Better as Bones

a god - XXIII

Nyx

He was easy. But he made my head muddled. He made me forget everything so easily. So I kept him with me that night.

"They just don't understand," I whispered into his bare shoulder. The music was still loud into the night. "They're going to. I'll make them regret it."

"Who?" He asked, murmuring.

They screamed, collapsing. Their hands cradled their head. They had curls and dark skin. Tears streamed down their face. They sobbed.

Their clothes were ragged. Covered in blood. Holed.

The room was dark. The floor a chilled cement. Another was behind, hand extended in hesitation. Her clothes were thin, tight. Her hair brushed her elbows. The short-haired one screamed again.

Tears poured onto the floor. They pressed their face to it. Sobbing. Screaming. The long-haired one shifted. They kneeled next to the other.

"Please," She whispered. The short-haired one gasped a breath. The long-haired one was sickly pale. She pressed her own forehead to the cement. Prayer. "Bring her back or kill me here."

The short-haired one gritted their teeth. They shot up, staggering. The sickly one followed with her ice eyes.

"You can't say that!" They yelled, lashing their arm. Tears poured faster. Like blood. "You never even knew her! She was my best friend!"

"I knew her too," The sickly one murmured. She watched the puddles on the floor. The short-haired one seethed. They kicked, screaming their throat raw.

"YOU CAN'T SAY THAT! SHE WAS MY FRIEND FIRST!"

"You didn't own her," She whispers. They scream again, their fist clenching. They whip, back to the sickly one. She folds her hands, crying silent.

"Get out." Their back heaved. Anger creased their grimace. The sickly one whips to them. Their fingers pinched blood. Their hands bled.

"You can—"

"Get. Out." She rises. Brushing her skirts. She turns as leaves. The short-haired one face contorts. They fall, knees bursting blood onto the cement. A sob racks their ribs. "Fuck."

They heave, sobbing. Their ribs press against their dark flesh. Their arms are laced in scars and scrapes. Their fingers press wounds. Their body gives out. The slump, twisting in pain. Their eyes fling open against the dim dark. Dust floats in beams.

Gold.

"Why?" He repeats. I swallow. Another Gold-Eyed. A hurt one. One with fire and spit and out of blood. Her's or their own. Good. Another Gold-Eyed is needed. One who knows what I've experienced.

They're going to be everything.

"I can't wait to meet you," I murmured. He shifted beneath me. I stifle the grin creeping onto my face.

"What?" He asked. Something is in his voice. I sat up, covering my legs. I brushed away my hair. I could feel him looking at me.

"Don't worry," I told him. "Another Gold-Eye is going to be among us. Those who wronged us will soon know how I feel."

* * *

"Gold," Malo mumbled, pushing open the heavy door. His body groaned with every movement. I watched as he stayed at a distance. I clicked my fingernails against the table. Paper was strewn. "You have a visitor."

"Whom?" I asked. My hair fell back. It obscured the words I wrote.

"The girl." I glanced up. Malo's lips were pressed flat. His eyes were stern as he blinked at me. "I know about that guy. I think she knows too." I hum.

"So?" I clicked my nails again. Malo scoffs. His body thudded against the frame of the door. My throat burned hot as he brushed his hands. "It's not like she's anybody important."

"She liked you. I'd go as far to say love. You can't lead someone on in the way you did with her." My palms burned against the table with force. Glaring. Malo held me steady. I hissed.

"It's her fault for succumbing to whatever is in her chest," I growled, pressing forward. How dare Malo believe he can scold me. "She's nobody."

"She's somebody." Malo crossed his arms, scoffing once more. "You did exactly what I said you'd do if you continued this path. Now someone is hurt. How are you going to fix it?" Heat burns my throat. I glowered as Malo neared my desk. I glared up at him between the strands of my hair.

"Nothing," I purred. "It's her own fault." Malo clenched his teeth. I smiled, squinting as he whipped around. He pointed at me as I tilted my head. The girl stood quietly at a table in the bar. Her head was ducked between her arms. Mourning.

"You are a terrible person," Malo accused. I watched him.

The girl moved forward as Malo disappeared. Her light dress brushed her boots in contrast. Her eyes sliced up to me. I stood, watching. She shut the door softly with her palm. It shifted shut as she crept forward. Each vertebrae in my spine burned bright.

"I know–" Her voice was hoarse. I pressed splinters into my fingertips. "About you and that man." Her eyes flicked down, shimmering. Her mouth peeled open as she huffed a hot breath. Her throat tightened as she heaved silently. Her fingers clutched her dress as she whipped up. Hardened features. She stomped forward. Bright pink.

Her fists landed hard on my chest. I watched as she pounded my body. Helplessly. Pathetically. I shifted beneath her rage. Pinching. I stopped her wrists.

"How dare you," She seethed, tears spilling. "How dare you sleep with another." A noise got caught in her throat as I leaned near. Hot breath warmed her already burning cheeks.

"I can do whatever I desire. Or have you forgotten I am a Gold-Eyed?" She stilled. I could hear the tiny pitter of her heart. It beated wildly. "You are a seeker of attention, thinking you can be with me in more than a bed."

"You are not as mighty as you believe," She murmured back. Her knees slammed the ground. My palm burned. I hissed, stepping down on her skirt. She yelped, glaring up at me. "You are just a human."

"I am not your pathetic kind," I hissed, grabbing her face to me. She yanked away. I firmed my grasp. "I am a Lendro, you helpless girl. I am a Gold-Eyed!"

"Even so, you are nothing you make in your own head!" She yelled it. I scoffed, thrashing her down into the hard floor. She screamed, her ear bursting crimson.

"NOTHING?" I yelled. Fury built as I slammed her again. She cried, her head cracking. "I am a Gold-Eyed! I am a SEER! I AM A GOD!" Crying. Tears.

They slip. Her head bursting beneath my hands. Her blood staining the floor. Her body slumped. Eyes rolled back. I step.

"Ha." Her skull crumbled in. Her brains bloody. Her insides spattered.

A noise escaped my throat. Warmth crowded me. Building. Gasping. Whining. What was that? The nothing I felt in my head? Calming. Stilling. Building warmth.

It brought a grin to my teeth.