XXIII

The cool night air soothed Kimi’s raging nerves as he sat beside the still swimming pool, his head placed on his raised knees. He was sat alone on the cold tile in the embroided shirt and a sweatpants, hugging his legs to his chest, his head filled with vibrating questions.

Why were Silver’s eyes glowing? Is Silver a cadaver? he thought, biting his top lip. When the sudden image of Aurum’s face raided his mind, with a deep frown, he pondered, how is Aurum a monster? How can he be a monster? Did my mother say the whole truth?

He raised his head and brought his inner wrist to his face. He narrowed his eyes at his skin, wondering if he had ever been bitten by one of the cadavers. And this made him gulp in fear.

Am I one of them?

Kimi looked up to the glittering sky. The moon was nowhere in sight, so the sky was just a black canvas painted with shimmering stars. A wish wasn’t even his last hope for answers.

A noisy wind blew, rattling the various leaves of the many palm trees that dotted the environment. The baggy shirt danced against his skin and he looked down at it. Holding the collar to his nose, Kimi pinched his eyes and inhaled deeply. Nothing but the smell of detergent filled his senses.

I’ve got rid of you. His lips trembled and he thought, but I can’t just lose you completely Aurum. I just can’t. He raised his face to the sky, and hoped on an invisible shooting star. He hoped that all he knew wasn’t going to murder him one day.

Because of the melancholic atmosphere, Kimi felt a great urge to sing. And singing he did, slowly letting out each word of the chorus of a song that was once a comfort. But now it was a kind of death wish.

If I’m lost and broken by fear,

Will you be there for me?

I don’t really care about death,

Cause I’m death itself,

Row my boat down a killing stream,

Dream an ending dream,

What’s there to be lost?

My fear or courage?

If mice have whiskers,

Then I have thorns,

Battle my broken image,

Bring it down to build a knew one,

Hope-filled dreams is a waste of energy,

Pave a way and fly till I reach the end of my fear.

After singing the short chorus, he then quietly hummed it. He sang it once more, and sang it again and again, until it filled his heart with mediocre comfort. The wind seized up and Kimi was left alone in his own, little world. But that world of silence and peace was broken by the sudden sound of rustling. He jumped to his feet in fright.

The wind suddenly picked up, howling as it brought with it a familiar scent that invaded Kimi’s senses. Nothing in the world could have ever brought that smell directly to him, and he tore towards the door that led out of the swimming pool area, his eyes wide in terror. But the sight of a person standing in front of the door made him abruptly stop, which made him trip on air. And he fell with a slapping sound.

“Kimi?”

Kimi froze at the mention of his name. The way the person said his name seemed like poisoned oxygen, critically essential but deadly. The voice itself was the same. Softly deep, intoxicating and soothing, just the right poison for his ears and heart.

“Kimi?” the person said again, this time with a much softer tone.

Kimi flinched and rushed to his feet. He shook his head as he took slow steps backwards. No, not now. I’m not yet ready to face you again.

Kimi watched as the figure walked slowly out of the shadows, and he recognized the person. He realized then that he had been the same person that he had seen from earlier that day. From several years ago.

“Au-Aurum?”

Aurum slowly moved into the light like a wispy shadow. The black attire he was in made him look even more ominous. The fedora that he was putting on casted a shadow against his silver eyes, and all it made Kimi see was a monster and not a familiar person.

Aurum’s small smile was slowly replaced with a frown when he realized that instead of being happy to see him, Kimi was scared and afraid. Very afraid. He reached out a hand. “Kimi—”

“Stay away from me you monster,” Kimi hissed. “You’re one of them.”

Realization flooded Aurum’s face and he took a slow step forward, his hands held up in surrender. “Kimi? Please calm down. I will never hurt you.”

Kimi shook his head, his teeth chattering like he was being buried in an icy casket. “You’re l-lying.” He walked backwards, his steps filled with fright.

Aurum took another step. “Kimi... Please calm down.” And another step.

Kimi shook his head. He stopped with a jolt when he was just a hair’s breath away from falling into the pool. “I will never believe your voice was the same voice that had always given me comfort Aurum... You... monster.”

Aurum breathed slowly and straightened his back. He shut his eyes. “What difference does the truth make?” He opened his eyes and softly said, “I was a monster, I wasn’t. I am a monster, I’m not.” He heaved a slow sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Raja was right,” he sighed quietly, “and it’s not even up to a minute.”

Kimi cocked a fearful brow. “Raja—”

Kimi’s words were silenced by the sudden appearance of Aurum before him. He started and almost fell into the pool, but Aurum held onto his wrist.

“LET GO OF ME YOU FUCKING MONSTER!” Kimi said as he thrashed, struggling to get his wrist out of Aurum’s hold.

Aurum smirked slightly and whispered, “just let me say hi. Even if it’s just for a split second, I’ll be content.”

Kimi growled, “fuck you!”

Aurum bursted into a chuckling fit. He dragged Kimi closer to himself and wrapped his arms around him. Kimi froze at that and stopped his struggling. Aurum buried his nose in Kimi’s hair and inhaled deeply. The smell of Kimi’s citrus soap and bath salt made him hiss lightly in irritation.

“I had always told you that I hated the smell of your bath salt and you still use it till this very day,” he mumbled into Kimi’s mop of hair.

The feeling of Aurum’s body against his made Kimi’s vision darken and swirl, causing him to become lightheaded. The last thing Kimi could see, hear or smell was the flowery smell that was Aurum.

The smell of lavender was what you had left me with, and what you’ve returned with, he thought as he finally gave in to unconsciousness.

Pain was all he could feel in his heart before he totally lost consciousness.

*

“What did you do?” Silver asked sharply as he angrily watched Aurum carefully lay Kimi in his bed.

Aurum then sat beside Kimi and heaved a long, weak sigh. He pulled off his hat and whispered, “nothing, actually. I just—”

“Just what Aurum?” Silver gritted his teeth and hissed, “do you know what you’re doing to him? Being here isn’t—”

“Sil,” Illiad softly said. “You need to calm down.” He placed his hands on Silver’s shoulders and lightly pressed his fingers into them.

“Yeah, stop. Because fucking talking that way to their ‘alpha’ is wrong,” Raja scoffed in amusement with air quotes.

Aurum placed his elbows on his knees, interlocked fingers and pressed his mouth into then. He exhaled slowly through his nostrils and glared at the floor, his mind tingling with some unanswered questions.

Why would they come here for an excursion? Why not—

“Um... Excuse me Mr. Caedis,” Dae-yang said from her cross-legged position on her bed.

Aurum shifted his face towards her and said, “yes?”

Dae-yang scratched her nape and sighed heavily. “It’s just... I don’t know if it’s the right time... but why did your subjects attack us?” she said slowly, uncertainty and quiet fear in her voice.

Illiad and Silver stared at him, also expecting an answer. Raja lazily threw his legs on a stool and slid down the fur-coated chair he was sat in, his hands behind his head.

Aurum looked back to watch Kimi’s face twist and turn, his breath hitching with each second, his knotted eyebrows quivering. He sighed. “Those weren’t mine.”

“What?” She leaned forward with a confused frown. She swallowed a slow breath and briskly said, “but there’s no other cadaver that’s as strong as you to be able to control that much cadaver. And even if it’s not you who would attack us? Who would want us dead? Who would—”

“Dae-yang,” Illiad sighed.

She slouched and looked away. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Raja scoffed. “Don’t be.” He sat up on his elbows and glared at Aurum. “Because fucking Old Man over there has to explain to us why his people attacked us on a fucking rampage. I mean—”

“Raja,” Silver said and shook his head. “Inappropriate.”

Raja arced a brow. “What? Dae-yang’s not allowed to ask and I’ve got no fucking restraint whatsoever and—”

All of a sudden, Aurum was before him. He loomed over him with a dark, sweet smile, his fingers pressing into the armrests of the chair.

“I’ve got better things to think about right now other than some cadavers on drugs,” he slowly said. He leaned closer to Raja’s frowning, brave face and raised a brow, his pale hair curtaining his face. “Don’t push me.”

Aurum straightened his back and in a flash he was beside Kimi’s form again.

Illiad lifted a brow, having picked out a peculiar word from Aurum’s sentence.  “Drugs?”

“Yes.” His gaze jumped from one face to another, his expression calm. “Something’s not right. And whatever it is that had happened on the ship was clearly not normal.”

“Like there’s anything more abnormal than you,” Raja grumbled.

Aurum glared coldly at him.

“Raja,” Dae-yang and Silver hissed.

“What?! I’m just—”

“I still feel fear. I still feel fear,” Kimi whispered in his sleep, and Aurum froze.

Everyone became silent and watched closely as Kimi started tossing his head about, his voice getting louder and louder with each word he said.

“I still feel fear. I still feel fear. I still feel fear!” He jolted awake with a gasp and swiftly sat up.

Kimi’s eyes frighteningly roamed round the room, jumping from one corner to the other. Because of the shadow from the canopy of the bed and the dimly lit room, he couldn’t make out vivid faces. But when he felt a freezing hand against his face, he jerked in fear and jumped off the bed, slamming himself into the nearby closet.

“Stay away from me,” he whispered, his breath shallow. His eyes widened in fright, and they trembled badly. “You monster, stay away from me.”

Raja grunted in tiredness and threw back his head. “Just give me one bullet,” he whispered, his eyes on the ceiling. “Just one.”

Dae-yang held a tight fist to her chest, worry dancing in her eyes. “Kimi?”

Kimi visibly shook, his eyes staying glued on Aurum’s face, not daring to blink. But when he did dare to blink, Aurum was standing before him. “GET AWAY—!”

Aurum cupped his hand around his mouth, shutting him up. A blank yet amused look shone in his eyes. “Kimi...”

Silver’s eyes widened in panic and he wanted to move to them, but Illiad tightened his hold on his shoulder, a sign that he shouldn’t. He just placed his hands over Illiad’s and watched with gritted teeth.

Kimi’s breathing quickened and his eyes widened even more, making him look like someone who’s about to have his eyes plucked out of his skull.

When Aurum dropped his hand, with a croaked voice, Kimi whispered, “monster.” He placed his arms in a crisscross manner over his pounding chest. “Monster get—”

“I’m not a monster Kimi,” Aurum whispered and raised his hands. “Even if I’m a monster what did I tell you about being afraid? About letting your fears control you?” He frowned and took a small step backwards. “What did I tell you about facing your fears?”

Kimi’s brain slowly settled and he remembered the words. They rang in his mind as he slowly said, “facing my fear is a part of my fears. Facing my fears makes me stronger. I... I embody my fears.”

Aurum slowly dropped his hands and his fingers twitched as he quietly asked, “am I your fear?”

In that moment, the expression that clouded Kimi’s face reminded Silver of the forgotten image of his cousin years ago. A broken one. A scared, beaten one. He tightened his hold on Illiad’s hands and hung his head.

Does someone find happiness in death? In dark places? he thought as they all silently awaited Kimi’s reply.

Emotional tears rushed down Kimi’s face and his terror-filled eyes darted around, searching for answers in the empty space of nothing. That nothing was his heart versus his mind. His fear versus his courage. His love versus his spite. His life versus his death.

“I...” More tears rushed down his face and he shuddered and swiftly wrapped his arms around himself. “I don’t know. Maybe... yes. Maybe... no.” He looked into Aurum’s eyes and whispered, “you’re a cadaver. A cadaver like you slaughtered my father right before my very innocent eyes.”

At Kimi’s words, Aurum’s eyes grew. He clenched his fingers into large fists and turned his head to the side. “Then if I’m your fear, face me Kimi... and stop letting your emotions bridle you.”

At least you’re better than me, he thought, turning around to walk back to the bed. Aurum retrieved his hat from the bed and put it on with a tight-lipped expression.

Dae-yang kept her eyes fixated on Kimi and watched him slowly slid to the floor, his face calmer than it was a few seconds ago. She exhaled and dropped her head.

Aurum peered over his shoulder and said, “I’ll be going now. Make sure Kimi stays safe.”

Illiad stiffened, knowing that the last sentence was directed at him. “Yes Lord Caedis.”

Silver looked up to his face, his expression worried.

Aurum gave Kimi one last look before he was gone with a tiny whisper, the wind whooshing after him.

Dae-yang heaved a huge sigh and pressed a fist to her forehead. “So that’s the infamous Aurum Caedis?” She looked to the side and hummed, her lips twitching. “That’s the leader of the famous Qulture?” She took in a deep breath and said, “that’s not how I expected our first meeting.”

Raja snorted and sat up, an amused smile on his face. “That’s how I exactly fucking imagined meeting the infamous Caedis vampire after so long.” He stood and stretched his back with a grunt. “Although I didn’t fucking expect to meet Aurum Caedis of Qulture in nothing but a stupid nightwear and—”

“Raja,” Silver whispered and Raja looked at him. “That’s enough for one eventful night. Go to bed.”

He rolled his eyes and grumbled, “I’m not like you who needs a beauty—” He was shut up by a pillow to his face. He tore it off and growled at Dae-yang.

She held a finger to her lips and hissed, “ssshhh.”

He scoffed and tossed the pillow back to her, before marching to his bed and threw himself on it. He grumbled under his breath for a few seconds before shutting his eyes to sleep.

Illiad guided Silver to his bed and wrapped him in his protective arms, lulling him to sleep. Dae-yang pulled the blanket over her body and when she turned to swift off the fruity bedside lamp, she saw Kimi stand and move limply to his bed. She didn’t watch him lie down, she watched him sit against the headboard, his knees up.

Isn’t he sleepy? she thought, turning it off, letting the night sweep her into dreamland.

Kimi’s arms trembled around his body and he tried so hard to ease his breathing, his heart a thundering drum. I still feel fear. I still feel fear. He held his head and placed it in between his fidgeting knees. But what is this fear that I fear?

Author’s Note: Ah flip. Flip, flipping flop. That was it. What’s Aurum going to do? What’s Kimi going to do? Who would want to poison a corpse? Eveelll! Just eveeelll. Oh shoot! Please vote and comment! Okruuu!