Dried Blood

Chapter 1: Deer in Headlights

Diana stared listlessly into her sixth gin and tonic of the night, mainstream pop music in the bar blasting relentlessly in the background. The energy and hype of the atmosphere opposing her languid mood. Chewing mindlessly on her cucumber slice, she glanced around with disinterest, noting the hormone-raged teenagers grinding on each other's hips filling the dance floor. "How pointless", as she recalled her old habit of endless sleepless nights shared with strangers mutually buying love with sweat, alcoholic breaths and lewd behaviour. All this, to fill the massive black hole that resided within her.

This hole appeared to grow with each passing day and even more so when the news of her father's death reached her ears. It wasn't a surprise, really, Diana's father had been suffering from leukaemia for several years now. The notion of his impending death had always been in the back of her mind as she toiled throughout the day to support that excessive hospitalisation fees. Though the most painful thing was watching the only man in her life grow weaker day by day. The rock who was an ever-present presence in her life, someone who carried her on his shoulders as a child, was wasting away in overly sterile white hospital sheets. The strong man who brought her colourful childhood memories with so much vigour was diminished to short laborious breaths. Even when she received the fateful call in the middle of her shift, Diana failed to let a single tear fall. Emptiness. Why don't I feel sad? Daddy is gone. He's never coming back...

As she left the remaining change from her bill, Diana heaved off the stool and hobbled towards the exit. She didn't want to go home yet, as the empty dark room only provided her a sense of loneliness that she wasn't particularly a stranger to. The streetlights that uniformly aligned the road continuously exploded and dimmed its brightness while the biting winter wind viscously slapped her reddened cheeks. It's so cold and bitter like my heart. Is this what they call pathetic fallacy? She scoffed in her drunken haze as she clumsily stumbled towards the crossroad. Without a second thought, she stepped onto the road while cars whizzed by at a dizzying pace. It was only at the last moments; it had finally registered in her quickly sobering mind that a car was racing towards her. Like a deer in headlights, she stared into the two bright headlights as she stood frozen to the ground when an arm hauled her back onto the pedestrian street.

With her breath knocked out of her lungs, fear and adrenaline of a near-death experience coursing through her veins, she turned to thank the stranger who had just saved her life. Diana's breath was stolen yet again when she gaped at the immaculate man that stood before her. This man was something else. Standing at 6 feet tall, he donned an expensive looking black suit with a burgundy dress shirt exposing a smooth tanned chest hidden underneath. His blond hair laid messily on his head reaching just above his monolid eyes. The man's full lips were pressed to a thin line in what it seemed to be...anger? His eyes. They were striking in an unsettling and eerily beautiful kind of way. Hidden under the deep brown irises, was a tinge of dark red, resembling the colour of dried blood. Though Diana's head was still twirling from the intoxicating effects of alcohol, she swore there was smoke swirling in his irises. It was so strange but at the same time, exuded an otherworldly aura that demarcated him from every other man she had ever seen before.

"Th-th-thank you", Diana mumbled as she twisted out of his tight grasp without avail. As much as she wanted to stand in awe to stare at this man, she was utterly embarrassed by her careless antics and desperately wanted escape from his clutches.

"I am sure you are old enough to understand the simple concept of only crossing the road when the little green man starts walking", he pointed at the traffic light.

Her cheeks flamed up as she snapped, "Yes! I get it, thank you for saving me. Though it's questionable whether I'm truly thankful for being alive, thanks nonetheless."

Pulling her arm out of his hand, she stomped off angrily towards the direction of her home. She knew her anger was uncalled for, but the minute demeaning tone to his words put her off. It was especially the fact that he seemed to know those very words would affect her this way vexed her the most.

It's fine, it's fine. I won't see this stranger again. Diana repeated to herself, her simmering anger boiling away the alcoholic fuzz.

Kallai smirked as he watched her stomp away into the distance. "It was nice seeing you, Faida. I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon."