A rose to grind

-26-

"How do I know whether you're willing to sell me off to some detrimentally wealthy person, as long as they're to give you some amount of cash?"

Kai made a face, "I would have treated you nicer if I were to sell you off. That'll be the greatest revenge I could give you."

"You make a point," I followed after his abrupt motion, slinking past the car door. Kai had taken the lead, and he was stalking towards the entrance of the grandiose mansion, vastly grander than the Karrina's, that was for sure.

To further prove his noble heritage, a row of maids dressed in tacky, black-and-white uniforms stood adjacent to each other. In my line of sight, I saw white and black, then black and white. Figures in polar opposite colors stood like a circus. Their faces pale and ghastly, like vengeful ghosts chained to the marble, patterned floor of the manor. Their reason for existence was to serve, and to serve whoever was head of this property. At least I had thought they were being black-mailed, but that shouldn't be the latter.

"By any chance..." my mind had throttled over possible opinions, vast choices I could pick from, and I picked the most logical one, "Is the person you are to introduce to me, is your twin sister?"

Kai laughed out loud to himself, dry, humorless and cracked. It was not the kind of laugh in which human instincts made one unable to hold in his elation, but it was a laugh that was to express his solemnity. I was not a poet, nor was I an empathizer. I wouldn't of known what the man was feeling — or he could be feeling whatever sorts of emotion yet I wouldn't know. But from my point of view, he seemed eerily unstable.

"She is, but a mere replacement of me," Kai enunciated. His back that was given to me seemed heavier than usual, losing that poise gracefulness from previously. It was wide, broad, reliable, yet melancholy. However, I was not in a place to pity him when I should've been pitying myself for reducing me to such a poor state. Never in my life would I ever imagine that I'd have to crawl back under someone's wings, much less under 24 hours after escaping someone else's.

Kai maneuvered the two of us through multifarious dark hallways, in the corners, creeped shadows that were caused by the lack of light in the mansion. More than someone's home, this had seemed more like a dungeon of some sort. I thought it was a plausible notion, judging from the blanched faces of the maids who worked under Kai.

Finally, Kai came to a stop in front of double wooden doors, rosewood and dark. In the center of the doors were two handles pasted to it, gold knobs that had lost its luster. Before he could swing them open, Kai stopped half-way. I followed suit, and was stopped mid-track. My hand that was to also grab the handle paused mid-air. It seemed a bit awkward, so I pulled it back, and into my pocket of my trousers it went.

"Yugo," Kai said, in all seriousness. I was unable to perceive what kind of emotion would be displayed on his face when he had, unfortunately, turned his back on me, intentionally or not. It was a bit irritant for me, "What were you running away from?"

I raised one eyebrow, then took the initiative to step forward. My hand grazed against his when I lightly pushed his hand off the knob. Our shoulders touched, and seizing the opportunity, I muttered among ourselves, "Kai, don't forget — we are meant to be against each other. You think now that because I agreed in a moment of desperation that we're best friends?"

Kai's hand hung limply in the air. A silver of a smile made its way up on the corner of my lips. I saw how his fingers had curled together, then altogether, his hand balled into a fist, his knuckles frighteningly pale. Pleased, I swung the door open, and wordlessly slipped in.

What greeted me was what I found the most unexpected.

At first, I had a fleeting thought — if it were to be Selena, I could play along in the role of a 'friend.' We could have been friends, but I'd always have a knife aimed at her back. As for Kai, there was never a possibility in any world, or universes, that we'd overlook the past and move onto a future. No. I didn't think I'd ever be able to move on. But, no, the person who greeted me with a meek, yet overly confident smile was not Selena, but Eton Junta.