Hunter

XXXVII

The inside of the house was glittery, like the interior had been painted with glitter glue.
Golden pillars reached into the high ceilings, but Jade could tell they were just for decoration. She could make out the steel triangles supporting the ceiling. She glanced at the golden chains hanging on the walls like streamers, and she momentarily admired the iridescent jewels tha were braided into them.
Jade glared at everything, noting anything that could be useful in the future.
"Do you like it?" Cairo's voice sliced through her strategy - thinking, and her shoulders tensed for a second.
She glanced at Cairo, his ears flicking around his head. She didn't say anything, and only glancing again around the building.

Cairo looked at her intently for a moment before quietly saying,"Come. I will show you where you will sleep." He felt like leading Jade by the hand to her room, but he decided against it after looking at Jade's clenched fists. She unfolded her fingers, skimming them over her thighs as they started walking.

He led her up golden steps, with chains acting as the railings. Jade held on to one, but let go of it almost immediately. Heat had radiated into her hand, and she gasped as she let it go. Cairo looked back at her, his dark eyes frolicking over her face.

The hall was wide, the space between the walls greater than Jade's arm-span. Two molten silver chandeliers hung down, faux icicles overflowing out of the center of it.

The light bouncing off the metal reminded Jade of Aric, strangely enough. The hazy glare of silver reminded her of his eyes, that could blaze at any given moment. It reminded her of his metal wings, spreading from his back like he was an angel.

She knew him. She understood him. And she also knew she had to get out of here.

Cairo led her into the room, pushing open a mahogany door suddenly.

It was huge, the size of maybe two  or three of her apartments. The room was bathed in golden light, coming from the three large windows across the room. The glass shimmered, like it was painted over with something metallic. Strings of silver beads were strung along the walls, wrapping around lamp shades and a desk pushed against the wall. A king sized bed was in the center with thin, satin curtains hanging over it like a canopy.

Cairo led her by the hand to the bed, setting her down gently. His fingers lingered on the surface of the bed, spreading out as if he was feeling the fabric for the first time.
He looked at her softly, and Jade noticed his eyes. They were hazel, almost golden, with thin cat-like pupils. They made her ears and neck feel hot, and she broke eye-contact. There was no way in hell she was developing some God-damn Stockholm Syndrome.
"You need rest." He said the words slowly, letting the words melt in her ears like warm chocolate.
Jade protested, scowling and balling up her fists. "No. I'm fine."
Cairo shook his head. "You are very tired. And your injuries are not fully healed. Your shoulder is bothering you." He glanced at it intensely, almost like he was reading invisible words etched in her shirt.
He reached out suddenly, touching her hand. Warmth flooded through her body, like when she touched the railing of the stairs, and she felt her shoulder shift under her clothes. She stifled the urge to run, and tried to take a deep breath.
Now that he said it, Jade felt like her body was pleading with her to rest. It was tired, and she was tired. The room morphed into a sphere of gold and brown and silver, and she felt her eyelids fall.
Cairo slowly backed up out of the room, closing the door. His hands laid completely still against the side of his body, except for his fingers. They shifted ever so slightly, like they were wands waved by a magician.

Jade laid back on to the bed, slipping her shoes off. She tucked her hair behind her head.

She closed her eyes, relaxing her muscles. And fell asleep.

Aric was halfway across the city, a good distance away from Jade. He could sense the distance, feel the air that was cold without Jade's body heat all around him.
He cursed himself silently, leaning against the wall of the alley way he was in. His knuckles scraped against the brick, and he felt a sudden needle of pain. It felt good. He did it again.
He had just come out of a bar, narrowly escaping the drunk women. Their hands were all over his torso and chest, tugging at his shirt. Their disgustingly soft fingers traveled through his hair and over his face, and they crooned over what a good find he was. It made violent disgust and nausea mix with the anger he already felt.
The man had told him what happened, and how to fix it. But Aric didn't have much time. Jade didn't know how to survive in this world. And now she was gone. And he did it. It was his fault. Because he was so dumb, and useless, and flipping incompetent. All he had to do was watch her. He had one job. He slammed his knuckles, of both hands, against the brick again.

Such a failure, he was. Couldn't save his family. Couldn't protect himself in all those foster homes. Or the streets. Until, Livia, being the perfect cousin she was, came to get him.

Aric paced away from the alleyway, deliberately slamming his feet into sharp rocks, misshapen plans forming in his head. He stomped his foot again, and the pain momentarily kept him awake.

He had walked to a bridge, waves of fatigue washing over him unexpectedly.
He should sleep, he knew that. But he didn't want to. He need to find Jade! He had already lost so many people who mattered to him. But he was failure. What could he do? He pulled roughly at strands of hair, struggling to keep his eyes open.
And he never even told Jade what was happening. He never told her the whole story.
Aric looked at the bridge, at its ridges and graffiti. It oddly reminded himself of how he used to think of his dad. His dad, who was rock-solid and funny, who protected the people he cared about, even with all his battle scars and injuries. Aric bit his tongue, stopping a sob that was threatening to escape. He still felt hot tears run over his nose. Why couldn't still be alive? Why couldn't family just stay with him? Why couldn't they, at least, have died peacefully? He felt that sob fly out of his lungs, and he almost immediately swallowed it. Lingering tears fell from his eyes.

He wiped them away, and slid under the bridge, his legs finally giving in to their fatigue. He faced a wall as he slid down onto his butt.

He could just make out a message: 'I want some dam fries'.

He chuckled darkly to himself. Wow. Reading bridges now? What an accomplishment.
He rubbed his temple, feeling his wristband heat up.
He looked up eagerly, his senses tingling.
Monster. Please, let it be a monster. He knew what to do with monsters. He knew how to kill, and maim, and torture. He could do that. And, maybe, it would be that God-damn one that took Jade.
Aric followed his instincts, his wrist band giving him a location of the nearest monster. He'd check it out later, though.

His body was sore from the fight at the hotel a few hours ago, a light burn mark marring his shoulder.  His muscles were pulled and stretched to their limit, and his head was pounding. He felt like there was a little elf running around in his body, slamming its hammer against his bones and tendons. He chuckled at the thought as he fell asleep.