Chapter 7
"Is that him?" Elani asked, pointing at some random boy.
"No" Kia answered patiently "He's taller and has blond hair"
The younger girl nodded and proceeded to look around the stream of arriving passengers. She moved forward letting go of Kia's hand, not noticing her voice as she told Elani to come back.
As she moved quickly through the crowd, Kia lost sight of her. Yelling to Calica to find Elani, she searched for her ward too. Sighing loudly at her carelessness, Kia headed in the direction the smaller girl had gone.
Elani however had only just noticed that they had separated. Looking around frantically she felt extremely scared and ran, fast, in no direction. She kept running until……
"WHAM!"
The small girl was about to fall when two hands steadied her carefully. She looked up into a pair of smiling blue eyes.
"Are you okay?" thee boy asked in concern.
Elani nodded shyly and then stepped back slightly.
"Are you lost?" the tall boy hunched down to her level.
She didn't answer but simply stared at his face.
"Elani!" Both of them looked up to see Calica "There you are! Don't ever run off like that!"
The young girl smiled and ran to hug her sister who had just noticed the boy.
"Thank you for finding her" Calica smiled.
"Oh, I didn't! We just sort of bumped into each other" he laughed, his eyes twinkling. Calica's heart skipped a beat.
"Calica" Kia's voice interrupted them "Did you-?"
She gasped mid sentence as her eyes fell on the boy and she screeched in delight. The next thing, to Elani and Calica's astonished, they were hugging. When they released each other Kia turned to the confused sisters.
"This is Ryushi!" She presented.
For a while everyone just stared at each other until Elani yelled in happiness and turned to Kia.
"See! I told you I'd find him!" she told her.
"And I didn't doubt you for a minute" Kia exchanged an amused glance with Ryushi. "By the way, this is Calica Hiwatari."
Calica stuck out her hand and shook Ryushi's. Their handshake went on longer than needed and when Kia cleared her throat, both blushed red.
"Anyways' Kia smiled at their embarrassment "I need to take Elani into the city. Why don't both of you go home? We'll see you there!"
Hugging her brother again and waving to Calica, Kia led the excited Elani away.
For a few seconds both of them just stood there; Ryushi was watching Calica expectantly and Calica was looking at the floor.
"So" Ryushi finally said "Are we going anytime today?"
Calica jumped and stared at him, then she coloured "Ya, come on."
Ryushi followed the flustered girl chuckling to himself, but inside his head his brain was arguing heatedly about a certain 'Orange Dragon'.
The ride to the mansion was spent in comfortable silence. Calica though, kept glancing at Ryushi and turning immediately away.
She tried to convince herself that the only reason she was light headed was because of the green envelope in her bag, not the boy sitting next to her. But whenever he spoke to her she would go red and look at the ground.
So his first impression of her was not really that good.
But it wasn't really a first impression now – was it?
OOOOO
Kia rushed up the stairs, eager to see her brother. She had been told he was going to stay in the room next to hers. When she reached it Kia knocked on the door, but when no answer came she opened it and stepped in. She did not expect to see what she saw.
Kai Hiwatari. Without a shirt.
He looked at her with wide eyes, clearly surprised to see her. She stared at him with the same expression before her senses came back.
"Sorry" she squeaked and shut the door, rushing out.
Wrong room.
But even as she hurried away, the door opened behind her and Kai stepped out.
"If you wanted to admire me, you should have just asked Twee!"
Kia turned around glaring. Kai stood, leaning against his doorframe looking ever so much like a Greek God, than anyone had the right to. His pale skin shone from the light of the window, highlighting his well toned muscles.
"I have no intention of admiring you" she spat the last word out, trying hard to keep her eyes from slipping below his neck.
"Don't lie, you know that isn't true" he smirked and stepped closer to her.
"It bloody well is!" Kia's voice trembled slightly, but her tone was completely confident.
"Now, now" Kai tapped her cheek "Word's like that don't sound nice coming out a pretty mouth"
"Just stay away from me!"
"Oh I want to" Kai leaned closer "Believe me. But I love to infuriate you. You might not have noticed but, I hate you.
The words sliced through her and at once her eyes stung. Looking away she forced herself to glare at the wall. But she could not hide the hurt.
Satisfied, Kai moved away and when he did Kia felt cold and flinched violently as his door slammed shut.
Bringing her back to reality.
Away from the dreams.
Kia cursed herself. What did Hiwatari matter for? There was no reason to feel so heartbroken.
There was no reason to care.
OOOOOOOOOO
The week passed quickly and before she knew it Kia had been in Moscow for over a month, with less than four weeks of her stay left.
Kia was slightly annoyed this particular day, annoyed and extremely curious. Ryushi had met 'Orange Dragon' the day before but refused to reveal her identity or anything about the meeting. But he was very happy………and very secretive.
Another reason Kia was annoyed was because of her dreams. They were becoming more and more torturing and too make things worse locks of dark hair shadowed the crimson eyes in her dreams mirroring the way Kai's hair fell over his eyes.
His confession of sorts, that he had revealed the other day kept entering her thoughts, and though she tried hard to forget….
"Kia! Pay attention!"
The girl snapped out of her thoughts and turned to give a bored look to a disappointed looking Calica. They were in a costume shop. The Hiwataris had been invited to a masked ball and it seemed crucial that Kia attend it. Ryushi refused the invitation flat out.
Right now Calica held out a pink and abnormally frill gown. She had already found her own costume and was hell bent on finding Kia the perfect one. Kia quickly shook her head.
"Something darker, I said, not lighter" Kia pleaded.
Calica put the gown down on a large pile, nodding absently. The other girl looked around as she waited for Calica to choose something else. Her eyes fell on the boy who had accompanied them.
Kai was at the other end of the shop looking through a small set of costumes. The female shop assistant standing next to him was trying to flirt, but, Kia smiled smugly, he was ignoring her completely.
"What colour do you want?" Calica asked
"Crimson" the word slipped out of her mouth.
Calica glanced at her surprised.
"No" Kia corrected herself "No, black. I meant black"
When she looked at Kai again, he was staring at her. His expression was slightly taken aback, but otherwise guarded. He didn't even look away when she glared at him. Flustered she turned back to Calica gave her a triumphant look
"Found it!" She smiled "And it's black and crimson. Just like you wanted!"
From the corner of her eye Kia saw Kai straighten and look away. She was sure he heard, dead sure.
OOOOOOOOOOO
"What are you wearing?" Ryushi almost yelled.
Kia gave Elani an 'I told you so' look, but when she turned back she was surprised to see that it was no her, but Calica, he was speaking to.
The girl in question was looking rather glamorous in fact. She was dressed in a pale yellow kimono, with a dragon draped around the bottom part and the sky with birds in it at the top. It was quite plain but the workmanship of it was extremely beautiful.
"It's called a kimono and I'm sure you've seen one before" she rolled her eyes at him and grabbed Kia's arm dragging her downstairs.
While Kia was trying to ask her why Ryushi spoke to her in such a weird way, Calica told them (Elani and Kia) that her parents and brother had already left and it was necessary for them to catch up with them.
They hurried into the car and at once it started raining. The journey was surprisingly short and soon Kia found herself looking at the entrance to a tall hotel. Slowly as they approached the doors Kia fixed her mask into place.
The reception area was grandly decorated but they did not stand there for long. Calica handed her invitation to one of the attendants at the doorway, who led them towards the elevator. It moved slowly and they went quite high up. He led them to an inner, private hall where the party was taking place. As soon as the doors opened Kia gasped and stopped short.
The hall was huge and beautifully decorated. The lights had been dimmed and in the centre was a dark dance floor. The guests looked like dark spirits drifting among themselves.
She grinned down at Elani when she grabbed Kia's hand in excitement and laughed.
"Come on" Calica smiled at them "We should find Mother"
The two excited girls followed her, watching the many guests. But slowly Kia began to feel people watching her.
She was dressed in a deep crimson gown that got darker as it went down, finally fading to black. A black robe was clasped around her neck and a thick belt held a dagger at her waist. Her mask was black with flames painted on it.
She was some kind of medieval assassin. From Calica's crazy point of view.
They found Mrs Hiwatari easily, but her husband and son were not to be seen. Calica left them and ran off to see her friends. Elani tried to pull Kia away as well but she was feeling shy and refused to move.
Elani pulled again and groaned. Kia laughed and let herself be dragged along. The little pulled her through the crowd, running a little now.
"Isn't it fun!" Elani squealed.
Kia nodded the smile still on her face. People were watching both the girls with amusement and when Kia noticed this, she hastily tried to stop the younger girl.
"Elani stop!" the girl turned to look at her questioningly.
"Why?"
"Because you'll fall" Kia supplied "And I have no idea where you're taking me"
Elani giggled and clutched her hand tighter "I like this party!"
About an hour and a half later Elani was not thinking the same thing. She was whining and cribbing to go home. Running around had made her tired and sleepy. It was impossible for her parents to leave and Kai, of course was nowhere to be seen.
"I think I should take her" Kia finally said. Helen nodded.
"NO!" Calica interrupted, making both the females glance at her in surprise.
"I'll take her" she smiled innocently "I want to go home too and besides, Kia doesn't know the way"
Kia nodded slowly in agreement, suspicion clear on her face. she did not say anything as Calica and Elani headed towards the exit, but when they got lost in the crowd she turned back to Helen who merely shrugged.
Deciding it was too stuffy inside, Kia excused herself and headed towards a balcony she had spotted a while ago. When she stepped out the cool wind hit her and the wind lifted her hair playfully. Kia smile when she saw it was still raining.
Then she gasped and took an involuntary step backwards. The view!
It was exactly the same as the one in her dreams, the lights, the Kremlin, the beauty!
She stepped forward, in a trance. Her fingers curled around the railing as she looked down. The height made her feel dizzy. She gazed out again at the dream that seemed to be in front of her.
If only…….
"Pretty, isn't it" a voice broke through her thoughts.
Her head whirled around to see a boy slightly taller than her. He was leaning on the railing, with his back to it and his elbows on it for support. He was dressed entirely in black. Over black trousers and a full sleeves shirt he wore a cloak. His mask was black as well.
"Yes" Kia smiled slightly, but gave a look of confusion "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever see"
"Me too" But his eyes did not leave hers.
She ducked her face to hide her blush and was suddenly glad it was dark..
"So" the tension shattered "What are you supposed to be?"
Kia laughed and glanced down at herself. "A twisted version of an assassin"
The boy smirked, his white teeth flashing. He leant close to her.
"And whose heart are you going to strike?"
Kia looked away from his penetrating gaze. Why did she suddenly feel so light?
"What are you then?" she evaded his question.
The smirk grew wider and he leant even closer "The mysterious stranger"
Kia couldn't look away now. Though his eyes were shadowed by his mask something made her stare at him. His face was almost touching hers.
That smirk, she was sure she had seen it before……..
"Want to dance?" His voice a husky whisper.
Kia nodded, the big lump in her throat preventing her from speaking. He grabbed her hand and led her away. Immediately electricity ran through her.
As they reached the dance floor he turned and pulled her closer. As their bodies collided Kia suddenly felt scared, but then he merely put his arms around her waist and looked at her expectantly.
She put her arms round his neck hesitantly. Everything suddenly clicked and fell into place, she fitted against him perfectly……….a little too perfectly. They swayed with the music which was slow, all the time staring at each other.
It seemed like eternity that they danced together and as the music slowed, the boy tilted Kia's chin upwards. She did not resist. Then, just in the middle of the dance floor…….he kissed her.
It was nothing like she had ever imagined. His lips were too cold and too hot at the same time and hurt her immensely. They seemed to flow against her own; like water. Or slippery ice.
When they came up for air he stared at her for a long time, as if not sure. Then he leant close and captured her lips again.
This time it was less tender, more desperate. She felt intoxicated. He smelt of cold wind, fresh air and…..and…….
Kia's eyes widened in horror.
She broke free and pushed him away. He grabbed her wrist but she pulled and ran off the dance floor. It did not take her long to find Mrs. Hiwatari.
"Helen" she said quickly "I've got a splitting headache. I think I'll leave"
"Is everything alright? You look a bit dishevelled"
"I'm fine, just tired. I want to go home" Kia pleaded.
"I'll take you" his voice came from behind.
Kia didn't turn, she couldn't face him. She just shook her head and spoke as calmly as possible.
"No it's fine. I can go-"
"I'll take you" Kai repeated more forcefully "You don't know the way"
To her dread she saw Helen nodding.
"It's only sensible" she said "Both of you go, we'll be late"
There was no way Kia could refuse now and slowly she said her goodbyes before following him out of the hall.
Towards hell, towards her doom.
OOOOOOO
I really hope that was fine! Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I was on holiday. You will be happy to know that 50 of the next chapter is done so I will be quick with that.
I won't be updating 'Why Do I Care' for a while, but I shall try the earliest possible.
If you don't know who the 'mysterious stranger' is then you'll find out in the next chapter for sure. But you should!
Review!
Ciao
Kia
