Nefarious

C187 - The last of Carradine

The moment Alex shared his worries regarding Rain, I felt icky and disturbed. Had I allowed myself to realize that Xylan was starving for attention, perhaps I could've prevented what happened only minutes later. Without questioning, Xylan framed Rain and denied her access to nearly anything in the castle. With strict restrictions to see her son, no one had any control over Xylan's potential influence over him. If there were one thing we owed Jace, it would be the protection of his child; to prevent him from becoming like everyone's enemy. Even if Alex had become the leader of the people, he would have no say regarding the wishes of Jace's son. Of course, Xylan took the opportunity to brainwash him from a young age only to prevent him from becoming the future leader.

I'd spent a lot of time without Alex in the castle, and once more he left. In hopes of changing the minds of those in power alongside Xylan, he went to talk to them about Rain's case. I, on the other hand, went directly to look for Rain herself. We'd spent enough time obeying Xylan's rules to allow him to keep Rain a prisoner after all.

The hallways smelt of fresh paint as Xylan had set people to work on renovating the entire place. He'd even exchanged some of his own paintings from pure paranoia that someone would dare take inspiration from them and become rebellious. My gaze scanned each picture as I passed them, taking in all the dull ones that all lacked detail. Perhaps Xylan found the simplicity of them as a charm itself, but I saw nothing but appalling attempts at art. I suppose it reflected Xylan well, being the static person he is. I can't disagree that Xylan has interested me before with his laconic intellect and mysterious stare, but that interest turned. Rather than wanting to know more about him, I feared to know about him at all. His presence sent shivers down my spine as though ice went against my skin rapidly. I despised the feeling, and the fact that I was heading in his direction didn't make it much better.

Finally reaching the third floor, I placed my hand on the door handle to Rain's room. It was cold, notably untouched for a while. I inhaled deeply, turning my head to check if the coast was clear. Thereafter, I leaned closer to the door, attempting to hear anything through her soundproof door. I didn't think that one through, but I didn't have to either. The door swung open, causing me to stagger backwards in shock. I almost tripped over my own foot as my head desperately heightened to meet the person's eyes. "Xavier?" I stuttered. He avoided my eyes, looking down at his own feet. His was tapping his left foot repeatedly, and he couldn't seem to stop. "You're going to draw attention, stop it!" I stammered nervously. "Valerie, we have to talk immediately," he blurted out through heavy breaths.

Even after closing the door behind him, Xavier kept a firm grip on the door handle. He parted his lips and closed his mouth again repeatedly, clearly not knowing how to formulate whatever message he tried to convey. I encouraged him to say it directly instead of trying to find ways to say the truth with some modifications to make it sound better. "Okay," he paused, "Rain's in here," he started. Continuously nodding, he filled his cheeks with air and exhaled repeatedly. "Listen, someone's life is at stake, and if we don't act hurriedly, that person might end up like Rain," he said. "What do you mean 'like Rain'?" I asked quickly, unintentionally raising my voice at him. "She's dead, Val, and Xylan's behind it."