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The murmuring of Vegas echoed up through the darkened windows. The constant whoosh of tires pattered with deeper revs of the unique engines. Sirens wailed in the distance; an undercurrent to loud horns and groups of cheering women. Celebration pouring from the casinos hailing the skidding screech of breaks. Aggressive horns. Little peeps. Men shouting. More sirens. More horns. More cheers. The whipping blades of a helicopter. The heartbeat of Vegas was consistent inconsistency. The random variations of these sounds that forms a monotonous din. The daily grind for ears to tune out.
The softest whisper of the stream quietly rejected the streets of Vegas. It giggled, trickling freely through the room to where it fell to the waterfall down the side of the building. That began to rouse Cali a little further, a fact betrayed by her furrowing brows and a soft groan. Who the fuck had a stream going through a bedroom? Oh, that’s right. Obscenely rich people. That’s who. Still, the stream offered peace for Onyx. It kept the room just a little cooler than the rest of the Troupe’s floor. It also changed the air, adding a crispness that filled Cali’s lungs with every deep breath. The air, somehow, was cleaner. Lighter against Cali’s clammy skin.
A sticky barrier stopped the usual relaxation Cali felt, gathered between her dextrous fingers. Her gut became heavy at the prospect of looking down at her befouled arms. At the coagulated blood she knew she’d find there. She could feel the variations, where the cells had separated enough to smudge. Where blood thinned out to a slight tinge, and where the darkest bands of crimson would be discovered.
Cali took a deep breath, shaking the daunting prospect from her mind’s eye before she braved the room surrounding her.
Streetlights and neon signs illuminated the night, turning the room into a disco disconnected from reality. Blues and purples bisected the night to pierce the thick layers of glass. There was an aquatic quality to it, as if they were deep within the tunnels of the aquarium Onyx so loved. The ripples gleaming across the roof and walls added to this sense, dancing as the light hit the stream. Soft greys that danced across everything with such calm and consistent joy they inspired a sense of calm. So long as Cali didn’t look down at her hands, she could feel like a child again. Could bathe in the wonder and awe as she watched the patterns. Perhaps, like Onyx, she could embrace the calmness and contentment offered. Just so long as she didn’t look down...
Cali was never one to avoid reality.
Blood. There had been so much blood. Various shades of red splashed across a filthy street canvas. A canvas which was gnarled and uneven in texture. Aged by improper care, rotting even. A canvas completely unworthy of such precious pallets. Admiration was birthed within snarling demons, who had pushed their advantage. Slashing. Cutting. Crushing. They had descended like locusts; vultures to the trapped bison before it had even died. Beaks ripping flesh from bone without a care for the cries. How Cali had fended them off, she still didn’t know. Her own screams had drowned everything out as she fought.
“She’s alive. I fixed it. I fixed it!” Her scratchy voice wobbled in her ears. She fought her mind, rapidly blinking the images away. Still, they invaded. Lapping at her consciousness as her eyelids fell closer and closer to closed. They were heavy. So... heavy....
...........
Blonde hair had been unrecognisable for the blood pouring split forehead. The face had many blood vessels. It bled superficially, making everything seem worse than it was. A metaphor for life, perhaps. Cali logically knew that first wound was superficial and treatable, however what was logic but the absence of heart? Cali’s heart owed allegiance to Onyx, thus shattering the disconnect a doctor needed. “Cali” was no more once she had Onyx safely in her bed. “Cali” was a prisoner part of her mind which was left in that alleyway. It was the girl screaming so loudly that her ears still rung when the air was silent. “Cali” rattled her cage; a howling, desperate creature as her body went through every motion. Cleaning wounds. Stitching wounds. Cutting away layers of cloth to find the next injury. “Cali” was the girl lamenting the destruction of each piece of clothing. The girl who had watched Onyx’s delicate hands weave their magic with every stitch; weave a spell that entranced the masses. “Cali” was the girl who would laugh with Onyx. The girl who would eagerly devour every laugh offered, only to dedicate everything into generating that next smile. The next joyful moment. But that Cali couldn’t lead. Not when Onyx had been bleeding from what seemed to be a thousand cuts.
Cali Meng Xi’s hands were steady. She was always steady. Collected. Methodical. The perfect doctor in training. She was the young girl who understood her emotions meant nothing. The girl who had previously had her fingers so deep within Onyx’s flesh that blood stained her forearms. Cali Meng Xi did not flinch when Onyx’s body convulsed. The pained whimpers and panicked breath of the patient did not distract her from task. They roused no overbearing sympathy. They simply informed her the patient was alive. Cali Meng Xi had not mourned the damage of Onyx’s handmade creations. Clothes could be replaced. Lives couldn’t. Onyx couldn’t. Cali Meng Xi was strong until the bleeding was staunched, the gashes cleaned and stitched. Possibilities of internal bleeding and severe organ damage dismissed. Once crisis was averted, Cali Meng Xi collapsed into the chair, panting and exhausted and ready to become Cali once more.
.......
“Onyx!” Cali’s own scream tore her from her nightmares. The chair rocked weakly as she bolted upright. Her body was on high alert; heart racing to supply blood to her cramping limbs. The swoosh of blood rushing through her ears was overpowering, accompanied by a subtle ting which threatened to shatter what was left of her fragile composure. Her bones were too weak to hold her heart, which seemed to have migrated to her throat and her stomach. She couldn’t see anything out of place as her judgemental gaze calculated the room.
Onyx’s sodden clothes were still kicked halfway beneath the bed. The custom made leather jacket, which had been slashed apart so severely that only the false zippers actually held anything together. The candy floss pink skirt was still stained with trails of blood. Onyx’s sneakers lay where they had fallen; against the far wall they had been thrown against in panicked rage. Cali couldn’t make anything else out distinctively, but she knew what lingered. The low-cut shirt, leading into straps and mesh that barely concealed Onyx’s collar and put her cleavage on display. The frilly bra, pink silk and black lace. The barely there panties, designed to be literal flowers concealing her. The mocking message stitched into the mesh across her backside.
Knowing which of those clothes had been slashed by vicious claws and which she had cut away herself was enough to make Cali nauseous. As if a heavy rock descended from her dry throat and settled in the pit of her stomach. It was all confirmation the nightmare was all too real, not a figment of an overtaxed individual’s overactive catastrophising.
Cali couldn’t tell if it was the cold, the stress or exhaustion that caused her to begin trembling. Only that her body gave out. She pitched forwards, catching herself with her elbows against her thighs. The world was slow. Creeping into the poor focus of an exhausted young woman. Static. A dull fuzziness gnawed at the edges of her vision, slowly creeping inwards the longer she attempted to blink away the blurriness. Of course, she couldn’t. She already knew this even as she fought to bring herself back from the brink. This all-encompassing, thick sensation was part of why she had dropped out of med school in the first place. It drained her, captivating every limb until only the cramps and her inability to completely surrender remained; warring with one another until her body simply could not sustain her mental torment anymore and nature took what it was owed.
She found herself staring down at her hands, processing the taints she saw. She was right. Blood had coagulated across her flesh, forming various washings of red. In the natural creases of her hands, Cali could see the more condensed plasma. The thicker bands of goop. The shades had washed out across her skin, turning from crimson to browns against her natural tones. Her forearms shuddered as her body continued to rebel the cramped curl she had adopted. Her fingers were like poor imitations of claws, twitching occasionally. One more twitch, one more flex and the muddy coating might chip away from her callused skin. It was chilling, enough to pull the tendons in her body tighter. Another round of shivers. Why couldn’t the dark lines just beneath her nails be nothing more than a hideous dream?
It was the soft rumble of a bear’s growl which tore Cali’s attention from her hands. Looking up, she found herself face to face with Ripley. She couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the Bear’s giant maw, with enormous teeth and dark gums wrapped around one end of a large cloth. It was the gleam of understanding and sympathy in her gentle eyes which began to break Cali down.
Ripley. The Envy assassin before Onyx. The Assassin who had given her life to try and save her family, the other Assassins who had died that day. How could such a human woman become a bear? The afterlife of an Envy assassin? Her redemption for her sacrifice? Onyx had mentioned that it was a trait of an Envy assassin. That she could hear the thoughts of birds, and Ripley. Cali had to swallow down her emotions. Onyx could hear Ripley, but could Ripley hear Onyx? Could Ripley be listening to the agony Onyx was in? Or, was Onyx asking Ripley to care for her? That thought was enough to cause Cali to swallow. What would Onyx become? Could a fly in the room be Onyx? Could Onyx be sitting in a pound just waiting for the troupe? No. Onyx was Onyx. All five foot of lithe, beautiful determination... right? Was she still breathing? Oh, dear gods, WAS SHE STILL BREATHING?
Cali’s attention whipped back to Onyx.
Beneath the blankets Onyx appeared so small, especially with only her head emerging from the pile. The dazzling nightlights of Vegas caused her skin to glow the colour of liquid moonlight. Her river of flowing hair had become A rainbow of blues and purples reflected in individual strands until the illusion of colour almost drowned out reality. The world was separated from Onyx, just like Snow White in her casing. But Onyx was far more than any Fairy Tale princess could ever hope to be; not even the growing storm of bruising could diminish her beauty. Cuts couldn’t make Onyx’s soft lips any less inviting. No, those cuts only served as a reminder that the small woman laying there was a survivor. A fighter. Alive.
Onyx was a soldier in an endless war. One who would sacrifice herself without even realising she was the sun of Cali’s galaxy. That her death would shatter Cali’s fragile world. She’d come so close, close enough for Cali to see the flames that would engulf her world without the hope of the next Sunrise. Worse, Cali had come to understand that she would do nothing to prevent this. She would watch the world burn. Hell, she may even welcome it. Afterall, a galaxy needed something at its core. That one chilling, hopeless moment of horror was immortalised in Onyx’s flesh by THAT scar.
It had healed so thin. A whisper of the horror. Thin, raised and pale. It was faint enough to be a trick of the light. After all, Onyx was a living diamond; glistening, sought after, near unbreakable. How could someone so beautiful have been the victim of something so ugly?
Cali swallowed back a sob. Even now, the memory of the blood against Onyx’s skin was so stark. Confronting. The wicked gleam in Vinca’s eyes, clashing with Onyx’s bright smile. A smile that had never wavered as she yelled for Cali to run. Not until Cali obeyed, chased by Onyx’s terrified scream of agony. The way her voice cracked as she kept screaming for Cali to run.
“Run! Run, run, run!”
Cali hadn’t seen much when it happened, only the curtain of red through the haze of desperate, fearful tears. With her fingers tracing the scar, she didn’t need to have seen it. She could feel every subtle width of the line, changing pressure in the blade which had saved Onyx’s life. Was it hesitation? Had Vinca moved in an effort to spare Onyx? Was that... care? Or, had it been in an effort to keep Onyx alive as bait?
“How, Ripley? How could Vinca have... she almost... HER OWN SISTER!” Cali burst, with hot tears sliding down her numb face. If Ripley had an answer, she couldn’t give it. The bear simply gave a rumble, something which sounded almost like a sympathetic, comforting coo, before she laid her head in Cali’s lap. Exhaustion rendered the immense weight dull, shifting it into warm pressure over Cali’s thighs as her bloodied hands fell to rest on the bear’s skull. The warmth of soft fur did little to ease the pain radiating through Cali’s hands, yet it was a comfort she was immensely grateful for.
“It’s the twin thing. One is nice, the other is a hell spawn.” Malakai’s gentle interruption caused Cali to startle. Her attention flew to the door, where she was greeted by the muscle-bound mass. Gentle concern shone in his burnt ember eyes, even as a frown twisted his broad features into melancholy. As he moved, the layers of his tattoos swum in Cali’s vision. Had his tattoos always moved like that or was she just that exhausted?
“Luckily we’ve got the sweet one. The other one is an evil bitch who wants your soul.” Darius added with a snarl that could challenge any demon’s ferocity. His dark cocoa eyes remained narrowed in fury. His chiselled jaw bulged left then right as he ground his teeth. Beneath his tight shirt, Cali could see his lithe muscles bulging, definition made starker by shadow. She could only watch as he ran his hand through his messy hair, disrupting his perfected gel image with unfocused despair and rage. A mess of desperation.
“Guys I-” Cali cut her sentence short as the mark on her shoulder throbbed with ancient power; black marks darkening against her skin. She could feel the pressure of Onyx’s teeth. The heat of her mouth. It was so easy to fall into her memories. The possessive little sound Onyx had made as she bit down. How charged the moment had been, right before magic ignited. How... hungry, she had been for the Envy Assassin. No. For Onyx Wren. The mark was as much a blessing as a curse, Cali had come to recognise. It was a sign of immense energy, the potential to empower demons and thrust open the gates of hell... but it was also Onyx’s mark. A magical reminder that Onyx wanted Cali. What had started as an impassioned bite in a moment of blistering lust had been soothed by love. The gentlest kisses to bruised flesh. Onyx had seemed as if she wished to leave everything of herself written in that bite, had given everything until Cali feared handling more. She hadn’t yet earned what Onyx offered. The toothmarks had never faded. Even after bruising had gone and weeks had passed. Even now, beneath her coloured hoodie, there was the indentation of Onyx’s teeth. Near invisible to the human eye; mistakable for a birthmark, or a tattoo when it darkened to black.
“Onyx...” Cali’s whisper came unbidden, a near silent prayer. Her hand had gravitated to the marks, caressing the indentation of canines. The sharpest point.
“We all saw Onyx is a biter, Cali. No need to be bashful.” Came a playful comment from Darius. His naturally perfect brows danced, wiggling so suggestively that Cali felt her cheeks flush despite herself. She shifted her shoulder back instinctively, as if she could shield the mark from him. It was not his to comment on, even if her shirt had moved enough for the mark to be visible.
“Quit it. Short stack needs to sleep.” Cal’s voice was enough to make Darius’ dancing brows pause. When the Handsome Gunslinger stepped into the room, his sharp blue eyes fixated on Darius. Cal’s disapproval faded when his gaze shifted to Cali, replaced by concern. It was an unusual look for Cal, one Cali felt didn’t belong on such a pretty face.
“You look like shit.” Cal’s snarky remark was so characteristic of him that Cali snorted. Trust Cal to be the element of snark whilst also trying to be nice. Cal’s sweat soaked hair caught Cali’s eye. How it clung to his clammed forehead.
“Thanks... you don’t look so good yourself.” Cali’s bite was weak, not even enough to earn a rise out of the grouchy man.
“Your self-inflicted punishment isn’t going to help anyone. Get to bed already.”
“Not until Onyx wakes up.” Cali declined, shaking her head as defiantly as she dared in her state. She didn’t much fancy the sound of sloshing in her ears, nor the feeling akin to her brain bashing into her temples.
Cal let out a loud, long suffering sigh.
“You’re an idiot. She chose you; god knows why. You make her happy. Don’t screw that up by being stubborn. She wouldn’t like that at all.” Cal’s sharp words sliced through the air. His lips once again adopted his typical scowl. After a shake of his head, his focus gently drifted to Onyx. Piercing eyes held an unspoken softness. The depth of his love for the girl laying in the bed.
“He’s right. We don’t want to see you burn out.” Wrath’s voice was quiet but strong, dominating the room. The ringleader strode to Cali with a bowl in hand. Cali blinked as she turned her head, unable to endure the quiet compassion in Wrath’s eyes, nor the glint of golden beads in her bushy hair. There was silence as the Ringleader cautiously picked the cloth out of Cali’s weak grasp.
“You cannot carry the guilt for this. It’s done. You’re both alive. It was demons. Not you.” Wrath’s strength came through her quietened voice. The brawler knelt beside Cali, extending her hand the moment she had placed the bowl down. The way the light captured the creases of Wrath’s palm proved hypnotic. Diamond, sapphires and bars of ruby mixed with bronze. Barely thinking, Cali extended her hand, reaching without really seeing. Warmth, almost enough to burn. Then a softer warmth. Warmth that left an impression. Slowly, her hands began to relax, giving to the firm pressure and gentle touches. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the rag, to watch the water in the bowl to go from clear to pink. Instead, she simply closed her eyes and listened. She allowed herself to slowly drift away to soothing words and assurances, mixed with a few snarky comments.
By the time her hand were cleaned, Cali was barely aware of her surroundings. A moment of weightlessness as she was lifted from the chair. Fluffy, raspberry warmth as she was tucked in beside Onyx. She was comfortable. Snug. Safe. Everything was alright. She had done all she could, now, she could finally give in. She could surrender to the haze, confident when she opened her eyes that her heart would be waiting for her.
Onyx was finally safe.