F I F T Y-E I G H T

It was the middle of the afternoon when they returned to their temporary home. Furnished with villager material, it was hard for Iris to fall asleep on any mattress. Whether that being the bed or the couch. He did eventually, with the help of Kai's body heat and feather-like caresses, he fell asleep with the thought of a killer being in the room.

They decided to sleep the day off before testing the dagger. They were both equally drained from the walking and the nervousness. Iris could barely keep his eyes open and Kai never wanted to get up from bed; he wasn't feeling the need for sleep, but a need to replenish his energy.

They slept again, arm in arm, till morning. Until a rooster flinched Iris awake. He drowsily looked around the room washed a pale yellow. He rubbed his eyes while stretching his other next to him. Usually, he ended up hitting Kai, who groaned at him, but this time there was no groan and nobody to hit.

Iris opened his eyes wider and looked to his left where Kai was supposed to be laying. There was only a sunken spot gone cold.

Iris rubbed his eyes again as he sat up.

"Kai?" His voice was raspy in the morning. He glanced back over and spotted a glass of water on the bedside table. He crawled over to Kai's side and grabbed it. He downed the water, partly clearing his husky vibrations, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "Kai?"

The floor creaked when he walked on it and a burst of cold air hit him when he opened the door.

The cabin they stayed in hardly fit two fl rooms. Their room was one and the other was the kitchen. When he walked out of the room, he saw the sitting area to his left. A wall was directly to his right. Walking alongside it, he peered around the corner to see his missing vampire.

The kitchen wasn't a room, rather an area that had only three walls to provide little privacy.

Kai was sitting at the table, one leg bent up to his chest as he sat. He was flipping through a book while holding a small red bag up to his mouth. Iris didn't have to be a genius to figure out what that was.

He cleared his throat, catching Kai's attention.

"I thought you hated books?" Iris said. He leaned his shoulder against the wall as he decided not to take a seat next to Kai.

"I do. I just thought I'd educate myself before I start stabbing an ancient dagger into my skin."

"You know, we don't have to test it just yet. Or rather, you don't have to be the one to test it."

"We might as well try it now. As I said, I want to make sure it's real before it's in the hands of someone else."

Iris sighed and rested his head on the wall. Kai had a point. It was Iris's own worry that didn't want Kai to test the dagger out. What if one cut was fatal? What if he doesn't stop bleeding? His thoughts and concerns only grew to a degree he didn't want to imagine.

Kai didn't seem to mind too much–that meaning he eyed the dagger in the glass every minute or so–as if it would jump out and attack.

"You should eat." Kai's voice cut through the pause in their conversation. Iris blinked to regain his focus and looked at Kai.

"I'm not really hungry."

"You should still eat."

"I don't think I can eat any more of this cheap food. No offense to the villagers, it just upsets me."

Kai sighed and closed the book he was reading. "We won't be back home for another day. I think you'll live."

Iris mocked Kai with his lips before turning around and heading back towards the room,  preparing to get ready for the day.

"I saw that."

Iris slammed the door and Kai chuckled.

***

"Do you think it actually burns the flesh?" Kai asked, staring down at the dagger laid upon the table.

"That's what the book said," Iris mumbled, also staring with hesitant eyes. He really didn't want to go through with this.

After they had both gotten ready, hung around eating and talking, early noon came quicker than they thought. The sun was partly hidden behind light gray clouds, and the inside of the cabin had a pale hue. The curtains shaded most the light, but it was significant enough to where they were able to see dust particles zoom in and out of the rays peaking from the corners.

Nothing was comforting about the place, now, all Iris wanted to do was forget everything and go home. So, the issues originated there. It was still home. He missed his dad, missed Sage's snarky remarks, Zoe's company, and joking around with the guards.

He thought about all this as he watched Kai pick up the dagger. They dashed through his mind, one by one. This was reality. They were preparing for a war that would rip away all that. Or perhaps strengthen them. Iris was unsure at this point.

"W–wait...are you sure you want to do this? There are a hundred others back home."

Kai quirked an eyebrow. "Not only is that exactly why I'm doing it but listen to yourself."

"I know what I'm saying. It's just–you know you're different than them."

"To you I am. I'm still a guard."

"Just–" Iris ran his hands down his face with a heavy sigh. He wanted to word his sentences to make Kai understand. But Kai already understood, he just didn't agree. Iris knew this. He did. "Just be careful."

Kai glanced down at the dagger, turning it to see glimpses of his reflection. He looked up.

"Do you want to do it then?"

"That's not funny."

Kai gave Iris a half-smile and looked back down. The designs on the dagger stuck out to him. They were of nothing he's seen before. A sculpted head of a knight, swirls, and symbols running down the handle, the handle he gripped before positioning the blade against his skin.

He had rolled up his sleeve to reveal his arm and he planned to cut just a small line across his wrist. It was going to hurt either way, but they both knew what to look for if it was the real deal.

A dagger that purged the sin from the flesh. In the descriptions, it was said the dagger was used to rid vampires of their sins and turn them human. The blade was made by a priest centuries ago with materials unknown to man. It burnt the sin off the flesh but the deeper the blade plunged, the more the fire caught, and that's how the vampire died. Apparently burning up from the inside.

Despite Kai being the one using the dagger, Iris held his breath with him. He bit his lip and watched the weapon closely. Kai clenched and unclenched the handle, repositioned it sever times, before holding it still. His featured were sharp, concentrated, but his movements were clearly hesitant.

"Okay." Kai shook his head, rolled his shoulders, and knocked the nervousness out of his system. Before Iris could pitch in some reassurance, Kai sliced the blade against his skin.

Iris didn't know why he expected Kai's skin to catch on fire, that was a childish predicament. However, he was close enough.

Suddenly red sparks flew off of Kai's skin. Small flickers of ember. His skin around the bleeding wound started turning black like coal, like poison, and Kai dropped the dagger to slap his hand over the cut.

He hissed in pain and held his arm against his chest. He ranted the word "ow" over and over again and whined lowly. To Iris, the whole scene went in slow motion then quickened when Kai reacted badly.

At first, it didn't hurt Kai anymore than a deep cut with a regular knife did. But then the purging increased. Just a small, barely four-inch cut sizzled his skin, making the cut hurt more than it appeared. His flesh was burning and he did his best not to groan out in pain. Mainly because Iris was watching him with wide eyes filled with too much fear.

"I'm okay," Kai managed to strain out. He inhaled quickly, the pain easily taking away his breath. "I'm okay." Kai was still holding his wrist. Blood continued to drip down, and red sparks continued to escape passed his fingers. Kai's hand covered the whole wound, and yet black started peeking out. His skin continued to burn.

Kai cursed. "I'm very okay."

Iris shook himself out of his frozen daze. "No, you're not!" Without thinking twice, Iris rushed around Kai to the blue-covered book. He flipped through the pages with speed until he found what he wanted.

Kai had slid down the nearest solid surface, which happened to be the counters and watched Iris zoom out of the kitchen. He closed his eyes, trying to fade away the discomfort, the thought of his skin burning like wood. Iris invaded his thoughts or rather saved him from them.

Iris didn't say anything as he pealed Kai's hand away from the wound. The blood flowed quicker. The blackness plagued further, and Kai yelped out when Iris applied something liquid to the wound before wrapping it with a piece of white cloth he appeared to have torn off of something.

Kai swore again and tried to jerk his arm away, but Iris gripped it firmly.

"Sit still!" He growled.

"It hurts!"

"I'm aware."

Kai groaned out. "What are you doing?! Don't tie it so tight–Iris!" Kai finally ripped his arm out of Iris's grasp and returned cradling it to his chest.

Iris let out a heavy sigh as he leaned back. "I told you," was all he could breathe out.

Kai put his head back and blew out a puff of air. His whole arm ached. His heart pounded with the fright of the wound not healing and his body trembled lightly.

"What did you put on this?"

"Alcohol. I read it in another book. And it said to tighten the bandage extra tight." Iris pushed his hair back as he climbed to his feet. His heel stepped on the dagger, the blade making a clinking sound. They both glance at it.

Silence. Reality seeped into their brains. Realization, worry, and yet with all this fear, hope paid a visit.

"Well," Kai started, "it's real."

And both of them wished it wasn't, not after seeing the damage it could do. What good could it do, if one wrong move meant immediate regret?

***

Another update tomorrow.