Ephemeral

Rafael chuckled lowly at what Aidan had said to him, and then he loudly began to do so, tilting his head back as though he wasn't getting enough oxygen to perform such actions. Or, maybe it was that he wasn't being as loud as he wanted to – Rafael wasn't lying earlier when he said that he didn't like to be ignored.

I knew that from first hand --

"Oh, you will, will you-??" Rafael asked, stumbling forward with his eyes wide.

He looked at Aidan for a few seconds, and so did I. Aidan was perfectly composed and there didn't seem to be a single hair out of place. It seemed like it was effortless for him to waltz into enemy territory the way that he did and come out unscathed and unbothered by the entire thing.

It might as well have been just another day for someone of Aidan's caliber.

Then, Rafael switched his gaze towards me.

I couldn't help it when I shivered under his hardened, unfocused eyes and brought my hands down to rest at my sides. It didn't do a good job at blocking out the sounds of the gunshots, regardless of my vain attempt to do so. Rafael smirked over at me, nearly wincing through the pain that he must have been actively experiencing from a gunshot wound in each hands of his.

The red substance leaking down his hands and gathering at his fingertips before lightly splashing onto the ground underneath him.

"You better make sure not to miss this time, Aidan..." Rafael taunted, pulling his eyes away from me. I was relieved when he was no longer focused on me – whenever he was I got hurt. "How unlike a Mathis to not finish the fucking job-!!" He boasted loudly, and I could see spit fly out from his mouth.

He raised his two arms up and outstretched them to his both of his sides suddenly. I brought a hand up to my mouth at hearing the blood splattering to the metal ground from such an exaggerative movement. It almost sounded like blood, and if I closed my eyes, I could imagine that it might have been – I could envision that I was somewhere else where two men were standing in front of each other...where the stakes weren't as high and the tension would be lowered.

I wasn't though...

I was here.

I was here with them and I was certain that at least one of them would die.

"Oh, but I sure did..." He continued, raising his shoulders up. The large grin on his face – it had stretched from ear to ear. "I made sure to kill a Mathis and sever his head from his fucking body! I made sure he didn't come back from the dead – oh yes-!!" He cut himself off, his eyes widening again. Rafael nodded his head sternly and then again a few times, seemingly agreeing with himself. His next words were softer, and I hoped that his crazed words would stop, but they only seemed to be more controlled than before: "Yes – yes, I did..."

Aidan narrowed his eyes at the words that Rafael was speaking.

"Tell him, Arianna..." Rafael muttered, but the room was quiet with no one else talking that I had managed to hear it, even from where I was currently standing at. My legs trembled at being addressed, and I wished that he had never called my name. I didn't want to tell Aidan about his brother – how my brother...was dead. "Tell him how I dissected his older brother – tell him how I took out his heart first-!!"

A gun shot rang out in the room and Rafael's cheek suddenly began to bleed. The light from the gunshot and lit up the entire room for a split second, and it nearly blinded me. I felt my heart skip a beat from the sudden noise and light, and there was a ringing in my ears from how close I was from the firing of the gun in such an enclosed space.