[Christian](Past)As soon as Kian walked out of the door with Carys, a swarm of anxious charity committee members closed in on me, accompanied by the overly concerned host.“Oh my God, prince. How did this happen?” The air buzzed with their collective worry, as if my body was made of glass instead of bones and muscles and it was on the brink of shattering.People fussed over my wound that had healed minutes ago. With an exaggerated sigh, I watched them fuss over the non-existent wound. “How did this happen?” “Who did this?”“Oh my goddess, the wall’s all shattered.”“It looks like a severe injury, my prince.”“Did someone attack you, my prince?”“Someone call the police.”“I’ll call the ambulance,” the host fumbled with his phone.I took his phone. Pulling the white handkerchief from his suit’s breast pocket, I stuffed his phone into it.Wiping the blood off my face, I smiled.“Tragic accident, gentlemen. A brilliantly small and childish tragic accident,” I deadpanned.They looked
[Kian](Past)This ticket is valid from the Quarter avenue station to the Central station.I looked at the two metro tickets, waiting for the train.From the corner of my eyes, I glanced at the police standing in a dark corner of the station and then at the blinking red lights of the cameras. It was almost midnight, yet the station was brimming with people.Carys sat beside me on the bench, her head resting on my shoulder. Her legs were shaking under the bench as she fidgeted with the cuff of my hoodie. She had changed into a normal black top and jeans.I had changed my clothes as well. Ever since our encounter with Christian at the crossroad, she seemed to be lost. I didn’t need words to understand her heart. Because both of us felt the same.I know she was trying to stay strong and not show her fears, but her restless eyes and her side gazes suspected every human who passed by us.Metro would be the fastest way to reach Central Earthens. From there, the journey to the Infinity shor
[Kian] The air inside the compartment hung heavy with my father’s aura burning through me. It felt as though my lungs were slowly being filled with a smoke so dense no breath had the power to diffuse that suffocation. I glanced outside the window, watching as the train sped past the platforms it was supposed to stop on. Clenching my jaws, I lowered my head. The rhythmic clatter of the train wheels seemed to echo my racing heartbeat. I had to stay calm and tread carefully. One wrong step and it wouldn’t take a second for this speeding train to transform into a morbid hunting ground. The once-clear glass windows could besmeared with blood. And he had already made it clear whose blood would be spilled. Deep down, I already knew the consequences of being caught the moment I left my pack. How did I fail? Where did I go wrong? What step gave us up? How did he know where I would be? How did he know which train I was taking or where I was heading to? I truly believed that we could—
[Carys] (Present) “I will not let anything or anyone stain Alpha Kian’s reputation. Ever again,” I said. Christian contemplated me and then skimmed his eyes to Kian. We faced one another in the hallway of AAC. The first SW meeting had almost wrapped up when Christian showed up. Christian grimaced at me as if he was ready to shoot insults at any moment, but then with an ugly sneer, he turned around and sauntered into the meeting hall. Only when he was out of sight did I feel the air lighten, but the ambiance remained heavy. “Don’t tell me he is going to be a part of SW,” Kian said, peering at the door of the hall that closed behind Christian. “I think he already is,” I said. We looked at each other blankly. “As the leader of SW, do I have a say in this?” He asked. “I guess not. I bet Alpha King invited him, otherwise he wouldn’t walk around here as if he owns this place,” I said. “Makes sense,” Kian nodded. “It will be a pain to work with him, but if you ask me, he is quit
[Carys]“What’s wrong, miss Elffire?” Liam asked.“Umm. Uh. A rat ran right over my feet,” I said, forcing a smile onto my face. “Maybe. Maybe a… a cockroach.”“A cockroach!” Verity, Nox, and Ash yelped together, lifting their feet in the air while they frantically looked under the table.Pfft!Kian suppressed his laughter, clearing his throat while King broke into laughter.“A rat? In our office?” King looked at Liam. “When was the last rodent control?”Liam looked back at the King, narrowing his eyes. “We don’t have rodent control, King,” he replied.“B-b-but we have pest control, right?” Verity stammered.“Yes,” Liam said. “And quite an advanced one. So there’s no way for a rodent or… a cockroach to get in here.”“Must be a nasty little rat that sneaked in,” I said, glaring at Kian from the corner of my eyes.“Indeed,” he said. “Must be a really stubborn one.”“Scared of a rat! And cockroaches?” Christian said impassively, looking around. “Wow. My confidence in SW is skyrocketing.”
[Carys] (TW: Self-harm and blood) * ** *** I slammed Ruin against the ice wall as a radial crack crept through the wall. “What did you do? What the FUCK did you do?” I roared, glaring right into his red eyes. “What did I do?” His heavy eyelids partially opened his eyes as he gave a nonchalant shrug. “Oh! You mean trying to get a hundred percent control over your slave brand? Isn’t it obvious, belladonna, for that your 95 percent master needs to die? Is this ‘brand’ new information for you?” His head jerked back, crashing into the wall as I grasped his throat. “You’ll not get even a drop of my blood if anything happens to him and his friends,” I snarled, feeling my claws elongate, sinking deeper into his neck. He chuckled, choking on the blood that drained into his throat. “It’s not funny!” “Why?” His voice turned hoarse. “I thought… ugh… wolves had a better sense of humor…” Flashing his brows, he signaled me to look over my shoulder. I glanced over and found a ball of dark
[Carys] Last time I was here, I was in a hurry to free Ash and make it to the AAC meeting, so I didn’t have the time to explore this world beyond the museum, but… “What in the freaking world is going on here? What… is this place?” I gaped at the floating pyramid that hovered above a castle, casting a glow over the fully operational city that sprawled beneath. The pyramid rotated very slowly, dispersing the whitish blue light across the city. “Blank Space, which no longer looks blank to me.” Ruin raised his voice to be heard through the gushing squalls and our fluttering overcoats. We stood on the slanting top of the tallest turret of the museum, which was probably the highest building around. There was no sun, no moon, no sky. It was nothing like our world. It looked like a city hovering in darkness. As if a part of the earth crust had broken from the planet and was now drifting in far space independently. There were countless such fragmented lands hovering around us, but they
[Ruin]Belladonna scanned the crowd for an easy victim for her little visa heist.I could have stolen two visas, but I didn’t because the thought of witnessing her steal was far more exciting than some twisted fake chivalry. Although I highly doubted if she could steal at all.It was always exciting to see a morally upright person step into moral corruption, however small it might be.Hidden in the shadows, I watched her struggle with her morals before a flicker of determination lit her eyes. Her eyes changed the way they did when she marked me. My heart, if one could even call it that, pounded with the same temptation it had when I burnt the slave brand on her chest. With every choice one makes, they kill a part of themselves. A kind of suicide no one talks about, but is more common than breathing.By not killing her, I killed a part of myself who yearned to drive the dagger deeper into her chest and reach her heart. It was more like an impulse, a primal reflex that set my muscles a