Diabolus: The Lost Phoenix

Chapter Twenty Six

BEVERLY WOODS

I watched the dark, starry night from my bedroom window until it was replaced by the sunlight. I watched, as the blackness of the night left, Earth's star rose on the horizon, spreading her gold in every direction.

The pine trees are a black silhouette against the brilliant gold sky. The dew drops, adorning the forest, seems to glow with their own golden radiance. The morning sky is just mellow blues and pinks, blurred together in a silver mist to create another gorgeous scene. Even when my world is drowning in grief and hardship, the sky remains beautiful.

The cuticles of my nails are already bitten to bleeding, drops of scarlet liquid shriveled around my nails. My hands look nasty, and probably, so does my face, after crying for three hours. Crying for myself, for the things that I don't understand; being so sensitive and vulnerable like I never felt before. After a while, I realized I shouldn't have vented all my anger on Kai.

But you can't turn back time. I did, what I did.

"Beverly..."

I hear three silent knocks on the wooden door behind me, but for a moment, I hesitate to turn around and look at them, or say something. Even if the door is unlocked, Kai doesn't storm in, like I would expect him to do; he stands behind the door for all those three hours now, waiting, respecting my privacy and that I need a moment for myself.

I feel ashamed that I made him stand there all this time, and now it's just guilt left, that makes me hesitate to let him in. I need someone who could understand me. Someone who would understand what I'm going through. Those news hit me like a thunder. A thunder that makes me do nothing but cry.

"Come in, Kai."

I keep my eyes on the sun, blooming on the horizon, when I hear the wooden door behind me opening. My personal darkness presses in on me as I fight the urge to turn around. His footsteps echoes sharply around the cozy bedroom with wooden walls, sounding overly loud in my own ears; perhaps it's just guilt and sadness, pounding in my temples and making me sensitive about every little sound, or movement.

"Beverly, baby."

As the sound of his voice reaches my ears, I finally make my swollen eyes to look at him. His flawless skin, covered up in black ink. His naturally arched eyebrows, which makes him look angry in every situation; but not his eyes. The mosaics, forgotten to be appreciated for their beauty in contrast to the green of spring; the warmth of cocooning hugs after days of longing, even though their glistening gives away how broken he is himself.

"Kai, I'm... I'm sorry."

"Don't talk like that."

It's like his appearance just sucked every ounce of anger that was still boiling inside me, before he kneeled himself down in front of me. But as if an invisible wall was separating us, only an inch thick; he doesn't touch me. As if he was hesitating, as if he was not allowed to.

"You're my everything, you know that?"

I open my mouth to say something, to answer, but nothing comes out. I know he had a reason to hide those things from me, from all of us; and I just vented on him like a total selfish brat. I know something is wrong with me, something that I can't understand. Something that makes me forget how to control myself.

"I was wrong when I decided to hide those things from you, I know that, and I'm sorry. I should've told you first."

"But how, Kai? How is that possible?"

Brick by brick, my walls come tumbling down all over again, as my mind gets back to Kai's words that I've heard back in the living room. Avery could be my relative; after dreaming about each other, feeling each other without even meeting for the first time, it actually makes sense, but I refuse to accept this fact. It's not being related to Avery that scares me the most.