Nefeli suddenly sat up in bed, gasping, her heart pounding, and making her chest ache. She looked around her dorm room, with wide eyes. She slid to the end of her bed, her feet touching the cold floor. She rubbed her hands over her face, before standing up. She looked out of her window, seeing that the moon was full, casting its silvery spotlight over her room. She looked down at her arms, seeing goosebumps on her skin. She was shaken up and she didn't even know why. She needed to go see somebody. She grabbed her hoodie off of a chair, pulling it on, as well as putting on her shoes. She left her dorm, the door closing behind her. She quickly made her way down the dark hallways of Decelis Academy. She didn't stop until she got to the library. Even with everything happening due to her brother, she still wanted to seek solice in everyone. It was a force of habit for her. She couldn't just break herself out of it. When she got to the library, she opened the door, slipping inside. She made sure it closed quietly behind her. She turned around, her eyes dancing over the room, hoping she'd see one or more of the others. Thankfully, she did. Riki was at one of the tables, sitting in a chair. When she saw him, she felt relief wash over her. She then approached him, her heart slowing down to a calmer pace.
"I'm so happy I found you. I know it's not safe, but I think I--"
Nefeli stopped midway through her sentence, coming to a stop a few feet away. Something was off about him. She watched as Riki's body slowly slumped to the side, falling to the floor. Her eyes went wide, seeing the trail of blood that was left behind on the table. She stared at him lying on the library floor, his blood slowly pooling underneath him, the dark red liquid staining the tips of his fingers. Tears rushed to her eyes. It felt like a heavy weight had been dropped on her heart, making it sink right down into her stomach. After a few seconds, her brain had finally processed what she'd just seen. A choked sound escaped from her lips as she dragged herself towards him. Her legs gave out from under her, making her fall to her knees next to him. She reached out, her hands shaking, gently touching his arms.
"Riki?" Nefeli whispered.
No response. She whimpered and gently shook him, trying to get him to wake up. He didn't. But, she still tried.
"Riki, wake up," she said softly, her chest beginning to ache again.
Still no sign of him waking up. She moved her hands to the side of his face, choking out a sob. His blood was staining his pale skin, making it look brighter than it actually was. There was a really bad wound on the side of his neck. Nefeli sniffled and looked around for something. She found a pencil on the table and grabbed it, not thinking twice about what she was doing. She quickly stabbed it into her wrist, crying out at the sharp pain that traveled up her arm. The pencil fell from her hand, clattering to the floor next to her. She watched as her blood pooled out of the wound she'd made. She put her her wrist against Riki's mouth. She breathed heavily, hoping it would help.
It didn't. Her blood only leaked out, a sign that he wasn't taking it. And that was bad. But, she kept trying. Nothing worked, it only continued to leak out.
"No! Damn it!" she cried out in both frustration and fear.
From there, she only had one option. She lifted her wrist to her own mouth, taking in some of the blood. She had grimaced at the terrible, metallic taste, that touched her taste buds. But, she ignored it for his sake. Nefeli put her hands back on his face, leaning down to him, gently placing her lips on his. She let her blood drip into his mouth, hoping that would work.
"Don't bother. He's already dead."
The voice caused her to pull away and look up in the direction it came from. Standing only a couple of feet away, was Jihoon. As if the blood all over his hands and face wasn't enough proof for him being the culprit, the sinister look on his face was. When she saw this, more tears filled her eyes.
"Why would you do this?" Nefeli managed to choke out her question.
Jihoon shrugged, carelessly wiping the blood on his shirt, not caring that it stained the fabric. "I killed him for trying to go see you earlier. Plus, I did it because why not?"
"You told them that you'd kill me if they hung around me!" Nefeli said loudly, her chest aching again.
Loud laughter left Jihoon's mouth, a dark smile on his face.
"It was a lie! I knew if I told them that, they'd stay away from you! But, he didn't fucking listen. He thought he could sneak away and see you. But, I saw him do it. I only kept him alive a bit longer, because I wanted him to think he'd gotten away with it. But, he didn't. Clearly."
Nefeli frowned and looked away from him, back down to Riki. Her tears rolled down her cheeks, as she sniffled softly. Seeing him like this, it felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest. She kept her hands on his face, whimpering softly.
"Are you really crying? How pathetic. Why are you crying over him?" Jihoon asked.
"He was my friend," Nefeli said in a pained whisper.
"So? He was a vampire, the same thing I am. He was just as much of a monster as I am," he scoffed.
"No, he wasn't! He wasn't a monster! He never once hurt me! You're the monster!" she screamed at her brother, crying.
"Bullshit! He lied to you about what he was! He even erased your memory of saving you! That's monsterous!" Jihoon yelled.
"He did it to protect me!" she yelled back at him, looking at him again.
"Protect you? I doubt it. They'd have killed you at some point. I only did you a favor," Jihoon shook his head.
"No! You're the one that keeps trying to kill me, Jihoon! Not them! If you want to kill me, then do it! Stop using them to get to me! You coward!"
Nefeli grabbed the chess board and threw it in his direction. It caught him by surprise, so it hit him right in the face. This pissed him off. Jihoon growled and was suddenly in front of her. He grabbed her tightly by the throat, making her gasp.
"You want me to kill you? All because I killed him? Is that what you're saying?" he snapped at her, snarling.
She weakly grabbed on to his shirt sleeve, briefly distracting him, before grabbing an empty glass, smashing it over his head. He cried out, letting go of her. She stumbled away from him, trying to find another weapon, one that was preferably wood. She picked up one of the chairs, about to break it, so she could use one of the pieces as a stake.
The library doors suddenly swung open, causing a loud noise as they hit the walls. It caught Jihoon's attention, making him look up. The others had ran in, having heard the noise. They saw Riki's body lying on the floor behind him. Jihoon had a tight grip on the fabric of Nefeli's hoodie.
"Let her go!" Jake snapped at him.
This made the older male smirk at him. "Alright, then."
Jihoon released her, which is what made them realize that they'd come too late. They watched Nefeli's body crumple weakly to the floor, landing beside Riki. Her own blood floods out from a wound in her chest. Seeing this, made everyone feel like they'd just died all over again.
