𝕯𝖎𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖑𝖎𝖐 𝕷𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖘: 𝕯𝖆𝖗𝖐 𝕱𝖆𝖙𝖊

Chapter 28

Yui felt the world halt to a stop as Ruki uttered those words. The way her hands trembled as they picked up the handkerchief, stained with Ayato's blood, and tossed it aside, her eyes focused on Ayato's body, hating herself more every passing second. She had been used and cast aside by Ayato.

In a weird, twisted way, she did deserve it. She had been too careful with all the others when it came to her feelings and emotions, but with Ayato, her guard slipped, and it allowed him to encroach upon her heart. She deserved to be betrayed, with how she had been careless with Ayato, of all people. All those red herrings that warned her not to fall for the sadistic brute were, after all, true.

"Ruki kun." She didn't know how to take this information. Although she had the sinking feeling of rage inside her heart, mostly angry at herself, her anger slowly morphing into sadness and fear, but she just wanted to be a bit collected if Reiji was thinking of using her body as a vessel for his mother. She needed to push all her insecurities at the back of her mind in order to survive the night.

"I need to know what you guys had planned up until now," Yui said, her hands putting pressure over her open wound. Scabs were starting to form over the injury, and she needed to pull herself together if she was thinking of doing the Houdini act.

Ruki squared his shoulders, looking at her neck, his eyebrows knotted. Yui's heart sank as she realised that she was partnering up with a vampire herself, and there was no guarantee that he wouldn't corner her for a sip of her blood. She needed to be considerate enough to offer her blood, in the very least, or else Ruki would act like everybody else in the mansion and jump at the opportunity to suck her dry. Yui slammed the lid of the iron maiden, turning towards Ruki, her hands retracting from her shoulder. "I can... I can bear with you, Ruki kun. The least I can give you is my blood."

Ruki laughed. Yui leaned over the iron maiden, her elbow resting on the lid, her chin supported in the palm of her hand. "Did I say something wrong?"

"How can you forget what all he has done to you last month?" Ruki's voice was low, dangerous and demanding. Yui was scared out of her wits. Although she was positive that Ruki wouldn't hurt her for his own pleasure, she wasn't sure if he would take her answer in good sport.

"I need to focus on getting out of this hellhole, Ruki kun." Yui started to walk away from him, but halted when his iron grip caught her by the elbow. She wasn't prepared for this. She had expected Ruki to go along with her, since he had grown a soft spot for her. But Ruki was demanding her something even she refused to admit to herself. And if it had to be spoken by someone, it had to be Yui herself, not anybody else. She let out a breath, as she turned towards Ruki, his hair blown by the night wind, the grey tips of his locks appearing almost silvery in the bright moonlight. She didn't want to appear weak and stupid. She didn't want to be naïve and innocent. But it all drove her to that dilemma she refused to pay heed to, and it literally made her insanely hateful of herself.

"Admitting it will make the next few hours easier," Ruki suggested.

Would it, though?

"Ruki kun," Yui started, her elbow trying to wiggle out of his grasp, her eyes rimming up with tears. "I don't want to be the cause anybody hurts themselves for. I just want to get out of this. I don't want to cause any trouble for any of the families. I just..." she wanted to ramble on, trying to find some sick explanation that would suffice her means. She would only walk back into a corner with all her poor excuses, but she didn't want to accept the truth.

"What do you feel for Ayato?" Ruki asked, his voice barely above a whisper. She heard his heart break and snap in those words, and however she might have lied to him in the moment, she couldn't have done anything to mend it back into place.