𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖑𝖎𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘: 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖊

Chapter 19

Remember death.

Yui sat down on the deck as Ayato took off his clothes, piling them up beside her. Leaving on only his shorts, he asked her, "You sure you don't wanna join?"

Yui shook her head.

Ayato shrugged. "Your loss." He ran towards the lake, plunging into the lake and shouting "Cannon ball!" as he cured his body up, a huge splash creating waves that made Yui drenched in lake water. She stood up, crossing her arms around her chest. "Ayato kun!"

"Sorry," Ayato said in his usual haughty tone. He splashed water as she ran for cover, shouting at her, "You're stoopid!"

Yui laughed. The stars were shining in the night sky even brighter than before, and their reflections were distorted in the lake's reflection. The environment seemed to glow with life in light of the half moon, bathed in frosty aura, crickets chirping an incoherent melody as Ayato performed breaststrokes, swimming away from Yui, and the cricket song fading away with Ayato. She smiled as she laid back in the grass, looking up at the burning stars, her eyes stinging as she forced them to stay open, sleep and exhaustion overcoming her. He'd be pissed if he found her dozing off, or maybe he'd be encouraged to take a bite from her. She couldn't deal with the pain anymore, the pain inside her heart as the brothers constantly preyed over her. She started wondering what it was like, dying.

She wondered what would happen once she lives out her days. Would she die at the hands of one of the brothers, or would she simply wither into old age, discarded for her tasteless blood and her inability to keep the brothers engaged? Would one of them kill her because she'd become passive and uninteresting? Would they replace her with another unassuming little girl, forsaken by her family and forgotten by her friends?

Remember death.

Memento mori.

Think of the end.

Bedenke das ende.

Her mind became enraptured by the words once uttered by her father, triggering memories in her she wanted to desperately forget. Wet clothes, hands slick with mud, hair stringy with lake water. The nun making her cough water out of her airway. A vampire, digging his fangs into her marble skin. A kiss, unreturned. A heart, beating rapidly. Lips touching, a gulp of potion. A single word, waking her up.

Yui.

She got up, her weight resting on her elbows as she saw Ayato, casually floating on his back. It was too dark for her to see, but he was smiling in bliss. Hard to believe he had a phobia of water in his childhood. He'd had his catharsis. Why couldn't she have hers?

She wondered if she could step into the water. She'd get her clothes wet. She couldn't just take her clothes off and risk being ogled at by Ayato, whose eyes seemed to linger on her body far too often for her liking these days. She'd caught his meandering stare seeking places no other person had seen, and she, in some sick way, wanted him to see them. His touch was comforting to her sometimes, despite the cold and unruly aspect of his behaviour. She wanted him to place his lips on hers and kiss the emptiness away. She wasn't sure what emptiness though; her body felt hollowed out, emptied by constant bloodsucking and torture. Her mind couldn't fathom how the breaths she took sustained her at this point, for she felt no heartbeat in her chest, no expansion of her lungs.

She got up on her feet, her hands hesitating as her fingers unbuttoned her shirt. She shimmied out of her school dress, carefully folding it up alongside Ayato's dress. She was left in her undershorts and a slip dress she wore inside her shirt, that resembled a white nightgown but a bit sheer. She became a bit self conscious as she could see her strawberry printed bra through the thin fabric. This was stupid. She shouldn't have undressed like that. Now Ayato will-