Of Love and Death.

The Future Chapter 17b: Snow is Thicker Than Water Pt. 4

Payne was uncomfortable. That was the very first thing he noticed. His eyes were still closed. Shut tight against whatever this wave of cold air was that had awoken him. Like his bedroom door had been open-

Bolting up, Payne turned to look at Cold, who was glaring at him from the doorway. She looked...rough. Her arm was bandaged up. It was at a weird angle, although not in a sling. And she looked bruised all over. There was something in her eyes too. Something tired. Not to mention all of the scabs and bruises covering the rest of her body. Like she'd been raked with an actual rake.

Without mentioning anything, Paynee did what he knew was wanted of him. He swung his legs off the bed and stood up. He didn't glare, he barely even looked at Cold. And he certainly couldn't look her in the eyes. "What is it?" he asked blandly. He wasn't trying to act like he liked her. But she didn't seem to care today. That was a small blessing.

Instead of answering directly, Cold turned and walked out the door. "The kids survived. Light was better than I thought he would be," she grumbled as Payne padded after her. They were alive. They were all alive. She hadn't managed to kill any of them. This was amazing. He kept his face neutral. But it was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Payne didn't smile. But he smiled on the inside.

There was hope? That was a question. And not a rhetorical one. Were they going to survive? Were they going to be able to escape Cold and Payne himself. He didn't know. He really didn't know. But they were still alive for right now. And probably coming up with a plan. Instead of just scrambling around to try and salvage their mistake. Like Cold was doing right now.

"Grab a cheese stick. You need to be full to be able to fight," the frozen shadow ordered, interrupting Payne's thoughts, meaning exactly what she said. Payne couldn't be hungry if he was going to put up a good fight. So he was coming too. He hated the fact that Cold hadn't even told him where they were going. But he already knew. To find Bel and Jamie, most likely. If not their parents outright. Because Cold didn't like to fail. And she really liked to remedy that failure.

Following Cold out of the hallway and into the main room, Payne only paused for a moment to grab a frozen cheese-stick off of the counter. They didn't really need a fridge, much less a freezer. Rubbing the hunk of cheese between his fingers, Payne worked on making it edible. He would be able to cram it into his mouth before they got wherever they were going.

Looking up, the pink-haired blader realized that Cold had paused in the hallway. She was standing right in front of the black painted door. But she hadn't opened it. She was just standing there, waiting. "What is it?" Payne asked in the same bland tone.

Without wasting a moment, Cold replied. "You will be killing someone," she said simply. Matter of factly. Like it wasn't a big deal. But it was. And she knew it. She knew that Payne didn't want to do this. She knew that she could use him to torture someone. Either someone else, or the pink-haired blader with fire powers in front of her. He didn't really think it mattered to her.

With that, the frozen shadow turned and opened the door. She glared at Payne, her black eyes shimmering. Not with any emotion but anger. And determination that let him know he couldn't disobey. Or else.

So, stuffing down everything. Tears, guilt, something like anger, Payne stepped out. As he walked onto the steps, his mother held something out to him. Watching him patiently and expectantly.

Something in a sheath. A dark black that was so frozen it hurt to look at. But Payne could almost see through the strange container. One of the daggers from the black hole. The of the things that Cold had forged to kill forces. It seemed like it bent reality around it. Warping it around how unnatural it was. Or maybe it was really natural. After all, it was created by a part of the universe. You can't get any more natural than that.