He wanted to end the boy too. That would be mercy, after all, rather than letting him live the remainder of his life knowing that he killed the girl of his dreams.
However, it would be a mercy he'd not be giving to anyone tonight. He was running late.
No leaves rustled that night. The surrounding trees kept their creaks and groans, and foxes held their yips. The sound came only from dead pine needles that crunched under the weight of the butcher's hiking boots. It was as if the forest was aware of his presence.
The silence would've given him euphoria, once upon a time. It was a pleasure much more refining than the sweetness of fermented black rose venom on your tongue, and a tad more intoxicating than wine. But today was no day for such enjoyment.
Today was judgment day, for it would determine whether or not he was a true Romoco.
His father had given him the noblest of tasks. When he asked why he was chosen, his father said, "Why, I trust your hands. Very swift and deadly, but delicate all the same. Hell, They'd do a clean job, unlike your brother's," and as an afterthought, he said, "Or your sister's."
"I'm grateful, my lord. Deeply," he bowed. "But I still fail to understand why you chose me and not your guards."
His father minutely shook his head and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "My dearest Kai," Kai caught a stench of blood from his father's warm breath as he spoke softly, "The last thing we need is a blood trail that'll lead our enemies to our doorstep," then with a grave look on his face, he said, "I refuse to trust anyone else with this."
And that was all. Father had chosen him over Zaelo and Lyanda, both of whom Father had favoured for almost anything for centuries.
Therefore, he'd meet his father's expectations and slaughter all of the remaining Cruso's that still scuttled the earth.
The lot of them, from elderly men to infants. It was all the honour he could give to his father, which was less than what he truly deserved. He would not fail. He couldn't afford to.
An agonized cry awoke the dead forest. Lover Boy realizes what he had done, he thought, smiling.
This seemed to lift Kai's spirits a little.
He halted, after minutes of fruitless strolling, and stared down his boots. He had not planned for the coming murder spree.
But do I need to?
He knew what a sacred mission this was, but Kai could not recall ever planning for anything in the past, even when his life depended on it.
After all, even his immortality was unplanned, but there he stood.
Kai realized that he'd left the forest floor and was now standing on a tar roadbed. He turned to appreciate the forest for its charm.
If his father's mercies allowed it, he'd remain part of the clan even if he fails his task.
Exile was the lowest you could ever sink as a Romoco. Worse than death, for many men had preferred to die than face it.
"I'll come back," Kai said and closed his eyes, tipping his head back to absorb assurance from his words. It's like the wind understood him. It breathed its warm approval on his face, expelling a scent of pine from the forest. It was nature's kiss, the best of all.
It all happened in a single breath. At one moment, his muscles were relaxing in response to the wind, and before he could discern danger, his entire body met the car's windscreen, spinning in the air before hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
He was no longer in his body. His spirit was rooted where he stood before the car barrelled into him.
He watched the car screech to a slow stop through a haze of tyre smoke, then assessed the damage done to his mortal body.
His eyes were empty and staring, with one leg bent to an impossible angle. He looked so... vulnerable.
A girl had burst out from the door of the driver's seat and she seemed to stagger for a while. She leaned over the car's hood, her face lurching forward as though to vomit. When nothing came out, she stood where she was for some time.
Kai watched her all the while, unkind thoughts towards his next target swirling and building like a maturing cyclone.
You'll pay for this, he thought. You'll die a death so cruel, hell will shift in discomfort.
She caught sight of the body, lumbered towards it, and knelt beside it. When she felt for a pulse, her hands were clammy.
She clumsily stroked his silver-blonde hair and when she returned her hand, it was wet and red. The sight of blood affected her; behind the veil of crow black hair, her face turned pallid.
He had an idea of who this girl was. He'd never miss the details anywhere. Kai lived long enough to have bumped into a thousand others like this one. His brother called them the soft ones.
This one reminded him of Lady Morrissa of Scandanavia. What fun he had with that one. He knew just the words that would make her knees go weak. Kai had grown so much in this art, that in the end, he scarcely had to utter more than three sentences to win such girls. Girls like this one were sure prey even with his mouth shut.
Another girl came out from the passenger's door. While she took in the reality of the brutal scene, her face grew ashen with fear. She stood frozen on her spot.
"Rose," she said. She was gripping the sides of her face as if to cover her ears, and her grey eyes were transfixed on the body. "Rose, get up."
But Rose did not move. When she scuttled towards Rose, her foot found a pothole filled with a puddle of water. This drew a cuss word from her mouth.
"We're leaving now. Rose." She scooped Rose up on her waist and drove her away from the corpse.
"I killed someone," Rose said.
This was her first kill, Kai saw. He was beginning to enjoy this.
She kept Rose impossibly close with a grip on the forearm that turned her knuckles marble-white.
"I'm going to jail," Rose said.
"Shut up."
Rose jerked her forearm away from the girl, halted, and gazed at her as if seeing her for the first time. Then, she broke eye contact and said, "I'm staying."
"Beg your pardon?"
"I can't leave him."
"Sure you can't." She grabbed Rose's arm, which pulled away instinctively.
"You're drunk, damn it. C'mon." Something stirred in a bush on their left nearby, causing her to gasp and whirl around to Rose with a nasty look on her face. Whether it was a glare or a grimace, Kai couldn't say.
"Since you're willing to be extra food for whatever's out there, you can stay. I don't care. I'll be leaving with my keys, though." She lent out a demanding hand.
Eyes scarlet and watering anew, Rose dug into her jean pockets and dropped the car keys to the floor. She glanced at the body, inhaled deeply with her eyes shut, and said, "My parents... Please tell them--"
"About what you did? Right. I'm not stupid." She seized the keys from the floor. "You'll tell them yourself if you find your way back," and she stormed off to the car, stopping at the door to say, "And I hope you bump into the butcher," then she slammed the door shut.
It struck him as strange, how both their faces gawked at his mangled body without a hint of recognition. They were shaken, he decided.
One thing that stood between Kai and the task was a door. Literally.
For years in its existence, no cabins were ever built in the Black Forest. Let alone tents.
He had to find a door, the only means of transportation necessary if he were to make it on time to the task. No doubt these two were headed someplace with a lot of doors.
He watched Angry Girl for a moment. With all the force she was putting on the car to escape the scene, the car remained as still as the trees around it.
She went into a hysteria of swearing as she repeatedly punched the dashboard. The car brayed an earsplitting alarm in protest.
Now was the time to wake up.
Kai strolled to his corpse, descended gracefully into it like water seeping into the ground, then he felt it all.
Aside from his leg, he couldn't tell what else was broken, but it was drawing a good deal of grunts from him.
He stirred to the side and met Rose's bulge-eyed stare.
