Lips Red As Blood

40 |

Cora dreams of mermaids, elegant creatures made of ocean water and pearls spilling onto their hair, when there's a sudden tug on her scalp. 

She flinches, before trying to concentrate. The mermaid looks like a hazy mixture of Harper and Kai, with Kai's white hair and Harper's brown eyes, light purple pearls intertwining through every strand of silky hair. "Cora," the mermaid hums, lovely digging into Cora's locks, trying to braid it. "You should try harder." 

Cora tries to turn around, but the mermaid forces her to look ahead, water swishing everywhere. "It must've been hard for you to lose Kai," sighs the mermaid, weaving a silver chain through Cora's hair. "It will be even harder on you if you lose Harper." 

Finally, Cora shoves the mermaid away, giving it a wretched glare. 

"Stop giving me that look." The mermaid grabs a key with a red jewel that glitters. "All I'm suggesting is that you try harder so that you don't end up dead." 

Then the mermaid lunges towards Cora and stabs her in the heart with the key. Cora wakes up with a gasp, eyes snapping open just in time to see Asher's face, covered in a beauty mask with cucumbers hiding half his face. 

"What's going on?" Cora pants, looking around. "Why aren't we dead?" 

"The question of the century," Yuna murmurs, as a woman paints her nails in a neutral shade of pink. "You always ask that question, you know. Then, after I saved your ass from those demons — and now, after the snakes tried to eat you. You really care about being alive, don't you?" 

"Well, yeah!" shouts Cora. "We should be dead. We should've been dead a long time ago and we're not and I'm so confused and even though we practically got mauled by snakes, we're in a spa right now. With a random lady doing your nails and Asher with a beauty mask on." 

Asher shrugs, relaxing in a chair as it gently vibrates from underneath him. "I like the beauty mask. I should use it every day." 

Cora is about to snap when Yuna interrupts. 

"You don't need to worry anymore. We won." 

What? Cora's mouth drops open, surprise bursting through her body. "Do you mean—" 

This time, Asher answers. "Yeah," he says, lips tilting into a warm smile. Like syrup spilling onto waffles, it's sweet with the tinge of reassurance to it. "We won the competition. We're getting your sister back." 

Cora is in shock, a million thoughts ripping into her head, yet she only stutters out one question: "How?" 

"You were running towards the statue and that opened a hidden door trap," Asher explains. "The snakes fled away from the light and it turns out, the rest of the items were there. Yuna managed to put the items together, which opened another gate, and then... we won." 

Cora looks around dazedly. "We won?" she mumbles, trying to stick it into her brain. "We're going to rescue Harper?" 

Asher nods, with a heart-stopping grin. "We did it," whispers Asher, before standing up and wrapping his arm around her. "Everything is going to be okay now." 

Harper. They haven't seen each other for so long, and Cora's heart aches. "No more people trying to murder us?" Cora asks, hugging him tighter. The warmth coming from Asher is the only thing that makes this whole situation real. "No more running and near-death experiences?" 

He laughs, the sound vibrating through the air. "No more." Asher's lashes lower, the gold flecks in his eyes burning brighter. "We make a good team, yeah?" 

"When we're not getting killed, sure." 

Yuna sighs. "You guys are killing me with that... romantic tension. Just kiss already." 

Cora gasps, whipping away from the devil, face burning. "It's not like that," Cora sputters. "There's nothing romantic about us. We're purely a partnership. Plus, after going through traumatizing events, we can't just date." 

Oh my God, stop talking. 

"You know, a kidnapped sister, witnessing the death of someone close, worrying about people killing us, etc." 

They're gaping at her now, like she's grown two more heads. 

"And he still loves someone, so I don't want to interrupt their... love relationship." Cora points at Asher, who looks even more confused. "And I also know someone here has been in love with Asher since meeting him at an academy and I don't want to ruin their relationship either." 

Yuna's eyebrow creeps an inch higher. 

"It's not like I'm wrong, right?" Cora continues, though her mind is shouting for her to stop. "We have nothing going on. I don't feel any fluttery feelings with Asher or butterflies crawling down my stomach or heart thumping whenever I go near him. All I feel is... like, that feeling when you're with a sibling. Very comforting and, um, happiness. But not that I-love-you happiness — more like an aww-he's-so-cute-like-a-little-brother way." 

Asher stares at her in horror. 

"Besides, even if I do love you — which I definitely do not — there are too many factors that prevent us from dating." 

Embarrassment makes her heart slowly burn, as if it's being slowly roasted on fire. Her palms sweat, brain going completely blank, mouth moving faster than she can think. 

"First step of a romance is denial," Yuna murmurs. "Though you're being... extremely open about your denial." 

"There is no romance!" Cora insists persistently. "I don't know what things you've been eating, but you're clearly delusional." 

Yuna looks skeptical, while Asher merely looks bewildered. "Alright." Yuna draws out the word. "Whatever you say, ma'am." Then, as if realizing something important, Yuna gasps and jolts forward. With a sly smile, Yuna points at three doors. "This is where we split up. We'll get our suitable outfits and then after that, we'll meet up again and have dinner with the VIPs." 

Cora gazes at the door which has her name written in blood-red calligraphy. She feels nervous, for some reason. Maybe in disbelief, lingering onto her body like melted butter. She can taste the freedom of almost being there, but not quite — and it's finally happening. She'll see Harper again and everything will be okay. 

"Okay," Cora says, hand hovering against the door handle. Her heart feels fluttery and light, and for the first time since being in Hell, Cora allows herself to wholeheartedly believe. Relief slips through her, like the tiniest sip of alcohol, making her light-headed and giddy. "I guess we have dinner to get ready for." 

Then Cora opens the door and steps through. 

Author Note: 

aaa-