[Normal P.O.V]
"You're the Demon Killer..."
Hayden perked his head up and turned his head towards Nadia, who just kept staring at him in fear. The auburn scrunched his nose up in confusion. He glanced behind him, just to make sure that she was actually looking at him. Perplexed, Hayden slowly grew concerned for Nadia. He wondered if she's seeing something that he isn't.
"Um, what?" He hesitantly said, tilting his head and cautiously glancing around her.
Nadia on the other hand was petrified. All the stories she heard about the Demon Killer came back to haunt her. All those silent massacres occurring in different parts of the world. Those silent murders struck fear in everyone's hearts, both good and evil. A person so heartless, merciless, and ruthless, that most of the murders he committed were so disgustingly butchered, even forensics and detectives, who have seen the worst of the worst, were appalled. Someone who has been getting away from all these murders, just because he left the innocents alone. Nadia let the fact sink in her head, that the person who committed all those atrocities, has been in front of her this entire time.
At that moment, she didn't whether to cry or kneel down and bow her head. Her body was practically a statue, but her nerves and muscles were shaking like crazy. Her heart was pounding and beating loud against her ribcage, almost threatening to break through. Pearls of sweat trailed down the side of her head, despite it being a cold afternoon. She had to bite her lip to keep herself from saying anything else, whether it'll be from excitement or fear, she's not really sure. All she knows is that the infamous Demon Killer is eight in front of her but she has no clue on what to do.
You see, Nadia has a strange and odd form of admiration for the Demon Killer. Ever since she has heard about it, she spent most of her time imagining what would happen if she met him. At first, she was adamant that she wasn't going to try and find out. Just from the stories alone, she could already tell how dangerous it is. What's worse is that the veteran mercenaries were the ones who told her the stories, and from the way, their voice trembled and their body movements stiffened at every detail told her everything she needed to know. She started to fear this unknown entity that swings by night and day, jumping criminals in alleys and committing murders in random places. But as time passed, she grew more interested in the idea of encountering this Demon Killer. The more stories popped up, the more she grew curious. It came to the point where she had to admit that meeting this Demon Killer would be weirdly amazing.
She still fears him, but the idea and the excitement of meeting him were slowly overwhelming that fear. However, at this moment, she remembered everything she heard about the Demon Killer, and the fear came bouncing back. Now, she's stuck between scurrying away like a rodent and offering her service to him.
"Hey, Nadia!"
Hayden's voice brought her back to reality. She snapped out of her trance and stared dumbly at him. The demon gazed at her with an irritated expression, his lips pursed and his right hand stuck on his hip.
"What's wrong?" He cocked an eyebrow, genuinely concerned.
Nadia blinked. She got too lost in her imagination and thoughts that she almost forgot that Hayden is right there. All this time, she's been worried about the Demon Killer in front of her, but it's only Hayden. The same person she traveled with for the past few days. Sure, she saw the signs and evidence of his Demon Killer(ness). But she doesn't think that Hayden is trying to hide his identity or anything. She feels like he has no reason to give out some pretty dangerous information. With her heart slowly settled, the initial shock vanished with it.
But that still doesn't erase the fact that Hayden is the Demon Killer. She'll extract that information right after she gives someone a call. If anyone has any experience with this strange specimen, it's her...
"Nothing. I went off to my own world for a bit. Sorry about that." She lied, straining a smile to keep her façade up.
Hayden narrowed his eyes, a bit curious and suspicious about her sudden attitude switch, but she waved it off for now.
"Well, there's nothing here for us. Just empty and useless information about their other targets." He glanced towards the screens and the monitors flashing from the walls and then whips his head back to Nadia. "We should get going."
The blonde nodded her head weakly and followed Hayden out of the room, stepping over the rubble and then continued walking down the street. As they head back to the motel, Hayden noticed that she was no longer walking by her side. So he craned his neck to the side and found Nadia cautiously walking with her knees bent and her arms slightly open. She looked like she was holding a defensive position in basketball.
At first, Hayden was more than confused about what she's doing. But he came to the conclusion that maybe Nadia doesn't trust him yet and decided to go Kevin Garnett behind him. The walk towards the motel continued with them in that position. The receptionist gaped at them when Hayden entered the hotel with a chimpanzee following him from behind.
The auburn greeted with an awkward smile and a weak wave before shuffling up the stairs out of embarrassment. Once they were inside their room, Hayden dropped whatever he was carrying and glared at the platinum-blonde.
"Alright, what the hell is going on?"
Nadia jumped back up to her normal position and shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about." She stated simply, but her eyes betrayed her.
This time, Hayden caught it. He slammed his hand against the door, right next to Nadia's head. The force of his hand nearly rattled the walls of their room. Her back was pushed against the door, a look of surprise and bewilderment remained etched on her face. His glare burned through her face like an ultraviolet ray.
"I know you're hiding something. I may have some delusional moments from time to time, but I'm not this dumb to miss this." He hissed through his teeth. This was the first time Nadia saw him get angry. If she didn't know his true identity, then she wouldn't be as scared as she is now. Knowing what he is capable of, her image of his anger only grew worse once she imagined what would happen if she didn't talk.
She pursed her lips, "Are you the Demon Killer?"
Nadia saw the irritation slowly leave Hayden's face as a new emotion overcame his last one. His eyebrows scrunched down, a frown forming. He lowered his arm down back to his side but his gaze never left Nadia's form.
"Wh- what are you talking about?" He stuttered, confused.
But Nadia took that the wrong way. Seeing him stutter for the first time as well, she misunderstood it and thought that Hayden was the one hiding something this time. So her back left the door and she turned to the offensive side.
"You know what I'm talking about." She pushed on as Hayden was forced to slowly back away.
"Uh, no... I don't." He replied in a defensive manner, which only riled Nadia up.
She took a step forward until she's about one-foot away from Hayden. But since he was a lot taller, she had to look up. "Then why so defensive? What's making you so nervous?" She said, pressing her finger against his broad chest.
"Nothing!"
"Then you admit that something is making you nervous," Nadia smirked victoriously, but it was short-lived. Hayden took a step back away from her space and just suddenly left her alone as if they weren't having a serious conversation seconds ago. She was so shocked, that she wasn't able to move from her spot for about ten seconds before realizing what happened.
Her eye twitched. A scowl crawled up her face faster than a bullet train. She began stomping her way towards the retreating form of Hayden and once he was in her range, she stretched her hand out and grabbed his shoulder in a death grip before flipping him to the other side to face her. Nadia wrapped her fingers around the scarf she picked for Hayden and held it tight in her hand so that he wouldn't leave.
"You tell me right now, why you hid the fact that you're the Demon Killer?" This time, she's not letting him leave without a proper answer.
Hayden tried to leave by grabbing her wrist, but Nadia had already thought ahead. Using her foot, she pulled it back and used the heel of her boot to force the sword out of the scabbard strapped onto her back. As it flew across the air, Nadia caught it perfectly in her hand and immediately pushed it against Hayden's throat.
"Stop trying to avoid the subject, Demon Killer." She said, ditching his real name. However, she made the mistake of actually calling him that.
Hayden, with his bare hand, grabbed the blade that's against his throat. Despite his palm bleeding due to the sharp edge of her sword, he pushed it away from him and forced it back to Nadia. "Don't you fucking call me that." He seethed, his eyes burning with anger.
Her hand and sword trembled as the blade grew nearer to her face. But she was focused more on different things. "Or what? You'll butcher me up like what you did to the rest?" Nadia spat back. The demon recoiled, his eyes trembling in an unknown emotion. He clicked his tongue before releasing the blade abruptly. He cradled his bleeding hand with his other, searching for a towel or something to clean the blood dripping down from his sliced palm.
"Camorra calls me that all the time." He suddenly said, finding a white, clean towel hanging from a chair. "When they see me, they say something similar to that. A demon. A murderer. A monster..." The solemn and empty tone in his voice made the scowl on Nadia's face fade away. He twitched and cringed as he wiped the blood away from his hand. You don't need to see his face to realize the emotion he's feeling.
Nadia watched as Hayden turned around, his face dour and somber but he was doing a great job concealing it. "You don't know me. Hell, I don't even know myself. But I'm not a demon. At least, that's what I believe." His voice turned monotonous, dead. "If you can tell me who the hell I am, then you're free to do so. In the meantime, don't talk to me like you know me."
And with that, he left Nadia alone in the living room to contemplate his words. She used to be confused before all this but now, she's befuddled. None of what he said made sense to her. She simply stood there, deciphering the meaning of his words to no avail. All of a sudden, she an idea out of nowhere. It'll be a little tough to explain but if she gets what she needs, then she might be able to fix this situation.
...
10,000 kilometers away from Milan, Camilla sat on the floor of her room in Drakos, with a 75-inch, plasma-screen TV right in front of her as she chewed her Cinnamon Toast Crunch in her mouth. Her fingers furiously spammed the buttons and moved the sticks on her controller as she tried to get her character away from the battlefield as fast as possible since her health had taken some damage from her previous fight. Taking another big spoon full of her cereal, she shoved it in her mouth and left it in there while she continued to play her game.
"There are two on me! Two on me!" She called out through the mic from her headset, right after swallowing her cereal. The spoon in her mouth made her words a bit incomprehensible but her teammates nonetheless, understood.
"I'm coming. I'm coming." Their voice replied through her headphones.
"Faster! I'm getting fucked up here!" Camilla yelled out as she tried her best to gun down the two enemy players shooting her ass up. But she was outnumbered. She hid behind one of the houses scattered across the field to use a first aid kit.
"Chill! I'm moving as fast as I can!"
"They're stacking, man!" She tried her best to move and get away from the enemies but it was useless. Red markers started to appear on her map. She would take damage every time she would move from her spot.
Then suddenly, she heard laughter from her headphones. An annoying and obnoxious one. Unfortunately, she recognized the voice as one of her rivals in the game-9SkarFoot, a man in his mid-twenties. Spent most of her time insulting the man than playing with him. Their never-ending battle started six years ago, when Camilla first entered the game, thinking that it'll be a fun and enjoyable game. Sadly, she was mistaken. Four years later, she was a master at trash-talking and bullying other people-just like everyone in the lobby.
"I bet you shoot with your broke-ass left hand." The player taunted. "Looking like Nick Vujicic with that lame-ass Type 25! A cerebral palsy could've hit that shot."
Gritting her teeth, she opened her mic up and proceeded to shoot back. "Quit being a spherical dumbass, bitch! What's your k/d ratio looking like? 0.23? My dead grandma would've been pushing 1.5 from the grave. I'd rather have a broke-ass shot than a wack technique like yours!"
"Keep talking shit, pussy-eating bitch! I've been playing this game since you was liquid nut!"
"Good one, glizzy-gobbler. Haven't heard that since Modern Warfare." She then switched the mic to her party once again. "Yo, Jordan. Where the hell are you!?"
"Yo, man. I'm down. Sniper up on the hill." Jordan replied. You could already hear the guilt in his voice, but that doesn't stop Camilla from letting him have it.
"YOU FUCKING IDIOT! I TRUST YOU TO RUN AND YOU EVEN FAILED AT THAT! WHERE ARE THE REST OF YA'LL?!" Camilla screeched out so loud, the entire building heard her voice.
"Gone since #56."
"Got rushed."
"Dontai got disconnected."
Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she released a heavy sigh. "Am I going to have to 1v4 these motherfuckers?" After a chorus of agreement, Camilla groaned before picking her controller back up. "Give me a miracle."
She took her turned her mic off and went to work. First, she placed a trip mine by her hiding spot before throwing a smoke bomb at her position. Once she heard gunshots being fired at the smoke, she went the other direction and jumped out of the house, where she was suddenly met by an enemy player. To avoid being shot, she immediately proned and switched to her scope and blasted the enemy away in one shot; through the head.
Camilla heard a bomb go off in her left ear and a dead player's name popped up from below her screen. A grin stretched out on her lips as she began to tac-sprint up the hill, switching to a nova gas canister to run faster. Once she reached the hill, she saw the sniper waiting for her arrival. She threw the nova gas at him and instantly switched to her ICR, shooting randomly through the gas until she hears or sees a hit marker. It didn't take long until she saw him emerge from the gas, giving her a clear shot. With the third enemy gone, all she has to do is find 9SkarFoot.
She was searching through her map when all of a sudden, her phone rang from the side. It took one glance away from the screen for hee character to immediately get blasted from out of nowhere. When her eyes gazed back to the screen, it only showed her dead body on the ground, her current rank, and her overall stats. Her jaw remained unhinged from her mouth, hanging open like a Titan. Soon, her headphones were flooded with her party's laughter and mocking.
"Yo, dude. You sold hard!"
"Here I thought you'd clutch this."
"Shiiiit. Skar is deadlifting your grandma's coffin somewhere."
To make the matters worse, 9SkarFoot emerged from below and proceeded to crouch up and down her dead corpse-teabagging her. Camilla nearly threw her controller away out of anger. She jumped up to her feet and lowered the mic to her lips. With one large breath, she began releasing a string of curses and an insane amount of trash talk; both to her teammates and her opponents.
"That was a great game, K4mika31. I hope next time that you'd be able to back up all your shit-talking." 9SkarFoot's laugh reverberated through Camilla's headphones.
"You better shut your mouth, Skar. Or I'll find your dad and make him jealous with the ground-pounding I'm about to do on your mom." She fired back with equal force.
"Go to hell, K4mika31-"
She disconnected right after that and left the game. Her face still red in anger and stress. It's taking every cell in her body to keep herself from breaking the entire TV and the console. She did it before and Shatter wasn't impressed. He gave her the latest and upgraded console but made her promise to never pour her rage onto it ever again or else he'll never buy another one. To be honest with Camilla, it sounded like a father scolding his bratty daughter.
So instead, she turned her anger towards the phone ringing on the glass desk. Her stomps shook the entire floor as she walked up to the desk and picked up the phone.
And with the loudest and clearest voice, she yelled out, "WHAT?!"
"Whoa. Calm down, Cami. Let me guess, you're playing Killshot again?"
Camilla scrunched up her nose. "Hah? Nadia, is this you?"
"Yeah. Didn't your read the caller ID?"
"Nope. You cost me a game by the way. This better be important because if it isn't, I swear I'll go to wherever you are and beat the living shit out-"
"I found the Demon Killer." Nadia cut her off, which promptly shut her up. All the anger she had seemed to have vanished instantly at the name. Her controller fell down to the floor, forgotten.
"What?" Her voice seemed small and in disbelief. "You... you met him?"
"More or less. Just not in the way you're expecting." Nadia replied from the other line. Before Camilla could as what she meant, she beat her to it, "I'm currently in the same motel room with him in Italy and I've been traveling with him for the past few days."
A plane could've flown over Camilla's head and crashed onto her room, but she still wouldn't be able to notice or even hear it because of how shocked she is. The gears in her head began grinding and turning, trying to process the words she just heard. After a few seconds of different emotions flashing through her face like a PowerPoint presentation, she came to a definitive conclusion that Nadia was lying, so she decided to call her out for it.
She laughed obnoxiously and almost falsely, "Nice joke, Nadia. I know you wanted to meet the guy but I didn't think you were so desperate to make up an obviously fake story." Camilla hesitantly replied. But deep down in her heart, she feels like it was the complete opposite of what she said.
"I'm going to let that slide for now since I'm in dire need of your help," Nadia said bitterly. "Cami, I need your help with Hayden..."
That one name caused every hair on her body to stand up on its end. Her hand gripped her phone so hard, she nearly crushed it. "How do you-"
Nadia cuts her off once again, "Do you trust me now?"
Camilla swallowed all the doubts down her throat and nodded shakily. "Y- yeah, but how? Did he tell you his name?"
"Yeah... I just recently discovered that he was the Demon Killer. But from the way you're speaking, there's a lot more meaning behind whatever this is. Mind explaining them to me?"
Ignoring what she said, Camilla focused on what's more important to her. "Listen to me, Nadia. I need you to promise me that you'll look out for him."
"What?"
"Promise that you won't let him leave your sight."
"I don't even know what's happening! What are you talking about? Do you know him?"
The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose, releasing a frustrated sigh. She wasn't irritated at Nadia, but at herself. All this hiding and sneaking is surprisingly making her guilty. "It's complicated but yes. I do know him. But he doesn't know me. He's forgotten about everything; his life before whatever he's doing right now. I actually gave him his name and I thought he wouldn't accept it. Our interactions aren't exactly friendly at first. You should've seen my face when I first recognized him. You would've laughed your ass off." She replied truthfully.
Silencecame from the other line. Nadia didn't say a word for a few seconds before answering, "How did that happen?"
"To make the long story short, he's not even supposed to be alive right now. I don't know what happened but somehow, he's alive and he doesn't know a thing." Camilla plopped down by her couch and rested her head against a pillow, tired both physically and emotionally. "It's just... so fucked up."
On the other side of the call, Nadia herself was leaning against the wall with a questioning expression on her face. This past hour has been a mental rollercoaster that's been throwing her emotions and feelings around like a tennis game. All this time, she imagined the Demon Killer to be a ruthless mass murder with no real concept of morals. But now, she's being told that he's actually just an amnesiac who's lost and quite important to Camilla apparently. Deep down in Nadia's heart, she knows that the blonde is telling the truth. Looking back at the moments she had with Hayden, she noticed that if you forget about his demonic way of killing, there's a pretty normal person behind that identity. But like other people, she's not that easy to sway from her beliefs.
"You can't just tell me that and expect me to suddenly think that he's some forgotten hero that saved the world," Nadia replied with a reluctant sigh.
"You have no idea how accurate you are but I'll let it go. And I'm not trying to sway you. I just want you to understand that he's not who you think he is." Camilla said but the recipient of the call was quick to reply.
"Did he not kill your girl? Did he not massacre an entire Brazilian drug cartel? Did he not commit some terrible shit? I'm not saying I didn't do the same but you're acting like he's some kind of saint-"
"You don't know him, Nadia!" Camilla suddenly cried out, causing the platinum-blonde to shut her mouth. "Before I knew Heather, I knew him. What he did before this is practically child's play compared to what he did before. But he was a good person. Despite forgetting everything in his life, I believe he's still the same kind person he was before."
Camilla heard Nadia sigh from the other line, "What do you want me to do then, Cami?"
"Give him a chance, Nadia. I believe that you know what I'm talking about but you refuse to listen. Just talk to him, please." Camilla didn't like how her voice sounded; almost pathetic. But just for the sake of Hayden and his family, she forced herself to keep going.
"You're pushing these requests too much, Boggs." There was an audible trace of frustration in Nadia's words.
"I'm not hoping that you'll change your view of him. All that I'm asking is to treat him as you do to any normal person." Camilla practically begged.
"I'm not even sure I can call him a pers-"
"Please, Nadia. After this, I'll do anything you want. Maybe I'll even give you the latest version of the PlayStation 7."
Nadia hummed from the other line as if she was considering the offer. "I guess it won't hurt to talk to the guy. Maybe I'll lose my limb, or my head, or my life, but other than that, it's all good." She replied sarcastically, causing the blonde to chuckle lightly.
"Thanks, Nadia. Take care of yourself." Camilla bid goodbye.
"You take care of yourself as well, Cami." And with that, Nadia ended the call. The blonde slowly lowered her phone and gazed at the black screen, staring at her reflection. She sat up from her couch, allowing all the stress on her body to ease away. With a sigh, she carelessly threw her phone across the room, knowing that the carpet on the floor would soften its landing. She then slapped her hands across her face and slammed her body back against the couch. She let out a pained groan as she rubbed her palms against her cheeks.
"Gods, what the hell am I doing, Heather?"
Hayden winced in pain as he tried to wrap a bandage that he found from the emergency health kit by the bathroom, around his sliced palm. So far, he wasted an entire roll because he can't seem to wrap it around his hand without leaving it practically useless. They always ended up looking like cooking mittens.
Once he finished wrapping his hand, it lifted it up and scowled. Now, it looked like a white lobster claw. Gritting his teeth, he ripped the bandage away, proceeding to hit his wound at the same time.
"Ah! Fuck! Fuck! Ow!" Hayden cussed out as he jumped up and down across his room, cradling his hand with extreme care. He was so ashamed of himself. He can climb a building with nothing but boots and gloves but apparently, can't use a simple bandage to save his life.
He sat back down on his bed, biting his bottom lip to ease the pain. Due to his focus on his hand, he didn't hear the door open or saw Nadia enter the room with an amused expression. He finally noticed her when she knelt down in front of him and yanked his hand towards her.
"Ow, what the fuck?!" He cried out, but Nadia simply responded with a roll of her eyes.
"At least I found one thing you're bad at." She quipped, earning her a glare from Hayden, but it vanished once he realized what she was doing. Nadia grabbed the bandage roll and began wrapping it around his open palm, the correct way. He stared down at his hand and then back at Nadia, who was flashing him a smug grin.
"Oh, shut up." Hayden scoffed.
Chuckling, she finished up the bandage wrap with an ugly, little bow on his palm. Hayden raised his hand and wandered his eyes around the wrap, pretending to inspect it. Once he lowered it, he noticed that Nadia was standing right in front of him, an awkward expression on her face. But before he could ask what was wrong, Nadia spoke up.
"I'm sorry."
His pale-green orbs widened at the sudden apology, especially coming from his stoic and temperamental companion. But judging from the uncomfortable look on her face and her fidgeting fingers, he could only guess that she's either constipated or embarrassed about it.
"Sorry about... you know... for calling you the Demon Killer." She rubbed the back of her neck, shuffling her feet.
"Nah, it's fine. I guess I was too harsh about it." He waved it off, only because he felt kinda bad for her and he does admit that he was overreacting about the situation. He hopped to his feet to retrieve the scarf that he had hung across the doorknob. "So... How did you know I was the... Demon Killer?"
"I recognized you from one of the profiles back in the hidden bases that you exposed." Hearing her reply, Hayden turned a questioning gaze towards her while his hand continued to grab the scarf off of the knob.
He folded his indigo scarf into a reasonable size and placed it on top of the desk, pursing his lips and furrowing his eyebrows into a frown. "They had my picture?" He inquired.
Nadia shook her head, "Not exactly. It barely showed your face but I recognized your eyes. It's not that hard to miss." She twirled her feet along with her body and plopped herself onto the bed.
"You assumed I was the Demon Killer just because I have green eyes?" Hayden deadpanned, cocking an eyebrow at her.
"Well, I was right, wasn't I?" She countered with a smirk.
"Touché"
Both let out a soft chuckle, lightening the mood a bit. But then all of a sudden, Nadia's smile vanished and turned serious. Her eyes looked lost and her mind seemed to have drifted to her own world. Hayden took note of this and grabbed a chair for him to sit on. But even with him sitting directly in front of her, her eyes never wavered, and practically gazed right through them. So, to snap her out of her thoughts, he got up and grabbed one of the pillows on the bed before proceeding to slam it against her face with the equivalent force of a collapsing star, causing her upper body to fall down on the bed.
Nadia groaned as she cupped her face, "What the fuck was that, Hayden?" She spat out.
Grinning evilly, he placed the pillow on his shoulder like an axe. "You were daydreaming so I wanted to wake you up."
"Couldn't you have done it in any other way?!"
Hayden shrugged. "Won't be as fun. So... what's wrong with you?" He said as he let his body fall onto the chair once again. He threw the pillow at Nadia, who fortunately intercepted it and glared at the auburn.
"Well, I was trying to come up with a conversation starter but now that I think about it, I don't think I want to talk to you." She sneered, but Hayden simply laughed it off. His laugh sounded like an angel playing a single note in a piano; a beautiful sound to anyone's ears but Nadia's. She curled her lip into a grimace. "I guess I should start with your family?"
His laughter suddenly halted, and the smile on his face melted away along with his joyful expression. Nadia cringed at herself. She couldn't believe that she had a conversation with Camilla regarding him but messed up almost instantly. Even she felt guilty when he pressed his lips into a thin line and the only emotion she could see in his eyes was emptiness.
"Oh, i- if you don't want to talk about it-"
She tried to take it back but it was too late. Hayden was too considerate. "Nah, it's fine," Hayden replied with an obviously fake smile, which only fueled Nadia's guilt. "It's just that... I don't think I have one."
"Damn, really?"
Nadia internally screamed at herself for continuing this conversation. If this goes any longer, she'll jump off an imaginary cliff and kill herself.
"Yeah. I... don't remember any of my memories before three years ago."
"Oh, word?"
She was practically crying blood and dirt in her mind but from the outside, she faced Hayden with a blank stare. She doesn't know how to respond to something that she already knows-though she was surprised that it was only recently that he had his memories poofed. So, she resorted to the defensive mechanism that makes her answer only in two words. It's only a miracle that Hayden still hasn't caught her.
"I'm basically just wandering the world, trying to find where I came from."
"Shit happens."
Nadia grabbed her thumb and forced it to snap to a 150-degree angle, just to stop herself from making any more dumb remarks. Sure, it was painful, but it did the job of keeping her mouth shut. Luckily for her but unfortunately for her thumb, Hayden decided that it was time for him to stop.
"Sorry for dropping all that out of nowhere." Hayden flashed her a small smile. "Must've been a shock."
'You have no idea...' Her inner conscience whispered in her head.
"What about you?" Nadia perked her head up, unprepared to be called as Hayden slipped his hands into his pockets. "What sad and horrible past do you have in store within you? If you have one."
The auburn didn't know what to achieve through this conversation. He was surprised that he was able to just pour out his past just like that. It seems that he has been holding it for a while. He was glad that Nadia took it calmly. Maybe a little too calmly.
On the other side, Nadia is racking up her brain so that she could pick one from the hundreds of horrible moments in her life. After all, it's only fair that he gets to hear the abnormalities in her life after getting spoiled to his story by Camilla.
"I guess you could say that having a mental disorder is quite... horrible?" At Hayden's confused gaze, she decided to elaborate. "I have a mild case of Alexithymia, EDD, or possibly, Schizoid; which are a bunch of disorders that mess with my head psychologically, emotionally, and mentally. Because of this, I may appear to be aromantic, apathetic, and antisocial to the world"
If possible, Hayden's gaze grew even more confused the more she explained it further. She rolled her eyes and proceeded to dumb it down to the amnesiac demon.
"Because for some dumb reason, I physically can't feel romance, I have a hard time reading and showing certain emotions, and I hate being outside." She finished.
His mouth formed an 'o' as he slowly nodded his dumbly. "I guess I'm sorry to hear that."
She waved her hand in the air, dismissing it. "Don't be. I could care less about it or maybe that's just my disorders talking, but who knows? In end, I'll still won't care." She shrugged her shoulders and he could tell that she didn't really mind.
Hayden hummed in understanding, "So, how does that work? Do you just feel nothing?" He asked cautiously. He didn't want to sound inconsiderate or anything, but of course, he's still curious about her certain disorder. Nadia gladly took it well and explained.
"Well, it's hard to describe it..." She gestured with her hands, waving them around. "I can't feel certain emotions even if I wanted to. I feel guilt but it doesn't really affect me too much. I have a certain extent to it but it's nontypical to the norm. There are good things about like how I rarely feel... emotions when it comes to tense moments, I guess? But romance? I despise it. Sex is great though."
"What?"
And it was at this moment that Nadia knew... she fucked up. She gaped at the auburn with immense shock and dread, who was just staring at her with his innocent green eyes. She can't believe that this situation is happening. Never in her life did she expect or even thought that there'll come a time where she'll have to teach Sex Ed. to a grown man. Granted, he probably forgot about it, but that doesn't mean that she has to explain it to him. Nadia is definitely sure that he's not a virgin-she simply assumed that he's not.
'I'm not about to teach this man the birds and the bees. Even I wasn't taught that. I had to learn it the hard way!' Her inner self spoke with such pride and confidence but in reality, she's panicking. Hayden's waiting for an answer but she's already trapped in this conversation. Could she change the subject and avoid the question? Highly unlikely. All this is happening in a span of five seconds. That's already taking too long to answer a simple question.
So what she did was stand up abruptly from the bed and stared down at Hayden with an expressionless look. "Follow me." She said in a monotonous voice. The auburn's confused gaze followed her form she walked out of the room without a word. Soon, he decided to get up and go after her. He followed her to the living room, which he didn't take the time to actually it out. Just like his room, the floor was covered with a white, fur carpet that stretched out everywhere. A rich, timber-made coffee table sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by two Belgian Classic sofas that looks like it's been ripped off of the Scarface. Right in front is a 105-inch, curved, flat-screen TV with fully-functional surround speakers. Hayden has never seen something so high-quality in a cheap motel room before.
To make things better, by the corner is a complete computer set-up on a table, fitted with probably one of the best equipment out there. But that didn't matter to Hayden. After all, what use would he have for a monitor except for information about his future victims? It turns out, there is more to it. He followed Nadia as she moved over towards the computer set-up, pulling the chair out and then taking a seat. But before she turned it on, she leaned over and reached her hand behind the monitor to grab a tiny chip inserted from the back. Usually, if motels or hotels provided computers, they have a chip that records and negates any illegal or inappropriate activity. But for the 'study', she's required to search in a site that's not exactly family-friendly.
Meanwhile, on Hayden's end, he's having a hard time. Since Nadia was leaning over, it caused her lower body to lift off for a few seconds and just like any hormonal, straight man, his eyes couldn't help but drift downward. Only in his case, there was no actual motive for his actions and he himself couldn't understand why he did that. He didn't know why it looks so appealing to him and he somewhat feels disgusted with himself that he's doing it but he can't seem to look away. What he does know is that he's staring at it for too long. So long that when Nadia finally emerged from the monitor, she just caught his eyes leaving her ass. Nadia arched an eyebrow at the auburn, who was avoiding eye-contact with his cheeks faintly burning red. Amused rather than mad, she plopped back down at her seat and then turned the monitor on along with the CPU.
'At least I know what his preferences are.' She chuckled inwardly.
"So, what's this all about?" Hayden decided to ask, his embarrassment finally receding.
Nadia poked her tongue inside her cheek, trying to figure out an answer that'll both be satisfying and understandable. She glanced at Hayden and then back at the screen. "I'm going to show, um... evidence and examples of... sex." She replied awkwardly. "You're going to learn about it soon enough."
Hayden watched as Nadia began typing away on the keyboard until a site pulled up on the screen. It's safe to say that he wasn't ready for this type of learning. Across the screen are a bunch of videos on a black background that are very explicit. Nadia scrolled down even more to show that there are hundreds, possibly thousands of these videos and the longer he stared at it, the hotter his face felt. Some of them were blatantly showing the positions and some were outright shoving it in his face. He doesn't know what they're doing but in the back of his head, someone is whispering to him that these aren't educational videos in any shape or form.
"N- Nadia, may I ask what the hell is that?" Hayden's grew larger with every video that popped up on the screen.
Nadia turned to him with a straight face and said, "Educational purposes."
She then proceeded to stand up from her seat and offer it to Hayden, who was still in shock of what he's witnessing. Rolling her eyes, Nadia grabbed his hand and pulled him in front of the chair before pushing him onto the seat, giving him a better view of the videos.
"Just click on what you find interesting." She told him, stretching out her hand to point at the important parts. "There are multiple categories that you can search with. You know... the usual; amateur, threesomes, gangbang, ebony, and my personal favorite, hardcore. Also, make sure to never click on those ads."
Hayden, his eyes still focusing on the screen with an uncomfortable yet interested gaze, couldn't understand what Nadia was saying. He doesn't know if it's because of the naked people hugging in a living room or he genuinely doesn't get the references she's stating. Either way, what she said wasn't helping. "So, I just watch these? And do what?" He questioned, but Nadia simply responded with an exasperated shrug.
"I don't know! Jack your dick, eat some popcorn! I don't know what you used to do when watching this... and YES! You probably have done it before your whole memory loss schtick!" Nadia said after seeing the auburn about to question his words. "I haven't a person in my life who either hasn't watched porn or done the deed. What I'm saying is that this is the easiest and fastest way to learn about... the culture. Compared to now, you're way too late. There is even stuff that I can't believe exist in here!"
Hayden watched the passionate blonde emphasize her words with her hands, all the while talking about stuff he hasn't heard off. He glances back at the screen, pursing his lips. "I guess I'll give it a shot." He threw his hands in the air as if to say 'fuck it!'.
Nadia isn't sure if she did something good or bad to him, but what she does know that it'll be entertaining as hell. "Use the Bluetooth headphones over there so you can hear the mo- I mean, sounds..." She corrected herself.
After he nodded in acknowledgment, she bid him goodbye with a salute and smirk on her face before heading over to her room. As much as she wants t watch his reactions throughout the series of videos he's about to watch, she'd rather use this time for herself for once. As soon as she entered her bedroom, she stripped her jacket off and flung herself across the entire bed like a ragdoll. The moment her body connected with the softness of the bed and the fluffiness of the pillow, she instantly fell asleep. And for once, she was able to sleep peacefully and quite long as well. Around eight hours have passed and surprisingly, she's still sleeping like a rock. But sadly, everything has to come to an end... and this one was unnecessarily loud and vulgar.
"OHHHH YESSS!"
Nadia instantly shot out of her bed, her hair tangled into a tumbleweed, and her eyes still droopy. She blinked her eyes, trying to keep herself awake. Bringing her hand up to her eyes, she rubbed them and then forced her eyelids to snap open. She doesn't know if she heard what she heard correctly. For all she knows, she still could be in her dream. Her head was about to fall back to her pillows when all of a sudden, a loud moan reverberated through her door. That definitely woke her up and now she's more than sure that she's no longer dreaming about swinging around the jungle with Tarzan.
She instantly got to her feet and raced to the door. Somehow, she feels like she knows what was going on. Another moan boomed right into Knowing exactly where to go, she hurried to the living room where she found her suspicions to be right yet somehow couldn't find herself to speak due to what she was witnessing. The first thing that caught her eye was the multiple candy and chip wrappers on the carpet. She wasn't a person too focused on cleanliness but seeing trash on a clean-ass carpet pissed her off. What she saw next was the stack of plates on top of the coffee table. Sauce dripping from the edge and a few crumbs scattered across the surface. Nadia's eyes wandered farther where she saw Hayden with his feet up on the chair and a pepperoni pizza in his hand, all the while watching two guys fucking a girl on each side with the sound blasting away from the speakers. It seems that the Bluetooth headphones died during his 'lessons' and the sound transferred to the surround speakers. Now, all she could hear are choking, gagging sounds, moaning, grunting, and just some wet slaps bouncing off the walls.
She doesn't know what to feel. Annoyed for waking her up in possibly the worst way possible? Aroused because of the video Hayden is watching-it seems that he took Nadia's suggestion and picked her favorite category. Hungry for the pizza slices laying across the box, right next to the table? She's conflicted.
Hayden was happily taking a bite of his pizza, not taking his eyes off of the video when Nadia pulled a chair up and took a seat right next to him. He glanced at her, who was watching the video with equal interest.
"Hand me a slice, will yah?" She stretched out her hand and spread out her fingers as if to grab an imaginary slice of pizza in the air. He grabbed her a slice and then they went back to silence, peacefully watching a girl being wrecked.
Nadia decided to check up on his knowledge. "So, how were your lessons?" She asked.
"Learned enough to understand the basics and some of the high standards. At first, I was immersed in it. Maybe even a little aroused. But it lost its charm around the 34th video. Most of them were unbearable to watch. Started watching it only for the plot but even that was terrible." Hayden plainly stated, as if he was giving a review for a movie.
However, Nadia felt a bit offended that he was criticizing one of her favorite hobbies. "Hey, don't sleep on the plot. Some of them have a few hidden gems." She defended, though she personally agreed with him.
"Yeah, like two mailmen delivering one package to a girl's house, who just so happens to be single, naked, and horny at the same time," Hayden replied with a bland tone. Nadia silently chuckled to herself. This was not what she thought this road was leading to but she's not disappointed. His face scrunched up into a frown as the video finally ended with the girl covering her body out of embarrassment. "And look at that, they've been caught. It's not like I saw that ten times already in ten different videos."
He slipped the headphones off his ears and placed them on the keyboard, accidentally pressing the space button which then caused it to play the next video. Hayden almost fell out of his seat just from the sheer volume of the sound coming from the speakers. Covering his ears with his hands, he looked at Nadia, his face as white as a sheet, as realization dawned on him.
"D- did... Was it... playing-"
"Yup," Nadia replied with a proud and amused grin, while horror filled Hayden's eyes. He slapped his hands across his face to shield himself from the humiliation. He never felt the urge to jump off the window so much until this moment.
"Oh, kill me now!"
The glasses clinked against each other as Mia, the base's nurse, arranged the vials according to their proper order in the cabinet. It's already late at night but she's still cleaning up after a long day. A recent mission injured multiple people at the same time so she and Gothi were working themselves to their limits. She had to take over everything after Gothi ran out of energy. Luckily, Ezra was having an off-day as well so she wasn't worried about any Dragons crashing through windows.
It's been hard for her to keep up between assisting Ezra at night and then working by the day. But it's not the Dragon's fault that she's being overworked. She even told her to get some rest but she knew that if she risked letting those wounds dry up, her mother could possibly see it and she'll get in big trouble. Of course, she doesn't want that to happen so she would always refuse. It's partially her fault for supporting her idea in the first place. So she has to deal with the pros and cons.
She finally finished fixing the medicinal cabinet when all of a sudden, she heard a sound coming from the door. Her head whipped towards its direction, but her eyes met only darkness. The doors, from what she could see and remember, were closed. The scared voice in her head pounded through her skulls, screaming bloody murder. It seems that years of watching horror and thriller movies were starting to affect her. But fortunately, the reasonable part of her mind calmed her down. But that doesn't completely erase her doubts and suspicions. The sound was real, but it also could've been anything.
So after sparing one last glance towards the doors, Mia turned away and focused her attention on the clump of scattered syringes and needles on her steel desk. Some of them still have hydro-ethanol still in them, which is a newly found source of anesthesia and may be an alternative for bandages, for heavily injured patients. It's a chemically-reduced version of liquid nitrogen which does the job but has lower risks. But that doesn't entirely mean that the chemical anesthesia wasn't dangerous. Let it hit the floor; the tiles would be melting after a few seconds. It's harmless on human skin but once it even touches the wrong chemicals or materials, anything from spontaneous combustion to a full-on meltdown could occur. But of course, Mia is specially trained with these chemicals so she has nothing to worry about.
So, she carefully lifted the syringe off of the pan and placed it right next to muscle enhancers and painkillers on the counter. Memorizing every medicine, steroid, and vitamin off the top of her could put a strain on her head. Even after going through intense training with Gothi, her memory still isn't that great. That's why she has multiple sticky notes right on the infirmary's body mirror. After all, what's the use of a mirror in an infirmary?
She turned her head towards the mirror's direction to grab one of the sticky notes. But as she grabbed it, she noticed something reflecting from the mirror. At first, she thought it was a light refraction but the more she looked at it, she found out that they were a pair of crystal-blue eyes staring directly at her back. Mia's first instinct was to immediately turn away and pretend that she didn't see it. Her gaze shifted back to what she was doing, but she knew someone was behind her. Adrenaline flooded her system, pumping, and beating like it's trying to escape. She thought her heart would explode just from the sheer tension. Her body wanted to run as fast as possible towards the door, but instead, she remained where she was. She knew what she had to do in this situation. But the pressure was making it hard to do so. The adrenaline surged up her body so fast, she almost vomited. She could taste the saliva thickening in her throat and the beads of sweat trickling down her brow.
If only she had her medical tendrils strapped onto her wrists, this would've been over quickly. She overused it during the day and it was at the brink of overheating. So, she had to use whatever is in her surroundings and her eye was already locked on one. Trying to act nonchalantly, she randomly placed the medicine bottles across the counter but secretly, her fingers curled around the syringe filled with the hydro-ethanol. Her plan was to bet her entire life on this one swing because if she missed, it's over. She took a deep but silent breath, calming her beating drum of a heart. Her eye subtly glanced at the mirror on the side, hoping to see those pair eyes once again. After a couple of seconds of waiting, those pair of eyes glowed back up again. With all the courage and strength in her body, she swung her arm around with the syringe in hand.
But when she felt her arm go numb, the rest of her body froze in shock. The hand that grabbed her wrist with the syringe just inches away from their neck, slowly crushed it until she was forced to drop the needle right into their hand. With the same hand, the mysterious assailant pulled and twirled Mia's body onto their chest and then wrapped their arm around her neck, preventing her from screaming or even breathing.
As she flailed her legs around and tried to kick the assailant, her hands tried to pry their arm off of her throat, clawing her fingers against their skin but to no avail. The lack of air in her body is starting to affect her. Her head started spinning like the whole world turned blurry and began revolving around her. She choked and gasped for air, but the assailant only crushed her neck even tighter. Mia's heart, once quickly beating, is now slowing to a tempo. But then all of a sudden, she felt something entering her skin on the side of her head. A sharp, thin rod slowly pierced through her skull, and then one second later, a roaring pain suddenly expelled into her head. She tried to scream but there was a lack of space in her throat. She could only wail and cry in her thoughts, but even thinking about it sent a wave of agony in her. It felt like a million mosquitoes sucking into her brain. It was worse than a brain freeze. It's like someone dipped her exposed head into the freezing waters of Antarctica, except it was ten times worse. The hydro-ethanol began eating its way across the flesh of her brain when all of a sudden, everything turned black.