Eleven's Ghost

Chapter 15: Silver Ring

Ihdaachar gasped as Raven pulled him back suddenly and pushed him against the wall. Ihdaachar gazed up, panting. “Why are you… doing this?”

“Why aren’t you opening your eyes fully?” Raven slapped the wall next to him. “If you activate your powers, I will have no chance against you. You can force me into submission. You can make me your slave.”

Ihdaachar shook his head. “I don’t… want you as my slave,” he whispered, “I want you as an equal, as someone I can rely on.”

Raven gritted his teeth. He tried to force Ihdaachar’s eyes to open. “Stop… being… stubborn!”

Ihdaachar pushed him away and ran downstairs. Raven chased after him and pulled him by the hair then pushed him in the last steps, making Ihdaachar fall down on the floor. He sat up, and a line of blood ran down from his forehead. Raven stared at the blood, panting. “I can’t… hold on any longer.”

He pushed Ihdaachar against the steps and shredded the jacket to reveal his neck. He removed the hair from it. He gazed at the bite mark scars on it. Ihdaachar raised his eyebrows. “Raven… Wh… Where are you?”

His hands reached out for Raven, and the jinn slapped them away. “You left me for six months without a single drop of blood. I was patient, but I can’t hold it in anymore.”

“I already left you containers filled with blood.” Ihdaachar said. “I took them to your room… I couldn’t tell you. Taking out so much blood at once exhausted me… I couldn’t…”

“I didn’t find anything. I don’t care how they disappeared, but what matters now is that I’m thirsty.” Raven grabbed Ihdaachar by the collar and slammed him against the stairs again. “Let me drink your blood.”

The back of Ihdaachar’s head bled heavily. He frowned and protected his neck with his hands. “Just wait until… we find out who’s attacking us.”

“No.”

“How much will you drink?”

Raven stared at Ihdaachar’s shaking hands and his irises looking left and right, desperately trying to locate him.

“I’ll contain myself this time,” he finally answered, “I can’t guarantee that it will be painless though. I’m craving it so much.” He got closer to Ihdaachar’s face. “If you don’t let me drink your blood, I will drink Shams’s.”

He could feel Ihdaachar’s heart rate increasing.

“I will suck him dry just like they did to your son, in front of your eyes.”

Ihdaachar was hyperventilating at that point, on the verge of losing consciousness. “Why… are… you… doing… this?” he whispered, seeming heartbroken, “I… love you…”

“I don’t.”  Raven pushed his hair back again and kissed his shoulder. “The way you belittle me. The way you make me submit to you without ever bothering to use a single spell. The way you make me human. I hate it. I hate all of it! ALL OF IT!”

Ihdaachar gasped as Raven dug his fangs into his neck. He whined in pain, feeling the fangs drilling into his flesh.

“You never get used to this.” Raven glanced at him. “All because you refuse to let go of your humanity. You endure all this pain for empty ideals. I’m stuck with you, and I’m forced to adopt them as well.”

“I will… let you go,” Ihdaachar raised his hand, and a floating black paper appeared. “If… that’s what you want…”

Blood ran from the corners of his lips as he spoke, and his eyes started closing. “Just… don’t… hurt… them… Please,” he breathed.

“I can’t guarantee I won’t. Sorry.”

Ihdaachar’s lips quivered. “I’m…”

He forced himself to stay up and started widening his eyes. He gasped as Raven rested a hand on them and tilted his head backwards, nearly snapping his neck. Ihdaachar coughed blood. His trembling body relaxed on the stairs. His blood covered the marble steps. He gazed ahead with almost closed eyes. “Run… Sh… Sham… s…”

He yelped as Raven pressed his hand against his chest and electrocuted him, stopping his heart instantly. Ihdaachar then leaned on the jinn’s hold, his head tilting to the side. Raven lifted him up slightly and dug his fangs deeper into his neck.

He gasped as someone kicked him to the wall. Yayis glared daggers at him. “You monster! You bite the hand that feeds you! How dare you?!”

He glanced at Ihdaachar, who laid in a pool of blood. Shams ran towards them. He picked Ihdaachar up from the ground. He carried him on his back and glanced at Yayis. “Let’s go!”

Yayis nodded. He stabbed Raven before he could get up and carried them both. He flew out of the house and sat on top of a tree. “I already concealed our presence. That traitor won’t find us for a while.”

Shams placed Ihdaachar in a sitting position against the tree trunk. “I-Ihdaachar?! Are you awake?”

His hands had the black-haired’s blood on them. They started shaking as he heard no answer.

Yayis sat in front of the black-haired and titled his head back gently. He examined the wound on his neck and rested a hand on his chest. “His heart stopped a few minutes ago. He lost more than half of his blood, nearly two thirds. His neck is severely damaged. He’s got brain damage too. I assume Raven hit his head a few times to subdue him.”

Shams glanced at Ihdaachar with watery eyes. “No! He’s going to die!”

Yayis gazed at the black-haired in silence. He glanced at Shams. “You healed me. Back when I was stabbed and injured critically, you healed me back to normal within seconds. Can you do that again?”

Shams shook his head and started crying. “But I can’t! But… But…!”

Yayis clenched his fists and turned back to Ihdaachar. “Why do I have a strange feeling?” he whispered. He looked around. “Something isn’t right.”

His eyes flashed wide, feeling a presence behind him. He grabbed them both and tried to fly away, but a hand pushed the three of them down to the ground. They crashed onto the grass. Yayis jumped back on his feet immediately and countered Raven’s blade with his own. Raven gritted his teeth. “I waited for so long to ambush him, and you… YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!”

Yayis pushed him back, and red flames covered his sword. “I will make you pay for backstabbing him. DIRTY TRAITOR!”

“YOU’RE THE TRAITOR!” Raven screamed back. “You’re helping those humans now? Did you forget about what your father wanted? You dirty scum. YOU’RE A DISGRACE TO OUR RACE!”

“I AM WHO I WANT TO BE! THAT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!” Yayis threw his blade aside and punched Raven. Raven punched him back.

Meanwhile, Shams struggled to treat Ihdaachar’s wounds and reanimate his heart. He raised his eyebrows as Ihdaachar opened his eyes. The black-haired smiled at him as if nothing happened. “You… saved me…?”

His hand reached out and missed Shams. The brown-haired held back his tears and held his hand. “I will never let him hurt you. I will do my best!”

Ihdaachar grinned and coughed blood. Shams squeezed his hand. “Oh, no! No! What should I do? Are you dying? Are you dying?!”

Ihdaachar opened his eyes to speak, but a sword pierced his heart. He gasped in pain and threw up blood. Shams’s eyes widened in horror. “No… NO!”

Ihdaachar shut his eyelids. “Don’t… panic.”

Yayis jumped back beside them and stared at the poisoned sword eating away the flesh. Ihdaachar endured in silence.

“This is all… my punishment… for the sins I made,” Ihdaachar whispered, “I must…”

He whined in pain as the poison started eating his heart away. He grinned at Shams. “You can close… your eyes.”

Shams shook his head fervently. “I will stay with you! Until the end!”

Ihdaachar then sighed and fell silent for a bit. “Then… Watch me.”

Shams frowned. “What do you… mean?”

Ihdaachar opened his eyes fully, and everything blacked out. When the darkness disappeared, Shams saw Ihdaachar standing on his feet. The black-haired’s grey eyes were brimming with light. He tilted his head skywards and smiled, watching its blueness. He touched his cheeks, feeling tears rolling down his skin. He had a white shirt that remained half-buttoned to reveal an odd crest on his chest, radiating black.

“It feels great to see with my own eyes, even for a brief moment.” He grinned. “I’m happy.”

Raven glared at him. “If you will kill me then hurry up.”

“Yes.” Ihdaachar walked towards him, his tears not stopping. “I will make it quick.”

Raven clenched his fists and dropped his weapon. “I wanted you to be one of us,” he whispered, “A jinn… like me.”

Ihdaachar shook his head. “I’m human, and my heart will never sway.”

Raven lowered his head and sat down. “Do you have… someone else… who will keep you company after I’m gone?”

“Nobody.” Ihdaachar attempted a smile, but his lips froze. “Nobody,” he repeated.

Raven clenched his fists. “I’m… sorry.”

Ihdaachar closed his eyes and sat in front of him. He pulled him into a tight hug. “I’m the one who is sorry.” He caressed his back. “For forcing you to act against your nature. How selfish of me.” He lowered his head. “Thank you… for everything.”

Raven hugged him back and closed his eyes with a smile. His body faded in ashes, leaving behind a silver ring.