"E.. that's so disgusting," one of the children shrieked, her tiny face scrunched up in pure horror as she pointed at the black-haired little girl sitting cross-legged, casually chewing a fat, squirming leech as if it were candy.
"Yuck!!" another child gagged, turning pale. Her hand shot up to her mouth as she stumbled back, nearly throwing up on the spot. "She's smiling... smiling like it's normal while chewing that slimy thing!"
"What...? Hmm... hmm... glup... it's tasty," the little girl replied with a strange innocence, her lips stained red, curling into a soft bloody smile that made the other kids freeze in shock.
"X..."
"MOMMYYYY!!" they scread in unison, fear taking over as their little legs turned and bolted. Tears stread down their faces as they ran across the grassy field, shrieking all the way.
The little girl tilted her head to one side, watching them disappear into the distance. Her expression shifted, and she pouted softly, whispering under her breath, "Hmph... here I was, thinking I'd share with them. How rude... Hmph!" She puffed her cheeks and huffed two more tis, then quietly returned to munching the remaining leech, chewing with childlike delight.
Unbothered by their reaction, she continued eating until it was all gone. Afterwards, she dusted off her hands, stood up, and wandered around to look for them again, wanting to play.
She thought maybe they'd cald down... maybe they'd changed their minds.
But—
"No way!!"
"You're weird! We're not playing with you!" one of them spat, arms folded with a disgusted scowl, the others nodding behind her, equally repulsed.
The little girl paused. Her brows furrowed slightly. Then she huffed again, this ti more heavily, and turned back toward her house, her tiny fists clenched by her side. Her voice was soft, trembling just a little. "They always leave ... just because I didn't share food..."
Once ho, she barged into the arms of her parents, her small body shaking with emotion. Her voice broke between hiccupped sobs.
"It's not , Dad... sniff sniff... it's them... they just ran away! I was gonna share with them... I really was... but they didn't even let !"
Her mother cradled her tightly while her father gently stroked her hair. Tears rolled down her cheeks and soaked into her mother's blouse as she cried harder.
Later that evening, after they'd cald her down and tucked her into bed—her little arms limp and eyes swollen from crying—the parents stepped outside, their faces turned grim,
"S-She's getting out of hand…" the father muttered, his voice low and tight with worry. "Until yesterday, it was just bugs—random insects she caught in the yard. But now... a leech? She ate a leech like it was candy…"
"Xa…"
"D-Do you know how I felt?" The Mother suddenly burst, voice cracking with fear, "When the neighbours told she ate it like it was nothing... smiling like she was proud of it... my heart nearly stopped. What's happening to our daughter?"
"She's... not normal," the father murmured, his voice breaking. "We've tried everything. We've taken her to temples... had her purified... healing rituals, counselling, spiritual guidance. We've taught her right and wrong... done everything we could as parents, and yet—she keeps doing these things... she keeps becoming... this." His knees buckled as he dropped to sit on the step, burying his face in his hands. "God… what did I do? What sin have I committed to deserve this... this punishnt...?"
The mother's eyes welled up too, her throat clenching. She looked toward the stars, her lips barely moving as the words slipped out like a prayer. "She eats disgusting things... stares at the blood like it's beautiful... stares at the sky like she's sowhere else entirely. She doesn't even blink when we ask her why..."
"She's not acting like a child," she whispered, clutching her chest. "She's acting like sothing... else. ntally... sick? Broken? Or... sothing worse?"
Behind the wooden door of her room, the little girl who was supposed to sleep leaned her back against it, listening to every word. Her small face held no expression, but her eyes blinked slowly, as though trying to understand.
'I'm not... normal?' she thought, tilting her head to the side. Her fingers gripped the squirming snake in her lap, and with a slow crunch, she bit into it. Blood dripped down her chin as she munched on the live creature like it was nothing more than a salty snack---
"XARA!!!"
Aether's shout echoed like a blade through fog, snapping Xara's mind out of its scattered state. She blinked rapidly, her senses returning one by one like puzzle pieces falling into place.
The past... that mory... she had drifted into it without realising.
She looked around, then at Aether, as her breathing began to steady. A long sigh escaped her lips.
"You've seen everything, Aether..." she said finally, her voice surprisingly calm and low. "I didn't hold anything back. I've shown you everything—the ugly truth, the madness, the part of no one is ever ant to see. So tell ..."
She turned to face him fully now, her expression unreadable, composed. "If you still claim to love ... then either you're full of shit... or... maybe you want sothing else from ."
Her tone had no tremble, no edge. It was almost as if the emotional outburst monts ago had never happened—like it was just a performance.
Xara t his gaze... Of course, she knew.
After showing what she was... no one sane would accept her.
Not out of love.
Not out of pity.
Not even a lunatic would welco her into their heart without questioning their own sanity.
Aether stared at her, trying to process what stood before him. She looked like glass—transparent, delicate—but at the sa ti, unyielding and sharp.
He couldn't read her anymore.
Was this her way of opening up?
Or a test?
Or maybe... a trap?
He had no idea.
Until now, every woman he'd encountered had been a goal to seduce, to manipulate—because they were soft, open, kind.
So had darkness, yes, but it was hidden behind wounds, like Sandra.
Sandra was different, broken by death and betrayal. But even then, Aether knew how to control Sandra—how to calm her when she spiralled.
There was still reason inside her... Still a faint thread to pull.
But Xara?
He turned toward the long transparent tube at the centre of the room, watching its pale blue glow pulse gently like a heartbeat.
"What are you trying to create?" he asked quietly, avoiding her previous question entirely.
Xara's lips twitched slightly at the corner. She frowned for a mont, then shrugged and spoke with a blank tone.
"Since both Selene and Kai were the first creations of my prototype, it was expected they'd have flaws... errors here and there..." her voice was clinical, but her eyes held sothing darker. "Selene... she's actually a failed product. She didn't have any trace of the 'Z' type blood I ntioned earlier... unlike Kai, who inherited it almost perfectly from his father."
Her gaze dropped slightly as she continued.
"My current curiosity... is with the remaining 'X' factor. By using Kai's model, I refined it—modified everything—until this subject had only one marker... only 'X'. A blood that carries nothing but 'X'."
She turned her head to the tube, where a young boy floated peacefully inside. His eyes were closed. His chest moved up and down in a slow, artificial rhythm.
"I am close... so close to the answers," she muttered in a voice laced with awe, her eyes gleaming with a strange light.
Slowly, she blinked, lowering her head as a calm breath escaped her lips. Then she softly asked, "Tell , Aether... are you disappointed in ?"
"..."Aether remained silent. He said nothing, but the silence between them was heavy, louder than any answer he could've given.
Xara let out a small chuckle, "Haha... It's okay. I guess so people are like beautiful flowers when seen from afar. But once you get closer, only then you realise just how many thorns they have..." Her voice dropped, a note of bitterness creeping in. "Or maybe... maybe they weren't flowers at all to begin with... aha..."
She turned to face him, "Shall we?" asking to leave.
Aether bit his lip hard. Sothing within him scread—urged him to act, to speak, to reach out.
He had to do sothing... anything... to break through to her. To reach her heart...
Wait?
Hadn't he already done that?
His eyes widened slightly as they fell upon her. Xara was smiling faintly—softly, weakly. But that smile... it wasn't fake. It wasn't forced. It was real.
That gentle expression...
It was only for him.
She had shown it only to him.
That subtle, vulnerable smile... it belonged to no one else. It was the look of soone who had let her walls down. Who had already opened her heart to him, quietly, wordlessly.
... She had already been seduced?
But sothing was still missing. Sothing didn't feel whole.
Sothing that he couldn't put his finger on.
'What am I missing?' Aether wondered, his brows furrowing just slightly as the thought gnawed at him.
Yes, if he wanted, he could lie. He could tell her what she probably wanted to hear.
'I still love you.'
But... would that be a lie?
Did he really not feel anything? Or was there sothing more beneath the surface?
Was there sothing real?
Like a spark?
Yes... he felt sothing. He couldn't deny it. But now... that spark wasn't glowing with warmth.
It was trembling.
It was afraid. Afraid of the unknown.
Because, unlike the others... Aether didn't truly know Xara.
Sure, he didn't know the others in the beginning either—but eventually, he learned about them, understood them piece by piece... until he knew exactly how to pull their strings. That was his thod.
But Xara?
Xara wasn't just unreadable. She was wrapped in masks, in shadows... in lies that were so perfectly crafted, even the lies seed false.
That's where he made his mistake.
He underestimated her... He thought he knew her!
Even when Sandra warned him, he brushed it off. He believed Xara couldn't be that bad... because her facade was too perfect—too soft, too serene, too seductive to question.
But now... now it all made sense.
Everything.
This wasn't just seduction.
This wasn't about Xara.
This... this was about him.
Xara didn't want his sweet words. She didn't want his charm, his playful touch, or even his pretty lies.
She wanted sothing real.
Sothing from the depths of his heart.
And the truth was—Xara was ready, otherwise why would she be kissing him back?
But was he?
Insane woman?
Xara gave one last soft smile, her eyes closing briefly in sothing like acceptance before she gently shook her head. Without another word, she turned and walked forward, steps calm and certain as she headed toward the exit.
Aether stood there for a second longer, then he followed her.
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