Crimson

14

My legs burned, my lungs felt like they were on the verge of collapse. My feet pounded against the ground as my mind focused on the only goal present: home, away from Kai. Sure I had kissed him before but never like this, not after Nara had torn down the speck of hope in my heart. I didn't want to but I was at the verge of plummeting down into a dark abyss. I didn't want to fall in love with him but my reaction made the fact that it was too late clear.

Too late.

I slowed from a run to a jog and then to a halt. It was already too late to go back. My chest heaved as I turned slightly to look over my shoulder at the way I came. Too late. It was too late because I was already falling for him.

What was the point of denying myself this? What was the point in trying to halt what has already begun deep inside of me? Everything up until now has been involuntary so the hypothesis at hand is that everything here after will be as well. In the end, the result is always going to be the same whether or not I allow my little infatuation to go any further. I will always end up getting hurt in one way or another, there is no forseeable outcome that would work fully in my favor. So why not dive in head first? It's either hurt myself now or later.

It was only until now that I can see how far I have truly fallen for this vampire, the prince of darkness. What would life be like without him? I question myself on what my life was like before him as well. I was just another soul walking a road the same as everyone else, I was just like them, synthetic and without a purpose. I wandered around, always completing a perfectly choreographed routine by the end of the day and then simply repeating it the next. He opened me to his world, showed me that I was not the only humanoid species to inhabit this planet. Then there were his comings and goings where I wouldn't see him for days and then he would appear seemingly out of no where. What would it be like without his random appearances at my house? I yearned for those times, always awaiting his next arrival.

Kai was like a drug, my drug, and I was addicted. I don't know when it happened but now I was hooked on him. All we've got is a precious knowledge of self destruction. We are of a psycho generation, born to tear each other apart and take ourselves with it. And I was digging my own grave.

A silver car glinted in the sunlight in the distance, quickly bearing down on me. I simply watched as Kai's car skid to a halt next to me as he got out and slammed the door behind him. I stood frozen to the spot as he stalked around the car to stand in front of me. His figure was imposing and I felt myself shrinking under his intense gaze.

"You came after me," I whispered, barely audible over the hum of the car's engine.

His cold eyes bore into me not for the first time that day. Those damn eyes that I so loved and hated simultaneously "You ran."

"After Nara tore down everything, you decided to kiss me. How was I supposed to react?"

"I don't know."

I stared up at him, my heart still beating fast. I could barely stand being next to him and try not to feel anything. This being, this vampire, had captured me without my knowledge. He has ensnared me with nearly no effort at all.

"Fuck it," I spat.

I grabbed the front of his shirt, ripping him forward until his lips came crashing onto mine. Warmth blossomed in my chest as I hooked one arm around his neck. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist, tugging me so I was pressed flush against him. I felt so powerful, so on top of the world. But the kiss was over too soon.

Kai glared down at me, his fingers playing with the hem of my shirt. "You're such a confusing woman."

"I don't know what to tell you."

"One moment you take off and the next you're kissing me."

I let out a sigh and nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck. "What Nara said was true but I came to the conclusion that it's already too late and I'm in too deep. Besides, it's not like you would just disappear from my life, that's not you. You always have to annoy the shit out of me."

Kai smiled. It was a genuine one too, not the usual smirk laced with his demonic sadism or his own brand of sarcasm and sick amusement. These types of smiles were extremely difficult to come by.

He pinched my butt hard and I yelped. But then his chest was rumbling in laughter and I couldn't help but to join him. A weight was lifted from my chest in those moments and I decided that I was happy with where I was now, here, with him.