My Luna is a Witch

17

Chapter 17

Slender. Gracefully slim cheekbones popped out eerily. The eye bags under his eyes seemed like he hadn’t slept in a few days. His hands traced his lean neck. His icy green eyes met his reflection in the mirror. When Mr. Patel said, he looked scrawny. He didn't take his words seriously and shrugged him off.

He looked at himself; his body, which used to be sturdy, athletic, and robust, was now weak. He traced his long fingers on his face; icy green eyes widened in horror. Who is this person standing in front of him? That is eerily symmetrical but is the opposite of him at the exact moment. He was not able to recognize himself. What happened to him over a couple of nights?

He shakes his head negatively, aggressively, “This isn’t me. This can’t be me,” he says in the reflection of the mirror.

Mr. Patel yelled that Scarlet was awake, and Xavier dashed to descend the stairs. He wanted to know if the virus did the same thing to her. She was already petite; he didn’t want her to look like bones, so he ran as fast as possible.

He felt it— a lack of energy in his body. He had never felt like this before. So vulnerable, powerless— with just a few strides, he was already out of breath. He found her sitting on the bed, her crimson-red hair longer than he remembered. He became short of breath— the moment he caught her sight, he was mesmerized by how she looked. Her enticing constellation- ocean blue eyes gazed at him over her puffy, heart-shaped lips—a set of dazzling- Angel's white teeth gleamed as she blew gently on the bowl of porridge. Mr. Patel handed her over. Seeing her flowing, moon-shadow crimson-red hair was a pleasure.

Crimson

His eyes were drawn back as he had the urge to puke again.

Crimson.

He groaned in pain. His eyes caught another glimpse of her, looking at him with her brows frowned. He saw her running towards him before darkness slowly began to envelop him, but he tried to focus on her voice as she put his head on her lap, telling him to stay with him and not shut his eyes. She threatened him, and why did he think she looked cute? Her ocean-blue eyes held concern for him. Were her eyes always this blue? This will be his favorite color from now on.

He was not able to interpret her words. Is she telling him to take deep breaths? Her lips were moving. She was reading something, and then he caught it— Scarlet faded away, and he saw it— crimson, the crimson black hole drawing him, pulling him towards the dark hole of eternity. He saw her ocean-blue eyes flaring with crimson shade.

The pain halted, and darkness enveloped him fully.

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Nothing changed the moment he woke up. He was in his full senses, all recovered from his sickness, but the disorder ended up being a curse to him. He was not the Xavier he used to be, at least not physically. The illness caused muscle atrophy, making him all slender. He detested this change and told everyone by throwing and smashing everything his sight caught.

“Xavier, what the hell are you doing?” He turned to look at Scarlet, who was standing with widened eyes. He laughed bitterly— we both got sick, and she became a goddess, and I— what happened to me? Why did I become like this? His eyes met his reflection in the mirror, and he threw the vase at it— shattering it into a hundred pieces.

“Get out!” he yelled at her.

“X-Xavier?” she called him out.

When Scarlet woke up, she was stunned, looking at Xavier. She could not think of him for a moment and mistook him for someone else. After Xavier fainted, Mr. Patel told her everything about what happened. This disease had shrunken Xavier’s body mass. When she asked him about Sal, he said he was fine and getting better. The only person affected was Xavier, who was not taking this lightly.

Scarlet didn’t know how to handle him. She walked closer to him and put her hand on his cheek to make him look at her— his eyes were a dull green, not his usual Forrest green that used to remind her of the pack's forest.

Xavier removed her touch; it burned him, “Get out!” He yelled at her.

“What happened to you?” Scarlet didn't know her words came out louder.

Xavier's eyes turned fiercely, “You tell me. You f*****g tell me! Did you give me your f*****g disease? How the f**k did I turn up like you? You turned me into this, didn’t you? Tell me!” He yelled at her. He had never yelled at her like that before. He looked furious, angry, and frantic. For the first time in forever, she felt like Xavier could hurt her.

“You’ll get treated, Xavier. You’ll be like you used to be,” She took a step closer to him despite his aggressiveness and allegations.

“Easy for you to say. You and Patel are not affected by this,” Bitterness was laced in his voice.

Scarlet didn’t know how to console him— she wanted to, but she couldn’t, so she turned and left his room, covering her ears to tune out the ruin he was doing in his room.

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A couple of days passed. Xavier was eerily quiet. He stopped nagging, teasing, or even talking to her. He stopped asking about the pack. He turned up like a machine, lifeless and dead.

Scarlet wanted to take him to a therapist to make him come out of his depression, but he tuned out everyone. He was still attending school, and Scarlet didn’t overlook how other students treated him. He was getting bullied by how he looked now. People began to stay away from him, thinking he had some contagious disease. They mocked him like the pack kids used to bully her for her figure, looks, glasses, and rank.

She knew Xavier felt humiliated; he was not used to this behavior— he was used to looking at admiration in other people's eyes. She heard him talking to Mr. Patel, telling him that he failed his parents, the pack, and himself— that he didn't deserve to be the Alpha of the group and that he didn’t want to return.

It bothered Scarlet to see him like that. She always wanted Xavier to experience everything she had suffered, but not like this— certainly not like this, but what could she do to get him like he used to be? She didn’t know. . .