Kissing Danger ✔️

FIVE

Word Count: 1748

Consciousness creeps up on me slowly and painfully.

Groaning, I blink, subconsciously reaching upward toward my head, which throbs horrendously. The night sky spins as I slowly open my eyes, the stars dancing around the velvety canvas in my vision as I try to figure out what is going on.

I've slipped on ice and hit my head. That much I know for certain.

Wincing, I brush my fingers along my scalp, feeling the warmth of my blood gathered in one area of my hair, yet when I touch the spot, it's only slightly tender, the sharpness I would expect to accompany touching a wound not there. The blood must be from nothing more than a scrap.

Slowly I sit up, blinking blearily. Beside me, the ice is slick with my blood. My mouth goes dry, realising what this means for me, being out in public bleeding the colour that I do.

I've always bled the colour purple. No one has been able to provide answers as to why, and due to the questions it arises, mother and I have kept it a secret between us and a few others. Lei knows, and a few other close friends, along with mothers personal physician, and that's practically it. I've gotten lucky never bleeding in public, yet out here, there's a chance anyone could see me.

The sound of ice cracking beneath me has me looking over my shoulder.

Eryk approaches over the ice, wiping their hands down with a towel...Covered in my blood. His suit is unkempt as he kneels down beside me.

"Are you insane?" he questions, hair raining down around his eyes as he looks over me. "Are you trying to kill yourself?"

I blink, unsure of what to reply with. My vision is dizzy, unconsciousness threatening to swallow me against at any moment. Faintly, I wonder if I'm dreaming that Eryk is before me right now, holding my arm tightly, my blood staining his fingers. Why else would he be out here right now?

"My head..." I murmur, wincing as a wave of pain washes over me. There's a lot of blood for just a cut, yet when I touched my head I felt nothing more serious.

Maybe I'm in shock...Or dreaming.

"You're going to be okay. I've healed you," Eryk murmurs, brushing my hair back to examine where all the blood must have come from. His fingers are gentle, not eliciting any pain in their wake.

"Healed me?" I mouth, confused. "Who are you?"

Eryk doesn't respond, as I lie back down on the ice, dizziness forcing me to. He leans over me, still holding my arm tightly as he looks around. I'm alone out here with him. Lei must have gone inside to get help, making me wonder how long I've been out here for.

"It's like you're trying to make my job harder," Eryk murmurs, shaking his head as he continues to examine me. "It's like you want us both dead."

Job?

I blink up at him as he leans over me, brushing my hair back from my face. He looks genuinely terrified to be on this ice with me, the blood all around us. Yet I have a feeling it's not because of what he is witnessing, but because of the implications that surrounds us.

"Eryk?" I hear someone say in the distance. There voice is deep, foreign, gliding over me with ease, almost as if it's telling me that it's okay to no longer fight the darkness that is approaching upon me.

So I do just that, letting my eyes flutter closed, letting unconsciousness swallow me.

+++

I sit up in bed, back resting against the headboard.