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Kimi hardly slept; but when he did, he always dreamt of his dead father. In that dream, the world would be dark, his father would blame him for being the cause of his death and someone—someone he never knew who had the voice of a young woman—would tell him to look for something. And what was that something? Kimi had no clue about what it was. Normally, when he woke up, everything was either dark or white, and he’d either be in a hospital or lying alone in a bed. But everything changed this time.

When Kimi woke up, the first thing he felt was a different kind of warmth—a cold one that was embracing him life smouldering coal. And the first thing he heard was the weakly beating heart beside his ear. And the first thing he saw was a pair of silver eyes that had long, blonde hair falling over them, a scared look in the cold, silver eyes.

This time it was different because he was in Aurum’s arms, the same arms that had comforted him all those years ago, keeping him safe.

He was safe and alive.

“Aurum?” Kimi whispered, narrowing his eyes on Aurum’s face.

Aurum tightened the hold he had on Kimi. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss on his forehead. “You’re finally awake. I thought that you were gone.”

Kimi snorted faintly. “I’m not a freaking walking corpse like you,” he whispered hoarsely.

Aurum’s lips twitched as he forced a smile onto his face. “Why are you always scaring me?” he asked softly, passing his hands over Kimi’s hair.

“Then one billion brownie points to me.”

Aurum pressed another kiss on his forehead. His lips were still pressed against Kimi’s forehead when someone loudly cleared their throat. Aurum’s lips quirked up as Kimi looked past Aurum’s arms and flinched at the room full of Pristines and Hunters.

Kimi’s eyes shifted to Aurum’s face. “Did you just seriously act mushy in front of everyone?” he asked, making to sit up.

Aurum simply heaved a sigh and pulled Kimi’s face to his shoulder, hugging him tightly. “Stop scaring me,” he said into Kimi’s head.

Kimi rolled his eyes. He raised a hand and loosely patted Aurum’s back. “It’s alright penguin choirmaster. I’m not dead.”

Elvira sat up and chuckled breathily. “Penguin... choirmaster?”

Tobe pinched the bridge of his nose. “I think I just aged four hundred years by simply watching that,” he droned quietly.

Aurum unwrapped his arms from around Kimi. He held Kimi’s shoulders. “If not for Priya I don’t know what I would’ve done,” he said, pressing his fingers into his shoulders.

“Who’s... Priya?” Kimi asked, inclining his head in confusion.

“Raja Maikal’s elder sister. She had found you when she had come back to collect something Raja had forgotten in school,” he said, helping Kimi to his feet.

Kimi wobbled a little but regained a firm stance when Aurum held him. “I’m fine,” he said, removing Aurum’s hands from his body.

Aurum exhaled and looked back at the room. His eyes moved over their faces. After a few seconds, he placed the heel of his palm against his head, pushing part of his hair up.

“They tried to kill you,” Aurum hissed through his teeth. “They’ve already started moving.”

Kimi frowned lightly due to Aurum’s words. “Why would someone try to kill me?”

“I don’t know,” Aurum said, dropping his hand. His eyes landed on an almond-skinned young lady who had grey heterochromatic eyes—the left one was a dark grey colour while the right one looked glassy. “Miss Maikal when you had found Kimi did you see the person?”

The lady shook her head. “No. I had gone back to where I suspected that the person had attacked him and I’d seen noone. They left no trace.”

Aurum slid his gaze to Kimi’s frowning face. “Kimi how had everything happen?”

“I had been in the library when someone had entered. I’d freaking thought that it was the librarian but when I was calling out to her I got no reply. And then I walked to the door before the person attacked. They were freaking and it was hard to fight back.” He touched his neck and swallowed. “They injected something into me and I started having a seizure. I nearly lost consciousness. But then...” He blinked rapidly and looked up at Aurum’s face. “But then strength from nowhere entered me and I freaking threw the person over with great force. I don’t know how that was freaking happening.”

“I think it’s your Hunter genes. Did you see what the liquid was?” Kimi shook his head. Aurum pushed his fingers through his hair and gazed at the room. “They’ve started to move.”

“And after they killed a whole family twelve years ago?” a man asked in a gruff voice, stroking his ginger-coloured beard, his grey eyes peering over his glasses at Aurum. He was sat on the side of the table where most of the people sat on that side had grey eyes.

Aurum scratched the back of his head, a deep frown on his face. “But why attack a non-adult? Why him?” He looked at Kimi, panic in his eyes. ‘Why did they attack Kimi in broad daylight?’

The whole room kept quiet, simply mulling over the fresh information. A child had been attacked, what was the enemy’s next move? Everyone kept to their thoughts, silent as a graveyard as they kept on thinking about plausible reasons. Unfortunately for all of them, their thoughts were snipped short by the sound of three knocks on the door.

“Come in,” Aurum said and the double doors were pushed open.

A woman in a security’s uniform walked in and bowed. “Lord Caedis someone by the name of Duan Jaeger is at the gate. He says he’s looking for Master Mikaelis.”

Kimi frowned at her words.

“Do you know him?” Aurum asked, quirking a brow.

“Yeah.”

“Bring him here,” Aurum said and she walked out after bowing again.

What’s Duan doing here? Kimi wondered in confusion, waiting for Duan to walk in.

And when Duan walked in, his face was pale in shock. A thick sheen of sweat was over his forehead, plastering his fringes to his skin. His hands were fisted beside him; he was clenching and unclenching one of his fists like something was in it. He brought with him a scent that lingered like flies around him. This made Aurum narrow his eyes.

“Duan. What are you—”

“Kimi what are you doing here?!” Duan asked, eyeing the room with wide, shocked eyes. “I thought that you hate this place.”

“And how does that freaking concern you?” Kimi asked, folding his arms over his chest. “By the way... how did you get here?”

“I followed the car that brought you here. You had been unconscious and they brought you here?” He stepped closer to Kimi. “You need to leave this place.”

“Why?” Kimi asked in confusion.

Aurum looked at Duan with rage, his eyes molten metal. This kid, he thought, sniffing in the air as Duan stepped closer. Why is the scent of the person that tried to kill Kimi on him?

“You?” Aurum asked sharply, his eyes turning bright. “How did you know that Kimi had been unconscious? Shouldn’t you have been at home by then?”

“I know. I had—” Duan looked at Aurum and shut up at the sight of his glowing eyes. “Kimi... We need to go. Now.”

Aurum scoffed extremely lightly and held onto Duan’s shoulder, his hold strong. “And why the fuck do you have the scent of the person that tried to kill Kimi on you?”

Tobe and Jiaozi perked up. They looked at each other and looked back at the three of them.

Duan merely flinched at his words and looked back at Kimi. “Kimi come with me right now. You shouldn’t be here.”

Kimi stiffened and looked at Duan with moon-shaped eyes. “What’s he saying?”

Duan merely shook his head, his teeth gritted. “Kimi you need to come with me. You don’t belong with these monsters!” He held Kimi’s wrist and pulled. “Come with me now!”

Aurum gripped their hands and pulled them apart. “Let go of him.”

Duan moved on his heels and tossed a powdery substance into Aurum’s eyes. Aurum growled and pulled away, his hands flying to his eyes.

“Lord Caedis!” the cadavers yelled, rushing to their feet.

The Hunters sat up in alert.

“Auru—!” Kimi shrieked as Duan hurled him over his shoulder. “Duan let me go! Aurum!” he yelled, thrashing in his arms.

“It’s for your own good,” Duan said, dashing for the door. But he didn’t go far as Aurum sped to him, growling as he drove his fist through his chest. He coughed and wheezed, his grip on Kimi loosening. Kimi slipped out of his hand and dropped on his knees with a wince.

Aurum blinked rapidly, the whites of his eyes red. “Next time use something that’s more than the ashes of claret burnt in a burner,” he hissed, pulling his hand out of Duan’s chest.

Aurum stumbled to his knees and covered his eyes with his palms. His breathing became laboured; his chest started heaving as he released a low hiss at Duan who was bleeding. The smell of fresh blood was suffocating him, causing him to feel queasy. It also tugged at his pent up hunger, causing his fangs to elongate. And again, the substance that Duan had thrown into his eyes was making it difficult to see anything.

The cadavers rushed to Aurum’s side and pulled Kimi away from him. The Hunters jumped to their feet and pulled out their hidden weapons.

“Lord Caedis stop!” Tobe said, pulling Aurum away from Duan as he tried to leap at him so that he could finish the job. “That’s Ace Jaeger’s son!”

This made Aurum mellow down. His eyes moved about before he harshly pushed Tobe away from him. He stood and glared down at Duan.

“If so, then let him die. The death of one child will do no harm,” he said, his eyes wide with rage. “You tried to kill Kimi! You will die for that!”

Kimi placed a hand on his chest, watching his childhood friend bleed to death. “No!” He freed himself from Elvira and Yūgen’s hold. “Aurum no! Please save him! He’s my friend!” He ran to Aurum and gripped his arm and flinched when Aurum’s mad eyes landed in him.

“What kind of friend—?!”

“Aurum please I’m begging you. Don’t let him die! Don’t be the monster I had been painting you to be!” He pressed his forehead into Aurum’s arm, blinking away the tears that had piled in his eyes. “He’s my friend,” he whispered.

Aurum swallowed and looked back at Duan. His life was slowly fleeting away and he had stopped wheezing. To a human he looked dead but Aurum could still hear his silently thudding heart. Aurum growled lowly and moved closer to Duan and knelt on a knee. He sneered furiously at him as he held Duan’s wrist to his mouth. He harshly sunk his fangs into his skin and Kimi became queasy at the crunching sound that the action produced.

Aurum allowed his venom to seep into Duan’s bloodstream in copious amount before he removed his fang, tearing off part of Duan’s skin. He bit into his own wrist, only breaking his skin to let blood flow out. His nose twitched in annoyance as he placed his wrist on Duan’s parted lips. He watched as Duan’s frozen, wide-eyed state slowly morphed and in a blink of an eye he was clamping his mouth around his flesh. Aurum looked away from Duan as he began to feast on his blood, shifting his gaze to Kimi.

Kimi was trembling on the spot, the noisy sound of suckling filling his senses. He had cupped his hands over his mouth and nose at the sight and smell of fresh blood. His heart was beating tremendously, making him feel nauseous.

Don’t faint, he thought. Don’t freaking faint.

Aurum’s features became worried at the sight of Kimi trying to fight down his fears. He growled and looked back at Duan who was hungrily feeding on his blood. His eyes were pitch-black, blood smeared all over his face. Aurum forcibly tugged his wrist away from Duan and hissed because of his flesh that tore apart due to his rough action.

“Carla!” he roared, his voice shaking the whole mansion. A lady dashed into the room with vampiric speed and he pointed at Duan. “He’s a changeling so take him to the basement. If he doesn’t die inform me when he wakes.”

“Yes Lord Caedis.” The lady rushed to Duan and pulled him off his back. He jumped in her hold, reaching out for Aurum—wanting more blood—as he was dragged out of the room.

Aurum slowly turned around and faced the room, blood stains all over his dark cloths. The smell of blood made him lightheaded. He gripped his head and stumbled forward. He still couldn’t see properly. “Kimi? Kimi are you alright?” He reached out for Kimi and felt a hand wrap around his wrist. “Kimi?”

“Aurum?” Kimi held Aurum’s wrist in his hands. He looked at the torn skin, tears in his eyes. “We need to heal this.”

Aurum stopped moving. “It’s nothing. I can heal—”

“Stop being like that. We can tell someone to—Aurum?” Kimi started panicking as Aurum swayed on his feet and dropped on the floor. “Aurum?” He went on his knees and held Aurum’s shoulders.

Tobe rushed to him and dropped on his knees beside Kimi. He pushed Aurum onto his back. He bit into his wrist and placed it against Aurum’s lips. “Come on,” he said under his breath as Aurum made no move to drink his blood. “Please drink Lord Caedis. You need it.”

The Pristines silently watched, worry on their faces. The Hunters had already started murmuring amongst themselves, evaluating what that they had just witnessed.

“What’s happening to him?” Kimi asked, staring as Tobe pressed his bleeding wrist against Aurum’s unresponsive mouth.

“Lord Caedis hates blood and his body rejects it. But whenever he smells fresh human blood, his body goes into a frenzy and it clashes with his hate for blood. It makes him sick to the the point that he can die.” Tobe sighed as Aurum finally responded and delicately licked his wrist. “The only way to at least help him is feed him a cadaver’s blood.”

“Okay.” Kimi wiped off his tears. As he dropped his hands, his eyes shifted to the spot where Duan had been. He fisted his hands, suddenly remembering Duan’s act.

Does Duan really know the person that tried to kill me?

Author’s Note: if you saw that coming raise your hand. 🙌 Welp, this chapter was something. ( ಠ_ಠ ) Please leave your thoughts about thus chapter.