B L O O D W / R

P R O L O G U E

"I will destroy everything you have ever cared for!"

"You do realise that includes you, right?"

"I'm counting on it."

The one with the doe-eye is stunned, clearly, she did not expect to receive such words as an answer to the taunt she threw mindlessly at the one with a pair of cat eyes. These doe eyes are painted in the colour approximating obsidian, which even under a clear sky can only glisten in the deep shade of the night, absorbing light—instead of reflecting it—into an absence. The other pair, which is now stared deeply, is shaped into the kind of pair that is supposed to only be possessed by felines; cold and intimidating as it comes. The colour of the bright cognac that is infused into the lenses somehow adds an arrogance to the stare thrown by the possessor of the said pair, even more now that the lenses are burning in fury. Two pairs of those different sets of eyes are intimidatingly exchanged between; both are equally sharp and equally cold with lips that are tightly sealed, quivering out of fury.

Disappointment out of betrayal.

Never once does it occur to them that that is how their story will end up—or at least that is what they choose to believe because admitting otherwise will only mean that they also admit that they have deliberately and foolishly let their walls break down. That they have foolishly and voluntarily let themselves be lost in each other's eyes. That they have voluntarily and naïvely thought that the universe is concealed in the opposite pair of eyes.

Sure, they never seek for tomorrow in each other's arms because they both know, that what they share should only last as wishful thoughts. So they just wordlessly agree to create a space only they share and choose to stay for the moment they breathe together in the present and that is supposed to be enough.

But it will never be, will it?

Because the moment the wordless agreement is signed and sealed, they, too, have opted to ignore the rest of the world because they have perfectly created theirs, just for the two of them along with the beautiful ground underneath their feet where they choose to stand on, completely missing the fragility of the very ground because of their delusions—that they can have a perfect world in this lifetime.

Fools.

So now their ground is finally shattered, all hell breaks loose, and no heaven can help them in this new kind of catastrophe they fool themselves into. After all, it is not as though heaven has ever been considerate enough to let these two children breathe without having to watch their backs for a while. Heaven has been too silent too far and too blind for too long when it comes to the two of them and it is not the time for her to start caring for her dying children.

Because even when the devil sheds tears down from heaven and the angel breaks wings away from hell, daring to fight for what they once tasted on each other's lips means knowingly and willingly turning their backs on a far bigger world than the two of them will ever probably be.