Snake

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I covered myself when Daichi kicked the door open. He probably thought I was in trouble.

"You're alive?!"

The shock in his eyes made me stare, and the wheels in my mind started turning.

Why was he so convinced that Rin was dead?

Rin said a few words and shifted into something I've never seen before. I gasped, then covered my mouth as his skin turned snake-like and claws spiked from his fingers.

"Rin...I didn't..."

"What?...You didn't think I would survive?"

Daichi looked scared and didn't answer.

"Oh yeah, that's right. You didn't know that I could regenerate myself."

"B-But your limbs and head were cut off."

I yelled at Daichi. "How do you know that?!"

Rin smiled. "He was there...weren't you?"

His brows furrowed in guilt. He answered with his fists swinging at Rin but missed each try. I stared in awe at how my love bobbed and weaved out of Daichi’s way with ease.

Rin twisted his arm behind his back, making Daichi wince in pain.

"I was not the one who killed you!"

"No, but you stood back and watched like a coward."

Rin's hand went into Daichi’s chest, causing his eyes to widen and body to freeze still.

I yelped at what I was seeing.

"It-It was too late for me to-to help..." Daichi spoke as blood spat from his mouth.

"You had a smirk on your face when they slit my throat. Now I'll have one on mine."

Rin's fist went all the way through Daichi’s chest. I watched him go limp and lifeless. My heart was pounding while I sat in silence.

"Are you okay, Violet?"

Rin not only looked different, but he sounded different, too. He removed his hand from Daichi’s body, and he dropped to the floor.

"W-What are you going to do with his body?"

I got out of bed and put on some leggings and a t-shirt. There was a dead body in my home, and I was about to freak out. Rin shifted back into his human form, washed the blood off his arm, and put his clothes back on.

He stood over Daichi’s body and said a few words in his language. When he was finished, he walked towards me, then kissed my lips.

"Give it a few seconds."

I heard a sizzling sound. Daichi’s body began to light up and burn into ashes...I was in disbelief but relieved.

"I'm sorry this happened to you, baby."

"It's okay, everything is fine now."

Rin rubbed my belly, and we left my house.

***

I drove back to my place with no worries about anything happening to Violet. My security system and monitors were replaced. Being that everyone thinks I'm dead, no one is looking for me.

When I was kidnapped, I was kept in a small mechanics shed for what seemed like forever. There were three men with masks that came to the shed every day. I was injected with tranquilizers at some point but woke up when I felt my leg being cut off.

Every time they came back, a limb was taken from my body. I was ready for them to just kill me and get it over with.

With nothing left on my torso but my head, Mr. Zen came walking into the shed. I know we didn't end on good terms, but I never would have thought he would do this to me.

He was like a father to me, and my heart broke in pieces as I stared into the eyes of the man who I looked up to and loved.

"I hate that it had to end like this, Hebi."

I spoke no words or yelled, just like I didn't when they cut my arms and legs from my body. I refused to give them the satisfaction.

"All you had to do was follow my guidance. But you decided to go against my family."

I remained silent as my eyes locked in on his.

"Anything you want to say to me?"

"See you soon."

My throat was sliced open, and my head was cut off, too. Mr. Zen must have known that I could possibly regenerate, so he told them to put my head in what he thought was acid.

It took a month for my torso to regenerate my head. Everything else was a few days. There is a way to kill me, but as long as I have living cells, I can regenerate my entire body.

I woke up from mud and traveled through acres of corn fields and woods. I made it to the back stairwell of my building and broke into my home.

I soaked in warm water and shed my skin after a few days. Now I'm as good as new. It is like being reborn with a new body but the same soul and mind.

Violet stood, staring at me. She's probably still in disbelief.

"Come here."

She walked towards me, and I wrapped my arms around her. The whole time I was gone, I thought about getting back to her and listening to our baby.

"Are you really okay, Rin?"

"Yes. Do I not look okay?"

She pulled away and looked at me up and down. Tears began to fill her eyes, and I touched her cheek.

"Why are you crying, baby?"

"Everything that was happening and being said made me want to give up. But he wouldn't let me."

Violet rubbed her stomach as tears fell down her face.

"I can't lose you again, Rin. Let's run away and live in another country or something."

"You're not going to lose me again... you never did. And I'm not going to continue our lives together in fear."

"But what if...."

"Violet, do you trust me?"

"Yes, I trust you."

I wiped her tears and kissed her lips. She was so beautiful to me, even more so carrying my baby.

I made love to Violet again before going to bed. The next morning, I let her sleep while I handled a few things in my home office.

At 11 o'clock, things were about to change. My doorbell rang, and I looked to see a good friend that I reached out to prior to getting Violet from her house.

There were three other people who showed up fifteen minutes later. I went into my room and changed, then went to wake up Violet.

"Morning, babe."

She began to open her eyes, then look at the digital clock on the nightstand.

"It's almost 9:30. You should've woke me up. I would've made breakfast."

"No worries. But you should get up now."

Violet sat up and looked at me. "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere.."

"Then why do you..."

Before she could finish her sentence. I got up and brought in one of the people in the living room.

"Baby, this is Norma."

Violet got out of bed, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"Nishimura, what the heck is going on?"

I smiled. "Norma is here to dress you for our vows."

"Wh-What?" Violet placed her hand over her heart. Her eyes began to tear up.

I grabbed her hand and kissed it. "We're getting married today."