• CHAPTER 117 - JUST BEING THERE

    When things go from bad to worse--even in your head--it's always nice to have somebody there for you no matter what.

    .:{{Dream in Arisa's Perspective}}:.

    A library. I was standing in between two large bookshelves in a library. Looking around, I noticed hardly anybody was around. It was incredibly commodious; my voice would echo off of the walls with every "Hello?" I spoke. Thousands and thousands of books stacked on shelves, all finicky and tidy for the nerds and the researchers and the manga lovers. The front desk was empty, some of the lights were flickering, and the faint buzzing noise of a phone off of its hook was nearby. It seemed abandoned; why were there people there?

    "Hello?" I asked once more, peeking through the shelves. It was strange how there were people there but yet they were unresponsive to my voice.

    I didn't take notice at first, but my hands were bound behind my back with a piece of cloth. It was queer I didn't react as normal people would with their hand tied behind them. I merely acted as though it wasn't there, but it bothered me that there was nobody formidable at the library to tie my hands as they were.

    Peeking through the shelves again, my eyes met up with that of a god; Kai. He was standing on the other side of one of the bookshelves. A spark ignited in my heart and I jumped up and down a few times.

    "Oh, Kai, you're here!" I laughed. "I thought I was the only one responsive."

    He never responded; his face was grim and regretful. Oh no. I had seen that facial expression before; that wasn't good. My face immediately fell as grim as Kai's and I knew what was coming up, I just didn't know when. I backed away from the bookshelf Kai was behind and my hyperventilation started kicking in, causing me to look side to side frantically.

    I shook my head, "No, Kai, don't tell me this is another nightglare," I pleaded. "Tell me it's just a normal dream, please. Even a normal nightmare would be better, but please, not a nightglare..."

    Neither of us were able to respond before another piece of cloth was strung across my mouth, causing my teeth to clamp down on the cloth and I screamed. A pair of incredibly strong hands pulled the cloth back hard, causing my head to lean back against a steel torso. Glancing up at the attacker, I couldn't make out their complexion; he was wearing a mask. I managed to struggle to try to elude him but, alas, it was futile for a scrawny human like me to escape from a Vampire. However, I was able to knock him down a bit, forcing him backwards a little, and causing a book to drop from the top of the shelf and onto my forehead. The corner of the book hit me just right with the right amount of momentum and weight that it cut into my skin, causing my head to bleed.

    A pair of sub zero lips pressed against the crown of my head--licking up some of the blood draining down the right side of my face--and I shook my head furiously, knowing it wasn't Kai at all. My eyes met up with the Vampire that had been in all of my other nightglares, and I still didn't know his name. My sobbing acted up after knowing what would happen; I would die, as always. I still wasn't prepared, I was still scared, it still felt too real. The Vampire smirked sinisterly and leaned in to kiss my cheek a few times. My eyes squeezed shut, allowing a tear to slip out and he found it amusing to lick that tear right up. Despite the fact I knew escaping was impossible, I still struggled like Hell. I glanced around and Kai was gone; he disappeared. But wasn't he always witnessing my death?

    Speaking of witnesses, the people were still in the library...but they weren't taking notice of the hostage situation in the middle of the aisle?!

    "Oh, sweetheart, please don't cry," the Vampire chuckled evilly, pressing one of his thumbs against one of my cheekbones. "You'll break my dead little heart."

    I went against his orders and continued to sob, petrified. Even though it was all in my head, it still involved one of the two Vampires that were going to kill me soon. Even though it was in my head, it was still going to happen. After the nomad kissed the angle of my jaw, I noticed my hands were tied behind his neck instead of behind my back. Unfortunately, he was too tall for me to lift my hands over his head. He continued to kiss both of my cheeks and he continuously licked both angles of my jaw. Every kiss and every lick made me want to both vomit and die at the same time. I was crying a little harder and the Vampire behind me didn't seem to be moving much; just making sure I was shut up.

    Unfortunately, shutting me up with a mere cloth in between my teeth wouldn't shut me up at all. Not after the pungent pain that lodge through my midriff. Barely glancing down, a hunting knife had been lodged into my stomach and the nomad's lips met my head again. I couldn't feel the pain, however, until the knife went in a second time in a different location in my stomach. My eyes squeezed shut and the tears released themselves freely with my muffled screaming following shortly after. It was strange to me for a Vampire to be using a knife instead of his talons but it was a nightglare; anything could happen.

    I could already feel the blood draining down my stomach and down my legs, also soaking through my shirt and shorts. My pain must have been amusing to the nomad; he pulled the knife out and, with his lightning quick reflexes, plunged the knife in over and over again, probably around ten more times in two seconds flat. The pain was too intense; I couldn't even scream for several seconds. When my scream finally reached my mouth, the Vampire, unfortunately, ended up plunging his fangs deep into my airway, slaughtering my breathing, speech, and draining more blood. The library fell eerie with the scent of blood and the sound of my cracking voice. I was standing in my own ocean of blood and the Vampire in front of me was soaked in it as he was feasting off of my blood. At an angle, the Vampire lodged his knife in once more, through one of my lungs, and up to my heart.

    "Kai!!" I cried out, shooting upwards. "Kai!"

    Before I even opened my eyes, Kai had teleported into the bedroom and embraced me immediately. He most likely knew what was going on in my head; I almost always woke up like that after a nightglare. I buried my face in Kai's neck and sobbed out of fear. My hands clenched onto his shirt tightly, never wanting to release him for the time being. My breathing was uneven and unstable and Kai had to lie me down on my back. He pushed some of my bangs aside and dabbed off my sweaty forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.

    "Arisa, breathe," he whispered to me, curiosity and slight fear in his eyes. "Breathe."

    I balled my fist up and pressed it against my forehead, squeezing my eyes shut and curling up into a ball and rolling onto my side. Kai lowered himself onto his knees just as Kira peeked his head into the bedroom, worried. Kai waved him away without words and Kira obeyed. Kai's sturdy yet soft hand rubbed my shoulder and he kissed my head repeatedly, reminding me to breathe.

    "Do you want to talk about it?" he whispered again.

    I shook my head furiously and tried to push my way out of his embrace, "No, go away!"

    At first, all I wanted to do the moment I woke up was to hold Kai but I suddenly wanted to be alone. I couldn't tolerate all of the stress and fear I was going through. Not only was I fearing the effects of the contract but I was still afraid of Mayura and Hitoshi. I was worrying all the time, worrying to the point where I actually got sick. It almost seemed as though I became more scared when there were more people around. Leaving me alone would probably help but it could also get me killed.

    "Arisa, it's better to talk about it than to keep it in," he mumbled.

    As soon as he kissed the crown if my head, I immediately shoved my way out of his arms. I scooted away from him and screamed once; that was the same place the nomad kissed me. I curled up into my secure ball once more and sobbed while resting my head on my arms that were resting on my knees. Kai sat on his knees on the bed in front of me with his hands held out cautiously in front of him, reaching towards me.

    "Arisa, I'm here," he inched closer. "Arisa, I'm here to help you."

    "I don't need any help!" I slapped his hand away after he touched my shoulder. "Leave me alone!"

    Kai paused, shocked. I hadn't reacted that badly to a nightglare before; there was never a nightglare where I would actually reject Kai's help. He reached his hands out again and cupped my face delicately. I wanted to elude him but my crying took out all of my energy. He embraced me closely, allowing me to wet his shirt with my tears and my sweat. I knew Ai was probably freaking out, thinking something happened to me. I was in no mood to see anybody; I almost wasn't in the mood to see Kai...still. He only hushed me silently and stroked my hair.

    "You're trembling," Kai breathed out a small halfhearted laugh. "Are you cold?"

    I nodded without speaking; I suddenly became cold from Kai holding me so close to him. There seemed to be a tiny frozen atmosphere hovering up to an inch off of Kai's skin. Thinking of how cold he was only made me freak out more, causing me to press my face harder against his neck and cry a little more.

    The last thing I wanted to see at the moment was a Vampire but yet I was in the secure arms of one. It relieved me there were more than just evil Vampires out there; some of them were like Kai with a soft spot in their killer interior. Kai was a cold-blooded killer, there was no doubt about that, but that never meant he should be that way all the time. Most Vampires would just shrug off the soft spot inside of them and take off on an endless rampage, just for the adrenaline rush and the thrill. In the world I was stuck in, there was no such thing as a "good" Vampire, no Vampires that drank animal blood instead of human blood, no Vampires that never killed, but there hasn't not been any Vampires who have fallen for a mortal, much like Mayura and Hitoshi. Kai wasn't the only Vampire to have been in love with a human.

    Mortals were treated unfairly in such a world, treated like toys and dirt by other creatures. Fortunately, most humans didn't even know Vampires, Werewolves, Succubi, or Angels even existed. Hopefully it would stay that way; I couldn't risk Kai being found out and possibly executed. But the longer the creatures' existence are hidden, the more innocent humans that die. I was incredibly fortunate that I wasn't killed yet, considering how much everybody wanted my blood. Unfortunately, my good luck would run out eventually once the contract would start taking a hold of Kai. My dear Kai...he must be so terrified.

    The mortal world is unfair with or without otherworldly creatures; rape, murder, assult, robberies, terrorism, so many lives ruined on a daily basis just because of stupid decisions.

    "Kai..." I mumbled, snapping myself out of my own speech. "Kai?"

    Kai stared at me with seriousness all over his face. While I was daydreaming, he had laid us both down on our sides and we were facing each other. One of his hands was stroking my hair and his other hand was coiled around my waist. He pulled me a little closer and kissed my forehead, "Yes?"

    I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply, "Thank you for being there," I glanced up at him. "For everything."

    He moved his one hand from my hair to around my shoulders and he kissed the top of my head, "I always will be," he caressed me. "More importantly, I should be thanking you."

    "Why?" I whispered.

    "You've stayed with me, despite your fate," his face fell grim. "You stay with me, despite visions of the future like you just had. It's not the wisest of all of your decisions--but I'd have probably gone mad, had you not been here."

    I shut my eyes and pressed my forehead against his torso, "I'm sorry I tried to push you away; I was just scared."

    "You have nothing to be sorry for," he reassured me, rubbing my back.

    I nuzzled my face into the groove of his neck as he pulled the covers up to my shoulders. He secured me tightly and yet comfortably in his arms and kissed my head every several seconds. He never bothered to ask about my nightglare again. He knew I despised talking about them, he knew I wanted to avoid almost anything related to the contract.

    There was, however, one solitary thing related to the contract I'd never let go of; Kai.