Dragon Raja

56 - The Abyssal Night

The memories of Y/N were faint as the Christmas carols echoed across the walls of the ship. Fragments of times he could hardly recall. It'd been two years since he'd last seen her and it had been because of their fight.

Those last memories of iron on his tongue and his flesh scathed and bruised, and without a goodbye, she was gone in a blink of an eye.

Johann pulled the cuffs on his wrists and glanced at himself in the mirror one last time—attire fit for a Christmas party.

It was EVA who had persuaded him to let loose and join the festivities, it'd be his first time since arriving on the Yamal. In the dim lights of his room, Johann grasped onto the copper door handle and pulled it open. He heard the bells ringing and voices of the choir singing and chanting—the passengers were surely full and drunk.

He wasn't one to attend parties nor did he enjoy being stuffed in a crowded room full of boisterous people that smelled like cigars and aged whiskey. However, EVA urged him to try just one drink at the open bar and forget his mission for one night.

Johann was not so careless, though, and he was sure to keep an eye on anything suspicious.

However, he supposed he could relax his tense shoulders for the time being. The music played loud across the halls and he dared not to remember parts of his past, people who were no longer in his present.

The music was simply music, not a reminder of someone he missed.

-

It was the first time he'd laid eyes on the extravagant parties held on the ship, and he praised how much effort the staff put into the decor. If Johann wasn't aware he was on a ship, he'd surely think he was at a carnival celebrating a huge event.

Lights decorated the halls and the tall pillars and the grand Christmas tree were brighter than the winter moon outside the ship. Waiters rushed around flawlessly with trays of champagne to and from the bar and a live band played in the corner of the hall along with a choir right beside them. Everyone was dressed lavishly in suits and dresses that were too expensive and as he predicted, the air was filled with the scent of alcohol on everyone's breath.

He took note of everyone he passed and anyone he deemed suspicious—but not enough he felt the need to interrogate them. As Johann made his way to the bar at an open seat his eyes scanned the large golden-lit room and caught sight of a familiar face in the crowd.

Surrounded by men with ogling eyes and tipsy lips Reginleif smiled eagerly at the passengers enchanted by her presence.

Her thigh-length white glittered dress was a near-close match her to porcelain skin and her pale blonde hair was done up in a tight ponytail. The straps to her dress were thin and from the lights of the golden chandeliers, her shoulders glowed beneath the light. She was the star of the room, and she was intent on letting everyone know about her presence.

Johann tapped the counter for a drink and a glass of mulled wine was placed in front of him. He took a quick sip before he scrunched his nose in distaste. He kept his eyes on Reginleif who twirled strands of hair between her slender fingers, her nails were painted a light pink.

Every detail was something Johann had picked out in order to know as much about Reginleif as possible. After all, she was the main reason for his arrival on the Yamal.

But still, it surprised him to watch a woman who was supposed to be held in such high regard drink from a whole bottle of vodka and kiss the cheeks of men who got too close. She jumped into the arms of a young man in a white tailored suit coat and danced with vigor—the crowd surrounding her cheered and competed for her attention.