𝕸𝖀𝕽𝕯𝕰𝕽 | 𝖂𝖊𝖉𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖉𝖆𝖞

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖜𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞-𝖙𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊

~

XXIII

~

"Sing! Sing! Sing!"

Aiyla rolled her eyes as the students on the dance floor all clapped, imploring her to begin singing.

Xavier threw an arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple, causing her to blush. "Just one song. For me!"

Someone in the hall screeched, "Xavier and Aiyla sitting in a tree-"

They were cut off abruptly by Aiyla's steely glare.

She turned back to Xavier, her gaze softening and let her lips brush against the gashes on his neck. "For you."

Suppressing a smile, Aiyla made her way towards the DJ, who grinned and handed her a microphone. "I've heard you're quite the singer."

Aiyla nodded, gulping slightly as she took in her size of the crowd, all staring at her expectingly.

And in the back, sitting at a table angrily and glowering, was Bianca Barclay.

Aiyla felt a rush of satisfaction and motivation barrel through her veins at the sight of the jealous Siren. 

She'd sing ten songs tonight if it meant pissing of Bianca.

After a moment's quiet deliberation with the DJ (MC Blood Suckaz) about a song, Aiyla cleared her throat and looked at the crowd.

And then she began to sing, a low melody emitting from her lips as the people began to dance.

"Love is just a history that they may prove
And when you're gone
I'll tell them my religion's you
When Punktious comes to kill the king upon his throne
I'm ready for their stones"

She spotted Wednesday take to the dance floor with Tyler, begging to dance as if she was an '80's Goth Girl.

Aiyla almost grinned at the sight of her best friend's dancing.

Tyler and Wednesday were a couple she could route for.

"I'll dance, dance, dance
With my hands, hands, hands
Above my head, head, head
Like ..... said
I'm gonna dance, dance, dance
With my hands, hands, hands above my head
Hands together, forgive him before he's dead, because"

Xavier furrowed his brows in slight confusion as Aiyla sang, her voice reverberating through the hall. She'd missed a word - maybe due to shortness of breath?

He watched, eyes alight with some sort of inspiration as he watched her sing. Her voice seemed to chill him from the inside out, ringing clearer than the song of a siren and purer that the whistle of a nightingale. 

"I won't cry for you
I won't crucify the things you do
I won't cry for you
See (see), when you're gone, I'll still be Bloody Mary"

She dragged out the last note, letting it run clear and unbroken for a few seconds before beginning to sing the next verse.

"We are not just art for Michelangelo to carve
He can't rewrite the agro of my furied heart
I'll wait on mountain tops in Paris, cold
J'veux pas mourir toute seule."

Aiyla sang the line of French with a perfect accent, causing Xavier's knees to go weak. How many languages did she speak? 6. Turkish, English, German, Uzbek, Urdu and French. And she was learning Arabic.

Xavier blushed lightly as he realised how much of a stalker he was.

"I'll dance, dance, dance
With my hands, hands, hands
Above my head, head, head
Like ..... said
I'm gonna dance, dance, dance
With my hands, hands, hands above my head
Hands together, forgive him before he's dead, because."

There it was, she'd missed out the same word again. It had to have been on purpose this time. 

"I won't cry for you
I won't crucify the things you do
I won't cry for you
See (see), when you're gone, I'll still be Bloody Mary."

Her voice increased in volume, filling the hall and bouncing off the walls as the song crescendo-ed into a high note that was ringing in Xavier's ears even after the song ended.

Xavier stared at her in slight shock as the hall was filled with clapping.

Aiyla blushed, her eyes landing on Xavier and she suppressed a smile, before turning to MC Bloos Suckaz. "One more," she implored, "This song is special." Aiyla turned to the crowd, and tried not to blush, "I think you can all guess who this song is dedicated to, if anyone here speaks Urdu please be a translator for him."

A soft instrumental music began to strum and the students on the dancefloor began to sway with their dates and slow dance.

Aiyla's gazelle eyes found their way to Xavier, a small smile painting her lips as her voice began to softly echo through the hall. 

"Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sun
Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sun
Na junoon raha na pari rahi
Na toh tu raha na toh main raha
Jo rahi so be-khabari rahi
Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sun
Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sun..."

Was this Urdu? Xavier finally understood why Aiyla was constantly geeking over languages, because Urdu sounded beautiful.

Her eyes were filled with a sense of peace that caused a well of adoration to swell up within Xavier.

Someone was standing next to him, translating the words of the song as she sang it - but he'd blocked them out.

Her voice and the rich emotion in it were all that mattered.

"....Chali samt-e-ghaib se ik hawa
Chali samt-e-ghaib se ik hawa
Ke chaman zahur ka jal gaya
Chali samt-e-ghaib se ik hawa
Ke chaman zahur ka jal gaya
Magar ek shakh-e-nihal-e-gham
Magar ek shakh-e-nihal-e-gham
Jise dil kahe so hari rahi
Na toh tu raha na toh main raha
Jo rahi so be-khabari rahi
Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sun
Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sun...."

She looked so beautiful standing there, singing her heart out into a language he couldn't understand.

Oh but he could.

He understood the way the furrow in her brows disappeared. The way her shoulders relaxed. The small ghost of a smile on the corner of her mouth. The emotions that shined in her eyes. The high notes and runs filled with a sweet and rich tone that made his eyes prick.

"....Woh ajab ghadi thi ke jis ghadi
Woh ajab ghadi thi ke jis ghadi
Liya dars nuskha-e-ishq ka
Woh ajab ghadi thi ke jis ghadi
Liya dars nuskha-e-ishq ka
Jo kitab aql ki taaq par
Jo kitab aql ki taaq par
So vahin dhari thi ki dhari rahi
Na toh tu raha na toh main raha
Jo rahi so be-khabari rahi
Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sun
Khabar-e-tahayyur-e-ishq sun."

As Aiyla sang the last verse, Xavier knew that moment would stay within him forever. That Aiyla wasn't just art, or inspiration or his muse - she was so much more.

She was a murderer.

But the funny thing about these kind of people, is that when they take hold of you, they never let go.

Not even if it meant burning the world.

So, as Aiyla Demir walked off of the stage, to a flutter of applause, he finally let himself love the girl with the gazelle eyes.

And then Xavier Thorpe marched over to her, cupped her face in his hands, and smashed his lips to hers.