Crimson

12

I changed into more suitable clothing for a day of relaxation and applied a light layer of mascara to my eyelashes. A pair of leggings and a loose tank top adorned my body. Smiling at myself in the mirror, I exited the bathroom.

The doorbell rang and I made a face at the front door from the living room. Sighing, I made my way over. When I opened it, Kai was standing there looking impatient as ever.

I crossed my arms. "Oh so you do know how to ring the doorbell."

He rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand. "Just come on."

I closed the door behind me quickly before we made our way to the silver BMW parked on the street. I climbed into the passenger seat and him into the driver's. We took off as he hadn't shut the engine down before coming to the door.

The entire car ride I stared straight ahead. After my realization last night, I didn't know how to interact with him anymore. There's an empty place in my bones; buried deep, that calls out for something unknown. It is a horrible feeling to have a craving that you can never satisfy.

Kai pulled up outside of Nara's apartment complex. Without a word, we found our way upstairs and into her home.

He directed me towards the couch as Nara simply watched us from the kitchen. Liam shot me a smile from the other couch.

"Sit," Kai said as he pushed me down onto the cushions, his hand on my shoulder. My skin felt like there was electricity jumping from it where his hand touched me. My eyes met his for a second before he plopped down next to me. His hand slid lightly from my bare skin as Nara wandered onto the scene.

"Why are we all here?" I asked, the words slipping from my mouth before I had time to stop them.

A smile graced her perfect features, she was captivating. "We are here because Kai and I decided it was best if we told you something particularly about us."

"Okay?" Liam, as I found to be the other human's name, said questionably.

Nara let out a sight and thought for a second as she joined Liam on the couch across from me. Our eyes met and I quickly looked away, I didn't feel worthy to be in her presence, that and she was intimidating.

"I shall tell you a heartbreaking tale. This is one that my mother told me years ago when I was still young and didn't know it's meaning. It is based off of two lovers that could never be together, the rules of their people keeping them apart."

Kai glanced over at me and I suddenly diverted my gaze to my hands meekly. A burning sensation ignited within my chest but I kept it contained, not allowing for my outward expression to mirror what I was feeling inside.

"So kind of like us?" The human asked.

She nodded and he reached over, grasping her small hand. Both Kai and I watched the pair intently, but for two different reasons.

I edged away from Kai slowly, angling myself so I was smashed into the corner between the back cushion and the arm rest. I brought my knees into my chest and rested my head on them.

Nara took a breath in and began in a soft voice, as if sorrow were consuming her. "It is said that there once was a butterfly that was searching for love. One day he came upon another beautiful butterfly and it was love at first sight. But the butterfly soon realized that his love remained perfectly still on top of a flower, perched there as still as a statue stretching into the sky. His beloved never moved a single inch, as if she was frozen. Even so, he continued to woo his love day and night while his life slowly slipped away from him. The butterfly eventually ran out of strength and fell from the sky, crashing to the ground. Meanwhile his love's wings fluttered in the wind. Although his beloved looked like another butterfly, turns out it was in fact a flower that simply looked like a one, an illusion that the heart desired. They were not the same, having different life spans, different places in the world. And that is how the tragic story of their love ended."

Liam looked confused and I simply sat still, wanting to be as far away from here as possible at the moment. Kai watched me from the corners of his eyes. I understood the moral of the story, and knew that my eyes betrayed my stony fascade.

"That wasn't about you," Liam said as I chewed on my bottom lip. Of course it was about her, the whole story was.

"Yes it was."

"How?" He asked, curious to the meaning of the story and the relationship between it and her. I almost rolled my eyes because it appeared that he was the only one in the room that didn't understand the story's meaning. What it meant for them.

"Don't you see, Liam? You are the butterfly and I am the flower, it's the story of us, how we are supposed to be because no matter how hard the butterfly tries, he can never be with the flower."

My eyes slid over to Nara as she rose from the couch abruptly, obviously upset. Her eyes reflected the fire in her soul. Liam looked hesitant but stood as well, reaching out towards the female vampire. Before she could take another step to leave the room, he took a hold of her wrist and jerked her around to face him. Her wide eyes stared back up at him, his hand releasing its grip on her wrist to slide into her hand and tangle their fingers together. I felt like I was intruding on a moment that was only meant for the two of them but I couldn't bring myself to look away. They were so mesmerizing, so breathtaking that a stab of jealousy blossomed in my chest. They both wanted to lose themselves in the other person, they believe that love is a matter of the heart, not chemical processes in the brain.

I could feel my throat drying up as I watched them seem to have an entire conversation in a few seconds of staring into the other's eyes. I wanted that kind of love, something eternal and deep. I wanted to revel in the other person, to be fascinated by them. I wanted to know someone better than they knew themselves, every inch of their body and mind would be mine alone to explore. Swallowing, I realized that the love in which I covet and crave was a selfish one.

Nara now grasped his sides as he rubbed her arms up and down slowly, sorrow reflecting in her eyes as she gazed at him. She loved him and he loved her, that much was clear to see. Nara flicked her eyes away and it appeared as if she were struggling to hold herself together. Of course she would be upset, she just told her lover the harsh reality that they lived. She told the one she loved with every cell in her body that they could never be truly together.

Liam wrapped his arms tightly around her, seeming to shield her from the world. Nara buried her face in his chest as he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. I felt uncomfortable watching the two so I diverted my eyes to the dark hardwood floor. I could feel Kai's gaze burning my skin but I didn't move.

After Nara had went into her room and Liam had followed, I found my voice. Anger resonated throughout my body at the fact that I had to witness something so raw and emotional and heartbreaking. "What was the point of that?"

"You needed to know," was his simple and cold answer, his face a mirror of stone.

I simply sent him a glare from across the couch. As if I didn't already know that our worlds were already too separated to come together. I knew deep down that our kinds were not meant to intermingle with one another. But I would eventually fall for Kai and doom myself to a life of sorrow. He would inevitably own my heart and then crush it between his fingers as if I meant nothing. As much as I didn't want to admit it, the fact of the matter was that I knew that if I didn't get away from him, I would end up just like Nara and Liam. Yes, I will eternally covet this kind of love and harbor it deep inside of me, never to see the daylight. He was the predator and I was the prey. Lions don't fall in love with gazelles, I already knew that.  

The pain in my chest was back.