Beguile

Chapter 23

Im still tied on the metal pole.

And without the tears to cover his eyes, his orbs molded back into an empty shell. He wouldn't say anything about his delusional recipe for love, sometimes he would take glances, sometimes he would just close his eyes, and sometimes he'd just spend his time counting each drop of water from the leakage.

"Im hungry." I said, breaking the tension and it also wasn't a lie. How long have I been surviving on water alone? The outside seems to stay in a constant darkness that time doesn't seem to flow in this hellhole.

"Bear with it." It's his only answer.

"I want to go to the toilet." I changed my tactic this time. The wire is etching deep onto my skin and I am desperate to get free, but he didn't budge, his eyes remained on the floor. Maybe I didn't say it loud enough, "Uhmm, I want to go to the toil-".

"You're gonna leave me." His words echoed throughout the room. He lifted his head till his eyes found mine. I only just realized that his hair had grown, jet black hair almost covered his hooded green eyes. And in this distance, his red roots were a faint glimmer through the growing murk. "You're.... Gonna leave me."

"No I......I" I stammered between my words, he knows.

He suddenly stood up. He didn't say anything more till he disappeared on my vision.

A few minutes passed, behind me were footsteps slowly creeping on the stifling silence. Kurt is always covered with designer clothes no matter the occasion, so I recognized the scrape of the hard leather against concrete but not the stamp of soft soles. Right now, he is coming near with someone.

Muffled voices were getting near, and my heart spiked up when I recognized the other.

"Where is she?" He croaked in a panicked whisper.

A whimper caught up my throat, its Lucas. I know his voice no matter how hoarse they get, that sweet low tone that makes someone swoon in a single whisper. He's very cheerful, he's friends with everyone, his voice sounds like a song, and his soft genuine smile were contagious. How could I forget this sweet sweet guy.

"Ken!" I heard him call me.

He called my name over and over but my figure is wrapped up against the dim light. I choked on my own words, "Lucas! Where are you? Im here!"

The footsteps were getting near and so is his frantic call. His cracked, rasping voice were deeper and much more different than they used to be, but I can hear him running towards me. Im glad that he's not that hurt.

"Ken." He sighed in relief when he finally saw me. Tears is welling up on the back of my eyes when he touch both of my cheeks. "You're safe."

"You're safe." I breathed. I can see the bruises on his wrists from being tied up and he's covered in sweat, but other than that his eyes still sparkles, still alive. "I was looking for you... I- I thought you were dead."

"I know."

"I thought Im the only one left now."

"I know."

"Kurt he..." My voice cracked. I bit my lip as I try to stop myself from sobbing, everything's coming back in a cruel hurl. How Kurt betrayed us, how he tried to kill us, how he left El to die. How painful it was to know how he never see us the same way we did.

"Kurt he's..." I tried again, struggling to find my voice. But I need to say it, I need to let him know. "Kurt is dangerous."

"I know."

His tone changed.

The concerned look on his face were wiped to a sultry grin.

Then he laugh so hard he started clenching his stomach, his voice echoed across the room, and he wiped a tear on the corner of his eyes. Then he look at me, with eyes which sparkles from joy.

"I heard you were looking for me." Each word that comes out of his mouth is a knife to my heart. "Well now Im here, but why dont you look so happy?"

He's mocking me, the quick joy that I momentarily felt was a jabbed to my hopeful heart, to my wasted tears, and to myself who was still hanging to the friendship- that apparently was covered in lies.

But I need things to make it clear. "W-whats happening?"

Lucas lifted my chin up, inspecting the face that been with him since day 1. But he didn't sway, etch with him still is a mocking grin.

"Wow it's really Ken! Thats a good job, babe.... I mean, Kurt" He claps as his gaze landed on the other. While my orbs are glued to the harsh bruises around his wrist, some things are not adding up.

"What's...with you?" My voice cracked between words. Like Kurt, he is not the Lucas whom I know.

"What do you mean? Its just me."

"No. You're not Lucas, you're too... different."

He licked his dry lips. "Yes, not the Lucas that you know but the real Lucas. You wouldn't understand cause you never changed." He chuckled, his voice deeper than I remember. "Please stop the act. Don't you think its time to reveal yourself?"

"Im not like you, murderers!" I spit on him. A fresh swell of rage rose in me. My heart spiked up and I became breathless, anger and misery filled my throat. I feel like Im in an oblivion, with a fate that's meant to get stabbed with lies. "I just don't understand." I sniffled, my eyes are heavy and itchy and everything became a blur. "I just don't understand.... We were friends. We've been together for months, and now..... you killed El! Does everything not mean a single thing for you?!!!"

I want to scream but my throat were clogged up from the tears I tried so hard to not stream down my cheeks. I don't want them to see me to be more pathetic than they already witnessed. Instead I swallowed them. Let them dry in my throat cause its not worth for murderous psychopaths.

His smile widens as he wiped the spit away. "Oh Ken. Baby girl, no ones killing anyone." He gestures like a friend, but his words are far from that. "In fact, I'd love the four of us to stick together. So don't give me those eyes, blame it to K over there. His tastes are quite sensitive."

My orbs switch over to Kurt whose eyes are glued to the floor, with incurious and uninterested response.

"W-what" I felt layers of unsettling emotion. A great pang gripped my heart and I wanted to escape from the misery of what seems like an eternal betrayal. "Why are you doing this? They didn't made us kill each other. They're not forcing us!"

"And we didn't. We didn't kill anyone" He proudly implied but then he continued. "We didn't kill anyone from this island yet but you have, haven't you?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, that I am nowhere near from the likes of you!"

He scoffed. His jaw tightens but he smiles still, however they are not as friendly. "Let's take a quick trip down to the memory lane, shall we?" He clasps both of his hand in excitement. "Helen was still very healthy during the bonfire, and the next day, she's gone and you have nasty scratch marks on your arms."

My breathing slowed and I gulped down my anxiety. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you trying to say?"

"Do you really don't get it?"

"What?"

"Ill say this more clearly.... Helen didn't die from the hit on her head but from strangulation."

"Wait, are you trying to accuse me-"

"Don't try to get smart with me. You cant trick me when I saw you with my own eyes." His mood lightened. There's a glimmer in his eyes as he leaned over to reach for a lock of my hair. When he breathed on its scent, I felt him purr when he groaned in pleasure. But then he kissed my cheek, a gesture Ive been dreaming about. However, time passed, things happened, and his whispers no longer give me butterflies.

"You killed Helen."