When My Heart Became Ice - Chapter 4

[[ D E J A • vu ]]

Your heart may reach for me and beg for affection . . .

Syn was jittery with excitement. He was practically frothing at the mouth as he panted happily, like he was a dog.

Kyth slapped the back of his head. “Pay attention,” She snapped quietly. “Black Binta is known for his stealth and speed.”

Syn nodded rapidly. He held his golden thread in one hand as it trembled with adrenaline. The hunt had begun once more. He watched below him as the tall, thin, skeletal man stepped into the room. He was so skinny it looked like it was just skin hanging off of his bones. A wispy thing of pale hair sat atop his balding head, deep-set eyes surrounded by dark circles. His head kept turning in unnatural ways.

“That’s him,” Kyth murmured, watching him, both eyes trained on the killer known as Black Binta.

He had murdered 200 families in the past year alone.

Those were only the ones the Reachers had heard about.

Syn gave a quiet cackle and gripped his thread tighter. “We can grab him now,” He begged. “I can cut him up!”

“No,” Kyth snapped. “You won’t be able to catch him alone, he’s too fast.”

Syn mumbled unhappily. “What do we do then, oh fearless leader?”

“We wait,” Kyth slowly rested from her crouching position in the thin rafters that supported the 150 foot high roof. They were at least 120 feet off the ground. Kyth lay across the rafter on her back, head tilted to the side so she could keep her eye on the Black Binta.

Syn didn’t like waiting. He sat on his bare feet and gripped the rafters, hunching over like he was going to hack something up. He just growled slightly, however, glaring hungrily at the prey beneath him.

Kyth rolled her eyes. “Impatient,” She sighed. “Shut up if you aren’t going to be of any help to me.”

“I’m going to help,” Syn whined.

“Then shut up.”

Pouting, Syn stopped growling and kept his cobalt blue eyes on Black Binta, soft pink tongue licking at his fangs slowly.

“Get the… Girl…” The Black Binta hissed. “Out here now…”

His men—humans looking for a job most likely—shuffled into another room. A few moments later, they dragged something out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them. Black Binta grinned slowly.

They took the blanket away from the writhing thing they held in chains between them. Light purple hair, long and flowing like a river, fell from her head. It was so long it could reach her knees. Piercing silver eyes glared out at the men and Black Binta. Sharp teeth gnawed at the cloth that had been shoved in her mouth. She was long and slim, like most Reachers, but she was covered in blood that was either new or had dried on her pale skin. One of her legs looked like it was broken.

Kyth stiffened. She had seen this girl before. Rynu used to work with her before Kyth had become old enough to work with her brother as a Reacher.

Was this why Rynu had called her the night he had died, asking her to find Black Binta and get rid of him? To save his old partner?

“Girl,” Black Binta took out his sword, slowly. He snapped his wrist, almost faster than Kyth could see, and the gag fell.

A heavily accented voice, lyrical and soprano, flew from the girl’s mouth as she shouted a storm of cuss words and insults.

“You’re giving me a headache,” Black Binta grumbled, and he smashed his foot against her jaw.

She let out a cry and shook her head, then snarled at him fiercely.

“Now, tell me where it is…” Black Binta slid his blade around her throat. “I want that, you know… I need it…”

“I’ll never tell you,” The female Reacher hissed. “It is not yours to take!”

“It will be…” Black Binta raised his sword. “Let’s see how well you do without any legs…”

“Go!” Kyth snapped, and she dropped like a missile towards Black Binta.

At the last second, he zipped out of the way, and she landed on the polished tile, making it crack in a spider web pattern. Without pausing, she turned and rushed at him.

Black Binta brought up his sword and her arm spurted blood as it was cut, but Kyth kept going. The patterns on her feet and hands glowing, she slammed her hands against the Black Binta’s slim body.

For about three seconds, he remained still. Suddenly, he let out a screech as his body began to slowly decompose.

“Syn!” Kyth shouted.

He leapt down, laughing wildly.

“Take care of the men,” She turned to look at all of them. “And untie the girl.”

“All right,” Syn smiled wildly, turning on the men. “Come out, little hu-umans!” He sang. The men’s eyes widened and Syn flashed towards them, screeching wildly.

His blade and golden thread flashed out, cutting arms and legs away, piercing chests and stomachs. Blood spattered everywhere, onto his face, his hands, staining his snowy white hair crimson.

Within 5 minutes, all 50 men were dead in pools of blood.

Syn laughed crazily. “That was so much fun!” he cried. “I feel alive again!” He threw his hands up, sending droplets of blood into the air. He brought his blade up and licked the blood from it slowly, giving a happy moan.

“I said untie the girl,” Kyth snapped. She glanced back at Black Binta, who was definitely dead, but his body was still disintegrating. Unfortunately, it took a while. She would have liked to see him be torn apart violently.

Syn scowled and snapped his wrist, his blood-covered blade snapping all the ropes that tied the girl. She stood shakily, looking warily at Syn.

“So they finally sent someone,” She muttered. “I’ve been here for a week.”

“My brother asked me to do it,” Kyth told her. “Kyth Kimata.”

“I’m Kona Myren,” The girl told her. “Kimata… The name is familiar.”

“My brother, Rynu.”

“Rynu,” Kona sighed. “He sent you?”

“He couldn’t come,” Kyth looked away. “He was killed last week.”

“O-oh my god…” Kona looked down. “I’m so sorry… I knew him for a long time…”

“He was your partner,” Kyth glanced at her. “He called me the night he died and told me to kill Black Binta. The last thing he asked of me was to save you.”

Kona looked away from her, sighing. “Rynu… You fool…”

Kyth closed her eyes.

She heard licking, and she looked up and saw Syn lapping at all the blood that was on his hands and arms.

“Stop that,” She snapped at him. “Come on. It’s time to go.”

Syn muttered unhappily but stood and followed her, blood still dripping from him.

“None of that better be yours,” Kyth scolded.

“Why not?” Syn grinned, eyes hidden by his white hair, now red from blood. “Are you worried about me?”

“No, I just don’t want the trouble of cleaning you up.”

“How cruel…” Syn glanced over at her as they began walking. “What if some of it is mine?”

“I doubt it is,” Kyth grumbled.

“Well there was a lot of fighting,” Syn smirked. “And I didn’t pay attention to all the spots that hurt…”

“Shut up,” Kyth slapped his shoulder. “If you’re hurt you’re on your own.”

“You’re so cruel to me,” Syn pouted. “What if I had lost an arm, would you have cared?”

“Possibly,” Kyth’s green eye glared at him. “But I am not one to mess with, so I don’t suggest you lose an arm while I’m in a bad mood.”

Syn pouted at her then darted ahead, looking bored. Swiftly, he flung his feet up behind him, catching himself with flat palms against the ground. He shoved upwards and launched himself flying through the air. Blood followed him.

He landed gracefully on his feet, crouching down slowly. His head lifted into the air and he let out a loud sniff.

Kyth stopped. “What is it?” She asked. Kona stopped behind her, looking nervous.

“I smell fight…” Syn stood slowly. “Nearby.”

Kyth glanced over at Kona. “Willing to take a detour?”

“I don’t mind,” Kona admitted.

Syn gave a giggle before darting off ahead, a blur of white and red.

“We’ll stay behind,” Kyth sighed. “If it’s a human scuffle he should be able to handle it on his own.”

“He’s very… Strange…” Kona observed slowly.

“Oh yes,” Kyth nodded. “Definitely.”

She heard Syn give a scream. This one was not of joy, either. It was of pain.

“Stay here,” Kyth warned her, and darted forward on light, swift feet.

Syn stood there, head bent backwards, pale throat moving frantically as he gasped. A bloody hole was in his chest, traveling straight through him to his back.

“That hurt!” He shrieked at the teenage boy that held the gun. The teenager stood, staring, horrified.

“Syn,” Kyth snapped. “Don’t scream if you’re fine.”

“It hurt!” He whined, and slowly righted himself, gripping his chest and groaning. “Damn kid!”

“Don’t kill him,” Kyth ordered. “He’s human.”

Syn snarled at the boy. “Stupid humans!”

The boy stood shaking, his eyes wide and wild. “S…Stay away!” He insisted.

“Stop yelling at us,” Kyth glared at him, and when he saw her eyes, he bristled, staring. “It’s annoying.”

“What are you?!” The boy cried.

“Olympic gymnasts,” Syn cackled.

“Shut up or I’ll shoot you again!” The boy cocked the gun and Syn went still, muttering unhappily.

Kyth smirked. “I quite like this human, he’s amusing me.” She turned, waving a hand. “Let’s go, Syn.”

Hissing at the boy, Syn scrambled after Kyth.

The boy lowered his gun and stared after both of them.

Syn continued rubbing the hole in his chest, muttering, “It really hurts, Kyth, it might take a while to heal.”

“Stop being a baby, you’ll heal,” Kyth growled. “Now let’s go home. I have business I have to take care of.”

“Fine,” Syn replied loftily.

The two gathered Kona and made their way back to the order in silence. Kyth took Syn to the Infirmary, where they removed his shirt and began to inspect him.

“There’s certainly a lot of blood loss from just one bullet wound…” The nurse sounded nervous.

“Not all of it is mine,” Syn grinned wildly.

Syn Intuma!” A female voice screamed. A girl with light green hair came running up, in an Infirmary outfit, and she slapped Syn’s blood-covered head with a clipboard. He whined.

“Hykuma,” Syn mumbled. “I’m wounded, can’t you be nicer?”

The girl’s bright turquoise eyes glared at him. “I told you to be careful when you went out on missions, not get shot by a mere human!”

“He was right there, I couldn’t help it,” Syn pouted unhappily.

“Whatever,” Hykuma waved a hand dismissively. “Let me see.”

Syn laid down flat on his back, allowing her to inspect the wound.

“Get me some wash cloths,” She told the nurse, and she nodded, rushing off. “Syn, what were you doing to get this much blood on you?”

“I killed 50 humans,” Syn grinned. “Sexy, huh?”

“No!” Hykuma cried. “You have blood all over you!”

“You act as though you don’t like looking at me without a shirt on,” Syn sniggered.

“While you are one of the more attractive male Reachers,” Hykuma told him. “You’re also one of the most violent, stupid, and foolish Reacher I’ve ever met. You get hurt too often.” She glanced up at Kyth. “You can go if you want.”

“All right,” Kyth waved a hand and strode off.

“Now that we’re alone,” Syn sat up, raising his eyebrows, grinning.

“Stop that,” Hykuma shoved his head back against the pillow. The nurse returned with a wash bin and wash cloths. “Thank you.”

As the nurse disappeared, Hykuma began cleaning off Syn. He whimpered when she got near the bullet wound.

“Shh,” She crooned, being gentle now. Syn watched her, quiet. “You fool…” She whispered. “Getting yourself shot like that. What would I do if you didn’t come home one day?”

“You’d find another roommate,” Syn mumbled.

“No, stupid!” She pressed the cloth to the bullet wound and he let out a cry, squirming.

“Ow!” He whined. “Stop that, it hurts!”

She let the pressure go and glared at him. “Syn,” She told him. “Idiot.”

He reached up and touched her light green hair, brushing it from her face. He tilted his head at her turquoise eyes.

“I want to see it,” He told her. “Please?”

Hykuma sighed and pulled down the sleeve of her uniform, showing him the long scar on her shoulder. “There,” She murmured. “Do you like it?”

Syn nodded, looking at it with wide, curious eyes.

She smiled slowly, amused. “You’re so funny,” She sighed, rubbing a wash cloth through his hair. “Let me finish cleaning you off.”

Syn watched her silently as she cared for him. Their relationship had always been strange. They lived together in a two-story house that was actually very small, and they had lived together for 5 years now. In the human world, they played as cousins, but in the Reachers’ world, they weren’t even related.

Once Hykuma had finished cleaning him off, she examined the bullet wound closer.

“It’s already starting to heal,” She told him. “So that’s very good. You’ll stay in here for a while longer, though, okay? No going out getting shot by humans.”

He sat up and kissed her.

“Syn,” Hykuma sighed. “What did I say about that?”

“To not do it,” Syn grinned. “But you’re so pale and pretty, and whenever I kiss you, you blush, and your skin looks so beautiful when it’s stained with red.”

“Don’t take your pleasures out on me,” Hykuma scolded, but she was grinning. Her hand reached out and stroked his wet hair, sighing. “One of these days I’ll have to hurt you.”

“Woof,” Syn smiled and caught her wrist in his mouth. His sharp teeth prodded at her pale skin, and she smiled.

“Good boy,” She said softly, and then looked up when someone called her name. “I’ll be back in a while, Syn. Stay safe.”

“Yes ma’am,” Syn said innocently, and watched as she walked away. “They need to make those uniforms shorter, though!”

“Shut up, Syn!” Hykuma called back to him.

She smiled as she walked away.

[/blockquote]



But I love no one but myself.