hudson? Why is she still looking for you at such a late hour? Are you cheating on me behind my back?" Winona's sudden change in demeanor gave Hudson a huge scare. Then again, the way she spoke and acted did fit his impression of her. "O-Old lady? Who the hell are you calling an old lady? Winona Lloyd, I'm your classmate! Don't you recognize me?" Natalie said. She was furious when she heard Winona referring to her as an old lady. It was true that she was beautiful, but her beauty paled slightly in comparison to Winona. "Oh? Is that so? You're my classmate, huh? I'm sorry, I can't really see your face clearly. My eyes are still a little dry from the bath. Based on the outline of your face, I thought you're one of the old ladies from the HOA!" Winona said. "You… You little… Say that to my face one more time!" Natalie was so pissed that she kept trembling all over. But clearly, Winona didn't plan on holding her tongue. "Is this nightgown yours? It's quite stylish. It's a great nightgown and all. It's just that the chest area is a little tight." As Winona spoke, she even tugged at the fabric on her chest. "Ah… It feels so suffocating when I'm wearing clothes worn by an A-cupper." "Who the hell are you calling an A-cupper? Hudson Jarrott, so this is the type of woman you like, huh? Since when did your taste in women degrade this much?" Natalie yelled. Hudson thought that he'd be uncomfortable with this situation, but now, all he felt was… Immense satisfaction. He used the opportunity to move closer to Winona before shooting Natalie a taunting look. "It's true that I didn't have taste in women in the past. Yesterday, I finally sobered up and developed an actual taste for nice women like Winona. "Is there anything else I can help you with? My girlfriend doesn't like me talking to other women at my front door late at night." "You… You two…" Natalie pointed at Hudson and Winona angrily while backing away from them slowly. "Alright. Fine then. Just you wait! You can forget about studying peacefully on campus from now on!" she said. After that, Natalie turned to leave. Hudson picked up a bank card that was left on the ground. "Hey! Don't you want your card anymore?" "You can use the money to make funeral arrangements for yourselves! Get ready to die, you bozos!" Natalie yelled. "Take care on your way home, old lady!" Winona said. Natalie's loud curses and sounds of her high heels stomping away could be heard coming from the corridor. Once the sounds completely faded away, Hudson noticed Winona's smile gradually dissipating. Soon, her expression became impassive once again. "How long are you planning to hug me?" he asked. Winona slowly released her hold on Hudson's arm before closing the door. Then, she dragged him back to the bedroom. "Lift your shirt," she said. Hudson was a little hesitant. But in the end, he still lifted the shirt that he had just changed into. Winona didn't see that gesture as a seductive one. She just approached him with a poker face. She crouched down and began studying his stomach and chest properly. She even reached out to caress his chest, which was supposed to have gotten penetrated by Anne earlier. "Your wounds have completely healed. Even your organs have regenerated." Winona slowly raised her head to make eye contact with Hudson. "There's one good news and one bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" "Let's go with the good news first," Hudson said. "For now, you're safe. Your body has completely healed, so the possibility of you dying has been reduced to zero," Winona said. "What about the bad news?" Hudson asked. Winona slowly drew to her feet. She made sure to pin her icy gaze on Hudson's face. She said, "Humans don't possess such powers. I'll find out whether or not you're an infected or an Awakened throughout the monitoring period. If you show signs of being infected, I'll kill you." This was definitely bad news. Hudson slowly got up and walked toward the living room. "Where are you going?" Winona asked. "I'm going to take a bath." "No way." Winona grabbed Hudson's hand immediately. "I'm going to bed in five minutes. I can't wait for your shower to be done." "Huh?" Hudson was puzzled, to say the least. "If you're tired, you can sleep first. I'll take the couch after I'm done with my shower." "I told you, I need to keep an eye on you all the time. Even if you take a shower, I still need to be there to watch you." Winona dragged Hudson to her side forcefully. Hudson gulped subconsciously. Winona was too close to him. The distance between them was so short that he could smell the fragrance coming from her body shampoo and feel the warmth from her breath. His heart rate accelerated instantly. Even his breathing became heavier. "I want to sleep in the same bed as you," Winona said. "Huh?" Hudson was confused. Before he could protest, Winona had already dragged him onto the bed. "Hurry up! I still have three minutes left before I'm late for bed!" "Wait, how can you be late for bed? H-Hold on! Are we seriously sleeping together?" Hudson said. Winona suddenly remembered something. She quickly got up and jogged to the living room. Then, she retrieved a pair of handcuffs from the pocket of the clothes she had discarded. Once she returned to the bedroom, she cuffed her wrist and Hudson's wrist together with a soft click. "There's one minute left. I'm going to bed now," she said. "W-Wait! What's the meaning of this?" Hudson asked while raising his cuffed hand to look at the handcuffs. But Winona had already slipped under the covers. She yanked her hand instantly, thus pulling Hudson under the covers as well. "Don't move around when you're sleeping. Don't you dare snore as well. Otherwise, I'll slit your throat. You can easily heal yourself anyway. We have 10 seconds remaining. Good night." In the end, Hudson laid on the bed with Winona, looking confused. What the hell was going on now? Was he seriously sleeping on the same bed with his bubbly and cheerful university classmate? Approximately ten seconds later, Hudson could hear Winona's light breathing. He stared at the ceiling before letting out a heavy sigh. Whatever. He'd just deal with this tomorrow. The thought of having gone through so much in just an hour tonight caused exhaustion to wash over Hudson. After that, he slowly closed his eyes as well. … A weird noise kept playing the whole time. Hudson opened his eyes amidst the sleepy haze. An old ceiling fan continued making grating creaking noises as it spun above his head. Its rusty blades cast warped shadows onto the room under the illumination of the dim incandescent lamp, making those shadows seem like dancing spirits on the wall. The light itself looked eerie as well. Its brightness kept blinking in and out, as though something was watching from behind the lamp. There was the smell of mold permeating the air. It was mixed with an indescribable odor which was very strong. One could easily feel nauseous when they smelled it. The paint on the spotted walls were all flaky and peeling off. Some of the ugly and eerie-looking concrete was revealed. Hudson wasn't shocked by this scene at all. After all, he had been stuck in this scene ever since he was five years old. This was his dreamscape. When he was five years old, he was terrified when he first came to this place via his dreams. To a kid, this place was akin to a haunted house. That was why he never liked sleeping in the first place. As Hudson grew up, he found out that a room filled with desks, archive lockers, and documents were called an office. However, he couldn't open the door that served as the exit for the office no matter what. "Ugh… I'm here again…" Hudson said. He let out a sigh. He planned on sitting on the soft office chair and counting the number of times the fan spun just so he could pass the time like before. Those were the things he tended to do while he waited for his body to wake up. "Huh?" Something caught his eye. Since Hudson had been here countless times, he could easily pick up on the tiniest change in the office. He found out that the large archive locker which looked heavy and cold was actually open. Inside the locker were different rows of tinier lockers. There happened to be a key placed on the desk. A post-it note was stuck to the key. A number "001" was written on it. What was that? Hudson picked up the key quizzically. Then, he walked over to the archive locker. As expected, he was able to unlock the first locker named 001. After opening the locker, there was only a thin document inside. "Document number: 001 "Codename: Bonewarden "Class: Abyssal "Danger level: Unknown "Bonewarder is an interesting inmate. It never made any requests, nor did it pursue power of any sorts. It's like a statue. That's why I've given up on communicating with it. "It's extremely easy to guard an inmate who doesn't eat, drink, or have any desires. If you want it to succumb to you, there's only one way to demand its loyalty. Let it consume more beast cores." After that, a photo fell out of the document. Hudson picked up the photo. He was about to look at it when he felt his mind buzzing. He knew that this was a sign that he was about to wake up from this dream. Bonewarden… That codename kept reverberating in Hudson's mind. A young woman's murmur soon drifted into his ears. "You… won't be able to escape."