Crossblood - Completed

Chapter 38

~Moon's POV~

Mali...

Mali...

Mali...

It's the bright light of a hospital, of rebirth and the fluorescent shade of the neon gods overhead of the city, the small dot at the end of the ever stretching tunnel. My lashes brush against one another, each individual strand of hair catching onto another, stuck together with the painful glue of morning sleep.

The first face I see isn't the one I crave, with its softened lips and dimmed eyes to extinguish the burning flames of the lamplight. "Mali." My blood chills at the sound, ice crystals traveling to my chest until it freezes, hand flying to save it as my eyes flash open and rapidly focus. Dots travel from the corners to the center, blocking his features from me.

But it isn't enough to stop wandering eyes and trembling hands, the curiosity and fear of a virgin at my touch as I stroke him, gliding my fingers across the harsh stubble of his strict jaw, soft at the lips just like his son, the honey of his skin melting beneath me.

Sitting up, the harsh waves hit me, body crashing into his as he holds me steady, heart pounding faster until it travels to my head in one swift movement...

though I'm not sure which one.

My smile is forced to fade, watching eyes gathering around as I push him away, what little butterflies I had breaking through my fingertips. "My n-name's Moon." But even I don't sound too sure, his thick brow raising up as if to question the blatant fact of the statement. I don't know which feeling to push back into the pit of my stomach, his touch melting into my thigh and shoulder as he pushes himself up, godly in his stance with his shoulders back, a new sense of power overcoming the room.

Drunken I stand, Kaiien at my side until he's pushed away by my flailing arm, balance failing at the burst of dizziness. Our hands clasp together, Kai leading me down the staircase and into the sitting room, fingers tightening around my knuckles until they fade to a snowy white. The house stays at the stairs, all eyes on the pair that shouldn't be here, an abyssal brown deep enough to drown in, the reflection of a young boy crying out into them, imprisoned and etched into both our minds.

"Moon..." The crack in his voice keeps me alert, dragging my head back by the clatter of a shaky jaw. "I'm scared..." Absentmindedly he claws at his wrist, guilt heating my cheeks at the habit I've formed in him. He speaks low enough for only us to hear, his words carried on a gust of wind barely there, only enough to drift across the aging couch to my reddening ears. "I don't want him to hurt us."

It's amazing how a slight sniffle, buried deep in the back of his throat can break me, body melting into the couch as I grab hold of him and hold his frail body tight against my own. "I won't let him."

Kai's tears roll recklessly down the side of my cheeks as if bleeding from my own wound, a bony thumb flicking them away with one swift sweep. "I want to leave this damned house Moon, please."

I'm blinking away the flashbacks before they even start, the film burning before its even been reeled, their contents lost as I give a quick nod. "Run away you mean?" There's a silence that follows, the same pause as five years ago, dreams lingering on our lips like stale beer, excitement hidden beneath the surface of each word we breathlessly whisper, hushed up in our bedrooms suitcases already at our sides.

"We could fly away...leave this place behind and never come back." His lips roll back in anticipation, fingers curling into a fist around my collar, pulling me tight against his protruding ribs and sunken stomach, the ghost of his tears curling around his bloated cheeks, lacing between his lashes and coursing between his lips.