Another chapter. Hope you guys like it…
Chapter 25
Faint voices woke me up, so faint I thought they might be a dream. There were two, one of them Kari. The other one was too low to recognize.
"An alchemy circle? So we're looking for an alchemist…"
"Definitely. But that doesn't come close to eliminating the possibilities. There's hundreds in the military and plenty wandering the streets."
"Well we know it can't be Ed or Kyara. They both are gone."
"And we know they are after Rose… that explosion seemed to be directed towards her way. I was hardly hurt."
There was a pause.
"Do you know something?" Kari asked. There was no answer from the male.
I figured there would be no more. I took in a breath and felt it didn't hurt quite as bad. That didn't mean, of course, that it didn't hurt at all. I reached out my hand that was connected to a number of lifeline tubes to the speakers. I heard Kari gasp as I moaned from the aching.
"I think she needs to hold on to something."
The person hesitated before I felt the same strong grasp gingerly place their hand within my reach. The person who saved me was still here by my side.
I wanted to figure out who the person was but I could feel sleep coming again. Their chair slid over closer to my bedside as I began shivering from a cool breeze that was coming from the window behind me. The hospital sheets were very thin and didn't help my breathing.
Before I could grimace to let them know I was cold, I felt a warm blanket drape across my shivering body; My cue to finally drift to sleep was whispered in the person's final words.
"Just relax."
"Who are you?"
Consciousness was slowly floating back. The hospital room was silent now, save the beeping of the heart monitor and my slow breaths whistling through the tubes. I opened my eyes and saw moonlight creeping through the shades of the window above my head. My heart jumped as somebody rustled in the chair beside me.
"Rose, are you awake?"
I saw Kari stretching in my peripheral vision as she too woke up from sleep. I began to sit up and felt only a slight aching compared to before. The numerous tubes connected to my body were the only things keeping me. She watched me intently as I struggled to sit upright, expressionless.
"How are you feeling?" She asked softly.
"Were you the one who saved me?" I asked, watching her shake her head.
"No, Rose." She whispered.
"Then who did?"
Her expression didn't change, but her voice got even softer.
"I think you know."
I didn't need any more. Before I began feeling faint again, I began slowly taking out each tube. Kari gasped.
"Don't !"- She began, but realized with a sigh that I wasn't going to be stopped. My hands were shaking no matter how I tried to control them as sentences ran through my mind. How to talk to him…
I rose from the bed calmly, in no need of rushing. She stood up from her chair.
"Where are you going?" she asked with eagerness as I began walking down the hall.
"I think you know," I said without looking back.
My mind was going miles per hour as I walked down the dark corridors. Everyone was in bed at this time. I was still wearing the pajamas given by the hospital ward and I could feel the cold tile on my bare feet. My heart accelerated as I turned onto the corridor of our dorms. Each step sent my stomach sinking lower and lower until I reached his door.
I hesitated. Running over the first question I would ask and taking a deep breath I knocked three times on his door. Flushes of nervousness tingled over my body as I waited.
He didn't come to the door. For a moment I thought, perhaps, he hadn't heard me. Seconds passed and I thought I should knock again.
An idea passed through my mind and I left the empty room. As I went down a few flights of stairs, I tried to be as silent as possible. I finally reached the door to outside and went out silently.
Cool air picked up my hair as I looked around the dank, dimly-lit streets. He was no where to be seen, but the scent of cigarette smoke loomed in the air. I took a deep breath in to soak in the senses of the city. Finally, I was able to single out and follow the scent.
Before entering the alleyway, I leaned up against the edge of the icy wall. I felt someone directly behind it exhaling a puff of smoke.
At that moment all my courage abandoned me. I had somehow convinced myself this was a bad idea. But before I could walk away, my feet moved me around the corner to face him.
There we were, face to face. I presumed he had already heard me as he looked as if expecting me to arrive. Our eyes locked and I had forgotten all I wanted to say. He looked down at his cigarette a moment.
"Sorry," he said as he dropped it onto the ground, smothering it with his boot. I noticed he had a button-up polo with the top few buttons let loose so he could feel the nocturnal breeze. I gathered up the strength. His hair hung over his face as it usually did, although a bit more bedraggled.
"How long have you known?" I shakily asked. I felt my hands quivering uselessly at my side. He looked up with surprise.
"About what?" he replied. I sensed bluff in his voice. I had to be more straightforward.
"About… who I am."
My voice was cracking now and he looked at me truthfully, as if carefully choosing the right words in his head.
"How long?!" I demanded.
"Ever since you arrived."
I stared unbelievingly.
"What… what do you mean?" I whispered. My legs felt about to crumple underneath me. He was looking strait at me, those same eyes I saw the first time we met. Then I knew.
I knew all along it had been him. Everybody else knew there was something going on too. I knew from the moment he looked at me he knew who I was; he knew I was an assassin. I had just been too foolish to realize. It was him who stopped me from murdering the colonel. It was him who had saved me from the explosion just the day before. It was him in the alleyway…
And now he was leaving. He brushed past as I began to gather all thoughts.
"Where are you going?!" I called out as he made his way across the courtyard. The night gave it an eerie, ghostlike aura, the way the cherry blossom leaves whispered with the wind and leaves danced along our feet. Everything seemed surreal, like it was just a dream. Havoc stopped halfway between the alleyway and the steps a moment before continuing to walk slowly. "Stop!"
He didn't. I had to run to catch him as he reached the last step. He looked the other way as I caught him at the top, hardly able to breath.
"How did you know?"
"There are ways, Rose." He said softly, as if him telling me he knew my biggest secret didn't phase him at all. I could feel my blood boiling, especially as he said my name.
"How do you honestly think I feel right now?" I whispered harshly. He continued to look away, his eyes growing stone cold the more I questioned him. I waited a few moments to study his face and realized he wasn't going to answer me.
"Where are my parents?!"
My piercing words echoed into the courtyard. His eyes shot towards me and the next thing I knew he had grabbed my arm harshly and began leading me down the steps. I could feel myself tripping but was unable to fall with his unyielding grip keeping me up. His fingers tensed as we kept walking, making our way across the street. His breath was fast and harsh, and anger was rippling off of him like I had never felt before. We were passing walls of stones and turned a corner into another alleyway.
Darkness covered us as we entered; the same alleyway I had taken on the way to the flower shop. There he roughly pushed me against the wall, a move I was quite used to by now being in this town. His hands poised me against the wall as he tried to catch his breath. It took everything not to melt underneath his strength, just as the last time we were in this situation. This time it was a little different though.
"Rose," He said hoarsely. "You don't understand,"
"You haven't given me a chance to."
"Shhh… just listen." He paused. Trying to compose himself, he swallowed loudly. His hands began shaking. "You don't want to know who your parents are, alright?"
"I'll decide that for myself. But first, tell me who-"
"No!" he shrieked. His hands fastened down even tighter, shaking. "Just listen to what I am saying… it's not worth trying to see them. They… are not human. They are not like you or me."
"Are you saying I am normal?" I retaliated. "If you really know who I am then you must know I am not normal. You have seen what happens to me when I get carried away!"
"Look Rose, you just won't listen. You have to trust me."
There was that word. Trust. My whole life I hadn't been able to trust a single soul, yet now I was forced to trust the person who had lied behind my back the moment I entered Central Headquarters. Any other time I had met somebody who asked for my trust I had ended up stabbing them in the back. Literally.
"I can't," I truthfully admitted. Breathing ceased to expel from both of us at these words. Silence filled the area, coldness creeping up from the pit of my stomach. Although I couldn't see his face in the darkness, I could feel his eyes penetrating me, filled with urgency. His hands loosened their grip on my arms, feeling as though he was giving up. His voice was as swift as the wind.
"Then there isn't anything more I can do for you."
"Please. Just tell me who they are."
One of his hands gently lifted from my arm, leaving a spot of lost warmth. I was taken by surprise as his fingers, warm and cautious, brushed across my cheek to replace a stray strand of hair. My cheeks were burning under his touch.
"They are nothing like you."
And then he walked away, chilling air sucking away his warmth. His footsteps echoed down the alleyway as I slid down the wall, finally left to collapse. I felt as empty as the alleyway, too shocked to move.
Or so, I only thought the alleyway was empty.
"Let us meet your parents, then."
Sorry for the cliffy. Couldn't resist!! I'm sure I'll write more soon so don't worry.