"Midnight Chapter 4 Pt.2" by Victoria Lia Yu

Her words were cold, a block of liquid ice, piercing into the listener’s soul. Almost everyone in the room turned to look at me. It just so happens to be that I am the only half-blood here, the only living half-blood that is. Was it the Midnight, Lester and his crew? They seemed determined last time to get a hand on me. Had they returned? Hisses of curses flew towards me and even Kail wasn’t enough to protect me.

“It’s the curse of the half-ling!”

“She should have died years ago!”

“What have you done?!”

Accusations flew from everywhere making the accuser them and the victim me. I stood numb to all and frightened for one of the rare times in my life. What could have caused such a macabre scene in the holy pantheon of the Second Temple? Even if I tried to fight back, I’d only be drowned in their anger and their blind accusations like usual. If anything went wrong, the half-blood was quick to be blamed. This time, it was no small punishment. The killing of a fellow Dawn was death or excommunication, depending on the status of the Dawn and the severity of the wounds inflicted on the Dawn.

Still, I made a feeble attempt to fight back. “I didn’t do it.”

“How will we know that you aren’t lying? You weren’t with your division, nor were you in the Third Temple. You could have killed them while everyone was panicking over the Third Temple Fourth and Eighth Division deaths. Everyone knows how much you hate being here,” a Dawn uttered, whom I recognized as a friend of Agrabelle’s.

“True. Now that we think of it, you were gone for awhile. Unless you can tell us where you truly were and what you were doing, no one will believe that you didn’t kill them.” Agrabelle’s sweet venomous voice rang through the pantheon as poison. Ripples of agreement surged through the gathered crowd. The few that might have actually believed in me were too outnumbered and too timid to utter back their protests. At the fringe of the crowd, Eva, Ophelia, Sabir and Frae stood watching in unmasked horror.

“Agrabelle, please be reasonable. How could I have possibly killed ten of the seniors above me? I don’t even have a fraction of the strength to do that.”

“Unless you can prove otherwise, you will be under house arrest until we can find the culprit. I am afraid that is the only way,” Lord Gregor said, in mock concern.

I glared in inexplicable rage at him. I am so sick of his false goodness towards me. I hate being the charity case of the Dawn. Why didn’t they just kill me when my parents died too? If my existence was an abomination, then why even keep me? What was the point in seeing me suffer humiliation day after day, year after year? For their amusement and entertainment, or is it because “that is the only way” to keep me in check? “I—”

“She was with me.” I gagged and turned to see Kail talk for the first time since we came in. I then realized that I still had his cloak around me and he was exposed to all around us.

“Pardon?” Lord Basil looked at Kail in complete confusion.

“I said that Jenna was with me. If there is punishment for spending time with a lover, then I am willing to take it.” I don’t know who was more shocked, them or me. An eerie silence overcame the panic and fright earlier. Compared, I actual preferred the open accusations than the silent glares of the Dawn. Agrabelle looked at me with her jaw slack. I would have laughed if I wasn’t so occupied in trying to figure out what was going on.

“Kail, what are you saying?” I whispered fiercely, thinking him mad for saying something so outrageous. “Are you out of your mind?!”

He only gave me a reassuring smile which for once, had no effect what-so-ever. “Jenna, sweetheart, it’s no use hiding it if your life is on the line. I wouldn’t hold back and protect you if needed to. Have faith in me, and let me talk of this.” I gawked in horror. This was just as frightening as seeing corpses all around us.

“My dear Kail, what are you talking about?” Agrabelle’s voice was strained with distress after hearing the news. I wouldn’t doubt her anger was at the boiling point within. I would be if someone just told me the one I loved had someone else.

I saw him turn to her with cool composure. His eyes hardened and distant, a terrible sight, like seeing a fiery fire burn you, not killing you directly, but torturing you slowly. “Belle, I’ve been trying to tell you this sooner, but you never gave me the chance. I never wanted to hurt you. Please, you would be better forgetting me, and remembering me as just a cousin.” He had some really great acting skills or else, I don’t know how he pulled that off. The hurt in Agrabelle’s eyes were almost unbearable. I was silently gloating to see Agrabelle sad and broken, but it was too tragic to be celebrating, especially when I’m suspected as a murderer.

The three leaders of the Temples were lost for words. Then, my Lord Gregor spoke up. “Pray tell me, when did this begin?” His little attempt to sound nonchalant was unsuccessful as his shock showed right through.

“A year ago. We would meet briefly and silently in the dead of night near Eva’s cabin. Do not bother Eva. She has no idea of what had been happening in the distant corners of her aerial garden.” He smiled a cocky grin of his at the end. I could help but flush at what he had been referring to. Other Dawn also were the same. Agrabelle truly broke at those words, collapsing in her friend’s grip. If not, she would have fallen on the marble ground. “I plan on continuing the relationship if with the permission of my Lord. I am merely trying to prove that we were away hiding back in her garden as I comforted her from her fault two days ago. We were brought back by the screams and here we are, though apparently, I forgot to get my cloak back. Unfortunately, a slip of mind.”

“A year ago?” Lord Gregor looked lost in thought possibly thinking of the possibility of his testimony being true. Lord Basil turned to Celestine with a panicked expression. She once again looked at me with a measured glance. She took in the tousled hair which was caused by falling to the floor and into the bushes, my skimpy outfit, the trademark of my rebellion against them, and Kail’s cloak wrapped around me. No one knew whether to believe us or laugh.

I didn’t dare look at Agrabelle or my team, afraid of their expressions. “Can you prove it?” Celestine said in her cold sharp tone.

Prove it? How did she want him to prove it? I shuddered in fear and stopped halfway through a shudder as Kail wrapped his arms around my waist. A little yelp of surprise escaped my lips and I nearly turned to slap him, if not for the situation. He leaned down and his lips grazed my ear and he whispered “cooperate” so softly, I nearly didn’t hear. It came out more sensual than an actual order or warning. His lips trailed down my ear to my neck, making me shudder all over. Except this time, it isn’t because of fear, but of excitement and curiosity. He held me tighter, and his tongue came from within his lips tickling me, taunting my skin. I don’t know about him, but despite being afraid of being touched, I was actually enjoying it, a mortifying thought to me. His hands were trailing down and it moved along my skin caressing me like a treasure. The feel of those warm hands nearly made me lose conscious.

“That will be enough.” Mistress Gabrielle said breathlessly. If one didn’t know, one would think she was the one being caressed. Not only was she flushed, many other female Dawns were. Did Kail have this much power over us? I was at the brink of collapsing into him, my knees turned to jelly.

“Like she said, how could she have killed ten of those above her? Don’t you think that is stretching her abilities?” His words seemed to make so much more sense than when I said it. Was that his power? The power of persuasion, no matter what consequences?

The gathering was dismissed. We could only assume that the Midnight picked them off one by one when they were returning. It seemed too much of a coincidence to have picked off one of each division. The three leaders believe it a well planned ambush at the different times and locations they returned from.

I did not understand the plan. My mind was too occupied by Kail’s touch. It was…tingling. It was like an electric flow, shocking me every moment he had skin contact with me. While the Second Temple mourned for their lost members, the rest were herded back to their supposed dorms. Kail and I lagged behind and he pulled me down a dark corridor that was sealed when the corpses were found.

I had finally found my footing, and now I was confused and angry. Confused about what had happened. Angry that he had said something as unbelievable as that and that he not told me of any of this beforehand.

He seemed to understand my emotions and held my shoulders. “Sorry about that display back there. I didn’t really mean to embarrass you.” He smiled and I wished I could feel better but I didn’t. “Why? I never really had a reputation to care for, but why did you ruin yours for me? I don’t understand.”

He ruffled his hair and his shirt raised just little to expose his taut muscles and the deep dent of his hips that peeked through his low pants. Thank god he couldn’t see the red of my face in the dark. I don’t think I’ll ever see Kail as the same ever again. He isn’t just a friend anymore, something more, something less. I don’t know how to describe my mixed feelings at the moment.

“I really want to say that it was to help a friend, but that would probably be the worst lie ever. I…I don’t how to put this.” Was he actually stuttering? The invincible and absolutely arrogant Kail was at a loss of words? I couldn’t believe it. “I always thought you were different from the others. Not in your mixed blood, but by nature and aura. There was something you had that is rarely seen on a Dawn. Maybe it has to do with your Midnight blood, but whatever it is, I had been caught under its spell since long ago.

“When you first started your training, I saw your delicate features, expecting you to be frail, yet you stood up against those beyond your ability and status, never losing your dignity, your unique fire. I know I’m babbling, but since then, I had been drawn to you. I befriended you and learned to understand you slowly. I soon knew what your actions meant. When showed no emotion, it meant that you were confused. When you showed your anger, it was to hide the vulnerability of your soul. When you snapped at others, it was to keep up your shield, not allowing anyone across. Even when you seemed friendly and open, you still held back, as if you were afraid you might hurt somebody. When others saw a defiant girl, I saw a broken and desperate girl, a girl fighting to not be swallowed by her own despair and fear, someone who needed a shoulder to cry on, but with no one to lean on, you were so alone.”

I was taken aback by his words. When did he see through me? No one has ever seen me so clearly. Not Sabir, not Eva, nor Frae, and definitely not Ophelia. How did he see into the depths of my eyes? I didn’t even talk to him that much, just occasionally when we bumped into each other on our own individual business. “You knew?” I whispered, barely audible.

“I did. I didn’t want to leave you alone, yet my duty made it impossible to stay close. You fear being alone though you stay alone no matter what. What I really want to say is that I love you and I don’t want to ever see you cry and fear. I don’t want to see you alone and tonight when I found you cold at the Well of Eternity, I thought I lost you forever. Now, I’ve decided that I won’t hide my feelings anymore. I can’t stand it, watching you fight alone on the sidelines, doing nothing. I will fight with you, support you and love you, keeping you company.”

No words came to me, no thoughts came, no actions came, but his words echoing in my mind. Did I just hear what I believe I did? I pinched myself to prove if I was dreaming or not. It hurt and I actually bled. This is no dream; this is reality, a very unbelievable reality. All I could do was laugh. “Kail, this is a very cruel joke. Agrabelle is absolutely broken. You should apologize—” His lips crushed onto mine with force, but gentle at the same time. I responded briefly, tasting the musky exotic scent of his skin, before pushing him away. “No, this can’t be happening. You’re my friend, at least you were. Now…I don’t know what you are to me. Why did you have to do this?” he tried to explain, but I didn’t let him.

I ran down the hall, taking a detour back to the Third Temple with tears running in my eyes. Twelve have been lost tonight, and the innocence of a thirteenth had been stolen away. The relationship with Kail will never be the same. How will I look him in the eye, without remembering his gentle touch and his smoldering lips? How can I smile as I once did when we were close friends that weren’t afraid to talk despite the gap in our status?

I had reached the entrance of our room, stopping to wipe away my tears, and when I entered, the lights were off. Everyone was in their beds but I knew none of them were really asleep. A chant, if not silent, slid through our room, a prayer for the dead. Sabir’s deep timbre matched with Ophelia’s husky voice and Frae’s light tinkering voice weaving between. All the Dawn will be chanting for an hour before they will be allowed to sleep. I kicked off my shoes and slid under the covers without changing. I couldn’t care less at the moment.

I still had Kail’s cloak. His scent was smoldered in every thread, smothering me as I wrapped it around me face shielding myself from the light of the moon. Though I didn’t want to believe Kail, I could still feel his lingering touch on my skin, prickling me, sending shivers down my spine. His cloak invited me to rest and with a prayer for the dead, I joined in the chant, the cry of a lone wolf caught between the lament of a nightingale, the moan of the bear, and the call of a siren.