Broken Wings [Completed!]

Chapter 10

A sweet melody sounded from the outside, and Jasper looked to see his sister, Adeline, with her eyes closed and fingers dancing on her violin. She took in a deep breath when she began the second movement; that one pause from the first till the next just like Adeline's short life on Earth, because of him.

Because of him.

He leaned against the balcony on top of where she was playing, closing his own eyes and embracing the notes, stroking against his skin. He let himself pretend that he was just in one of Adeline's concerts, pretend that the feeling that washed over him wasn't guilt, but pride. Adeline rose to a forte, strings vibrating and bow gliding over them, passionate and something else he couldn't catch.

Something like ribbons of colours seeped out of the violin when he opened his eyes, reminding him of a what used to be a world with colour. Looking away, he sighed. Wouldn't it be better if he couldn't see? If he just lived in his imagination of a world full of stardust and simplicity, pretend that the humans he sent to the afterlife and the vampires he killed were going to safety, wouldn't that be better?

A cat who'd decided to listen raised its paw, as if the ribbons of light was a playtoy, a ball of yarn. Adeline smiled, giving a small grin he'd never seen her pass to anyone else. Jasper felt his chest deflate-- if her happiness was music, what was his?

When the movement finished, the world was put to sleep. It calmed down the roll of the red waves in the distance--legend believed it was the blood shed by the vampires--and the moon opened its mouth to yawn, eliciting a crescent shape in the scarlet sky.

Adeline looked up at him. "Is dinner ready?" She asked hopefully.

Jasper blinked, nodding, promising to never let her violin grow silent. Promising she'd always live. Adeline rushed inside, the cat still by her side. She tried to shoo it off back to its owner, but its large, moon green eyes did its magic, and so she picked it up and brought it inside.

"We're not keeping the cat," Jasper said.

Adeline played with its paw, and Jasper noticed it had eight claws on each. He reached down to stroke it, but the cat yapped and scratched his arm.

Hissing in pain, Jasper drew back.

Adeline smirked, "Seems like the cat understands you."

"Doesn't seem like the cat's going to leave us," Jasper said, sighing.

The cat's fur was a smudge of gradients of brown, sticking up at random places. Both the cat and Adeline stared pleadingly at him with matching wide eyes. "Fine," he got out. "What's its name, then?"

She reached across the cat, picking it up by the stomach and scratching its head. The cat yawned, stretching along Adeline's lap. "Andante," Adeline decided. "Dante, for short."

Jasper leaned in to stroke Dante, only ending up to be scratched again. He caught the paw, ignoring the claws that dug into his skin, and looked straight into Dante's eyes.

"Enemies," he said, and knew the cat agreed on it, too.

***

Logan watched as Evira tapped to enlarge the photo, a mess of half-paused videos dotted at different places. They were standing in one of the small, unused living rooms, just in case anyone came into pry. She took the print from the printer and drew out the pen from her mouth.

"Watch this," she said as she outlined each and every point on the map, joining them like one of those "join the dots" game humans played. Sitting back with a prideful expression on her face, she tapped the map impatiently. "Well, what do you see?"