XXXIII

Kimi dashed through the hallway with loud footsteps, his strides wide. It’s all about death, he thought, desperately trying to wipe off his tears. I’m like a freaking magnet for death.

He ran to the large double doors at the end of the long hallway. Getting there, he glared at the men who flanked the doors with stoic expressions.

“Open it,” he hissed with teary eyes.

The one on the right pointed at the dining room. “Lord Caedis told us that noone is allowed to—”

“Let me out of this freaking dungeon!” he snapped, more tears rolling down his face.

They looked at each other and shook their heads.

“I’m afraid that we can’t do that,” the second one droned.

Kimi’s chest heaved as he glared at them, the sound of Silver approaching them behind him.

“Open the door,” Silver said, approaching them with a blank look.

“But—”

“I said open the door. Aurum told me to tell you that,” Silver said firmly, standing beside Kimi with fists beside him.

They flinched and rushed to pull the gigantic door open. With a burning desire to get very, very far away from the mansion, as soon as the doors were a good metres apart, Kimi flew out through the tiny space. He frowned at the large courtyard that greeted him. His breaths flew out of his parted lips as he wiped off the snot that was sticking to his face. The morning breeze petted his face as he rushed down the long steps.

“Kimmy!” Silver rushed after him and ran in front of him to stop him. He raised his hands as Kimi frowned at him. “I’m only here to help. But please don’t go away. Don’t leave here. Please.”

Kimi scoffed lightly and raised his head to the lightly grey sky. “Give me one reason I should stay here. To fraternize with Aurum?” He moved onto another step. “Get familiar with your new family?”

Silver shook his head. “No Kimi. I simply want to help you clear your mind.”

He raised his hands to the skies and said, “my mother has been kidnapped and nowhere to be seen and I’m here dining with cadavers. Never in my life had I ever freaking imagined that!”

“Kimmy...”

“It’s okay. I...” He waved his hand as he bent and sat on one of the large steps. “I just need to catch my breath.”

Silver watched silently as Kimi inhaled and exhaled slowly, his hands on his chest. Silver wrung his hands, keeping a pensive gaze on Kimi.

For a few minutes, Kimi sat on the large step, trying hard to catch his breath. When he finally steadied his breathing, he looked up to the sky that was filled with grey clouds.

“Dae-yang’s parents are dead,” he whispered, his voice hollow and weak.

Silver shook his head. “You don’t know that. It could have been her extended family.”

With a weak frown, Kimi grumbled, “how sure are you? Zero freaking percent?”

“I’m not sure. I simply said that not to calm you but to also calm myself.” He squatted and sat beside Kimi. They sat in silence for a while before Silver blew out a long, wispy breath. “You know when my parents had died I hadn’t known what to think or do or say.” His lips twitched into a weak smile before he mumbled, “I hadn’t even known whether to breathe or not. To either silence myself forever with grief or just kill myself.”

Kimi stared at Silver with a worried frown. His expression was a perfect mixture of pain and remorse. “I’m sorry,” he croaked.

Silver moved his head from side to side. “Please... don’t apologize.”

Kimi’s frown wavered and he shuffled closer to Silver. For a split second, Kimi stared at Silver’s hands that were fiddling with the edges of his shirt’s sleeves.

It won’t bite, he reprimanded himself. He nodded slowly and thought, I’d hugged him last night. Nothing happened.

“Nothing happened,” he whispered to himself and Silver raised a brow in questioning. With care and slight hesitation, Kimi reached out and took Silver’s hands in his. He held them together and sighed lightly, swallowing little pints of his creeping disgust as he faintly rubbed his thumb against Silver’s palm. “I’m sorry.”

“Kimi why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said in confusion.

Kimi frowned and said, “no, I had done something wrong. To you, to everyone around me. Actually I do something wrong each day I freaking crawl under my skin in disgust at simply everything.” He shuffled a little bit closer, their knees almost touching. He turned his head to the side and looked into Silver’s eyes. A familiar grey was reflected in them, but he simply saw a sky full of overcame fears. “I’d communicated with everyone like they had been the cause of my father’s death. Like they had placed a curse of trauma on my head. My mother”—his eyebrows fell and he gulped in fright—“had done everything in her might to cater for my broken mind. But...” He shook his head and dropped his head. “Imagine if Dae-yang had witnessed both of her parents getting killed. Will she act like the way I had? Will she—”

“Kimi... stop...” Silver took his hands out of Kimi’s and mindfully held Kimi’s. His expression saddened at the light sound of Kimi’s breath hitching. “Of all the things you could do don’t apologize. Rather, be thankful for those people who had helped you through. Be thankful for your mother. Be thankful for Aurum.” Kimi’s eyes widened in shock and he nodded in approval. “I will admit that when I had found out the truth that Illiad was a cadaver I had wanted to kill him on the spot. But when I’d remembered his warm embrace, I had put down my weapon and simply kicked him in the groin for lying to me.”

Kimi’s eyes widened and he muttered, “blood really is thicker than water.”

Silver chuckled lightly, showing off his white teeth. He held Kimi’s hands in each of his own and looked at their hands. He smiled at the contrasting colours of their skin. “Don’t be sorry because everyone can’t confront traumatic experiences the same way. Some are more brave-hearted than others. I’ll agree that till this very day that they’re some things from my past that still haunt my present, but Illiad is here with me and I’ll forever love him for that. I’m grateful for his presence even if his over protectiveness annoys me sometimes.”

Kimi lifted a brow at his words and Silver blushed lightly and he snorted a snicker. He smirked at him, but his smirk dropped when he asked, “how do you know that you love someone?”

Silver exhaled lightly and stared at the sky. “Well... I’m still sort of a child—”

“You’re twenty-one,” Kimi grumbled, cutting him.

Silver chuckled lightly and continued. “You’ll know when that time comes. And when that time comes, you’ll wish for the sole happiness of that person and many more positive things.” He playfully bared his gritted teeth and said, “and please love isn’t sex. It’s more than that.”

Kimi rolled his eyes and scoffed. “And what had you and he been doing when I had walked into the library?”

“Passionate kisses?” he replied, his cheeks red.

Kimi shook his head with a dramatic eye roll. He gazed at the horizon and smiled lightly at the blue sky that was being freed by the grey clouds. Maybe there’s another calm after the storm, he thought. And maybe this one will be much calmer and everlasting.

A few, more silent minutes passed as they watched the courtyard that was being preened by the house servants. For a while, they replenished themselves with the balsamic silence. When Silver slowly moved to placed his head on Kimi’s shoulder, he held his breath as Kimi stiffened. A sweet smile crept onto his face when Kimi placed his head on his when he tried to take his head off his shoulder.

Silver frowned at the scent that was lingering on him and sniffed deeply. “Why do you smell like Ill’s laundry detergent?” he asked with a small frown. He sat away from him and looked at Kimi from head to toe. As he spotted the pyjama top that was peaking past the edge of his hoodie, he whispered, “oh my, that’s right you have no cloths. I can borrow you some of my cloths.”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll be going back to the parked taxi and savour what is left from last night’s thunderstorm,” he sighed. He moved his neck from side to side, stretching it. “But I still need to go back home. My mum”—he winced at the word that he said—“had forgotten more than half of my cloths at our house.”

“Taxi? Were you guys planning to leave?” Silver asked with a pained expression.

Kimi shrugged lightly and Silver unhanded him. Kimi looked at his fingers as he flexed them, the warmth from another person’s skin seriously unfamiliar.

Silver slowly stood up and stretched his arms above his head. “If you’re leaving the house you should take permission from either Aurum or Illiad’s father. Someone should always know before you step out of the house.”

Kimi frowned and hastily mumbled, “I guess it’s Aurum then.”

Silver quirked a brow and whispered, “are you seriously taking my advice?”

“Yes. A hundred percent,” he grumbled, his cheeks heating up in betrayal.

Silver nodded, smiling wildly as he thought, maybe it’s not all death and pain. Maybe life and confidence.

*

Aurum opened the doors to his bedroom and let his bandmates and Caim walk in. He held onto one of the double doors, rolling his eyes as he watched Ren go straight to his bed and flop onto it.

He shook his head with an amused smile. “Ren take off your boots so you wouldn’t—” He shut up as Ren flung his boots at his face and shuffled further into the bed and sprawled on it.

Couko guffawed energetically, her loopy earrings making clinging noises. “Oh my. Aurum how have you lived with him for so long?” she asked after catching her breath, watching as he crouched and picked up the pair of black combat boots.

Aurum sighed and placed the shoes beside the doors. “I don’t know what his problem is. I’ve asked him several times if I’ve ever done anything wrong and I’ve always apologized.” He sighed and closed the double doors.

“I’m going through a phase you old tortoise,” Ren droned and then forcefully tugged his headphone over his ears.

Sibyl shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. “He needs to combat his equal.”

“He’s equal’s next door,” Claren said lightly, folding their arms over their chest.

“You mean Kimi?” Aurum asked, moving to his bed. He sat on it and crossed his legs. “They’re not equals. They’re like two yangs in one yang.”

“Uh-huh,” Couko mumbled. She looked at Caim and said, “why’re you so quiet?”

“Waiting for you guys to stop talking so Lord Caedis can tell us why he’d called us here,” he said in a monotone voice, his gaze on the floorboards.

Couko waved a hand around and rolled her eyes. “Just drop it Caim. It’s not like we don’t call him by his first name every time.”

“I don’t... usually like calling people by their first name.” He shrugged a shoulder and said, “there’s only one name I like calling.”

“And what’s the name?”

“Your name,” he answered bluntly. The corners of his lips twitched as Couko inhaled a sharp breath.

Aurum laughed lightly, his shoulders shaking. “Stop flirting and let’s talk,” he said, watching as Couko squinted at Caim. He shook his head at them and exhaled slowly. “Right. The reason why I had called you guys is because of the anonymous killer or killers.”

This got their attention and they stiffened at his words.

“Killers?” Claren said, their dull, blue eyes staring at Aurum through their long bang that covered more than half of their face.

“Aurum?” Sibyl said, making him look at her. “How certain are you that it’s a group of people doing this?”

“Undoubtedly.” He leaned back on his palms that were on the bed, a tiny frown on his face. “I am certain that it’s a group because one person can’t simply poison the drinks at the same time when they’re working the cameras and poisoning the air.”

“So... who is it?” Couko asked in a breathy tone.

“Neeva had called me last night and said that it was a masked person who had poisoned the drinks. Obviously the person had been trying to conceal themselves.” He looked up at them with slitted eyes and said, “with something else.”

“You mean to say that they had concealed themselves with something that couldn’t be perceived by cadavers?” Sibyl said, her expression worked up. “Like the claret?”

“It was the claret. Whoever that’s doing all of this definitely loves their secret and wants to surely keep it.” He raised a finger and said, “remember how the cadavers in the police force couldn’t detect the murderer of Mr. Mikeelson even if it had been done in broad daylight.”

“Are you trying to say that... this same group is both in Rhodes Isles and Ashville?” Claren asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“Could it be a stowaway?” Sibyl asked, resting her weight against the sofa beside her.

Aurum shook his head and exhaled lightly. “It couldn’t be.” He held his chin with a thoughtful expression and mumbled, “what if these people who are doing this are humans.”

“Humans?!” Couko exclaimed, her eyes wide. “What strength could humans muster to kill in seconds? To take in seconds?”

“For now, forget about the killer of the Mikhers. Let’s talk about the ones at Ashville.” Aurum raised a hand, counting as he talked. “On Zee’s ship, there were only the Hunters’ children, human and cadaver teachers, human and cadaver students, and Zee’s crew. And in Ashville everyone is a cadaver and they are all under me one way or another. Plus human visitors.” He waved his hands, indicating the number six. “We have six groups of suspects. The Hunters’ kids are ruled out. Citizens of Ashville. The Pristines who are teachers, and Zee and her crew members.”

“All that is left are the humans,” Caim said. “Teachers, students and visitors alike.”

Aurum dipped his head in affirmation. “I don’t have a clear idea yet but I’d told Haruna to get a copy of the hospital’s autopsy report.” He uncrossed his legs and placed his elbows on his legs. He interlocked his fingers and placed his hands to his face. “Keep in mind that all of this is between the five of us. Everyone is a legible suspect, even the Pristines.”

The others held their breath and dropped their gazes. Everyone remained quiet, pondering on the possibilities of everything. Their little silence was cut short as Ren started rapping in line with the song he was listening to.

Aurum looked over his shoulder and playfully hissed, “Junior stop that. We’re trying to have a meeting here.” He held onto Ren’s ankle and tugged it. This made Ren strongly kick him on his back. “Junior!” he hissed, arcing his back in pain.

Caim simply looked up while the others started snickering in amusement. And their delight wasn’t gone unnoticed by Ren who raised his head and glared at them.

“He just called me Junior didn’t he?” Ren asked and Sibyl snorted as she fervently nodded. He pulled off his headphone and flipped Aurum off then turned to the other side.

Aurum gasped lightly, slapping his foot. “Ren! You can’t do that to your father!”

“Adoptive guardian. Besides... what father looks like he belongs to his son’s age group.”

“A cadaveric father obviously,” Couko said with a snicker and Ren lazily raised his middle finger at her.

Aurum shook his head. He flung Ren’s leg that he was holding and stood. He pulled his, long, straight bangs behind his ears, stiffening as a heady scent flooded his senses. The others noticed as his eyes flickered into a lustrous glow and his pupils dilated. They held quizzical looks, wondering what was making him that way. And they got their answer the second that someone knocked on the door.

The person didn’t say anything and Aurum hastily said, “come in.” His voice sounded desperate and he cleared his throat as his bandmates blinked at him in surprise. Only Caim knew what was up.

Kimi opened the door and walked in. His breath stuttered as he was welcomed by the faces of the members of Qulture. “Ah shit,” he said under his breath, his expression one of surprise.

Couko smirked and folded her arms over her big bust. “Now I know why Aurum has the kind of wet dreams that he does,” she said cheerfully.

Aurum’s pale face morphed into different shades of red and he sped to Couko. He cupped his hands over his mouth in shock and looked at Kimi with wide eyes. “Kimi... why...” He cleared his throat as Sibyl started chuckling. “Why are you here?”

“Definitely not to know how a dead man freaking orgasms,” he said snidely with a cocked brow.

The whole room went silent in awe. Even Ren rushed to sit on the bed. He chuckled lightly. “It’s good to see you mate. Been a while.”

“Ren... don’t encourage such attitude,” Aurum said bashfully. He removed his hand from Couko’s smiling mouth and coughed into a fist. “That wasn’t necessary,” he mumbled against his fist.

“Are you referring to me or Ren?” Kimi asked lightly, his hands in his pockets.

“The both of us... I think.” Ren shrugged. “I don’t know man. I think he lost a few brain cells when he was in his grave.”

“That’s harsh.” Kimi rolled his shoulders and said, “anyway I came to tell you that I’m leaving. I need to—”

“Kimi? Why are you leaving? Had I done anything wrong? Is it because I’d touched you?” Aurum said briskly, rushing towards Kimi with a scared look. They all looked at him with baffled expressions.

Kimi looked up at him in shock. “No... I... I just need to get some of my belongings from my house. I just phrased it wrongly.”

“Oh...” Aurum shifted out of his personal space and muttered, “sorry. I was just... scared. I thought you were leaving.”

Kimi blushed and coughed into a fist. He turned to face the door. “Can I go?”

Aurum blinked and then said, “yes, you can. But Ren will go with you. Just him. It’s better if it’s that way.”

“Really? You’re letting two of your favourite humans out of your sight?” Couko asked, cocking her head. “And together?”

Aurum rubbed his neck and peered over his shoulder at Ren and then looked at Kimi. “Yes, I am. They need some... private catching up to do.”

“Sweet!” Ren said, jumping out of the bed. He rushed to the door and picked his boot as he walked out with Kimi.

Sibyl looked at him with a weary expression. “Aurum are you sure it’s wise for them to go alone?”

Aurum nodded. “Kimi needs more humans in his life right now. And Ren can protect the both of them. And it’s the best if I’m not seen with him in public for now.”

“And what about Ren being popular. Won’t people question that?” Claren asked in a small voice.

Aurum dragged out a long sigh, passing his fingers through his hair. His fingers still being in his hair, he hoarsely whispered, “they’ll be fine. For now let’s think of other things.” He dropped his hand and stared at Couko. “Speaking of other things. Couko could you kindly ask Ravenna if she could please prepare a dinner for two that will be served separately from the general dinner tonight?”

Couko blinked rapidly before she nodded with a half-smile. “As you wish.” She turned to Caim and quickly snatched his hand and dragged him with her. “I have five bones to pick with you.”