Ch.10: Warping Mind

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TOMAS

I wondered if the morning had already passed when I woke up in the same room I was so close to die in at such random chance, but I live still, but surrounded with two fine women who cared for my health and performed miracles. I rise with such shock and surprise and backed away to the wall that was close by, and also noticed that my cut and other minor wounds and scratches have ceased to exist as I have looked down on myself. I don't understand why I was wearing no shirt for some reason and only my pants and shoes, but the Twins look at me with such saucy looks. "Mind tellin' me what's up?" I asked after staring for a bit.

Shen'lin, the black haired one, crawls over to me to talk face to face. "Whatever do you mean?" She asked me back.

I look around the room filled with pillows. "Where's Lucius? And how did my cut heal down here on my gut? And-"

Sha'lah raises her hand to make me be silent, and explains everything slowly for me to follow. "Lucius has left some minutes ago to attend a private banquet," she said, "and he told us if you should ever wake up sometime tonight, he would have us advise you to go see Lao'xe first thing in the next morning. Poor thing is still sleeping I believe."

I hated that idea of waiting, and stood up right away. "Sorry, but I should-whoa!"
I fell right on my knees as soon as I started to walk off like I have just been shot in the stomach. I tried getting up again after what I assumed was only clumsiness, but only fell again hopelessly flat on my belly. "Hey!" I called out to both of the Twins, "think you can tell me what's goin' on here? I can't move my legs!"

Shen'lin gets up and walks over in front of me and crouches closely. "The anesthesia still hasn't worn off yet. What I had to do was to send a cold, frosty stream of air through the mouth and spread into your bloodstream, numbing everything it touches as if the blood froze over and forced you to pass out since there was no flow going into your head. Just keep breathing to get that cold air out and you will move again like a happy little kitten!"

I roll my eyes and started to drag myself on the floor to get a comfortable spot near Sha'lah. "Whatever. Just get me a drink or something to munch down on. I haven't eaten in days, it's crazy!" I complained as I sat up straight with my legs straight and flat.

"But one moment!" Shen'lin said standing up again and walking over to me on the opposite side and sat down on a pillow. "I thought Rei can last for weeks without sustenance? Or was that just a myth?" she wondered.

"Yeah, it's a myth. Otherwise, I wouldn't be goddamn complaining here!" I said with a rising rage.

Sha'lah pats my shoulders to calm me down as if she can feel the heat crawling up on my skin. "Hold that tantrum of yours. A Rei can last for weeks without food or water, which alone is true. But it varies among others, so we don't know how long you will last."

"Thanks for the fact, but I could really go for somethin' right now! Christ, I miss those Airdrome burgers…" I moaned quietly.

Shen'lin grabs my arm and moves closer in surprise and raced my heart. "You have two ladies with you side by side and all you think about is food? Aren't we pretty enough to corrupt that mind of yours?" She said jokingly while tugging my arm.

"Mind your mannerisms Shen!" Sha'lah exclaimed acting as the mature one. "After all, little Tomas's lower half is still out of it!"

I stepped in to give my opinions. "Yeah,what she said! I had enough spicy situations for one day!"

Shen'lin lowers her head like the disciplined puppy that she is and finally releases me slowly. "I was actually starting to think you were a nice person…" Shen'lin said feeling rejected.

I was raised better than to brush off a broad, so I try to comfort Shenny. "Take it easy, I didn't mean to hurt you that much. Look, see this on my finger?" I asked for her to look.

Shen'lin eyes on the left hand where all my fingers are spread out. Both of the twins tried to see what I was presenting, and upon discovering it, their hearts sank and became so depressed. "You are…married?" Shen'lin questioned.

"I was gonna be, I think." I replied as I look at my gold wedding band. "I didn't notice it until I was brought down here, and then I thought to myself why I was wearing this ring. And then it all came back to me in a snap."

Sha'lah shivers a bit and lies back on the wall. "I have a feeling that it wasn't a pleasant remembrance." She said holding her arms.

Unfortunately, Sha'lah guessed right. Looking at the golden shine and the tiny scratches all around the band gave it a sense of symbolism. I remember that this was my dad's wedding band, and he gave it to me when I was engaged. He told me to wear it always just so I wouldn't misplace it like he almost did on his wedding day, so the sailor mouthed old man decided to make it a tradition to make sure that this ring never gets lost, ever. When I finally proposed to this beauty at Pearl Harbor, a beautiful English woman with dark blond hair with a slight tint of orange and red who worked as a hotel maid, I could've sworn that my ring shined brighter than ever before like magic. But even if I was happy for remembering, the only thing that kept me from smiling was why I proposed to this girl, hell, I'm not even sure if I remember the face correctly. I told the Twins as much as I can say with my cloudy memory, telling even that our marriage was to be on hold until I finish my service which ended far sooner than I expected. With this, the Twins now see my plight. "So I see." Said Sha'lah with a sigh in her words, "Neither the seconds nor the centuries in the world would bear such a sad story. You Rei are such pitiful beings when death comes to fly over joyous days like yours."

"And yet I don't get one thing," I said, "Why are the Rei so hated?"

Shen'lin replies darkly, "They are viewed as bad omens to Elsmer, undead to the Yiscarven, and generally feared by many who are not stubborn enough to know that they are unaffected by the Magic Taint when they use their locked powers."

I respond eagerly. "The Taint? So…I'm immune to it even if I just dazzle the air with rainbows or some bullcrap?"

The Twins giggled, and of course I was only trying to lighten up the mood for myself by being a silly bitch. I felt a jolt surge my left knee and then my right just after as I laughed with the girls. They took notice, and alerted me of what happened. "Ah, you have your legs back!" They said in unison.

"Whoa." I marvelled from that perfected merge of their voices.

They shrugged it off and only say that it was a coincidence, but they are twins after all, so it was primarily no shocking moment. They both helped me up and helped me walk a few steps to get used to the flimsiness in my bones until I can walk by myself again. "About time!" I said as my walk cycles became normal as usual.

I immediately power walked straight to the curtain door out, but the Twins stopped me with one hand on each of my shoulders. "Hold!" Sha'lah demanded. "Where are you off to now?"

I turned to Sha'lah who was on my right. "To find Lucius. He's the only one I could trust if he has the heart to help me." I said.

Shen'lin to my left gripped my left shoulder harder. "Help? He is a mercenary warlord, not a charity to leech off of! And besides, you can't go outside with that collar on! Who knows what will happen if people see you!?"

I snapped off the claws on my shoulders and turned around completely to face the Twins defiantly. "You think I don't know that? I don't have to follow your rules. You aren't my master."

"Then who is this master of yours?" Sha'lah asked.

"That why I'm going to Lucius," I said, "So I could find the one who put this collar on me and get it off so people will stop judging me because of it! Good-bye."

And I stormed off without consent or permission as I echoed the steps in the hall way to find the stairs up. I was certain the Twins would stop me, but I haven't heard them call my name or even make any sounds indicating that I was being followed. If they cared, they would have stopped me as soon as I took the first step, which led me to believe that their rescue was merely pressure by Lucius to save my life as I thought more about the two in blind assumption as I think about them while on the move with mixed emotions. Choosing where they are kind or just cowards are beyond reach for an answer to find, but I just hope that I won't run into them again since they only reside underground, or it'll be too soon to show how I really feel about them. Climbing up to the brighter coloured apartment roundabout, I took notice to the one who waited just outside the staircase down close to the wall with one of the crystal lights directly above their our heads. "And you are off to where exactly?" Klu'se stalwartly said as she walks and stands in my way.

"Ugh, you again?" I groaned.

Klu'se stares into my eyes with a colour of the darkest red. Her peerless stature and laced crimson and black ribbon dress were far radiant n the clear light than a fire's light. Her sharp tongue slithers out, shipping a crew of words that attack me behind a wall of false kindness. "Still have that rude temperament in you? Have the Nidra'Ke behave wrongly to you, or did you turn them away like Lucius made me turn from you earlier? I assumed you'd be back to your spirited self after your wound heals...apparently I was wrong that you are acting like a ruffian as usual."

"Speaking of Lucius," I changed the topic, "You know where that mick bastard's run off to?"

Klu'se turns away haughtily like she isn't going to share a word about Lucius, and I was forced to press. "You DO know where he is then! I know the look; I can tell that you and Lucius aren't so friendly to each other from what I can make out from that doll face of yours."

Klu'se came out singing of her denial. "I'll have you know that it was he who helped me get adopted to the respectful Xe'Sayssare family of Isolon! I respect him to the level of worship for completing this deed, nothing more! It's just that, well, working for him is demanding both of my mind and body, namely collecting you and the Aje for one thing."

I shake my head to the woman's tone of speech. "And this is coming from a Vampire who also happens to be some kind of elf? How odd."

Klu'se twitched and reacted violently with a shrilling shout. "What!? How dare you call me an elf, human! I am an Elsmer, a noble, and I beat a heart yearning to be captured by passionate men! I don't care how unfair your death was you undamned corpse, but know that me being slurred at will not go unpunished here!"

I didn't understand what her deal is, but she forced her hands on my shoulders and launched me to the wall next to the staircase with surprising strength. The impact was hard with the feeling of bones being cracked and being stunned from the shock. I look directly at Klu'se's wicked face and saw her fangs grow an inch or more along with a twisted face of wickedness. She muffles a laugh with her creepy smile, uttering unsettling whispers. "Oh my…I can smell the blood emanating from your scar down there. So ripe and clean and untouched, I really want it."

"Whoa, whoa!" I panicked as I try to push Klu'se away to no avail, "L-l-let's not be hasty here about this! I-I'm sorry alright? Just keep those choppers away from me, or I'll uh-"

"Quiet! I'm sorry sweetie, but I can't hold back, really I'm trying to though!" Klu'se said squeezing my shoulders more to the point of crushing them, "But I will have you. Please forgive me for this!!"

And Klu'se rushed for the biggest vein in my neck and fiercely dug deep into it and bit down as hard as she could while I silently choke out a scream. Every heartbeat that goes through my body pumps out glob of blood from where I was bit and fill Klu'se's mouth full of ripe wine. Oddly though, it doesn't hurt at all, just a ticklish pinch was what it was, and that made me calm down a bit knowing that nothing bad was happening. Klu'se moans ecstatically as she took more than I thought she would and finally pulls out her teeth and left behind two bloody holes in my neck that continue to bleed. She pants as her mouth drips blood on my shirt as she keeps her face close to me wanting more. "That's better." She said as he wiped the blood from her mouth. "I hope you didn't feel pain from that, it was my first time in years."

I couldn't respond for I was feeling slightly dazed and wobbly like my life was literally sucked out of me. I had trouble trying to walk, speak, or do anything at all as I only just stare at Klu'se's eyes. Now she was the one who panicked as the heat begins to kick in for her. "I seemed to have taken too much, hm?" She whispers to my face with a breath of iron. "It was just amazing to taste something so fresh and sweet. Human blood is the best! It's like a different sugar, one so miraculous and unique!"

I mumble like I was drunk for hours. "Get offa me, I-I need-"

Klu'se silences me with a deep kiss with the taste of my blood touching my tongue; it was so hot that it made me go crazy with heat and sweat on my forehead growing. I also felt disgusted knowing that I am doing this sort of thing even as I wear a wedding band like I'm some scumbag, but at least no one else is looking or even intruding for my sake. Klu'se stopped, and brings her bright pink lips to my ear. "You make me so mad little lamb." She growls without any hint of anger in her tone. "So much that I would butcher and consume you for what your worth. But I'm a kind and passionate woman. And since Lucius isn't here to stop us…shall we?" She asked my permission innocently.

The voice sounded revolting to me now, but I couldn't think straight as I was led to Klu'se's room down the hall to whichever direction she took me as my sight blurred a moment. She helped me walk, and every time I speak she would silence me with another kiss just to stop me. Eventually I was led in her dark crimson room where a brighter fire burns at the fire place. I was burning hot with the added heat and it almost made me collapse, but Klu'se was there to make me hold my balance. "Do be careful," she said as she helped me walk, "Maybe you should rest on my bed. I was about to sleep anyway."

On the far right of the room was this massive bed with a soft mattress with the perfect fluffiness and smooth surface. It held four pillows, multiple sheets of cream colored covers and a massive red quilt with a flower and stem pattern in black. Klu'se helps me get on the bed to help me lie down on my back on the quilt for a quick rest. She then helps me sit up by the arms and helps take my shirt and shoes off and makes me lie down again on my belly this time nice and flat after licking my bite wound for more blood. "Perfect, just perfect." She said." Now then, no peeking while I change!"

Klu'se trots off to the other side of the room to a few dresser drawers happily, from what I could see in the shadows that the fires strong flame couldn't reach. I couldn't see what she was doing, but it almost looked like she is undressing herself and slipping into something else. I was about to pass out from the excitement rising along with the blood loss, the rush was unbearable. I close my eyes hoping that I will pass out and not have the privilege of hearing any more things from that perverted rose of infinite thorns. I hear the stomps of Klu'se coming closer in my hearing range, and my heart pounds harder which further bled the bite. Then I felt Klu'se body gently land on my back and licked off more of the blood off my neck. I couldn't open my eyes again, I was feeling way too tired to even care what Klu'se is doing or even wearing. "You are such a brute," she whispered in my ear, "luckily though that I am not the kind of woman you may think. If you can hear me, it is only that I pity you, so I thought a little company is definitely in good order for you. Also that yummy blood…"

The Vampire was so sorely tempted to sink her teeth in; I just knew she would do it considering how happy and excited she was after she did it the first time. Luckily I felt nothing of the sort, and I started to try and move myself into a more comfortable position. "Hey," I mumbled with my eyes still closed, "I dun-I dun feel zo good-"

"Ah, No talking lamb! My room, my bed, my rules, just sleep little lamb; sleep very well and I will see you next to me in the morning. I will be here, close to you with my full embrace." Klu'se said gripping my hands with her fingers in between mine. "No one will come. I will be here, and you won't be tossed aside anymore."

Now I'm starting to feel pleasant after hearing all of this smooth talk. Saying that I wouldn't be 'tossed aside' really made me feel good inside me, the type of feelings when all my fractures have been sewn up not with thread, but with simple touches of warm healing from a cold demon that has the power to rip open the wounds again if it so chooses, yanking the flesh like the threads from the scars to hold them up high like I was her puppet in her own personal show. The white I see became black, the red blood became her wine, the bed was to be my coffin, and I lost my mind in a hopeless trance of an uneasy dreamless rest.