Winter's Dead Bride

Chapter Twenty-Three

I blinked my eyes open to see a curious Teí peering at me after the strange dream. He was kneeling in front of me, just looking at me curiously. I didn't pay much attention to him as I pondered over the dream which I only had a few seconds ago but yet its memory just vanished into thin air. Then I paused, properly looking at Teí after I became aware of the eye-patch over his right eye. The hairs at the nape of my neck stood in fright. 

"Y-your, your, your eye! What happened to it?" I questioned, breaking into a cold sweat as I came up with a million spine-chilling theories.

I attempted to sit upright but was immediately stopped by Teí who pressed me back down onto the bed. He shook his head, pointing to the back of my head as I became aware of the throbbing pain, still saying nothing as he chewed his bottom lip.

"Teí...speak to me, what happened to your eye? How did it...?" I trailed off, watching as a sad smile slowly made its way onto his lips, and as he did that, a sense of dread swallowed me whole before he parted his lips to speak.

"Just wondering how I'm going to cope...," he finally said, his voice softer than usual as he let go of my gaze.

I swallowed back whatever I wanted to say, figuring that he was referring to his missing eye. I've never imagined a day that I'd see him looking so sorrowful and it only made my heart ache even more. I patiently waited for him to continue, holding my breath as I did.

"Do you know how tortured I am by the haunting fact that I can never see your beauty at full view ever again? So...with this one eye, I will keep looking at you and I'll never close it by my own will...," he threaded, still sadly looking past me before he brought his gaze on me again.

It was a firm look, etching something meaningful inside me as silence hung in between us for a while. However, my heart went mental!

"...Because at each blink, I feel buried in a tomb, dead and isolated rather than merely blinking... I waste my time when I'm not looking at you." 

I felt him take hold of my hand as I trembled. He let his fingers thread with mine, holding it tightly like he was unwilling to ever let it go. His eye looked deep into mine before bringing my hand to his lips, kissing it. I went red, easily flustered by his teasing charm.

"You've only killed one flame with a spell of ice...however, you've cheated," he gently told me.

I finally understood, figuring that this had something to do with the ice mixture and fainting. But a spell...to put it that way seemed so literal. I subconsciously shivered now, strangely finding truth in that word. But then the innocent shiver became violent vibrating as I felt a strong sensation of ice swimming inside me, almost freezing up my organs. I was a little confused as Teí just watched me trembling, not letting go of my hand. Each time I blinked, everything around me dimmed a little more, like a candle flickering — finally going out.

"I need to talk to you!" I declared, my eyes falling onto my hand that he held.

I quickly pulled it away in shock, holding it to myself in self-defence, turning red as I couldn't put the feeling into words.

"I guessed...but can you stop hurting her like that?" he sighed, smiling a little as I blushed.

"That'd mean that I'd have to take my true form using this body and then take so long trying to remove her memory," I grumbled, feeling a little unfamiliar with using her tongue, not rolling out my 'r's.

He looked blankly at me, intimidating me with his silent gaze.

"Are you weak or something? Too afraid?" he questioned, his eye dimming as he stared at me.