Ruin Maketh Me

77 - Change

Ralph's claws spread the translucent stickiness of his seed across my torso, a look of smouldering enjoyment burning the depths of his eyes.
"I'm yours." He mutters, drawing his nose through the gloopy mess, "I'm all yours."
My gaze crawls over his lust stirring countenance. So adorable...I try to reach out a hand to pat him on his head, but there's no strength in my limbs, and before they even pass halfway through the musky air, I give up and let them fall into the soothing black waters.
"Cute." I muster out, voice hoarse and scratchy.
His eyebrows rise, but a brilliant smile bursts over his face, so empty of all his previous pain in solitude, it's as if they never existed at all. Too clean and too pure is his joy, it can't be tainted by even a single speck of dust. A stirring itches through my heart, and a bitterness washes over the surface of my tongue. Soon, it'll be time to go. And then, when this Shadow is chained back to that seemingly never ending nightmare, will he remember what I said? That I'd come back, that I'd always come back.
In a place as this, so devoid of light and release, even one second seems like a small eternity. And can someone hold onto a few fragmented words for the rest of time? If that's all they have, perhaps. But, I study the pale faced man reflected in his shining eyes, am I all that he has?
"Ralph."
He lifts his head from his incessant nuzzling.
"Do you remember what I said?"
A sunshine grin belonging only to those in the height of their youth gleams magnificently from his lips, "You're right here, you're not going anywhere."
     My eyes shudder close, "No, not that."
     His fingers dance over my skin in pious worship, "You missed me too."
A sigh puffs from my lips, and I crack open my eyes, memorising each brush of relentless joy carved within his features, "Ralph, even if I leave, I'll always come back to you. Do you understand?"
His claws scrabble over my waist painfully, and his honey skin pales dreadfully into a plaster white, "You won't leave me, you won't, you won't. Please."
But as his words ring out, the edges of this space bubbles like burnt skin, giving the terrifying answer to the prophecy of my departure. This time, as he's dragged away from me, step by horrible step, white hair swirling like a blizzard, he doesn't beg or howl to the boundaries of this private world, he cries.
     He cries ugly, terrified, desperate, and my heart breaks along with his.
     How many times do we have to do this?
     A burning breath of cold air bursts into my lungs, and my eyes blink wearily open. Premature tears blur my vision into haze of different colours, but under the artificial yellow light of the interior lamps, even the shock worn on everyones' faces is revealed a hundred times clearer. I brush away the lingering wetness roughly with the back of my hand and turn back to the scenery outside. Damn, has it truly been an entire night? To me it seemed timeless, but for him such happiness would've seemed fleeting. And now he's... back in his terrifying nightmare.
     Please forgive me.
     "You," Leonard trails off besides me, voice still damp with sleep, "Are you feeling ok?"
     I don't even bother to turn towards him, "What do you mean?"
    "Hmph," He cocks his leg and folds his arms, "pretend I didn't ask."
     A cold laugh crawls from within Hoplin's mouth, "Well, I have no qualms against telling him about all the fabulous things he did last night."
     I lift my brow and fire Hoplin a look of annoyance, but my limbs stiffen, and a bad feeling squirms through my stomach.
     "You! You wouldn't stop screaming Ralphus's name in your sleep," They shake their blue head, eyes ringed with blue smudges, "no matter what we did, you just wouldn't wake up. For Uhyl's sake, Delia even hit you on the head with one of her heels! None of us could get any sleep with all that hollering and crying." They push their slender hands up their face, "I didn't take you for the romantic type, but yeah, we all know you're lovesick now, let us sleep will you? Uhhhh, thanks to you, I'm going to be cranky all day."
My half smile twitches at the corners, and I take a discreet glance at my pants. There doesn't seem to be any visible difference, but if I really was shouting Ralph's name over and over again... I glance up at Delia.
     Her hair and clothing are still as pristinely immaculate as they were yesterday with every strand and fold in perfect place. But when our eyes meet between the confined space, her shoulders jolt against her seat, faintly, but still perceptible. A slow rising dread and horror of miscalculation storms the brazen blues and pinks of her purple vortices. Her mouth opens, but no sound comes out, and for a moment she just stares at me as if she's lost in thought. Shifting her legs, her brows press downwards.
     "You—
     Brrrrrrrrrring, brrrrrrrrrrring, brrrrrrrrrrrrring.
     A rising symphony climax of Cymbals and violins and synthetic mixes crashes on us in roaring waves. Leonard's cocked leg jolts back to the ground solidly, and with an oily look round, he pulls out a transparent screen from his inner coat pocket. Jerking across the screen quickly with his clawed fingers, he raises the centimetre thick sheet of plastic to his fox ears with a rare swiftness.
     "Yes?"
     My teeth grit unconsciously together. Is that a fucking phone? If there were phones in the first place, why didn't anyone give me one? I wouldn't be in such a damned situation if I could communicate with Sol or Ralph or even Julius!
     "What?" Leonard's nasally slurred voice sharpens razor sharp.
     The temperature drops drastically, and Hoplin leans forward with a face so serious, cold sweat collects on my palms. What is it? I tilt my head towards Leonard, but even then, not a single sound leaks from the device.
     "Yes, yes." He seethes, his left hand clenching and unclenching his knee, "What time— ah, yes, yes. But this has been quite insincere on your part," his red brows drop even lower, "No of course not, but the time span and the..." His face burns white with anger, "This makes me very hard to cooperate with you in the future. I simply can't see any sincerity from your part! The Emperor's been tightening on the laws; you and your lord know it— FUCK!"
Leonard throws the device to the ground and grinds it against the carpeted floor with his foot. It shines brightly blue once and extinguishes into nothingness with a Beep! Silence rushes into the vacancy, but the air remains just as stifling. I bite back a smile. Finally, something's gone wrong, and it must be either Salaben or the Voights. Or perhaps both.
"So?" Hoplin asks, biting their lips, eyes a frenzy of harsh frustration.
Leonard throws back his head and laughs once, twice, thrice, then grabs me by the collar and jerks me forwards violently, "What the fuck did you do?"
I dig my fingernails into his hand and try to yank his grip off me, "What the fuck did I do? Nothing at fucking all!"
"Don't lie to me." He bares his canines and tears my left hand forward and stops utterly, completely still.
His golden eyes widen, but they're not looking at me but something lower. I follow his gaze. In the sickly illumination of the car lights, the intricate band encircling my pinky is even more prominent and jarring. The gold shifts and swirls in the pattern as if instead of blood, it's molten metal within all my vessels. Now, the silence is absolute. No one breaths, no one stirs, and both Hoplin and Delia are staring at the ring as if it's unreal, a figment of their imaginations.
I lick my lips, "What is it?"
Finally, a breath whistles from Leonard's mouth, "Shit."
He throws my hand away like it's a burning coal and slumps in his seat, eyes dead. Hoplin on the other hand, shakes their head slowly and stares at me with a crumbling defence, it's as if they've been gouged empty.
"It's impossible," They mutter, "You can't be the heir, you can't be!"
"Yes," Delia whispers, eyes still fixed on the ring, "It is impossible. I can't sense any internal magic in him. He can't physically be the Voight's heir. And yet..." A finger hovers towards my hand, "That ring is the genuine article." Her eyes snap back to me, bright with a half-turned hope, "Who are you? Are you one of Voight's bastards? I've never heard your name before. What was it again? Ah yes, Cynder."
A coldness slithers up my back, and I swallow down the rising unease, "Treat it like that if you want."
    "Hah." Leonard stifles a bitter laugh.
     My fingers clench into fists, but I fight down the urge to glance at him. Surely he won't expose me? He still needs me to make money, and those two, it doesn't seem as if they've seen Eliajah's portrait.
     "Did you know," He continues, my heartbeat increases, "That you destroyed my business?"
     I let out a small breath.
     His eyes narrow, "The Voights have gone back to the capital, the magic warp isn't going to be solved anytime soon, so tell me, how am I supposed to sell you to Salaben? Hmmm? How are you supposed to repay all the money I spent on fuel, food and OASIS to get here?"
     The pounding of my heart increases until all I can hear in my ears is the rush of blood. Yes. Fuck, yes! That's it, that's the right way to go. I don't want to meet Salaben, I don't ever want to meet him, because, because even now, combined with the happiness is a heavy, soul drenching sadness. Sadness that I cannot see him, cannot hear him, cannot feel him, cannot belong to him. And it's all wrong. Wrong like seeing the sun at night is wrong.
     "I suppose we'll have to turn back, won't we?" I muster out, biting on my tongue to swallow back the laughter.
     "NO." A clear, demanding voice hijacks the entire space.
     White tendrils of magic seemingly leaks out from Delia's pores and splashes into every inch of air. Everything becomes a haze of glowing smoke, and even Leonard and Hoplin disappear from sight. Yet somehow, in the unclear, distorted space, Delia's purple orbs drift closer and closer, gleaming dully dark.
     "No," She repeats again, "We're going to carry straight on, and you're going to sell him away, right before my eyes. Otherwise," Her eyes bend, and she draws a line across her throat.

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AN: So, what do you guys think of the new cover? Mwhahahaahahaha.