"It’s all your fault!" I screamed in rage, feeling my fists clench. Faster than Seth could think I was throwing him over the balcony’s edge and diving after him.
"Amaya," Kyle said, knowing fully that I could hear him, and the edge to his tone. When I landed, I was straddling Seth’s stomach and my fists were colliding with his jaw repeatedly. And he took it. Every blow he took, just turning his sad eyes back to mine. I could tell from his expression that he was feeling the same stinging feeling in his eyes that I was, like he should be crying but couldn’t.
"Amaya . . ." Kyle repeated. I turned, my rage dying down, but when I saw his expression, I felt the stinging swell and I punched Seth a few more times before rising off him. I felt an apology fly to my lips, but my throat was thick and I knew that if I spoke my rage would return, so I settled for a look of apology (though I think that I may have looked rather ill) and let Kyle lead me back to my room, taking the front entrance.
*
I know that vampires don’t sleep, but it would have helped me so much in the state I was in. Rini had come back, but not for me . . . that was all that ran through my head all day. Kyle dropped all his duties to stay with me. He was lying on his back on my bed with one arm around my back and the other trailing through my hair. I had my head on his chest, and though I knew that I couldn’t feel a heartbeat or anything like that, I was comforted slightly. Being without constant needs, cuddling was something easy to enjoy, never needing to move due to a stiff neck or a need.
At some point during the evening Cain stopped in and took Kyle’s place while he visited Lucifer. Cain handed me the pillow that I had dropped at some point and sat in front of my stomach so he could rub my shoulder. Rather than speaking, he hummed sonata’s created by humans, hoping to sooth my mind. Now, if I was still human, I would have drifted off to sleep from the combination, but instead I nipped his hand when he brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face.
"Wow, Kyle was right, you are rather strong for a newborn," he said, chuckling. I glared up at him.
"And what else has he said?" I said, my voice muffled by the pillow.
"Nothing you should be concerned about, they were all kind," he whispered. With a sigh I sat up, the urge to take a bath popping into my head. But then I remembered, no more needs like that. With another sigh I got out of bed and moved to my wardrobe. I was still wearing my pyjamas from when I was sick. I threw open the doors a little harder than intended and peered at the clothing hanging before me.
"Cain?" I said. "What should I wear?"
Cain examined my wardrobe from his seat on my bed for a moment. "Wear the fishnet outfit," he decided, then turned away. I nodded and pulled out a black fishnet shirt with a black zip-up sweater, a short black and red skirt and a pair of fishnet stockings as well and pulled it on after pulling off the pyjamas. I found a pair of calf high boots and pulled those on last then looked at myself in the mirror.
"I don’t know what I should think of myself anymore. Rini’s gone, so it feels like I lost a half of my soul - if I still have one . . ." I said, trailing off.
Kyle was behind me then, his hands on my shoulders. "You are beautiful, and you do have a soul, more than any of us do," he said, waiting for Cain to leave the room. Once gone, he continued. "You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, you and I both know that she didn’t leave because of you. In fact, it was more my fault than yours," he concluded, kissing my cheek softly. I twisted in his hands to face him and let him embrace me.
"With Rini gone, it feels like a part of me is missing like before. I feel as though I am merely half the person I should be, like I’m turning back into the young blacksmith I used to be. Alone, empty, left to fend for myself with the exception of small meals and a roof over my head," I whispered, my face pressed into Kyle’s neck. "I remember once, when Rini was sick, she felt so terrible and at that same time I felt stronger than ever, then when the sickness passed I was just my regular self," I explained, mainly trying to piece the observations together. Kyle seemed at a loss for words then, so I continued talking.
"Souta touched her once and I felt extremely cold on my shoulder, just where he had touched her, its like our connection is stronger than just siblings. I don’t fully understand it yet, but when she was here at the castle I swear I knew it somehow, some feeling pulling me towards the castle. When Seth got in my way, I was rather agitated, I wanted to look further into this feeling, but I couldn’t get to her. And then she was gone, and the feeling with it," I concluded. Kyle still said nothing, so I squeezed him around the ribs and pulled back. "I have something I need to do," I whispered, rushing out of the room in a graceful, though fast, walk. Kyle stayed where I had left him with his hands at his sides.
Brushing past Cain I made my way out to the gardens where, sure enough, I found Seth seated on the very same bench as the one where I had met Cain. He didn’t look up as I sat down beside him, he just stared down at the dead rose in his hands. I knew that words wouldn’t fix what I’d done, so I pulled him into a hug. He wasn’t expecting it, so he jumped and tried to push me off at first, then he realized what I was trying to do when he saw me sitting with my hands folded in my lap and settled down. This time when I embraced him he didn’t struggle, instead he curled his arms around my back and let it suffice for an apology.
He finally let me go and I saw that pained expression on his face again. I knew that he was sorry too for not letting me see her. "I knew that if you saw her, you’d be mad. That’s why I stopped you," he whispered, his off-green coloured eyes holding mine.
I sighed, though I knew it was a pointless thing to do. "I know, and I’m sorry for everything I did, every punch I threw . . . I didn’t hurt you, did I?" I asked.
He fingered his jawbone gingerly. "Well, it did a bit," he replied, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"It was so uncalled for, and such an ungrateful thing for me to do . . ." I whispered.
At that moment, a tall, thin woman sauntered into the clearing with her head held high. "Ug, way to make me sick on my first day back," she groaned, flipping her blue hair out of her eyes. "Who’s the newborn?" she looked me over once and then snorted. "Well, still no competition."
"Hey, Seth, who’s the uptight bitch?" I asked, grinning lopsidedly.
She made a disgusted noise with her throat. "Excuse me? What did you just call me?" she asked, tying her long blue hair back into a ponytail that fell to the back of her knees, flipping her fringe out of her eyes.
I rolled my eyes at her and stood up. "Once again, I’m sorry, Seth. But anyway, I’m going back to my room before the hot air in her head melts the snow," I said in a joking tone, sauntering out of the garden. She lunged at me, but collided with my fist before shock could even cross her face. I twisted her around, forced her to the ground and laced my fingers into her hair firmly.
"If you ever, ever, try to jump me again, I will tear your pretty little head clean from your shoulders faster than you can say ‘bitch,’" I hissed, pressing the side of her face into the snow.
"Amaya . . .?" it was Kyle, standing in the hallway in mid step watching us. Seth was still lounging on the bench, watching in an amused way. "Amaya, what are you doing?" he asked me, walking towards the open doors as he spoke.
"She tried to jump me, and failed," I said with a shrug, grinding her face into the snow a little more before getting off her back. She got up, brushed the stones out of her cheek and stared at me in a bemused way.
"Kyle, honey," she said in a sweet tone, looking at him with a dazzling smile on her face. "Its so good to see you again. I can’t say how much I’ve missed you," she said, reaching out to hug him. He held out his hand and pushed on her face to get her to back off. But instead of telling her off, he merely stared at her with loathing.
"But sweety, don’t you want a hug?" she asked, leaning on one foot to look seductive. I pretended to gag and Seth started to laugh. Kyle was by my side then, gripping my hand and staring back at the woman.
"No, June, I really don’t," he told her firmly, pulling me closer to him. She eyed me malevolently. I smirked back, leaning my body against Kyle’s. He started to lead me out of the garden, and as we walked past her, I flicked her nose, chuckled and continued along with Kyle.
While we walked, I took notice of what he was wearing. A skin tight, black v-necked tee shirt, dark blue jeans and his regular shoes. His brown eyes were locked on mine as we walked, like he was hoping to see into my head like Cain could.
Before I knew it we were back at my room and he was holding me firmly in his arms. I was confused, but I hugged him back. After a moment he loosened his grip and stared down into my eyes.
"You’re not even going to ask about her?" he said softly.
"I don’t know," I replied. He frowned down at me, testing my reaction. Eventually he laughed and closed his eyes.
"I can’t believe that you pinned her that easily," he said in an incredulous voice.
"It wasn’t hard, I heard her clothes shuffle when she moved so I spun and she collided with my outstretched fist. Then I sat on her, it wasn’t that hard," I said nonchalantly. Kyle laughed and touched my cheek lightly.
"She collided with your outstretched fist? You mean you punched her," he said.
"No, I mean that I turned around, held out my fist and she hit it," I explained with a shrug. Kyle pressed his lips lightly to my neck and murmured against my skin.
"You’re insane, you know that?" was what he murmured. I flicked his ear lightly and hugged him around his shoulders.
"Yeah, you’re probably right," I said. I felt him smile against my neck, and the next thing I knew I was laying on my bed beside Kyle. I blinked, but relaxed into the overstuffed pillows. His hand brushed against mine lightly and I found that I was slowly lacing my fingers into his. I turned my head to face him, seeing him staring back at me with his eyes half closed and his lips parted ever so slightly.
Man, you really do notice details as a vampire, I noted in my head. That thought triggered a question that I had been meaning to ask for a while, but I decided against it. Leaning forward I pressed my lips gently to Kyle’s. He kissed me back and cupped my chin in one of his hands to hold my face there, not that I would have moved anyway.
From outside my door someone cleared their throat awkwardly, then knocked softly. Kyle pulled away, growled softly and flopped onto his back, letting me get the door. I was across the room in a second and had the door open in another, finding myself face to face with June. She glared at me, perfectly level with my eyes, and muttered.
"Lucifer’s got a job for you . . ." she was gone before I could ask where he was.
"Library," Kyle said, answering my unasked question.
Though I had never been in the library before, I’d passed the door on my walks through the castle. It had grand wooden doors with intricate patterns painted gold and fancy brass doorhandles. When I pushed them open I was looking at rows upon rows upon rows of ceiling high shelves, all stocked with thick volumes from different cultures and time periods. Using clairvoyance, which was much stronger than before, I found Lucifer sitting in a secluded point in the library with an enormous volume in front of him on the table. I sat down opposite him.
"You found me quickly," he said softly, lowering the book.
"Kyle told me you were in the library, clairvoyance showed me where you were," I replied, equally quiet.
"I thought you needed some sort of reference to me in order to see through my eyes," he inquired.
I shrugged. "I suppose its gotten stronger. I just need a face," I explained.
Lucifer nodded. "Well, anyway, I suppose you would like to know about why I called you here?" he said. I nodded once. "A few years ago we had a different person doing your job, we called him Hound. He was off on a mission on the human side and was caught by guards, we presumed him dead after a few months. He was a ruthless killer, his homicide’s all similar in one way: each person killed lost their right arm during the process. Just recently humans have been found dead, but not like they should have been killed. They were found drained of blood with their right arms ripped off, so we presume that Hound wasn’t dead and is now back and killing again," he explained.
"And my job is to take him out, right?" I assumed.
"Indeed. I will be supplying you with a few items over the next week, some of his old possessions to help you find him. Say your goodbyes, train yourself, you’re joining a group of ruthless bandits next week," he concluded. I nodded and left the library.
Kyle was on the balcony when I returned to my room. He had his elbows rested on the railing as he stared out over the forests in a daze. I joined him silently, resting my head on his shoulder and hugging him around his waist.
"What did he need?" he asked softly.
"I’m going on an infiltration mission, more assassinations on my part . . ." I trailed off, remembering the last assassination I had to perform. Kyle wrapped his arm around my waist as well and held me closer to his side.
"You’ll be fine," he whispered.
"I know, but this is a murderer we’re talking about," I said.
"Just act like you do in battle and you’ll be fine. Just be rude, impatient and uncaring and you’ll pass off unnoticed and the job will be a breeze," he said, turning to hold me against his body. Before I could disagree with him, he kissed me. I kissed him back, letting him carry me over to my bed and lay me down on it. He layed down beside me, propped up on one elbow and staring at me, unblinking.
"I’m counting this as your first official night as a vampire. What do you want to do first?" he asked.
"I dunno’, I’m facing a dilemma here. I want to spend tonight with you, but I also would like to test out my powers," I replied, stretching a leg out in the air above me just to examine my foot.
"Both are manageable, I believe," he said, getting off the bed. I got up too and followed him out of the room to my training area. The room was stocked full of wooden objects, and, I noticed, some metal objects too. I didn’t bother to question it, so I let Kyle find himself a nice spectator area and waited for me to begin blasting things.
Starting with basics, I worked on telekinesis. Crossing my arms, I glanced at a butcher knife sitting on one of the tables, then sent it flying across the room and sticking it into the wall just by moving my eyes in the direction I wanted it to go and thinking about the object being moved. Kyle clapped from his seat against the wall.
I then moved onto the shield, thinking about it and blinking once. When I looked again there was a bright green barrier around me, which I found myself able to expand and retract at will. The moment I lowered the barrier a large metal spike was hurtling towards my chest. In a panic I threw my right hand out in front of my face, and when I didn’t feel anything, I peered around. In front of my hand was another barrier, but more of a small wall that was holding the spike away from me. I clenched my fist and the spike was forced to fly in the opposite direction from me. Looking around, I saw Seth in the doorway holding another spike. I glared at him as he chuckled at my expression, then returned to the testing.
I gave my psi blasts a test, lifting my chin a bit quickly to blast objects in the room. Simple enough. What I wanted to try now was my psi ball, to see what had become of that. When I tried to form the ball in my hand, I found it didn’t work. Instead a pair of flaming wings flared out on my back, which I stared at in awe. I closed them around my body, enjoying their warmth when I felt my skin start to crawl. When I looked at my hands they were covered in magma, which was still spreading over my body. I panicked a bit when I saw my clothes catch fire and burn off me, forcing me to cover my body with my wings again. Kyle was at my side in an instant, his hand on my exposed shoulder. He pulled his hand back sharply, watching his skin blister, then heal before his eyes. I rushed out of the room, down the hall and into my bedroom, glad that no one saw me.
Sinking to the floor I stared at the palms of my hands, fascinated by the magma that was my skin. But how would I get rid of it? Was I stuck like this? I squeezed my eyes shut and wished that they would go away, hoping for it more than anything. I felt my skin crawl again and when I looked, my skin was its regular pearly white and my wings exploding slightly around me. I sighed in relief and fell backwards, not caring that I was completely naked.
A knock at my door moments later brought me back from the recesses of my mind. "Hang on a sec’," I said, jumping up off the floor to grab my good ol’ training kimono. After tying that around me I opened the door and saw Acario standing in front of me.
Bowing slightly, he spoke. "I couldn’t help but notice your thoughts, they were distracting. You seem troubled by your new abilities, may I help you at all?" he asked with a sly grin on his face.
"Can you stop me from turning into a walking volcano?" I replied sarcastically. He chuckled.
"No, but I may be able to ease your thoughts," he said. "May I come in?"
I stepped out of the way and watched as he conjured two plush chairs in the centre of the room. He gestured to them and we sat down opposite each other, he with his hands folded in his lap. His pale eyes seemed to pierce into me. I sat awkwardly, staring back at him. After what felt like forever, he sat back and crossed his arms.
"Close your eyes," he instructed, which I did. Using clairvoyance, I saw that he hadn’t moved, judging by the distance between our chairs. I stopped using it when he spoke again. "Now, I’m going to find your ideal scene, your "happy place" so to say, and I’m going to force it to remain in your head for a few minutes. Just relax and enjoy."
The next thing I knew, I wasn’t alone in my thoughts. Acario was there as well, walking away to the seldom entered parts of my mind. Then, he was gone and I was lounging on a bed of white quilts and overstuffed white pillows. Lying on my left was Kyle, and on my right was Rini. And, even in the corner was Souta, sitting on a stool like he used to smiling back at everyone.
"You reek," he said in a joking voice.
"Damn mutt," I said back, laughing with him. I closed my eyes and relaxed into one of the pillows.
When I opened my eyes again it was just Kyle and I. He was leaning over me slightly brushing my fringe off my forehead with his fingers. As he leaned down closer to me, the scene faded before my eyes and I was jolting upright in my chair.
"How do you feel?" Arcario asked softly, lacing his fingers together in his lap again.
I blinked a couple of times before replying. "I feel calm," I said, pleased at the feeling.
"Good. Now, as for your panic about control over your wings and such, there is a new earring in your right ear. Remove that and your wings and flaming skin are under your own control. Once you find yourself able to control them as you please, you can keep the earring out," he explained. I nodded once. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am expected elsewhere in five minutes," he said, bowing slightly after he stood up, then snapping his fingers. When the smoke that had appeared cleared, he was gone.
"Show off," I muttered, then stood up. Kyle walked into the room then, pulling me into an embrace before I could say anything. I took the time to notice small things that I might not ever again see or feel. I could feel the muscles move in Kyle’s arms as he rubbed my back slowly, his well toned body, and even each individual fold in his clothing under my arms. He pulled me away from him, but still held onto my waist.
"We’ve got the rest of the night to spend together, what do you want to do first?" he asked softly. I pondered over the question for a moment.
"There’s this game I used to play with the other kids in the village, before I started blacksmithing and before they knew about my powers. Can we play it?" I said eagerly.
"Whatever you want," he said. So, I lead him outside into the fields and for hours we threw a wooden disk back and forth, sometimes running miles after it.
It was still dark when we returned to the castle, but both Kyle and I were covered in mud, water and grass stains, laughing the entire time. The one time that we left each other that night was to shower in our own rooms
Not long after returning to the castle did Kyle return to my room dressed in gray sweat pants and a white muscle shirt. I was lounging on my bed in an old pair of pyjamas pretending to sleep. I had my hair spread out across the pillow, my face turned to the side and a pillow clutched in one arm. Silently, Kyle layed himself down next to me, rolling onto his side so that he was touching me and rested his head on my stomach. Moving slowly I placed my hand on his head, running my fingers through his hair.
I wasn’t sure how long we remained like that, but when I pulled myself out of my thoughts the sun was showing over the horizon through my windows.
For the rest of the week, Kyle and I remained in my room, talking softly from time to time, but mostly just lying there together, awaiting the day that I would leave for the human world.
*
The designated day arrived all too quickly and I found myself running to the border yet again with Kyle at my side. This time we weren’t laughing and racing, we were taking our time, avoiding the thoughts. I had received more information about Hound earlier that day, and now I was going to meet him.
I was dressed in a black tank top, black knee high pants that hung loosely on my legs, knee high leather boots with a thick heel and wearing a dark gray bandana around my neck that would be going over my face up to my nose when I met him. Kyle had given me his red and black jacket he had worn when we met, which I was now wearing as well as a pair of web-like gloves. I had a new set of weapons now, throwing daggers that conveniently tucked into holes in the sides of my pants.
Now standing in ankle deep water with Kyle, the goodbye began. He took hold of my waist and pulled me closer to him slowly, never letting his eyes stray from mine. I rested my hands on his arms, staring right back. Leaning down carefully, he pressed his lips to mine, and I hoped to remember everything about that so I could remember while I was away. Minutes later he pulled away and walked back out of the water, standing on the edge to watch me go. I grabbed the sand and tossed it over my head before I could give it a second thought.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing on the border, but the human side. Kyle was gone. With a sigh, I pulled the bandana over my face and took off to the rundown village to the west. Waiting for me at the gate were a couple of goons, both insanely large and menacing. They glared down at me, I glared right back up at them.
"Business?" one grunted.
"I’m expected," I said back, the anger in my voice not at all false.
"Prove it," the other said.
I shifted my murderous glare to him, he seemed almost shocked by it. "Do you really want to keep your Boss waiting? I’m expected at noon today, and if I’m not there, I’ll eat you, then kill you," I growled. They started slightly and walked me into the village, past the broken houses and up to the Romanesque church in the center of the area. They stood on either side of the doors, nodding for me to enter, which I did.
The moment the doors closed, there before me stood Hound, before I could even think about it. He glared down at me, and I glared right back.
"Take off the bandanna," he ordered. I snorted softly, but pulled the bandanna off my face anyway. "Aya," he nodded. "Did the guards give you trouble?" he asked, his tone softening slightly.
"A bit, but they understand not to get in my way," I replied with a shrug. Hound nodded again.
"So you want to escape the Kingdom as well, eh?" he said.
"Those wimps? I hardly call them a Kingdom at all," I grunted, saying my apologies in my head.
Hound spun around. "Time for your test."
"Amaya," Kyle said, knowing fully that I could hear him, and the edge to his tone. When I landed, I was straddling Seth’s stomach and my fists were colliding with his jaw repeatedly. And he took it. Every blow he took, just turning his sad eyes back to mine. I could tell from his expression that he was feeling the same stinging feeling in his eyes that I was, like he should be crying but couldn’t.
"Amaya . . ." Kyle repeated. I turned, my rage dying down, but when I saw his expression, I felt the stinging swell and I punched Seth a few more times before rising off him. I felt an apology fly to my lips, but my throat was thick and I knew that if I spoke my rage would return, so I settled for a look of apology (though I think that I may have looked rather ill) and let Kyle lead me back to my room, taking the front entrance.
*
I know that vampires don’t sleep, but it would have helped me so much in the state I was in. Rini had come back, but not for me . . . that was all that ran through my head all day. Kyle dropped all his duties to stay with me. He was lying on his back on my bed with one arm around my back and the other trailing through my hair. I had my head on his chest, and though I knew that I couldn’t feel a heartbeat or anything like that, I was comforted slightly. Being without constant needs, cuddling was something easy to enjoy, never needing to move due to a stiff neck or a need.
At some point during the evening Cain stopped in and took Kyle’s place while he visited Lucifer. Cain handed me the pillow that I had dropped at some point and sat in front of my stomach so he could rub my shoulder. Rather than speaking, he hummed sonata’s created by humans, hoping to sooth my mind. Now, if I was still human, I would have drifted off to sleep from the combination, but instead I nipped his hand when he brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face.
"Wow, Kyle was right, you are rather strong for a newborn," he said, chuckling. I glared up at him.
"And what else has he said?" I said, my voice muffled by the pillow.
"Nothing you should be concerned about, they were all kind," he whispered. With a sigh I sat up, the urge to take a bath popping into my head. But then I remembered, no more needs like that. With another sigh I got out of bed and moved to my wardrobe. I was still wearing my pyjamas from when I was sick. I threw open the doors a little harder than intended and peered at the clothing hanging before me.
"Cain?" I said. "What should I wear?"
Cain examined my wardrobe from his seat on my bed for a moment. "Wear the fishnet outfit," he decided, then turned away. I nodded and pulled out a black fishnet shirt with a black zip-up sweater, a short black and red skirt and a pair of fishnet stockings as well and pulled it on after pulling off the pyjamas. I found a pair of calf high boots and pulled those on last then looked at myself in the mirror.
"I don’t know what I should think of myself anymore. Rini’s gone, so it feels like I lost a half of my soul - if I still have one . . ." I said, trailing off.
Kyle was behind me then, his hands on my shoulders. "You are beautiful, and you do have a soul, more than any of us do," he said, waiting for Cain to leave the room. Once gone, he continued. "You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself, you and I both know that she didn’t leave because of you. In fact, it was more my fault than yours," he concluded, kissing my cheek softly. I twisted in his hands to face him and let him embrace me.
"With Rini gone, it feels like a part of me is missing like before. I feel as though I am merely half the person I should be, like I’m turning back into the young blacksmith I used to be. Alone, empty, left to fend for myself with the exception of small meals and a roof over my head," I whispered, my face pressed into Kyle’s neck. "I remember once, when Rini was sick, she felt so terrible and at that same time I felt stronger than ever, then when the sickness passed I was just my regular self," I explained, mainly trying to piece the observations together. Kyle seemed at a loss for words then, so I continued talking.
"Souta touched her once and I felt extremely cold on my shoulder, just where he had touched her, its like our connection is stronger than just siblings. I don’t fully understand it yet, but when she was here at the castle I swear I knew it somehow, some feeling pulling me towards the castle. When Seth got in my way, I was rather agitated, I wanted to look further into this feeling, but I couldn’t get to her. And then she was gone, and the feeling with it," I concluded. Kyle still said nothing, so I squeezed him around the ribs and pulled back. "I have something I need to do," I whispered, rushing out of the room in a graceful, though fast, walk. Kyle stayed where I had left him with his hands at his sides.
Brushing past Cain I made my way out to the gardens where, sure enough, I found Seth seated on the very same bench as the one where I had met Cain. He didn’t look up as I sat down beside him, he just stared down at the dead rose in his hands. I knew that words wouldn’t fix what I’d done, so I pulled him into a hug. He wasn’t expecting it, so he jumped and tried to push me off at first, then he realized what I was trying to do when he saw me sitting with my hands folded in my lap and settled down. This time when I embraced him he didn’t struggle, instead he curled his arms around my back and let it suffice for an apology.
He finally let me go and I saw that pained expression on his face again. I knew that he was sorry too for not letting me see her. "I knew that if you saw her, you’d be mad. That’s why I stopped you," he whispered, his off-green coloured eyes holding mine.
I sighed, though I knew it was a pointless thing to do. "I know, and I’m sorry for everything I did, every punch I threw . . . I didn’t hurt you, did I?" I asked.
He fingered his jawbone gingerly. "Well, it did a bit," he replied, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"It was so uncalled for, and such an ungrateful thing for me to do . . ." I whispered.
At that moment, a tall, thin woman sauntered into the clearing with her head held high. "Ug, way to make me sick on my first day back," she groaned, flipping her blue hair out of her eyes. "Who’s the newborn?" she looked me over once and then snorted. "Well, still no competition."
"Hey, Seth, who’s the uptight bitch?" I asked, grinning lopsidedly.
She made a disgusted noise with her throat. "Excuse me? What did you just call me?" she asked, tying her long blue hair back into a ponytail that fell to the back of her knees, flipping her fringe out of her eyes.
I rolled my eyes at her and stood up. "Once again, I’m sorry, Seth. But anyway, I’m going back to my room before the hot air in her head melts the snow," I said in a joking tone, sauntering out of the garden. She lunged at me, but collided with my fist before shock could even cross her face. I twisted her around, forced her to the ground and laced my fingers into her hair firmly.
"If you ever, ever, try to jump me again, I will tear your pretty little head clean from your shoulders faster than you can say ‘bitch,’" I hissed, pressing the side of her face into the snow.
"Amaya . . .?" it was Kyle, standing in the hallway in mid step watching us. Seth was still lounging on the bench, watching in an amused way. "Amaya, what are you doing?" he asked me, walking towards the open doors as he spoke.
"She tried to jump me, and failed," I said with a shrug, grinding her face into the snow a little more before getting off her back. She got up, brushed the stones out of her cheek and stared at me in a bemused way.
"Kyle, honey," she said in a sweet tone, looking at him with a dazzling smile on her face. "Its so good to see you again. I can’t say how much I’ve missed you," she said, reaching out to hug him. He held out his hand and pushed on her face to get her to back off. But instead of telling her off, he merely stared at her with loathing.
"But sweety, don’t you want a hug?" she asked, leaning on one foot to look seductive. I pretended to gag and Seth started to laugh. Kyle was by my side then, gripping my hand and staring back at the woman.
"No, June, I really don’t," he told her firmly, pulling me closer to him. She eyed me malevolently. I smirked back, leaning my body against Kyle’s. He started to lead me out of the garden, and as we walked past her, I flicked her nose, chuckled and continued along with Kyle.
While we walked, I took notice of what he was wearing. A skin tight, black v-necked tee shirt, dark blue jeans and his regular shoes. His brown eyes were locked on mine as we walked, like he was hoping to see into my head like Cain could.
Before I knew it we were back at my room and he was holding me firmly in his arms. I was confused, but I hugged him back. After a moment he loosened his grip and stared down into my eyes.
"You’re not even going to ask about her?" he said softly.
"I don’t know," I replied. He frowned down at me, testing my reaction. Eventually he laughed and closed his eyes.
"I can’t believe that you pinned her that easily," he said in an incredulous voice.
"It wasn’t hard, I heard her clothes shuffle when she moved so I spun and she collided with my outstretched fist. Then I sat on her, it wasn’t that hard," I said nonchalantly. Kyle laughed and touched my cheek lightly.
"She collided with your outstretched fist? You mean you punched her," he said.
"No, I mean that I turned around, held out my fist and she hit it," I explained with a shrug. Kyle pressed his lips lightly to my neck and murmured against my skin.
"You’re insane, you know that?" was what he murmured. I flicked his ear lightly and hugged him around his shoulders.
"Yeah, you’re probably right," I said. I felt him smile against my neck, and the next thing I knew I was laying on my bed beside Kyle. I blinked, but relaxed into the overstuffed pillows. His hand brushed against mine lightly and I found that I was slowly lacing my fingers into his. I turned my head to face him, seeing him staring back at me with his eyes half closed and his lips parted ever so slightly.
Man, you really do notice details as a vampire, I noted in my head. That thought triggered a question that I had been meaning to ask for a while, but I decided against it. Leaning forward I pressed my lips gently to Kyle’s. He kissed me back and cupped my chin in one of his hands to hold my face there, not that I would have moved anyway.
From outside my door someone cleared their throat awkwardly, then knocked softly. Kyle pulled away, growled softly and flopped onto his back, letting me get the door. I was across the room in a second and had the door open in another, finding myself face to face with June. She glared at me, perfectly level with my eyes, and muttered.
"Lucifer’s got a job for you . . ." she was gone before I could ask where he was.
"Library," Kyle said, answering my unasked question.
Though I had never been in the library before, I’d passed the door on my walks through the castle. It had grand wooden doors with intricate patterns painted gold and fancy brass doorhandles. When I pushed them open I was looking at rows upon rows upon rows of ceiling high shelves, all stocked with thick volumes from different cultures and time periods. Using clairvoyance, which was much stronger than before, I found Lucifer sitting in a secluded point in the library with an enormous volume in front of him on the table. I sat down opposite him.
"You found me quickly," he said softly, lowering the book.
"Kyle told me you were in the library, clairvoyance showed me where you were," I replied, equally quiet.
"I thought you needed some sort of reference to me in order to see through my eyes," he inquired.
I shrugged. "I suppose its gotten stronger. I just need a face," I explained.
Lucifer nodded. "Well, anyway, I suppose you would like to know about why I called you here?" he said. I nodded once. "A few years ago we had a different person doing your job, we called him Hound. He was off on a mission on the human side and was caught by guards, we presumed him dead after a few months. He was a ruthless killer, his homicide’s all similar in one way: each person killed lost their right arm during the process. Just recently humans have been found dead, but not like they should have been killed. They were found drained of blood with their right arms ripped off, so we presume that Hound wasn’t dead and is now back and killing again," he explained.
"And my job is to take him out, right?" I assumed.
"Indeed. I will be supplying you with a few items over the next week, some of his old possessions to help you find him. Say your goodbyes, train yourself, you’re joining a group of ruthless bandits next week," he concluded. I nodded and left the library.
Kyle was on the balcony when I returned to my room. He had his elbows rested on the railing as he stared out over the forests in a daze. I joined him silently, resting my head on his shoulder and hugging him around his waist.
"What did he need?" he asked softly.
"I’m going on an infiltration mission, more assassinations on my part . . ." I trailed off, remembering the last assassination I had to perform. Kyle wrapped his arm around my waist as well and held me closer to his side.
"You’ll be fine," he whispered.
"I know, but this is a murderer we’re talking about," I said.
"Just act like you do in battle and you’ll be fine. Just be rude, impatient and uncaring and you’ll pass off unnoticed and the job will be a breeze," he said, turning to hold me against his body. Before I could disagree with him, he kissed me. I kissed him back, letting him carry me over to my bed and lay me down on it. He layed down beside me, propped up on one elbow and staring at me, unblinking.
"I’m counting this as your first official night as a vampire. What do you want to do first?" he asked.
"I dunno’, I’m facing a dilemma here. I want to spend tonight with you, but I also would like to test out my powers," I replied, stretching a leg out in the air above me just to examine my foot.
"Both are manageable, I believe," he said, getting off the bed. I got up too and followed him out of the room to my training area. The room was stocked full of wooden objects, and, I noticed, some metal objects too. I didn’t bother to question it, so I let Kyle find himself a nice spectator area and waited for me to begin blasting things.
Starting with basics, I worked on telekinesis. Crossing my arms, I glanced at a butcher knife sitting on one of the tables, then sent it flying across the room and sticking it into the wall just by moving my eyes in the direction I wanted it to go and thinking about the object being moved. Kyle clapped from his seat against the wall.
I then moved onto the shield, thinking about it and blinking once. When I looked again there was a bright green barrier around me, which I found myself able to expand and retract at will. The moment I lowered the barrier a large metal spike was hurtling towards my chest. In a panic I threw my right hand out in front of my face, and when I didn’t feel anything, I peered around. In front of my hand was another barrier, but more of a small wall that was holding the spike away from me. I clenched my fist and the spike was forced to fly in the opposite direction from me. Looking around, I saw Seth in the doorway holding another spike. I glared at him as he chuckled at my expression, then returned to the testing.
I gave my psi blasts a test, lifting my chin a bit quickly to blast objects in the room. Simple enough. What I wanted to try now was my psi ball, to see what had become of that. When I tried to form the ball in my hand, I found it didn’t work. Instead a pair of flaming wings flared out on my back, which I stared at in awe. I closed them around my body, enjoying their warmth when I felt my skin start to crawl. When I looked at my hands they were covered in magma, which was still spreading over my body. I panicked a bit when I saw my clothes catch fire and burn off me, forcing me to cover my body with my wings again. Kyle was at my side in an instant, his hand on my exposed shoulder. He pulled his hand back sharply, watching his skin blister, then heal before his eyes. I rushed out of the room, down the hall and into my bedroom, glad that no one saw me.
Sinking to the floor I stared at the palms of my hands, fascinated by the magma that was my skin. But how would I get rid of it? Was I stuck like this? I squeezed my eyes shut and wished that they would go away, hoping for it more than anything. I felt my skin crawl again and when I looked, my skin was its regular pearly white and my wings exploding slightly around me. I sighed in relief and fell backwards, not caring that I was completely naked.
A knock at my door moments later brought me back from the recesses of my mind. "Hang on a sec’," I said, jumping up off the floor to grab my good ol’ training kimono. After tying that around me I opened the door and saw Acario standing in front of me.
Bowing slightly, he spoke. "I couldn’t help but notice your thoughts, they were distracting. You seem troubled by your new abilities, may I help you at all?" he asked with a sly grin on his face.
"Can you stop me from turning into a walking volcano?" I replied sarcastically. He chuckled.
"No, but I may be able to ease your thoughts," he said. "May I come in?"
I stepped out of the way and watched as he conjured two plush chairs in the centre of the room. He gestured to them and we sat down opposite each other, he with his hands folded in his lap. His pale eyes seemed to pierce into me. I sat awkwardly, staring back at him. After what felt like forever, he sat back and crossed his arms.
"Close your eyes," he instructed, which I did. Using clairvoyance, I saw that he hadn’t moved, judging by the distance between our chairs. I stopped using it when he spoke again. "Now, I’m going to find your ideal scene, your "happy place" so to say, and I’m going to force it to remain in your head for a few minutes. Just relax and enjoy."
The next thing I knew, I wasn’t alone in my thoughts. Acario was there as well, walking away to the seldom entered parts of my mind. Then, he was gone and I was lounging on a bed of white quilts and overstuffed white pillows. Lying on my left was Kyle, and on my right was Rini. And, even in the corner was Souta, sitting on a stool like he used to smiling back at everyone.
"You reek," he said in a joking voice.
"Damn mutt," I said back, laughing with him. I closed my eyes and relaxed into one of the pillows.
When I opened my eyes again it was just Kyle and I. He was leaning over me slightly brushing my fringe off my forehead with his fingers. As he leaned down closer to me, the scene faded before my eyes and I was jolting upright in my chair.
"How do you feel?" Arcario asked softly, lacing his fingers together in his lap again.
I blinked a couple of times before replying. "I feel calm," I said, pleased at the feeling.
"Good. Now, as for your panic about control over your wings and such, there is a new earring in your right ear. Remove that and your wings and flaming skin are under your own control. Once you find yourself able to control them as you please, you can keep the earring out," he explained. I nodded once. "Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am expected elsewhere in five minutes," he said, bowing slightly after he stood up, then snapping his fingers. When the smoke that had appeared cleared, he was gone.
"Show off," I muttered, then stood up. Kyle walked into the room then, pulling me into an embrace before I could say anything. I took the time to notice small things that I might not ever again see or feel. I could feel the muscles move in Kyle’s arms as he rubbed my back slowly, his well toned body, and even each individual fold in his clothing under my arms. He pulled me away from him, but still held onto my waist.
"We’ve got the rest of the night to spend together, what do you want to do first?" he asked softly. I pondered over the question for a moment.
"There’s this game I used to play with the other kids in the village, before I started blacksmithing and before they knew about my powers. Can we play it?" I said eagerly.
"Whatever you want," he said. So, I lead him outside into the fields and for hours we threw a wooden disk back and forth, sometimes running miles after it.
It was still dark when we returned to the castle, but both Kyle and I were covered in mud, water and grass stains, laughing the entire time. The one time that we left each other that night was to shower in our own rooms
Not long after returning to the castle did Kyle return to my room dressed in gray sweat pants and a white muscle shirt. I was lounging on my bed in an old pair of pyjamas pretending to sleep. I had my hair spread out across the pillow, my face turned to the side and a pillow clutched in one arm. Silently, Kyle layed himself down next to me, rolling onto his side so that he was touching me and rested his head on my stomach. Moving slowly I placed my hand on his head, running my fingers through his hair.
I wasn’t sure how long we remained like that, but when I pulled myself out of my thoughts the sun was showing over the horizon through my windows.
For the rest of the week, Kyle and I remained in my room, talking softly from time to time, but mostly just lying there together, awaiting the day that I would leave for the human world.
*
The designated day arrived all too quickly and I found myself running to the border yet again with Kyle at my side. This time we weren’t laughing and racing, we were taking our time, avoiding the thoughts. I had received more information about Hound earlier that day, and now I was going to meet him.
I was dressed in a black tank top, black knee high pants that hung loosely on my legs, knee high leather boots with a thick heel and wearing a dark gray bandana around my neck that would be going over my face up to my nose when I met him. Kyle had given me his red and black jacket he had worn when we met, which I was now wearing as well as a pair of web-like gloves. I had a new set of weapons now, throwing daggers that conveniently tucked into holes in the sides of my pants.
Now standing in ankle deep water with Kyle, the goodbye began. He took hold of my waist and pulled me closer to him slowly, never letting his eyes stray from mine. I rested my hands on his arms, staring right back. Leaning down carefully, he pressed his lips to mine, and I hoped to remember everything about that so I could remember while I was away. Minutes later he pulled away and walked back out of the water, standing on the edge to watch me go. I grabbed the sand and tossed it over my head before I could give it a second thought.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing on the border, but the human side. Kyle was gone. With a sigh, I pulled the bandana over my face and took off to the rundown village to the west. Waiting for me at the gate were a couple of goons, both insanely large and menacing. They glared down at me, I glared right back up at them.
"Business?" one grunted.
"I’m expected," I said back, the anger in my voice not at all false.
"Prove it," the other said.
I shifted my murderous glare to him, he seemed almost shocked by it. "Do you really want to keep your Boss waiting? I’m expected at noon today, and if I’m not there, I’ll eat you, then kill you," I growled. They started slightly and walked me into the village, past the broken houses and up to the Romanesque church in the center of the area. They stood on either side of the doors, nodding for me to enter, which I did.
The moment the doors closed, there before me stood Hound, before I could even think about it. He glared down at me, and I glared right back.
"Take off the bandanna," he ordered. I snorted softly, but pulled the bandanna off my face anyway. "Aya," he nodded. "Did the guards give you trouble?" he asked, his tone softening slightly.
"A bit, but they understand not to get in my way," I replied with a shrug. Hound nodded again.
"So you want to escape the Kingdom as well, eh?" he said.
"Those wimps? I hardly call them a Kingdom at all," I grunted, saying my apologies in my head.
Hound spun around. "Time for your test."
