The red sun, it was always there, bloody and warm, above their head as Kai entered BloodBound for the first time in two hundred years. He looked up, his eyes bothered by the red light and he sighed. Everything seemed the same, their little kingdom was stuck in time, a place where nothing happened but at the same time, in the small alleys, in the dark homes, deep into the woods something was always going on.
When he stepped on the hard soil, getting through the rift for the second time in his life, his eyes immediately recognized the place he met Philip for the first time. His eyes stuck on the old worn out barn, not used today. He had thought that trapping himself here would make things easier, he would be able to forget or pretend that he was trying. But as he stepped deeper into BloodBound there were so many spots that in his mind were the props for his memories with Philip.
His chest felt heavy. Kai didn't like the fact that his mother had sent people to get them. They were about six soldiers, dressed in the official uniform, armed, standing before him, staring at him as if he was an exotic animal. Two hundred years. He didn't recognize any of their faces nor did he care about the fact that none of them bowed to him but they did to his brother, all he wanted was to get back to the palace, bury himself in the soft pillows, that was the only option that pleased him.
They all followed the guards, silent as they walked through the city. Of course his mother wouldn't have sent a carriage, she wished for the people to see that she had brought back her son. That the queen would do anything she set her mind to even if it took her hundreds of years. Kai was too familiar with the stone houses, the paved civilian streets. He could see the dirt rising from the galloping of the horses and the people looked at him with questioning looks on their faces, wondering who he was and those who knew they would gasp, spreading the word around with whispers. If Kai was back to being his old self he would smile and wave, show them that none of this shit affected him. Now though it was hard, after everything that happened he could only feel like a shameful attraction and with that his head fell, he wanted to avoid the glares, even if his mother's intention was to have him march through the whole town.
"Are you okay?" Lun asked him and Kai frowned. Of course he wasn't, he somehow made the stupid decision to actually return to the place he avoided like it was the devil for centuries just because he was heartbroken. Even after all these years he was still immature, irrational. He could never see himself in a positive light.
"Well, I have been better. I mean, you know, those days when your mother flaunts you to the whole kingdom are kind of annoying." he said in an ironic tone and Lun grinned.
"I know." He answered him playfully and the prince scoffed, shrugging his shoulders afterwards. As he tried to occupy himself his blue eyes landed on the young werewolf. He looked so shocked it was almost funny. His jaw had dropped to the ground and as he stared at the scenery that looked as if it had come out of a gothic movie he turned to Kai.
"It's like I am in the eighteen hundreds, minus the blood for water." he mumbled and Kai chuckled, nodding his head.
"Some things never change." he said, gazing again at the old kingdom. Shut off from the rest of the world, its people having no idea of what evolution meant, of all the new things existing out there and for a second, Kai viewed them as pitiful. He discarded that thought immediately though when he noticed a man, an old vampire looking as if he was in his fifties pushing down a young kid.
Kai stopped, observing. It looked like this man was trying to hit him. The boy was holding something in his hand, a little red bottle. Slowly the scene made sense. He was a blood seller, a few of them existed, they actually traveled to the human world and collected blood to sell from free humans as a delicacy. Judging from the boy and how he looked he had stolen it. The vampire grabbed him by the neck and raised him up.
"You brat! Who cares if you're starving. Do you know how much that costs? It is not meant for you!" He screamed at him as he choked him. Yes, they were not pitiful, they were disgusting.
"Please, I am sorry." The boy cried as his little feet dangled while he tried to get away.
When Kai stopped all of his companions did so. The guards wanted to tell them to rush but obviously they didn't have the courage to say it.
"Come on Kai, you're stalling, you can take a walk after we've met the queen." Xan said, fixing his glasses on the bridge of his nose and his little brother shot him a glare.
"Shut up Xan." he said, surprising the guards.
The blond prince walked away, getting out of the main street and pushing a few people to actually get to the man who was ready to kill the boy. No one intervened, no one cared or did anything, they walked by as if it was nothing, just an everyday occurrence and that was what annoyed him the most.
"You little shit let me see if you will steal again when I have your heart ripped off your…" he said between gritted teeth raising one meaty arm ready to finish the crying boy.
Kai grabbed his wrist, pulling back his hand so that it was stuck to his back. The man screamed, letting go of the shaking boy and then the prince pushed him on the wall of his little shop, the dust and dirt getting all over his face.
"Why don't you calm down a bit" Kai said, his anger showing just from the tone of his voice. The seller hissed, intending to provoke him, not aware of who had just restrained him.
"How dare you, do you know who I am?" the man screamed and Kai let go of him. He immediately turned around, locking eyes with the gorgeous prince and Kai could swear he stopped breathing at that moment. Widened eyes, a red face from embarrassment.
"Should I know who you are?" Kai asked, raising his golden eyebrow and the man stuttered, trying to say something. "Should I?" he repeated, taking a step towards him. "Let's see…if I treated you the way you treated that boy how would you react?" he asked him and grabbed the seller by the neck, lifting him in the air as if he was a feather and smacking his body on the wall while he was choking him. The back of his head bounced, leaving a bloody patch on the wall and the man begged while tears streamed down his face.
"I am sorry your highness, please forgive me. I was wrong, terribly wrong." He repeated. He probably said the same sentence about ten times and Kai shook his head, violently dropping him on the ground. "Not so brave now." he mumbled and kicked him in the face.
Once he was done with him the seller crawled back into his shop, embarrassed and afraid, leaving the prince alone with the young boy who sat on the dirt, looking at the prince with wide eyes.
Kai didn't bother with him much longer, his eyes landed on the boy. The young vampire flinched, seeing the tall prince look down on him with a serious expression but he didn't try to run away.
"Why did you steal that?" Kai asked.
"I was hungry." The little boy said. "I live in the streets, there is barely anything to eat here." he mumbled, ashamed of himself. "I know that stealing is bad." he said, his face dropping.
"How old are you?" Kai asked him.
"Fifteen." the boy said and the prince sighed, pushing back his golden hair.
"Don't do it again. You will get killed next time. People here don't care if you're a child or not, or why you're stealing." he warned him and walked away. He didn't manage to go far, back to his company because he felt a tug in the back of his shirt. The boy had stopped him.
"Save me, please." He said. He wasn't really tall, kind of short for his age and that's why in the prince's mind he looked like a little boy, now that he was taking a better look though he did resemble a teen, one that hadn't had the chance to grow up properly, Kai noticed. His hair was greasy, brown and reached his shoulders while his pale face was decorated with freckles everywhere, like constellations. His eyes were big, a deep blue like a midnight sky and he stared at the prince, begging him. Kai looked at him, the holes on his shoes, the messed up clothes and the expression on his face, the despair. "I will do anything." he added and Kai frowned.
"What's your name?" Kai asked him.
"Ash." the boy answered
"Get up Ash" Kai instructed him and the boy jumped up immediately. "You're coming with me." he told him and the boy froze.
"To the palace?" he asked.
"You asked me to save you. Have you changed your mind?" he asked him and the boy shook his head eagerly.
"Good, now come." he said, his voice stern and the boy followed behind him.
"You must be insane, picking up an orphan from the streets!" Xan scolded him and Kai shot him a glare.
"Mind your fucking business." he answered to his older brother. "Let's go."
"Not even a day back and causing trouble, ah, I love this," Lun said with a grin and Kai turned his head, mimicking his expression.