Dazed by you

Prologue

Rain's body felt like lead. His eyelids were so heavy like someone was pulling them down with a weight. He squeezed his eyes tightly again to get rid of the heaviness while a pungent, iron-like scent slowly filled his nose. The scent left a sinking feeling in his stomach that he wanted to get rid of as soon as possible. As he sat up to better perceive his surroundings and get away from the cold, damp ground, a sharp pain shot through his left side. He quickly grabbed his ribs, hoping that would ease the pain. The sting made him forget his heavy eyes, which were now wide open to inspect the ribs. Unfortunately, the light in the room he was in was too dim to see anything. He carefully felt his ribs in case he had broken them. As he did so, his wrists cracked slightly.

Ouch!

Pain shot through his left wrist like a hot bolt of lightning. A fuzzy memory of him falling to the ground, trying to make the impact less painful, made its way through Rain's memory. His wrists and ribs didn't seem to be broken though, he noted with relief. His upper body seemed to be doing reasonably well, so he should check his legs as well. He carefully tried to move them. First, he bent his right leg, then his left leg. Then he wiggled them both playfully as if trying to shake something off.

Well, Rain thought, both legs are working fine, just a slight tug on the left side. I fell onto my side worse than I thought.

The smell of iron grew stronger as he became more conscious. He tried to get an idea of the room, which was windowless with a musty smell that mingled with the smell of iron. The light that slightly lit up the room was coming from somewhere else and Rain's eyes had to adjust to the darkness. He had no idea where he was. Disoriented, his eyes swept the room as he caught his breath and his body stiffened at the sight of both his hands through the dim light.

That can not be! I'm sure my eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness yet, Rain tried to calm himself.

In vain, for the panic crept hotly along his limbs and yet he seemed to freeze from the cold. Shaking, he held up his hands, eyes wide with disbelief.
They were smeared with blood, not a speck of his delicate, white skin could be seen. It looked as if he had bathed his hands in blood. A big lump formed in Rain's throat, making it difficult for him to swallow and breathe.

Okay, Rain. Take a deep breath. Just don't panic now. Try to remember what happened, he said soothingly to himself.

His hands slid back into his lap, which turned out to be a bad idea. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he got a clear view of his clothes, he noticed they were also soaked in blood. His light-colored jeans and white shirt both had small red spatters and large bloodstains from the waistband to the hem.

In a panic he pats himself up and down to find out if all the blood belonged to him and if it was leaking from any wounds. Rain pats his whole body with both hands, from top to bottom. His hands slid over his arms, chest and taut stomach, and both of his legs, which he bent slightly for better palpation to make sure, the blood wasn't his.

But is that better? If it's not mine, whose is it?

Rain tried to gather his thoughts. The hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood up, as if his body was subconsciously reacting to something he hadn't noticed yet. But then he heard a noise, still much too faint to be clear, but the noise rose to a deep growl that was emitted in bursts. Cautiously, as if afraid of scaring someone or something, he turned around. It seemed like an eternity to Rain as he turned to the sound so agonizingly slowly, because fear seemed to get the best of him. It closed like a fist around his heart, seemingly crushing it. As if to calm it, he gently placed his right hand on his chest and his wildly beating heart. Rain's breath appeared before his nose in small wisps of mist.

Finally, he turned towards the sound and froze in his tracks, eyes wide.
There in the doorway, which let out into a blinding bright room, stood P'Phayu, completely cloaked in crimson blood.
The light enveloped P'Phayu as a halo belonging to the most beautiful angel of death Rain had ever seen in his life. The amount of blood dripping from his chin and fingertips made him look even more stunning.

What happened to make P'Phayu look so badly beaten up? Rain wondered, still crouched on the ground.

He hoped that it wasn't Phayu's blood that was on him in large quantities.
Phayu's breathing came in short, forceful heaves. Small wafts of mist were also forming in front of his nose. His broad chest rose and fell in a regular rhythm and the light gray shirt he wore stretched tightly around his chest, clung to his damp torso, allowing Rain to see the outline of his muscles. He looked fierce, wild and furious at the same time but Phayu's piercing gaze wasn't directed at him, Rain noted. He followed his gaze and immediately regretted it. A body lay a few yards away, covered in blood and oddly bent. His gaze wandered to the body's face.

Croaking, as if he hadn't used his voice in days, Rain blurted out in shock: "Stop!"

Phayu let out a final, low growl that had never sounded as frightening and bloodcurdling as this one did.