Blood Lies

Chapter Two: Blood Rivals

     Swirls of red danced across the black void, coming together only to be ripped apart once more. Haimon tried to move, but numbness had overtaken his body.

    "Hello again, young one," a woman's voice spoke in the darkness. Panic set in as he finally realized who's voice it belong to. 

    Struggling against unresponsive limbs, Haimon responded, "No, how are you alive?!" A spine chilling laugh cut through the air and ended with the sound of displeasure. 

"Oh Haimon, how I've missed you," she replied with wicked amusement.

     The void soon began to flood with bright white lights as the scene of a hospital room came into focus. Haimon shifted his eyes to see a nurse on his left and a table with a note on the right. Blinking a few times to chase away the fatigue in his vision, Haimon took a breath before inquiring, "Where am I?" 

    The nurse merely looked up, stared a moment and then motioned to the note before walking out the room.

    Perplexed by the lack of communication, Haimon carefully sat up, his malnourished body making a sharp statement in the process, before reaching over to the neatly folded paper. In short, the note was two sentences from his brother.

   One saying that the bill was paid, there was money inside the card and clean clothes under the bed. The other strongly insisting that he depart the city and never return. 

    A sharp exhale of astonishment escaped Haimon's lungs as he reread the note three times over. A small pain stung his chest for a second before being replaced with anger.

     After leaving the hospital a few hours after waking up, and being told to take better care of himself by at least five people on the way out, Haimon dragged himself to a nearby hotel to spend the night. 

    Despite his brother's demand, he had no intention of leaving without getting what he came for. Delivering the information of their homeland's demise was but only one of the reasons he traveled so far.

     Irritated, tired and constantly feeling like he was being watched, Haimon checked in with ease despite the sideways glances from the hotel staff. Only when he looked in the bathroom mirror did he understand their gazes, for it looked like death itself had just asked for a room.

     His black hair was a matted mess layered with dirt and oil. Haimon's skin was pale and blemished. The only thing that looked normal was the color of his eyes and their blue pigment. Even then, he thought to himself, it felt as if something had changed right down to the core. 

    A bitter laugh swelled inside him at the thought, as memories of everything he had lost within the last two days came crumbling down.

     Soon after washing away the majority of the grim that coated his body, Haimon sat at the edge of the below average bed and reviewed his current position. 

    Kori's behavior was not unexpected as their past together proved painful for them both, but the prospect of telling him the truth and gaining his help would not be possible. That only left one option and Haimon instantly felt sick by the mere idea.