Leilani.

My grip was getting tighter with my nails digging deep into her skin until it broke it, drawing blood. But besides a quiet whimper, Keisha made no sound. She didn’t lift her head once to look at me nor did she beg to be left alone.

Maybe she already knows that I won’t listen.

Her chin was set into a stubborn line, her eyes hardening even more with each passing second. I vaguely heard the shift before I felt it. It was Darius and he came to stand so close to him, I could literally smell the other scent on his skin— more feminine. Definitely not him.

"Leilani..." he drawled, "his voice trailing off. You are... you are trying to kill her."

While he spoke, his eyes would occasionally dart to my face then to my hair where it would stay for a moment too long before he would try to meet my eyes.

"I understand that you are mad. That you’re very pissed at the moment. But I do not think it is ideal to kill her like this... especially not now. She still has puppets that would try to find out what happened to her."

"The same way I got to find out what happened to Agnes?" I hissed and as soon as I did that, for the first time, Keisha made a sound deep in her throat.

Her eyes watered as she came to look at me, a flicker of something akin to fear crossing her features before it slowly left.

"No."

Darius came even closer until he was crowding my personal space. His tall figure loomed over me like an intimidating building, and I... I only found that insanely annoying.

"What I mean is they would find out and they would try to kill you."

"They can try." I hissed, ignoring him, "...but first, I need to hurt her like she has hurt me. Like she has hurt the people around me... Agnes... Jarek..." my voice broke at the mention of those names, and for a reason, at that moment, my vision waned.

Sounds disappeared, dissolving into white noises at the back of my ears and my vision darkened, only to be filled with images... and scenarios that I wished to leave forgotten.

The first one was an image of Agnes smiling. Of the time when she used to taunt me by explicitly describing her sexual encounters with her said boyfriend— Louis. But just before I could bring myself to smile at that, it shifted to a different scene entirely, to one where she was charred beyond recognition. One where her hair had burnt so badly, it had melted into her skull. Her once beautiful skin was burned all the way to her bones and she was stuck into a position— one in which she would remain in forever.

Gone was her smile. Her voice. Her wild hair...

"Agnes is dead." The words echoed in my head like a chant, reminding me of that moment... forcing me to relive that trauma, that pain... that heartache.

I blinked just in time to see Jarek and my heart literally came to a stuttering stop when he smiled at me. It was one of his dimpled smiles and it made my chest melt when he leaned down to wrap a thick red scarf around my neck. It was the same scarf he had gifted me... the one that had stood between us like a symbol. A promise.

And then...

Then he also shifted, turning into a pale gaunt figure with cotton buds stuck into his nostrils and ears. He had dark purple veins running along the length of his hands, face and legs, and when he tried to reach out to me, his hands shook violently, like it was fighting against gravity, before falling to his sides with a faint thud.

His exposed chest seemed rotten at the center— at the same spot where Keisha had shot.

And that scene... that image, made my heart stretch so tight until I felt like I was about to combust.

A loud cry made its way out of the depths of my soul and I tilted my head back, screaming into the air as the sounds of bones crunching under my hands filled my ears.

But that was not the only sound that filled my ears.

Her cries did too.

They were agonizing.

Raw.

Just the way I liked it.

"LEILANI!" Darius yelled out my name but I ignored him.

"Leilani?!" That was Kael and as soon as I heard his voice, I stopped. My fingers loosened around her arm before it slowly fell off.

I saw her try to run but at that moment, I didn’t care. I felt numb so I simply let her do as she liked, only to realize a second later that Kael had caught her and was now holding onto her like you would hold onto a criminal...

She was one anyway.

Her eyes were wide with apprehension and her face had fallen so much, it was a wonder how it hadn’t fallen off her head.

I turned around slowly, intending to speak... to justify my actions but just as I did that, I fell straight into a wall of muscle.

Or chest.

Or whatever it was.

Arms as thick as vines wrapped around my torso carefully and I dragged in a greedy amount of air just as an overly sweet scent filled my nose.

"Please..." I began to say but stopped when an index finger softly landed on my lips.

"It is fine..."

"But it is not. I..."

"It is okay, Leilani..." the voice muttered— Zevran, "just relax. Okay? Please"

And that I did.

I relaxed.

—

Zevran.

If I said I wasn’t shocked to my bones then believe me when I say that I am a horrible liar.

Why?

Because shock was an understatement of the century. Hell, I was perplexed. Absolutely floored. Insanely mortified by the scene I— my brothers and I— had walked into just as we arrived at the parking lot.

We had waited until the whole funeral proceedings was done before we took our leave and to my utmost surprise, we walked out just in time to see Leilani— the same girl who we all thought must’ve gone home by now— literally trying to squash Keisha’s arm with her bare hands.

And heck, she wasn’t failing.

Goddess, if we hadn’t walked in just when we did, then there was no telling how grotesque that scene would’ve been. How extremely disturbing it would’ve been for both her and her prey to witness something as unthinkable as that.

"Leilani." Kael hissed, sounding too composed for a man who just witnessed what we all did, and as soon as she heard him call out to her, she froze, slowly let go of Keisha, and like she was in a trance, she turned slowly to look at him— us.

Goddess, I wish I had that much power over her.

Keisha seized the opportunity and tried to flee but just as she made a move, Kael’s hands clamped around her better arm, holding her back.

She winced painfully when that happened and literally crumpled right there in front of us.

"Stay." He hissed at her, his voice cold and devoid of any emotions, and at the sound of his voice, she froze, gulped and lowered her head quietly; But I didn’t miss the sharpness in her eyes or how she absolutely looked as though she would definitely try to flee again if granted the opportunity.

However, I was less concerned about the girl desperately trying and failing to flee and who now had a completely useless arm, but more concerned about the other one who looked as though she had just seen a ghost.

Against my better judgement— and goddess, everything inside of me was screaming at me not to— I pulled her into my chest and wrapped my strangely stiff arms around her body, only noticing at the time that she was trembling.

She probably never intended for it to get this far.

She quietly buried her face into my chest but not before I heard her trying to say; "please..."

She probably wanted to make excuses. To explain why she had almost murdered a person by dismantling them with her bare hands... but I didn’t want to hear it.

Only the thought of it creeped me out.

So instead, I placed my finger on her lips and muttered softly;

"It is fine..."

"But it is not. I..." she began to say, but again, I stopped her.

"It is okay, Leilani..." I said and meant it, "just relax. Okay? Please"

And that she did. She melted right into my chest, making me momentarily forget what I had just witnessed and filling me with warmth, so much warmth, I couldn’t help but moan..

I turned then to look at Caelum who had been quiet the entire time and I almost chuckled when I saw the stunned look on his pale face.

Almost.

That was until I glanced at Keisha one more time, and her literally lifeless arm.