Chapter 10: Into That Good Night
Drunk, bewildered, high on cocaine, Tomáš fell into Bi Han on top of the cliff, Bi Han wrapping his arms around the prince in an attempt to take the brunt of the force of hitting the water below them.
He recalled that King Václav and Queen Jindřiška had forbidden Tomáš from ever going near Lake Jaromír because the cliffs were so dangerous, the waters below treacherous.
It was quiet and desolate, no guards around, if someone was looking to die, this would be the place for it.
That was why Bi Han ran here as fast as he could once he realized Tomáš wasn't in his bed, in the library, or in the basement.
Sektor mentioned Tomáš had been walking around both zombie like, and with a determination he hadn't seen before.
A determination to end his life.
He called on Bi Han to rescue him, find the prince and bring him back to them.
And now, they're falling into the depths below.
How deep this water went, he didn't know. He thought about creating an ice spear to latch on to something, but that would mean letting go of Tomáš. And he couldn't do that.
If he lost Tomáš...
With a force that could move mountains, the two hit the water, sinking below the waves.
The force caused Bi Han to let go of Tomáš as began to sink, the moonlight looking further and further away.
He was now empty handed, staring at his hands in shock. Where was Tomáš?!
He struggled against the heavy waters, pushing himself against the strong forces to get back to the surface so he could find his prince.
Once he made it to the surface, it was quiet, silence.
No sign of Tomáš.
"Tomás!"
No answer.
Bi Han was frantic, swimming with and against the tides as he searched for the prince, constantly shouting his name over and over again.
"Gods please, let me find him..."
Still, there was no sign of Tomáš.
Not one to give up, Bi Han both swam and treaded water as long as he could, pushing through exhaustion, hard of breathing as he kept searching.
"These waters will have to take me, because I'm not leaving here without you, Tomáš.."
He wiped tears away from his eyes, shouting into the night, "Are you happy now, Tomáš?! Look at what you've done! You wanted to escape so badly and now you've sunken below the waves! What do I say, what do I tell everyone...that I've let you die..no..no, I can't give up, I'm bringing you home, then I swear to God, I'll fucking cripple you."
There was still silence, and Bi Han felt resigned to this fate.
Still...
"TOMÁŠ!"
He shouted with all his might, his chest, his heart heavy. "Come on, Tommy, don't do this to me..and Kuai..and to Václav and Jindřiška..I'm sure whatever was going on could have been solved, you didn't have to.."
He thought of Hesperia, too, he knew she was hiding her emotions, but he saw the sadness in her eyes upon leaving the castle.
"Maybe Hesperia wanted to see you again..what do I tell her?"
"Goddamn it, Tomáš, what about me?! After everything I've done for you..!"
In the middle of his rant, he saw bubbles forming and coming to the surface.
Bi Han looked on in surprise as Tomáš threw himself above the depths, smiling deviously at the elder Lin Kuei.
He began laughing and swam away from Bi Han.
"What's with that look? Hey, hey Tomáš!" Bi Han yelled, chasing after the prince.
He was met with a splash to his face, and once Bi Han finally caught up to him, Tomáš wrapped his arms around him and looked into his eyes lovingly.
"You're such an asshole."
It was all Bi Han said, returning his embrace, holding Tomáš tightly. "I thought I lost you, I was searching, screaming, and all you can do is fart in my direction and run away?"
"Waters make them..I dunno, less crude." Tomáš giggled.
Bi Han smirked at him, holding Tomáš against his shoulder, stroking his hair.
"Sorry to worry you." Tomáš said.
"I was terrified." Bi Han said, "I thought you were gone, I was thinking about what to tell your loved ones.."
"Why would mom and dad care? All they'd lose is their heir. Part of their power."
"And Kuai? What of him?"
"Kuai would understand eventually."
"No. He wouldn't. He'd go down to hell, find you, and kill you himself."
There was silence, other than their breathing, and the calmness of the waters around them.
Tomáš was trembling in Bi Han's arms, the elder Lin Kuei holding him tenderly against his shoulder.
"We should go." Bi Han said.
"No, can we please stay? It's a good night." Tomáš said.
A good night..
"Do not go gentle into that good night.." Bi Han recited.
"Rage, rage against the dying of the light.." Tomáš said.
"And yet here I was resigned to die tonight. I don't usually do that much cocaine, or drink like that. I..was going to jump."
"Tomáš.."
"I..didn't want you to find me. I made every effort to be stealthy about this."
"Sektor noticed something was off about you and pulled me aside. He said, Tomáš has something on his mind and you better stop him before he goes through with it." Bi Han said.
"..he knew my plan to commit suicide?"
Bi Han closed his eyes. To hear those words come from Tomáš' mouth was like a brick to the face. Like a finality.
"Don't say those words to me."
"I..have a confession.."
Bi Han looked into Tomáš' eyes. Coherent, serious, his eyes pierced through him like the sharpest knife.
"This is not my first attempt. Nor my second. Maybe third, I lost count."
"Tomáš!" Bi Han exclaimed.
"I still carry these knife wounds. Each scar on my body tells of my longing for death." Tomáš said quietly.
Bi Han placed his hand on his friend's cheek, Tomáš leaning into it, holding his hand to his, as tears fell from his eyes.
"I don't want to leave you and Kuai Liang behind. But..I just can't take this anymore. It's not for lack of love, I have everything I could ever want..but..these expectations..everything I've been through, I've been holding it together for so long, and I..just can't anymore.."
"Everyone breaks every once in a while..then we try and put everything back together. It's a long process, and I know sometimes it feels like it's worthless and you want to give up, but please, Tomáš, don't ever give up the fight."
"Bi Han.."
"Listen to me. You're never alone. Kuai and I will fight alongside you. I won't let Tomáš Vrbada lose to his demons, they'll take you from my cold, dead hands."
Tomáš smiled, curling into his friend's shoulder. "Then I'll keep going. If you're willing to work this hard for me, protect me, then I'll give you someone worth fighting for."
Bi Han smiled. "That's the spirit.."
"Now let's get out of here, you're shivering, if you catch a cold, I'm going to catch hell from your mother."
"Uh..sure. Just one problem. Where are we?"
Inside Castle Vrbada, 12am
Sektor paced back and forth in his bedroom, Cyrax sitting at the bed in front of him.
Kuai Liang was also there, looking out the window in worry.
"I didn't want to say this to anyone, but I was scared. I told Bi Han, that I was almost sure Prince Tomáš was going to kill himself tonight."
Kuai Liang looked down at his feet, holding his hand to his heart.
"He better not have taken Bi Han with him..where are they?" he said.
The three men were silent, until Cyrax asked, "So now what do we do? Is he dead?"
Sektor looked out the other window.
"Bring his body back here, then."
"No..he can't, Tomáš can't be dead, he wouldn't!" Kuai Liang yelled. "Kuai Liang, Tomáš didn't talk to you about these kinds of things. He wanted to keep you pure and safe. The kid had demons, lots of them, and.."
"Stop talking about him in past tense, he's not..he's not dead.." Kuai Liang said, tears forming in his eyes.
"Kuai Liang...listen-"
"No, I refuse to hear any of it. I will find him myself!"
"Kuai Liang!" Sektor said.
Cyrax watched the younger Lin Kuei stomp out the door, "You're not going anywhere alone, I'm coming with, Kuai Liang, come on Sektor, let's go find us a prince."
Lake Jaromír
"Did we fall too far away from land? I can't see anything." Tomáš said, "are there monsters here?"
"I don't know what's in these waters, but we need to get back to shore. Quickly. You're getting colder.." Bi Han said, "here, get on my back."
"But..I'm too heavy?" Tomáš asked. "No. It's fine.." Bi Han said. Tomáš was shivering, teeth chattering as he swam onto Bi Han's back. Bi Han reached behind him, holding on to Tomáš' legs, holding him tight.
"We're going to escape from here, I promise." he said.
"Y-yes.." Tomáš whispered.
"Tomáš? Don't fall asleep on me. Come on, you gotta stay awake."
"Y-yes, sleep sound good.."
"No, I said don't sleep...damn it."
Bi Han floated in the water, holding Tomáš on his back, desperately trying to find land. All he could see was darkness. Just how far were they?
Time was running out for Tomáš, if the cocaine and blood wasn't going to kill him, hypothermia surely was.
A cryomancer, the cold didn't effect Bi Han, but Tomáš? This was different.
He was getting desperate.
"Tomáš...come on, stay awake. Stay with me...don't leave me alone out here.."
Tomáš hummed, his eyes closed, slumping on Bi Han's back. "Yup.."
"Won't..leave you.."
"Help!" Bi Han shouted, screaming desperately into the air, hoping that someone would hear them.
His shouts filled the air around them, catching the attention of Kuai Liang who traversed into Lake Jaromír alongside Cyrax.
"Bi Han!" he yelled.
"Huh?" Cyrax asked.
"BI HAN!" Kuai Liang yelled again.
Cyrax looked at the sight around him, the cliff above the lake; a green bottle of liquor shattered into pieces, a bag of cocaine on a large rock, along with blood on the dirt below them.
"Why is there blood.."
A bloody glass shard was also on the rock, along with foot prints, one smaller, then what looked like a sign of dirt slid on the edge.
"It looks like they fell." Cyrax said.
"They fell? Oh my god.." Kuai Liang said.
His eyes looked at the bloody glass shard and blood on the dirt. "This is Tomáš' blood.."
"How do you know?" Cyrax asked.
"Bi Han can make his blood freeze if he gets cut. We have to hurry! Tomáš might be in the water, he's losing blood and.."
Without another word, he gracefully dove off the cliff and into the waters below.
"Kuai Liang!"
Cyrax shook his head, looking up at the moonlight. "Crazy motherfuckers.."
Castle Vrbada
"Something's wrong, Václav. You haven't said a word since returning from Tomáš' room." Queen Jindřiška said, approaching her husband in front of the fireplace in his parlor.
He had gone through one bottle of whiskey, halfway through another one as Queen Jindřiška stood behind his chair, looking on with worry.
"What is there to say.." he replied.
"Tell me he's alright, anything." she said.
"Tomáš does not want to see me. He has requested I do not see him."
"What? Is he even in position to make this demand?"
"I hit him, Jindřiška! I..went too far this time, I hit him, then I started choking him. I was so angry and frustrated, I couldn't stop myself."
"The look of terror in his eyes when he begged me to stop. I..could have snapped his neck...I could have killed my only son!"
"Václav! What possessed you to do such a thing?!"
Queen Jindřiška looked at him with anger in her eyes.
"I felt that he was disrespecting you by not coming to see you. I was angered at his defiance. I went too far."
She sighed. "I will have a word with him."
"Yes..go see if he is ok now.."
Queen Jindřiška was furious. How dare King Václav attack Tomáš? Their beloved heir, their beloved son? Angrily, she stomped to Tomáš bedroom, only to see Sektor standing over his bed, holding his hand to his heart in prayer.
"Sektor?" she asked.
The grandmaster's heir looked up with dread, his eyes red and bloodshot.
"Queen Jindřiška!" he said.
"What is..what happened?"
As soon as she walked in the bedroom, she felt an aura of despair, of trepidation.
"Where is my son?"
He couldn't bear to look at her.
"Sektor, answer me! Where is Prince Tomáš?!"
"I-I'm...so sorry...I couldn't..I couldn't stop him.."
Queen Jindřiška's eyes grew wide, and she crossed the room to grab Sektor by his collar. "Where is he?!"
"He..he jumped off Lake Jaromír..."
Queen Jindřiška froze.
In shock, she backed away from Sektor, holding her hand to her heart.
"No ..no! I always told him to stay away from there!"
"Tomáš!" she yelled in panic, running out of the room. She banged on Havik's bedroom door, shouting his name. Immediately, Havik came to the door, looking at the panic in her eyes. "My sister, what is it? What is wrong?" he asked. "It's Tomáš! He's..he's in Lake Jaromír!" she yelled. "What? But how? He was going to spend time with me today...but I noticed something wasn't right when he left the throne room..."
Havik grabbed his armor and bolted out the door towards the stables, snapping his fingers and calling on the guards and troops at Castle Vrbada. When he made it to the docks, he yelled, "Prince Tomáš is somewhere in these waters, we need to rescue him! Time is crucial, he may already be injured, or dealing with hypothermia, let's go!"
Kuai Liang found his way to Bi Han and Tomáš after a few minutes of swimming, he was surprised to see them so exhausted. Tomáš was laying on Bi Han's shoulders, his eyes closed, his body pale.
"Bi Han.." Kuai Liang said, placing his hands on his cheeks. Bi Han smiled. "Oh Kuai...my sweet Kuai.." "Hurry, we have to tend to Tomáš.." he added, treading water, following Kuai Liang as they floated on the surface. "How far are we from land?" he asked.
"A good distance.." Kuai Liang said with worry, looking at Tomáš. "How is he?"
"I'm scared. He's so quiet."
That's when Bi Han began to panic. "Oh my god...Tomáš!"
"Bi Han...he's...he's not breathing! We have to do something!"
"Goddamn it, Tomáš, I told you not to sleep! What are we going to do?" Bi Han shouted.
Just when they thought all hope was lost, a boat came towards them, with a man in silver and red armor shouting over what looked like a military troop.
"Found them! Stop right here, grab the men!"
Bi Han and Kuai Liang looked up at a man in silver armor who was holding out his hand, "Here, give him to me, hurry!" Bi Han immediately let the man take Tomáš, and he and Kuai Liang were also pulled onto the boat. "There isn't much time, he could already in extreme danger, hurry hurry!" the man yelled, running to where he placed Tomáš, putting four blankets over him. He grabbed his wrist and began rubbing down his arm, reaching down to perform CPR on him.
"Come on, Tomášek, you can do it, wake up...please wake up.." the man said.
"Kuai, go help him...see if you can heat up his blood flow, too.."
"He's so pale..." the man said. He did not give up on performing CPR, and Kuai Liang helped by lightly heating up his wrist. "Not too hot, it'll startle his heart." the man said. "O-Of course." Kuai Liang said, tears forming in his eyes. "Come on Tomáš...please..." he pleaded with his friend.
Tomáš was not breathing, and he was as pale as a ghost, his lips and fingers blue. When he got onto the boat, the armored man ripped off Tomáš' clothes and threw blankets over him. Vrbada Royal Troops also helped cater to Bi Han, stripping him of his wet clothes, throwing blankets over him, the same with Kuai Liang.
"I got a pulse!" the man yelled, holding his fingers to Tomáš' neck, "oh thank god..."
Kuai Liang and Bi Han looked on happily, too, as Tomáš turned his head, coughing. It sounded like he was hacking a lung, coughing, choking out, spitting out water.
He groaned in pain, his body trembling, shivering from the cold. "Oh Tomáš..." the man said with a smile. Tomáš blinked, looking at his smiling uncle, letting out a weak smile of his own. "Uncle..."
"This man is his uncle?" Bi Han asked to himself, curiously. He was weak, ready to pass out before Kuai Liang held him in his arms, embracing him with his blanket.
"W-Where is Bi Han?" he asked, rising up from the floor. "Easy, Tomášek..." Havik said, resting a hand on his nephew's chest lightly, "Your friends are right here."
Bi Han and Kuai Liang smiled weakly.
"I should introduce myself. I'm Tomáš' uncle Vojtěch Havik. You can call me Vojta. Or Havik is fine. I'm Tomáš' mother's little brother." Havik said. "And we're Tomáš' personal bodyguards, Lü Bihan and Lü Kuailiang." Bi Han said with a smile. "We'll be ashore soon. You two keep huddled together, I'll take care of Tomášek from here. But we need to get him medical attention, you two as well."
"Don't worry about me, help the prince." Bi Han said.
"Hey. The Vrbadas are a family, Tomášek's bodyguards are our family, too." Havik said with a smile. "Thank you." Bi Han said. "Mr. Havik, what are you calling Prince Tomáš?" Kuai Liang asked with curiosity. Havik smiled. "Tomášek, in Czech language, we sometimes use nicknames, pet names for our loved ones.
"Ohh...kind of like Dà gē for my brother Bi Han." Kuai Liang said. Havik nodded. When they made it ashore, Havik turned back and cradled Tomáš into his arms. "Hurry, we need to take him and his friends to the infirmary!" he yelled, racing into the castle with the rest of the army troops.
Bi Han and Kuai Liang were also taken in by the troops, and an hour later, all three were laying in the infirmary, barely awake.
Kampa District, 2am
There was a certain chill in the air tonight. It wasn't unfamiliar to Hesperia, who was looking towards Castle Vrbada with her hand to her heart.
Yet something about it also said danger. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something began to ache inside her.
A day's rest let her sexual injuries heal enough to allow her to enjoy a night's drinking and bar hopping with Kabal and Kurtis, and now the three sat on a bench by the large fountain in city central, with their six pack bottles of Pilsner Urquell.
Kabal played music from his phone, it was a nice, relaxing night.
Between the three of them, they could have two each, and once Hesperia was done hers, Kabal gave her another, as she lay in his arms.
There was light talk and banter between them, Hesperia laughed when the Eagles fight song came on his shuffled playlist alongside bands like Lynyrd Skynrd, Cannibal Corpse and Cinderella, and Kurtis said, "It's beginning to be that time again."
"Oh god no.." Hesperia said with a laugh. "Oh you're gonna love it, Eagles Kabal is coming!" Kabal said, pulling Hesperia in for a snuggle.
"For the next six months.." she said with a smile. "More like eight, we're super bowl bound, baby!" Kabal cheered. "Oh boy..like this past year? I remember the super bowl party we went to in South Philly. Shame they lost.." she said.
Kabal hummed.
"Well, it's a new season. They'll be fine. We'll have a party and a huge parade in February. If you're not touring, I'd love for you to come."
"I'm sure I'll be fully healed by then."
"You definitely will. I notice you trying to work out and heal your arm in the gym downstairs at the hotel in the mornings." Kurtis said.
"I gotta keep moving, my sternum injuries have mostly healed by now, so I should be getting back into the swing of things."
She perked up as Freebird came on the playlist, and she groaned, "Oh no.."
Immediately, Kabal and Kurtis began singing, as they both cuddled Hesperia tightly.
As the two sang, Hesperia leaned against Kabal, snuggling him with him as Kurtis lay his head on her lap. She stroked his hair smiling as she kept her eyes towards Castle Vrbada, thinking about Tomáš.
"It's a good night.."
I wonder what you're doing now, Tomáš..are you thinking about me, like I think about you?
There wasn't any way that Hesperia could have known that Tomáš Vrbada was in the fight of his life right now, still, something ached in her.
Kabal and Kurtis were a good enough distraction, but she couldn't help but feel something was off, despite her saying it was a good night.
When they returned to their hotel, Kabal and Kurtis fell asleep in their pull-out bed. Hesperia stayed awake, unable to sleep. Instead, she sat on the deck, her doom metal playlist providing a somber mood.
"This night unfolds
With the most gentle breath
Still does one fall
Unto that good night
From pain ever yonder.."
Hesperia smiled.
How she loved this song. She and Kabal recited this poem often.
"Do not go gentle into that good night.." she said. She and Kabal even had those words tattooed on them, his, on his shoulder, hers, under her right breast.
"Rage against the dying of the light.."
"It's a good night.."
"I just wish..you were right here in my arms, Tomáš.."
"I want to see you again.."
Hospital Na Františku, 3am
The air was tense in the waiting room as the staff at Hospital Na Františku tended to Tomáš in the ICU. Queen Jindřiška could not sit still, Havik was beside her, holding her hand, trying to comfort her. King Václav stayed at Castle Vrbada to keep an eye on his home base, yet his heart was with Tomáš.
Bi Han also remained at the castle while Kuai Liang went to the hospital to be with Tomáš.
"He's alert, which is a good sign. Right now we're keeping him under observation, making sure his vital signs and body temperature does not go below 96°C. Right now, it is right on the verge between 95° and 96°C. If it is ok with you, my Queen, we would like to keep Prince Tomáš here for a few more hours for observation."
The nurse was a nice young lady and beside her was the head doctor, holding a clipboard of Tomáš' vital signs and other medical terminology that Queen Jindřiška did not understand.
Kuai Liang volunteered to read the paperwork for her, the queen looking at him in near disgust.
"If I may.." he began. The medical staff looked at him and asked, "Are you a friend of the prince?"
Kuai Liang recalled Bi Han's words on how he was treated within the Vrbada family, these doctors must have also been associated with them, as they had given him the same look as Queen Jindřiška was now.
"I am. I am Prince Tomáš' bodyguard and friend. Lü Kuailiang."
"Ok. Take these notes for the Queen, we'll go back to checking on the prince."
Kuai Liang watched them leave before looking at Queen Jindřiška and Havik beside her.
"His body temperature is teetering between 95 and 96°C. That's cause for concern since hypothermia begins to kick in around these temperatures. They're keeping an eye on his organ functions, right now everything is in the clear so far."
He read the rest of the paperwork, declining to tell Queen Jindřiška and Havik about the alcohol and cocaine found in Tomáš' system.
Instead, he let out a smile and said, "If all holds up, Prince Tomáš should be fine to come home in the morning. We were lucky to get to him when we did. Mr. Havik, your timing was impeccable. But may I ask, how did you know we were all in Lake Jaromír?"
"Sektor told me." Queen Jindřiška replied. "Ever since Tomáš was a child, I told him to stay away from there. He always listened, I cannot imagine what made him go out there.."
"I can think of one reason.." Kuai Liang said to himself, eyes narrowing in anger, "that French bitch."
Castle Vrbada, 3am.
King Václav could not sleep. Once again, he was in his private study, leaning on the ledge of his fireplace, drinking.
It was because of him that Tomáš was like this. He couldn't convince himself otherwise. He had finally pushed Tomáš to the brink..he might as well have pushed him himself.
"What have I done..? How could I have been so cruel to my own child?"
Bi Han sat in Tomáš empty bed, holding his pillow to his heart. Sektor still hadn't left the room, sitting on the floor beside the bed.
"If not for you, Sektor, I wouldn't have known where to find him. How did you know he was there?"
"I took a wild guess, if I'm being honest. I watched Tomáš leave my bedroom, go towards the mini brewery downstairs and start walking towards the back of the castle."
"And you didn't stop him?'
Sektor sighed.
"No. I couldn't. Listen, Bi Han. Tomáš and I had a really big fight."
Bi Han looked up at him.
"I told him that i caught him and that girl in bed together. And..I told him that I watched. I didn't see all of it, but I saw enough. Tomáš absolutely flipped his shit."
"I..can't remember seeing him so angry, I thought his voice was going to shatter my windows, or break my walls..it was fucking scary. I think he was more angry that I saw her naked..I was watching her, yeah, I'm not interested in seeing Tomáš, he said that it was as if I had come into the room and assaulted her myself. That their lovemaking was not for anyone's eyes or amusement."
"He was mad because he's trying to protect her." Bi Han said, "he was trying to protect her the whole night, didn't you hear what everyone was saying about her in the ballroom?"
"I don't understand Czech, secondly, Cyrax and I were outside in the woods the whole time."
"It was pretty nasty." Bi Han said, "I don't really understand too much Czech either, but oooh boy. The women in the ballroom wanted to slaughter her."
"I'd imagine. A woman looking the way she did sinking her claws into Prince Tomáš? Come on, it writes itself..anyway, I tried to apologize to Tomáš, but he wasn't having it."
"So after your fight, that's when he left?" Bi Han asked. Sektor nodded.
"He looked like he was already angry or upset about something else before bringing the whole house down on me."
"Sektor, you understand why else he was so mad, right? You violated him and her by watching them in a very private moment between them. Even if Tomáš forgot to close the door-"
"Yes, yes I know..I screwed up, and I attempted to make amends. Tomáš chose to then leave, slam my door and told me not to protect him anymore, to stay far away from him."
"And yet you may have well saved his life. Tomáš' uncle came down to save us."
"Uncle?" Sektor asked.
"Yeah, this freaky guy showed up, he was wearing armor, hair in a ponytail, he had disjointed limbs.." Bi Han shrugged, "but I can't say much, he saved us."
"So what now?"
"Kuai Liang said they're leaving Tomáš at the hospital for observation, keeping an eye on his vital signs, his body temperature, things like that. He had hypothermia, I guess, so they're making sure everything is ok."
"Kuai also told me that his signs weren't 100%, he had slower blood flow, slow heartbeat, but that it should pick back up. Tomáš was dizzy, nauseous, too. Had trouble breathing.."
Bi Han looked down at the bedsheets.
"I swear..I thought Tomáš was dead..he was pale, his lips and fingers were blue..he wasn't breathing..it was so scary, I thought he died in my arms. The whole thing..even on top of the cliff, he tried to slit his own throat."
"I can't even imagine..how fucked up Tomáš really is. King Václav and Queen Jindřiška want to parade the boy around like a mannequin, it was only a matter of time before those strings snapped." Sektor said.
"He was getting better. At least I thought he was. The king and queen don't believe in therapy, when in reality, Tomáš should have been in therapy as soon as he returned to Castle Vrbada after the Black Dragon."
Bi Han sighed.
"You couldn't even look at little Tomáš without him cowering in the corner, he would cry and scream all hours of the day and night, any time you raised your hand around him, he would run and hide."
"Its like everything changed once he turned eighteen."
"His parents are never going to let him out of their sight now." Sektor said. "Maybe it's for the best. If my kid was suicidal, I wouldn't let him out of my sight either, especially if it's as you said, he's tried multiple times."
"Why is he so adamant to commit suicide?"
"Don't say suicide. I don't want to hear that. It makes me sick."
"But.." Bi Han continued, "if I went through what Tomáš went through, how the hell do you go on?"
"How are you feeling, too, Bi Han?"
"This isn't about me, it's about Tomáš." Bi Han said. "Forget about him for a second, I'm asking if you're ok. You can't be good after seeing all that." Sektor said.
Bi Han took a deep breath.
"I'm afraid to close my eyes. All I hear in my head is Tomáš screaming that no one can control him anymore if he's dead, all I see is him putting a glass shard to his neck and threatening to slit his throat, we fought over the glass shard, he sliced his palm open..I hear him telling me how many times he tried.."
"Seeing him so pale and blue in the water.."
"I'm not ok, Sektor. I'm not ok."
Sektor gave him an understanding smile and took his hand. "I haven't been the best to Tomáš either. Especially after that...I'll have a talk with him once he comes home. If he even wants to see me. God, he was so pissed off at me, I thought he was going to kill me."
"Maybe this is a good opportunity to smooth things over with him, then."
"I hope so. Tomáš is a good kid underneath all this shit. I don't want to ruin my relationship with him. If I haven't already."
"I'm sure Tomáš will be willing to listen."
"Yeah."
"Be safe, Bi Han. Try to get some sleep."
With that, Sektor walked out the door, Bi Han curled into Tomáš' pillow. "Come home soon, Tommy..I promise, everything will be ok..we'll get through this.."
Kampa District, 10am
Hesperia sat in the jacuzzi in her bathroom, her mind lost in deep thought.
Her phone was beside her, Spotify going through her doom metal mix as she lay back on the edge and once again thought of Tomáš.
She chuckled. "I must be crazy.."
She imagined him in the hot tub with her, calm, relaxed, laying in his arms, in his lap, one arm around her waist, laying sweet kisses behind her neck, her shoulder..
"I am..absolutely crazy.."
Kurtis was downstairs in the small cafe grabbing food, giving Hesperia time to go into the living room, where Kabal was laying in bed, flipping the channels.
"Kabal, can we talk?" Hesperia asked, sitting on the couch across from him.
"Sure, what's up?" he asked.
She began with a blush, looking away, biting her lip. "Well..it's about Tomáš. I didn't want to say anything with Kurtis around."
Kabal gave her a serious stare, rising up from the bed. "Hesperia, what's wrong? Did..did Thomas do anything to you? Or.."
"No, no, everything is fine. I'm saying without Kurtis because he doesn't like him."
"I don't really like him either, but I'm willing to listen."
Hesperia smiled.
"I know its..quite early to think this, but..how do you know if you're in love?"
If Kabal could raise his eyebrow any further..
"Excuse me?"
"Damn it, I knew I should have just used Google."
"Google? The hell they know? I'm just surprised, that's all."
He ran his hand down his face, steadying himself. "I..didn't think I'd be having a conversation like this with you, but ok. Let's try."
"So, you think you might really like Thomas?"
"Yeah." she replied, "I guess I do."
"Well, sweetie, love is complicated. The heart doesn't waste time, when it's ready, they'll look at a person and say, that's it, that's them, that's who I want, who I like."
"Your heart beats different when you see them, think of them. You're floating on air, you get warm, happy. At least that's what it was like for Kurt and I."
"Can you tell me again how you got together?'
Kabal smiled. "Gladly."
"I was what you would call bi-curious. I thought I might be into men, but I wasn't sure. Then I met Kurtis, and everything changed. He smiled once at me, and I was hooked."
Hesperia smiled at him.
"It was a gradual thing. Kurtis was nice, courteous, like any partner would be. Friendly, caring, but I didn't think he felt the same way, I thought he was into women, I feared being inappropriate with him if I attempted any form of affection even though all I wanted was to be near him all the time."
"He always had a cup of coffee for me in the morning, words of encouragement during the day, always had my back on the battlefield. Little did I know that his feelings for me were growing as mine were for him."
"And then one night, we stayed overtime to do paperwork. When my hand cramped from writing my name so many times, he took it and kissed it. He said, "Why write your name so many times when you can just say mine instead?"
Hesperia burst out laughing, laying back, kicking her feet out.
"Oh my god, Kurtis, how smooth!"
"Sooooo what was Thomas' pick up line?"
"Well...he...if I'm being honest, he really has no uh...what's the word?" she began, "like poor women skills."
"Game?"
"Um...yeah, that's it, whatever you Americans call it. Anyway-"
"Hold on, poor women skills? I mean I guess something worked because he-"
"Well that was later. I guess I liked how he saved me from some creep. Some other Czech guy, he was mad that I didn't give him any attention, he put his hands on me and Tomáš saved me. But before that, he started asking me about my injuries and why I was so disfigured."
Kabal groaned, almost facepalming.
"Thomas, no! That's not how to talk to a woman.."
"I threatened to throw my drink at him, but he warned me that the Lin Kuei were watching and would attack if I fucked around."
"The other Czech guy, the creep found out I was "French", called me croissant pussy, Tomáš laughed, and I was considering leaving until Tomáš then apologised and asked for a dance."
"Croissant pussy?" Kabal asked, laughing.
Hesperia rolled her eyes.
"So bad of Thomas to laugh..what an idiot. I'm convinced that he's never seen a woman other than his mother."
"Once we were dancing together, however, we got to speak, to talk, and he was so nice. Very protective.."
"I guess i couldn't help but be charmed. And now.." she sighed, "now I wish he was here often."
"There it is." Kabal said, "there's that smile. Baby, you've got it bad for him."
"I do what now?" she asked.
"You're gaga over Thomas, sweetie." Kabal said. "That's the smile I have over Kurtis..oh sweetheart, you are in love.."
Her entire face turned red, and she hid in her hands.
"I can't fall in love with a one-night stand, right?" she asked, sadly looking away. "Of course you can. I suppose it's rather unconventional, but not impossible. Even if you don't know his last name or have contact information from him, I'm sure you two will find a way to see each other."
"Fate has funny ways of doing things. You two will surely see each other again. And even if you don't, then you got to share a wonderful experience with him."
"I..I don't want that, Kabal, I want to see him again."
"Then you should look for him. You two will find each other again."
Hesperia tried to smile, "Yes, if you think so."
"You know.." she began, walking towards the window, looking out towards the city, "I didn't want this. I didn't want to be in love, I wanted to forget about him." "I mean, we're not staying here in Prague. I don't want to fall for a guy who I won't get to see again..and yet.."
She held her hand to her heart.
"I can't get him out of my mind.."
Kabal smiled at her. "Welcome to love, baby. Enjoy all the pain and all the euphoria of it. All the madness and all the fun."