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I sat down on the bench at the foot of the bed and rubbed the back of my neck, feeling uncomfortable being alone in the room. Rayne had just been whisked away by the maids to get made up for Adon’s ball, and I had decided to stay as far back as I could to give her privacy. They were just in the bathroom, and I wasn’t worried about them doing anything to her. If they did, I would feel it, and I probably wouldn’t be needed anyway. One thing about Rayne is that I had found her to be surprisingly capable throughout our various misadventures, dare I say even lethal at times. She was a force to be reckoned with, even without my help.
I let out a sigh of exhaustion. I didn’t let Rayne see my weariness. The lack of sustenance was starting to get to me again. It had been a couple of days since we last ate. Although, that meal had been more effective to soothe my ever-growing hunger…given what the meal was.
I closed my eyes and held my arms, holding myself in a self-embrace. I knew food was the last thing on Rayne’s mind right now. I knew it was only a matter of time until she scouted out her friends and joined them again. And I knew that now I wasn’t ever going to get her to leave them again. This is what I had feared the most from the beginning, when it was just her and that boy Samael. This girl got too attached too quickly and way too easily. It was dangerous how much she cared about them. Especially Samael. God, why did HE of all people have to find her? He’d only proven to be a burden to us. Him and his cousin and that other girl. It wouldn’t have to matter if what Adon had said turned out to be true, even though I highly doubted it. Rayne would save everyone anyway if she could. And she and I would inevitably die for those three. That’s how this story ends. I knew that even though she said she wouldn’t, for me, she very much would in the heat of the moment. I knew damn well how worthy my life was to her compared to the others.
But was I okay with that? Was I ready to die? If necessary, yes…I think so. The difference was what Rayne and I deemed necessary. Hell, Rayne would die for that boy’s cat if she had to! She almost did!
I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, squinting as my eyes adjusted to the light above me. My eyes watered from the brightness and I shifted my body so I was on my side, my legs hanging off the edge of the bench. I stared at the carpet and felt a weird sense of emotion creep up my whole being. Was I not giving Rayne enough credit for how much she cared about me? She did give me a name, after all. A stupid name. I chuckled to myself. Gelan. Who names someone Gelan?
I shook off the emotion and narrowed my eyes at the ground. This wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. I knew that whether Adon was lying or not, they were in danger. That man had nothing but trouble up his sleeve, I could tell. And I didn’t like how he called Rayne “Morning Glory”, as if she was just some accessory or trophy of some sort for him to obtain. The thought made me uncomfortable. It reminded him of Mateo and Gressil. Who, by the way, I reminded myself, was very much alive. I had forgotten about that in all the riff-raff going on. I did have a hunch though. After Gladiolus confirmed my worries about Rayne being able to heal others if they took in her blood, I knew immediately that Gressil was back in the game. I’d seen that entity in her dreams, even though I didn’t tell her. I’d watched him lick her blood off that god-forsaken knife he used to torture her with. I knew, even back then, that that was going to cause problems. But I didn’t want to worry her with it, since it was highly unlikely that we’d see him again. But that came back to bite me in the ass…
But what did Samael say about him? He didn’t remember Rayne. Called her his “God”. Ugh, what nightmare-fuel. But maybe it meant he wasn’t going to try to kill her for revenge or something. I didn’t know whether to be worried or not. But knowing Gressil, and whatever side he was on, I very much needed to be worried. Whether as a threat or not, I knew we were going to have to deal with him again in some way eventually.
God, what a mess. Why were we even here again? Right, for the redhead. Kenny was his name. And that’s a whole other thing…was he even worth saving at this point? If he was infected, or in the process of getting infected, did that mean it was automatically too late? Were they all just here in vain? Rayne and I hadn’t found any way to reverse this. We were stuck together. That’s what Gladiolus said. But neither of us remembered what had even happened to make us this way in the first place. So maybe there was still hope for Kenny…?
I was risen from my thoughts with the sound of the sink turning on in the bathroom. I heard Rayne’s voice faintly asking a question with a response from a maid. Perhaps they were almost done. Suddenly, the door to the room opened. The other girl, Tomoha, stood in the doorway clutching the doorknob as two maids behind her smiled and walked off uniformly. Tomoha side-eyed them briefly before stepping inside and closing the door.
I sat up awkwardly, even though I knew she couldn’t see me. She went and stood by the door of the bathroom, most likely hearing the ruckus going on inside and assuming Rayne was still in there getting ready. I noted the extravagant outfit that they had put her in, and wondered what kind of thing Rayne was going to come out wearing. It all felt shallow and unnecessary in my opinion, given the current situation. But Adon also seemed to be a shallow guy, so I wasn’t surprised he was throwing himself this big of a party in the middle of the apocalypse. It made me wonder where Samael was. Surely he wouldn’t take as long as the girls to get ready. It made me slightly suspicious, but I ignored it. We’d cross that bridge when we got there.
The bathroom door opened and Tomoha stepped back and smiled, seeing Rayne step out. She was wearing a black sleeveless dress with matching black gloves and shoes. I stood up, preparing myself for whatever they were going to do next. I noticed that they had cut her hair back into bangs and I immediately felt suspicious of why. They didn’t need to do that…but I shook off the feeling for now. No need to worry when the worrying was pointless. I stood and listened to the girls talk and decided not to show myself to Rayne just yet. If she needed me, she would ask.
The girls took each other’s hand and started to make their way out the door, and with a last glance back at the bench, I followed them. I had a feeling that that was going to be the last time in a while that I’d be able to rest. I became more and more sure, as I walked down the extravagant halls behind the girls, that this wasn’t going to be a normal ball.