Alive

22

━━━━━━༺༻ ━━━━━━
~~~~~~⚫️Chapter 22⚫️~~~~~~
━━━━━━༺༻ ━━━━━

━━━━━━༺༻ ━━━━━━
Koda and I stood in tense silence, the space between us filled with unspoken words and a weight of emotions I couldn't begin to unravel. His face was unreadable, his jaw clenched, and I could feel the familiar tension between us, an invisible wall that neither of us dared to cross. He didn't say anything about the pile of bones now scattered in the dirt, didn't repeat his demands. Instead, he just stared at me, as if waiting for me to break the silence.

I folded my arms, my gaze narrowing as I glared at him, feeling both stubborn and strangely vulnerable. But then a scent drifted to me, cutting through my anger and confusion—a metallic, rich smell that hit me like a wave, stirring something deep within. Blood. It was smeared across his cheek and down his neck, crusting where it had dried in thick streaks.

Without realizing it, I took a step closer, the scent filling my senses, making my stomach tighten with a fierce hunger I hadn't known I could feel. I tried to ignore it, to push it aside, but my body betrayed me, my stomach growling low and needy, the sound embarrassingly loud in the quiet.

Koda's eyes flicked toward me, a brief smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, and I could tell he'd heard it. "Hungry?" he muttered, his tone dripping with sarcasm, as if he were daring me to acknowledge the truth.

I opened my mouth to snap back, to tell him to shut up, to leave me alone. But instead, I found myself stepping forward, the hunger overpowering my pride, the smell of his blood so tantalizingly close. My mind went hazy, the world around me blurring as I leaned in, my gaze locked on the dark smear across his cheek.

Before I could stop myself, I closed the distance and brushed my tongue across his cheek, tasting the blood, feeling it coat my mouth with a flavor so rich and intense it nearly made my knees buckle. My mind screamed at me to pull back, to stop, but my body wouldn't listen, driven by the hunger that clawed at my insides.

The taste was intoxicating, a warmth spreading through me as the blood lingered on my tongue, both sweet and metallic, a sensation that felt as natural as breathing. But as I licked across his cheek again, something broke inside me—a rush of emotions flooding in, sharp and overwhelming.

Tears sprang to my eyes, unbidden, and before I knew it, I was sobbing, the sound raw and desperate as I pressed my forehead against his shoulder, clutching his shirt in trembling fists. It felt as if something was missing, something important, a part of me lost in the fog of my fractured memories. The taste of his blood was familiar, painfully so, and yet I couldn't reach the memory it was tied to, couldn't grasp the connection that was just beyond my reach.

Koda's body tensed beneath my touch, his hands hovering awkwardly in the air as if unsure whether to hold me or push me away. His breathing was ragged, his usual composure shattered as he looked down at me, a mixture of surprise and something softer in his gaze.

"Aisha..." he murmured, his voice rough, hesitant. For once, he seemed lost, his usual confidence replaced with a vulnerability I hadn't seen before.

I pulled back slightly, looking up at him through tear-blurred eyes, my fingers still gripping his shirt. "Why don't I remember?" I choked out, the words barely audible. "Why does it feel like... like I'm missing something? Like we're missing something?"

He looked at me, his gaze filled with a quiet pain, as if he knew exactly what I was feeling but couldn't bring himself to say it. His hand lifted, hovering near my face, but he stopped himself, clenching his fist as he forced his arm back to his side.

"We... it's complicated," he muttered, his voice strained, as if the words were painful for him to say. "There's a lot you don't remember, things I... things I can't just explain." He looked away, his jaw tightening as if he were fighting some inner battle. "And maybe... maybe it's better if you don't remember."

The words hit me like a blow, and I felt a fresh wave of pain wash over me, a sense of loss so profound it left me breathless. I wanted to scream, to demand he tell me everything, but the look in his eyes held me back, a rawness that mirrored the ache in my own chest.

I swallowed, my voice barely a whisper as I forced the words out. "But why, Koda? Why did you come back for me? Why... why did you care enough to look for me if you don't think I should remember?"

He looked at me, his gaze hard, yet beneath it, I saw the flicker of something raw, something he couldn't quite hide. "Because..." His voice trailed off, and for a moment, he looked as if he were about to tell me, to finally break the silence and give me the answers I'd been searching for. But then his face hardened, his gaze turning cold once more.

"Because I owed you," he said flatly, the words clipped and harsh. "You saved me once, remember? So I figured we're even now."

The words felt hollow, a forced lie, but the wall was back up, stronger than ever, and I knew he wasn't going to give me anything more. I pulled away from him, letting go of his shirt, the pain in my chest twisting into something sharper, something that felt a lot like betrayal.

"Fine," I muttered, wiping the tears from my face as I turned away, refusing to let him see how much his words had hurt me. "We're even, then."

But even as I said it, I knew it wasn't true. There was something between us, something unspoken, an unbreakable thread that kept pulling me back to him, no matter how hard I tried to deny it. And as I walked away, the taste of his blood still lingering on my tongue, I knew I wouldn't stop searching for the answers, no matter how much he tried to keep them from me.