Keone
He held his hands up in surrender as Diamond continued to spit well-deserved insults his way.
His mind was reeling, still adjusting to the reality that not only had he rebelled against the grim reaper, but because of Renata's scuffle with Angel, Keone somehow ended up human. His blood rushed through his veins. His bones were brittle, and if they broke, it would take months instead of hours to heal. His senses were dulled down, and he didn't understand how anyone got through their days in this fragile state.
He couldn't decide how to feel. Doing anything useful would prove a good distraction. Right then, he was the best qualified to care for Diamond's bite mark, but she wasn't having it.
"Listen, I'm not his number one fan either," Renata addressed Diamond as they held each other on the plane. Keone sat himself across from them with medical supplies on his lap. "But you are bleeding, and you need to get this taken care of before it gets worse."
Diamond glared at Keone who decided to stay quiet. "Fine, but don't drink my blood or anything like thatâgot it, sicko?"
Renata sighed. "Diamond, he won't."
"Oh, so you trust him now?"
"No, it's not like that!" Renata gritted out, clearly getting frustrated. "He's human...so is Rocio." Tahoma and Rocio had been off to the side with their own hushed conversation, but they paused as soon as the latter was mentioned.
Diamond froze. "What?"
Renata softened her voice, and Keone realized at the same time that Diamond must have been clueless to what had globally unfolded in the last half day. "Considering you were fighting for your life, and you're currently fighting off the drowsiness of blood lossâand by the look on your face, I'm going to say it's safe to assume you don't know what's going on in the world."
"There was this explosion of wind or something," Diamond recalled with furrowed brows, "and then Chika turned into," her eyes darted toward Keone, "a monster."
Renata rubbed Diamond's arm. "Here, we'll explain everything while he patches you up, okay?" Diamond's gaze flitted toward Rocio, and she seemed to do this without realizing it. Keone followed her line of sight until he saw the yearning on Rocio's face, how it reflected the desperation in Diamond's reddened eyes. His own jumped back to Renata, who also watched this exchange closely, trained on the two like a hawk. Distrust and anger brewed in her eyes, but her mouth screwed shut.
This is not good.
Keone quickly ran into the bathroom and washed his hands. Once he returned, Diamond looked more settled with the idea of him being in her personal bubble.
She cleared her throat and had already pulled her shirt off. "Okay, let's just get this over with."
Keone set the supplies to his side and disregarded the strange exchanges that just took place. He laid out what he needed in the order he would be using them. "First, we'll clean it. Then we'll stitch it. Rocio?"
She jumped to attention. "What can I do?"
"If there's any alcohol, I'd gather it. We're gonna need it."
Her brown eyes squinted and brushed over the medical supplies. "You've got a disinfectant."
"It's not for her wound, it's to help with the pain," he explained as he got out of his seat and slightly crouched in front of Diamond. Without warning, he pressed the soaked guaze on her wound.
She recoiled and barely concealed her scream. "Fuck!" she screeched, and Renata helped keep her still as Keone continued his work.
After everything, he couldn't help but be impressed with how well Renata was taking everything. He still remembered how she was unflinching as she faced Angel head on. Besides a bump and scratch here and there, she was unharmed. It couldn't be said for the rest of the world.
Everything was falling apart, and Keone felt he knew why.
He slowed his movements until Diamond swallowed down a couple of the miniature bottles of liquor and was much more unbothered by this painful experience.
As he focused on his task, he got into a rhythm, working with Diamond's abused skin. The bite was pretty deep, but it was still workable. She would be fine, though the healing process would not be over night.
He soon finished and was left with his thoughts once more.
He sat back and everyone else fell into a silence, forcing him to do nothing else but think.
It was what Angel had avoided saying altogether. And when they clashed in the powerful way they did, it couldn't have been made any more obvious to Keone.
There can only be one Death.
And however Renata was able to do it, she was siphoning his power from him, becoming the new grim reaper. It was why for the first time since Keone had met Angel, there was terror in his face at the prospect of him, a supposedly endless force, being no more.
How did he explain this?
And how did he explain that he probably kickstarted all of this when he killed her the first time?
Renata
Balam's hideout was set deep into a random patch of forestry miles and miles away from any road, and that road was even farther from any possible town. There were several different entrances, one leading to the next. They used cars and four-wheelers to traverse underneath the morning sky. Eventually, they could only walk. There was a very well hidden door, and Balam stood in front of it.
Balam looked worse for wear. Her leather fit was torn at. Bruises and scratches marred any patch of exposed skin. Her black hair, which was previously braided away, now fell around her petite shoulders, looking like it was pulled and yanked from its original style.
Her expression remained fierce, as though she hadn't experienced any troubles on her way to this hideout. But there was no hiding that she'd been through hell, just like everyone else.
Once they were close enough, she turned and revealed the doorway buried in the ground. Two of her flanking guards pulled the door open. "Come!" She commanded as she descended down the steps, hair whipping behind her. "We must not waste anymore time."
The entire group remained near quiet as they finished the rest of the way to Balam's bunker.
Diamond clutched onto Renata. They held each other close and hadn't let go since they reunited. Still, despite this dire situation, Renata couldn't shake the tension between Diamond and Rocio. Part of her was in denial, but the stronger part kept picking at her, pinching her and forcing her to replay their looks and their words and their stupid promises.
The truth was already in Renata's quickly cracking heart.
During it all, she felt Tahoma's reaching gaze on her, like he somehow knew that something else was going on with them, besides them just trying to get through the apocalypse.
She ignored his looks, not able to juggle the different personalities surrounding her.
Once they made it underground, they went through several other doors and travelled down several more flights of steps. The weight of them going deeper and deeper underground worsened her anxiety, but she knew they had no other choice if they were going to evade Angel as long as possible.
They arrived in front of a far reaching track with a cart large enough to hold ten people. They hopped on, racing on for another half mile. They went through the two last entrances guarded by at least fifteen guards, and they finally made it in the massive underground bunker.
It had higher, exposed industrial ceilings and was well-lit. The brightness reminded her of daylight and lessened the anxiety in her heart from being locked down here.
Balam waved her arms around just as Nirvi rushed forward, taking Tahoma and Rocio into her arms. "You are all safe here. You are welcome to anything here. We have enough supplies for all of us to stay here content for a hundred years," she addressed them all.
Nirvi, in between her son and former daughter-in-law, approached Renata with a face lifted by relief. "I am glad you are alright," she addressed Diamond. "You did well, Renata." Renata could only offer a weak nod.
Balam cleared her throat. "I am exhausted from my own journey, and I assume the same goes for you four. Take as many rooms as you need, there are countles. Clean up. Eat. Rest. We'll reconvene talks of fixing this whole mess withâwell, you know." She exchanged one last tight-mouthed look with the grateful Nirvi before disappearing to her part of this cavernous place.
Thank you, Balam.
She took in a deep breath and studied the room around her, her home for the foreseeable future. Dark, matte grey walls. Similar flooring. That same ceiling ran throughout the entirety of this place. The bed was queen-sized with white sheets and a midnight blue comforter. There were built-in shelves in the walls and black metal dressers with mirrors above them. The decor wasn't completely devoid of humanity at the very least.
She tried her best to find the upsides in this dreary situation. She was losing badly.
Diamond was in the bathroom, washing up in the silver tub. She insisted they shared, and once again, all Renata could do was manage a nod.
There was a short knock on the door. Renata shot up and pulled the metal door open, revealing her sister. She was freshened up, dressed in simple sweats. Her rosy brown face filled with love. "Nata, hey, I know it's been two seconds, but I needed to make sure you're okay." Her eyes darted over her shoulder, toward the bathroom door.
Renata couldn't take it any longer. "It is the end of the world."
Rocio shook her head. "Don't say that. It's going to be okay."
Renata pretended like an idea just hit her. "I've been so wrapped up with Diamond, I didn't ask you how about her and if she's alright."
She tilted her head in confusion, but Renata didn't miss the panic there. "What are you talking about?"
"Your new love, the reason you were away. You never actually told me her name."
Rocio's eyes widened and she coughed. "It doesn't matter."
"I'm surprised you didn't demand that we go get her too," Renata folded her arms, "Unless it's Balam?"
Rocio shook her head, struggling to find the words.
"You know," Diamond's soft, remorseful words came from behind. Renata turned to see her best friend flushed from the hot water, covered in a fluffy white towel.
Renata looked between the two guilty women. Rocio's face darkened further with crimson. Diamond was ready to cry.
"How long?"
Diamond sniffled. "We're notâ"
"Don't backtrack!" Renata snapped. "You just admitted to it."
"Nataâ"
"Stop, just stop!" Renata shouted, feeling like she was twisting tighter and tighter. She wasn't sure how long it would be until she unravelled.
Diamond was crying. "You are what matters most to me."
"To both of us," Rocio corrected.
Renata began to cry. "You just make it worse when you act like you care. Both of you. I've been alone, suffering, and all I needed..." Everyone was crying at this point. "I know I'm not the center of the fucking universe, but was it so wrong of me to expect better from you?" Renata's burning eyes shifted from Rocio and Diamond, flitting back and forth. The betrayal sunk further and further in her chest.
Diamond began to approach, only stopped by Renata's raised hand. "I loved you, and I thought..." She wiped at her running nose. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm going to fix this, that way you can have your happily ever after togetherâaway from me."
"Renata!" They both exclaimed.
"Get out!" Renata shouted, just short of screaming. When they didn't move, she repeated herself, much more calm this time around. "Get. Out. Now."
They hesitated longer but eventually moved, walking out in shame. Diamond turned before she left, giving one last look of regret. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "please don't hate me."
Before the door could shut fully behind her, Renata jumped up and slammed it shut. She collapsed against the metal and sobbed uncontrollably. She hadn't cried this hard since, well since the first time she resurrected herself.
Her suspicions proved true. The problem with Diamond and Renata's relationship was that Diamond was with the wrong sister.
She imagined they would console each other, become closer through this adversity of forbidden love. Because that much was obvious, how in love they were.
Where did this leave Renata?
Alone, once again, left to figure out how to change the world's current demented reality back to normal.
In the meantime, she opted for a depression nap.