Blissful Bite ─ Venti x reader

4. ; TURN OF EVENTS

I glanced at Kaeya. He narrowed his eyes at me. Just like the prime suspect, perhaps, was I supposed to feel honored or cry? Well, I'd prefer to cry out of embarrassment, not physically. I mean—mentally to be quite frank. There was a lot going on and it was giving me goosebumps how he starred at me.

Once I caught myself with my stare, I knew it was too late. The heat of the flush was spread all over my face. Even if it wasn't visible, my grimace of embarrassment reached deeper than any other expression would.

I turned my head away as fast as a net shooter, but at that moment-odd as it sounded when I found my sight trail over to his eyepatch, I recalled having heard how he lost his brother, to unknown circumstances, apparently. Rumors in the dark of the night tell a lot more.

However, one might say he lost himself to madness when using a delusion once—another may say he was lost to vampires. And the oddest of them all is that one of the brothers died in a duel. An eyepatch he has worn since the fight was the trademark he stood out with.

His cold demeanor was something, that whenever I caught a glimpse of it-I felt a shiver go down my spine. He was an expert in transferring an eerie mood to wherever he passed through. Whether it was the echoing steps or the lack of smiles he brought to a room.

I went as fast as my feet allowed me to carry without running and stirring suspicion. My eyes darted between the portraits which eyes stared at me and made the room swallow and small, they were drawing the walls closer to my shaking limbs.

I hated this place.

Oh, how I despised it. And yet the biggest contradiction I've faced in my life was this huge mess. To work at a place only because it was the most legal way of extinguishing the very thing I hated. Which were vampires that would drain me of my blood-which was at least half of them. There were few minorities.

I preferred to stay on this side of history with my blurred line of saving people from harm than work with the group associated with morals that aligned less with me than that of the order of favonious.

I walked along the hallway and stumbled over a book. Lisa snarled at me, "Watch your way," her scolding was one of the few things I didn't despise. Somehow it reminded me of my parents. They were far away pushed from my memories. I wanted them banished-but every passing interaction with Lisa reminded me of them. Sometimes I disliked it, sometimes it made me feel better.

"Be more careful." she reminded me as I picked up the book. Her thin fingers reached out for the book and she grabbed it. "I don't want my books destroyed and you on the ground. You're far too valuable for the order." she sighed when her green eyes met mine. Her gaze broke off as swiftly as it met mine, and pushed a hairstreak out of her face that had bothered her, behind her ear. I noticed time and time again how everyone was just human-like me, even if we acted horribly to each other under stress to strengthen our survival.

The portraits that hung around us, stared at us, judging our souls, the scars our skins wore, and the grim expressions we held.

I halted when I caught sight of a dark, violent, chaotic-but incredibly beautiful portrait.

I made my way down the alleyway. I felt the adrenaline rush in my veins-when I pressed down on their throat when they choked horrendously for air. This vampire knew their time had come and they were desperate as they clinged onto my wrists with their scrawny long fingers.

Their eyes were pleading with tears as I caught sight of theirs. I cursed under my breath at traces of sympathy returning and dug my fingernails harder into the skin around their throat. They choked and croaked out noises. I flinched at the sharp sting of the dirty fingernails digging into my flesh. They gave me a deep running scar near the upper part of my sternum.