Narvari caressed Pheera’s skinny hands. Even through the thick white bandages, Pheera’s touch chilled her. The days were all a blur to her. Nothing mattered. All Narvari wanted to do was stay by Pheera’s side, but after all this time, the girl had not even stirred once.

A sinking feeling grew in Narvari’s stomach as the thoughts plagued her that Pheera might never wake up. The doctors said that a forceful order-up was a delicate condition. In Pheera’s case, her body was severely damaged. Her resilience was the only thing keeping her alive. Narvari looked longingly at Pheera and gently squeezed her limp hand.

“Please come back to me. Please, Pheera.”

She shut her eyes, burying her head next to Pheera. Something warm and wet ran down her cheeks. It took her a while to realize that she was crying. She didn’t think she could handle any more loss. Was it her fate to lose everyone she cared about? Everyone she loved? First, it was her father. Then her grandmother and her best friend. And now… Now…

A knock on the door… She quickly wiped away her tears as Yanvirrak walked in, holding a tray.

“Hey.” He offered her the tray. “I brought you something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Narvari, you haven’t eaten in four days.”

Narvari said nothing.

Yanvirrak sighed. He put the tray on the table and sat next to Narvari.

Silence ensued between the two. For a moment, Narvari forgot about Yanvirrak’s presence until he spoke. “You know, Pheera wouldn’t leave your side too when you first came to Draghein School.”

Narvari slowly turned her attention to Yanvirrak.

“She didn’t tell you, did she?” Yanvirrak smiled.

Narvari shook her head. “No.”

“It was the first time I’d ever seen her touch anyone. Ever.”

“What do you mean?”

“You remember what I told you about Pheera’s family and how she was in a bad place when she came here?”

Narvari nodded.

“Well,” said Yanvirrak, “not only did she not talk to anyone, but she avoided physical contact with everyone. Even Zemeron. When she started talking more, she still avoided physical contact. So one day, I asked her why she did that. She said touching people terrified her.”

“Why?” Narvari narrowed her eyes.

“She was afraid she would accidentally captivate the people she touched. So she stayed as far away as possible.” Yanvirrak sighed. “But then you came. And for the first time, I saw her touch someone without reservation. It was like the fear she always harbored never existed in the first place.” He smiled fondly. “You make her feel safe, Narvari.”

“Does she look safe to you right now?” Narvari muttered. “If you’re trying to make me feel better, you’re doing a terrible job.”

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“Actually, Shar, I’m trying to make you feel worse.” Narvari paused. What the hell was this reverse psychology shit. It’s not going to work, Hanes. “Pheera cares a lot about you,” said Yanvirrak. “How do you think she’s going to feel when she wakes up and finds out you haven’t been taking care of yourself?”

Narvari gaped at Yanvirrak. What kind of bullshit argument was that?

“Is nobody here worried about her?” Narvari asked. “Look at her. Just look at her.” Narvari’s voice cracked. She clenched her jaws, restraining her tears and failing terribly. “Why is everyone acting like Pheera isn’t on the verge of death? Huh? What’s wrong with you people? You come here giving me pointless stories. How’s that going to solve anything? What if she never wakes up?”

Yanvirrak said calmly, “She’s going to wake up.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because Pheera’s gone through worse from her family, and yet she’s thrived.” Yanvirrak’s eyes reddened. “A forceful order-up is nothing compared to what she’s endured from those bastards. She’s stronger than you think.” He stood up, burying his hands in his pockets. “Eat something, Narvari. Please. Trixan’s worried about you.”

“Trixan doesn’t care about me. Or any of us.”

Yanvirrak paused. “I understand you’re hurting right now, so I’ll let this go.”

Not saying anything anymore, Yanvirrak silently walked out of the room.

Narvari’s lips trembled. Then the tears came.

----------------------------------------

“So,” Hellstorm encircled the shackled demon, “are you ready to talk now?”

The demon’s breathing was ragged and uneven. Blood trickled down his wretched gray face and his body was full of gushing injuries taking too long to regenerate.

“I’m not telling you anything.” The demon bared his teeth viciously at Hellstorm, however, the heavy black chains tightened around the demon’s arms, pulling him right back.

Hellstorm chuckled as he flipped the holy cage in his right hand. Securing a holy cage and capturing royal demons had been the easiest part of his plan. After a thorough investigation, he learned that a lowblood royal demon, parading as a human, was running an underground operation that turned humans into demons. He had tracked the demon to Winfield Research Institute only to find other vanquishers on the mission. That was a complication to his plan.

Hellstorm rubbed his neck as he recalled that blinding light elema. He had come across elema of various kinds, even including some types of light elema. But none of them had been anything like that powerful light elema he had sensed in the research institute. Whose elema could it be? It certainly did not belong to that young man he had captured the demon from. From the young man’s white hair and blue eyes, he was a Zoleris. Most Zoleris had water-based elema.

Whatever that light elema was, it had somehow held the demon hostage, making Hellstorm’s job all too easy for him. But of course, capturing the demon and getting him to talk were two different things. Even after beating the shit out of the lowblood, he would still not tell Hellstorm anything. These demons were incredibly loyal to their superiors.

He’d already captured and tortured two lowblood royal demons yet none of them had given him what he wanted. Impressive. Admittedly though, it was wasting too much of his time.

No matter. He would keep capturing those lowbloods until he found what he was looking for. If he had any luck, he would even capture a highblood.

Hellstorm put the holy cage into his pocket. “I guess I have no use for you then.” He glared at the demon. “Any last words.”

The demon clenched his fists, struggling to free his grip from the shackles. But Hellstorm had fortified the shackles with his union. They only tightened around the demon’s gray hands the more he struggled.

“He’ll kill you,” said the demon. His voice came in heavy gasps. “He will find you and kill you.”

“I hope he finds me.” Sparks of golden lightning appeared in Hellstorm’s hand, sending delightful jolts through his body. He moved closer to the demon, staring directly into his deep purple eyes. “Oh, there’s one more thing.” Hellstorm grinned manically. “This is going to hurt like a motherfucker.”

Hellstorm flicked the lightning into the demon’s face.

The demon roared as the electricity coursed through his face like golden vines. His body convulsed violently while the skin of his face became redder and redder as though burning up from the inside. The demon’s eyes melted into goo and his face, now a puddle of red liquid, melted off. His body soon followed suit, until nothing but a murky red slime collected on the ground. The red puddle disintegrated into specks of nothingness.

Hellstorm clenched his fist. His brown eyes steeled in resolve. “I won’t stop until I find you, my love.”