Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Hitori glanced over his shoulder. Eya and Kakashi were busy talking and Senso was holding his head low. Hitori took that chance and went to the left, a little more, and a little more.

He was now standing past the flowers. Hitori placed his flowers by everybody's flowers and glanced around again. No one was paying attention to him. They were talking to others.

Hitori turned his head to the left. He saw the dark stairs that took a turn, not after twenty blocks. He ignored the people and soft murmurs around him, he forgot about his mates and walked towards the stairs.

He hoped no one had noticed him. He took hurried steps but tried not to run, if he ran, anyone could spot him. He kept a steady pace and tried to climb the stairs like a person climbing his house's stairs.

His heart was beating. Has Kakashi noticed him, has Eya seen him climb the stairs? The relatives behind would spot him and stop him at the instant.

The turning at the end was in his sight, it was only a few steps away, just four steps more. Hitori increased his pace. The wood thumped under his feet, but he did not care, he just wanted to take the turn.

Hitori climbed the last stair and reached the landing. He grabbed the side railing and jumped using the momentum to push him past the landing.

"Enough!" Eya shouted.

He shuddered and jumped. His foot landed on the first stair, but it stumbled on the corner and Hitori lost his balance.

He trusted his body to the railing to balance. He tightened his grip on the railing, his foot banged on the wood, but hid under Eya's shouts.

"We still have a chance, and we can not declare—"

He did not have time to wonder why she stopped in the middle. He somehow balanced himself, gave a tug, and pulled him to his feet.

Hitori was panting, he climbed the stair forgetting about the noise it was making. If he was caught, he better hurry up.

Hitori climbed the ten stairs in five seconds. He arrived on the landing and glanced around the hallway.

He lifted his finger in the right. 'Her room at the end of the hallway… right side,' Hitori recalled the directions Akemi had given him, 'washroom right beside it.' Hitori saw a door beside Akemi's room.

On his right was a hallway and on the wall against the right end was Akemi's room. On the room's right was the washroom, and on the left was a door that led to the balcony. It was a big balcony, specially made to chill. A nice swing in the corner, a table, glass to protect from wind and rain, plants on the corner, and trees in the sight to study their beauty.

Hitori moved his finger to the porch he was standing on. Father's room and Mother's room, are parallel to each other in the hallway straight ahead.

'And then…' Hitori moved to the left… 'Kamiya's room.'

The door was closed, the handle was looking cold, and the keyhole was home to spiders. Hitori gulped. He rested his finger and walked to the door. He took the key that was resting in his pocket out and brought it close to the keyhole.

The key missed the hole on the first try. Hitori controlled his trembling hand and inserted the key in the hole. It went inside with a tick and Hitori twisted it.

He felt some force against the key, a force stopping the key from unlocking the door. Hitori frowned, opened his eyes, and leaned toward the key.

It was perfectly in, then what was stopping it? Hitori tried again. No, it was not working. His mouth dropped open. "The wrong room? Was the lock changed?"

Hitori tried twisting the key again. It threatened to break. Hitori's heart sunk. He felt as if he had lost hope.

His fingers loosened over the key. 'I can not give up. I will break the door if I have to…' Then he realized he had a spell to unlock doors.

Akemi knew it, too. They had a spell to unlock doors. Hitori climbed his fingers on the key and tugged it again. With no hope of opening the door with this key, Hitori tugged the key and twisted it out of the hole.

He wanted to check whether the tip was in a good condition and the key was not twisted because of the strength he applied.

But when he held the key in front of his face, he saw a smashed spider on the tip. Its legs were hugging the tip, its humpback was punched flat, and its body was twisted in an ugly way.

"Get out of my house!" Father shouted downstairs. Hitori shuddered again, this time he jumped away from the key and the door. It fell to the floor and Hitori felt something punch him in the side of his back.

It felt like the back end of a knife… or a wand's tip, but it was thick for a wand's pointed tip. Hitori moved forward and turned to look behind. And what he saw blew his mind.

Behind him was another room, the door to the room was closed. Hitori's heart settled back in his chest. Hitori heard the continuous shouts downstairs but ignored them.

"This must be his room." Hitori turned to find the key lying next to his foot. He stared at the key for a second. He clicked his tongue and turned to draw his wand.

He unbuttoned his suit with his left hand as he grabbed his wand under the suit's flap. Then he aimed it at the door. "Burglar's magic, unlock the door."

The door did not click and the lock had not unlocked. Hitori frowned, he tried again, but he failed again. He released his frown. "An anti-burglar enchantment." He sighed and tugged his wand in his pants under the suit's flap.

"Oh god…" he groaned, bent, and picked the spider-sinned key. He inserted the key as it was and twisted it. The door clicked and the lock unlocked. Hitori felt the satisfying tick as he turned the key.

A smile spread on his face as he pushed the door and saw the dark room where not even a single beam of the sun could enter through the sealed windows. It was a room full of secrets.