Point-blank (Narrated by Danzel Lee)

I squinted my eyes and gave my best friend a stern look. The so-called best friend apparently decided that staring me had become his latest and newest hobby. Abashedly, he had been on it for almost half an hour. I diverted my gaze when I realized that my stern look had no expected effect on Meng. We were at the biggest canteen out of three canteens this huge school had. Our school had been dismissed two hours ago, but there were still some high-school students at the campus. We were two of them. We just finished our club activities and changed our sport clothes back to our uniforms. I had to wait for Megan since her club activity had not yet finished, thus I dragged Meng along to accompany me. Bad decision, because he was suddenly into this staring mode just straight after we were seated down with our beverages.

"Don't you get tired staring at me like that? Because I do," I finally asked, more because he bored me stiff and started to get on my nerve. "Look, I will meet Megan in five minutes. So, if you want to keep doing this, go ahead. I'll be going first..."

Meng grabbed my arms to stop me leaving.

"That's it! That's exactly it. I wanted to hear you tell me honestly about the nature of your relationship with Megan. What exactly is going on with you two?"

I raised an eyebrow, suddenly understood the reason of his weird action. I felt stupid since I should've been able to guess it since beginning. Moreover, because of his childhood friend, Kencana, also had been breathing on our neck lately, kept asking Megan and I about our relationship. What was so hard for them to understand? I could feel my irritation start to gulp down my self-control.

"Everything D'. I don't understand everything."

Meng brought his face closer to me, staring directly to my eyes, imitating my style when I use my power. "Tell me you love Megan."

My eyebrows shot up. "Which part of I love Megan that become your business?!!"

"So, you do not love her."

I snorted, tried to compose myself very hard. If only this creature in front of me was not Meng, not my one and only best friend, my fist surely would have been stamped on his jaw.

"What the hell are you trying to proof, Meng?"

"D'," Meng's expression grew serious. "I know you so well, man. You are not the kind of person who could fall in love so quickly with someone. You said it yourself you have this trust issue. Do you remember how long did it take you to like and finally accept Irene to be part of your life? Now, only in a week, you have been head over heels for Megan. To be honest, that freaks me out! I don't want you to get hurt again, D'. I know that, even if you are denying it, Irene did hurt you to some extent. I really don't want you to experience it again with Megan because you are so recklessly, literally, throw yourself at her!"

I dropped silent from Meng's word. Frankly, deep down, I was no less anxious about my own feeling toward Megan. Was it true that I love her? Or, I didn't actually love her and only using her as diversion? However, I did have a very strong feeling for that girl, and it wasn't something that I only imagine. That feeling had seeped and planted itself in my heart so rapidly. Yet, I didn't know myself how to call that feeling.

"D'!" I ignored my best friend screaming my name after I decided to leave him.

Megan and I agreed to meet up at the parking lot. I swung my feet to that direction, taking big steps to cross the hallways and corridors to reach that place. I needed to see Megan, I wanted to see her badly. For what I cared, my conversation with Meng made me miss her even more. I didn't care anymore; I didn't care if my feelings for her would (as Meng said) hurt me. The one thing that I knew was I yearned for her so bad. Yes, for that I could be certain. I wanted her.

"Are you crazy?!" A familiar voice was glaring from one of the corners I passed by. Not far from where I was, I saw Kencana yell at a poor soul from her cells. She stuck her free hand on waist, frowning. Her beautiful face looked baleful, was clearly being infuriated by the other speaker. "How could you ever come out with that kind of strategy to ensure Megan's safety?!"

That name made me in full stop. I hid myself behind a pillar before Kencana notice me, decided to eaves dropping.

"I don't care even if The Princess agreed to it. No! You tell her, I do not like this plan!"

"..."

"What if they found out?! You cannot execute this plan without asking Megan's permission first! What the hell are you thinking, to make her fall in love with a guy she just met?!"

I felt a knot tighten in my stomach, clenching my insides while my heart drumming in my throat. I was pretty sure that the guy she meant was me. I became even more eager to listen to the conversation. However, Kencana had severed the connection harshly. She seemed still clouded by anger and channelled it out by punching one of the pillars on her side.

"Was it about me?" I decided to walk out from my hidings.

Kencana turned her body and stared at me startled. Her reaction gave me confirmation that I was right. It was about me. She needed another second to compose herself and returned to her usual, bitchy self.

"None of your business!" She said.

My hand stretched out to grab her arms, so hard, that she squealed in pain. I ignored her. There was one thing I wanted to know and I would get it no matter how. I pinned her to the wall before she could fight back, and forced her to look at my eyes. I let my power out.

"Tell me, what was that conversation about?"

Kencana's hazel eyes lost their glimpse, as her mouth opened to answer my question.

"Megan...," she whispered.

"What about Megan?"

"We..."

"Who are 'we'?"

"M...me, Seth, and Jasmine Markelli, t-the princess. The three of us are obliged to protect Megan..."

"Protect her from what?"

"We...we don't know yet... We just know that they were sorcerers that responsible for Balin phenomena and who had murdered Megan's older brother..."

I scowled when some alien words came into my ears. "What is Balin?"

"They are zombies. Some sorcerers resurrected dead bodies by planting a crystal catalyst in their chest, in replacement of their original died heart. This catalyst was infused with magical power and the Balins's memory from previous lifetime."

The explanation made my head dizzy, thus, I passed that part.

"What did they do to Megan and her family?"

"They stole Megan's crystals and resurrected her deceased brother as Balin. Then, they shut him dead once more. They also wanted to kidnap Megan for her talent as a Master Alchemist who could create high-grade catalyst."

Master Alchemist? I frowned even more for all these seemed nonsense information. If only I did not know about people with 'power' and 'ability', I surely would take all of these as mere bullshits. "What exactly are you?"

"We...we are witches of Trevelyan Order, one of the five strongest orders in sorcery community. Megan's brother was a warlock and our former leader. However, with his death, other orders wanted to occupy our territory and steal our authority, made us involve in battles. Now, from our seven covens, there are only three covens left: Nimra and the Markellis, and of course Megan."

"And what is it exactly about your plan that involving me?"

"Seth..., Jasmine's brother, he is a schemer, an Esper who could manipulate people's mind. He could scheme current of events to make someone could get what they're wishing for..."

"What had he done to us?"

"He said he got your wish to have someone who's honest and loves you. He also got Megan's wish to have a man to depend on, like she to her brother. Seth and his sister agreed to use Seth's power and make you and Megan fall in love with each other. They think you could protect Megan better than I could."

I smiled after hearing Kencana's last words. But, at the same time, I also felt some kind of uneasiness about her information regarding other kind of power users besides me and Meng. What made it even worse was, they were using their power on me.

"This Seth..., where could I meet him?"

"..."

"Where?!"

"I don't know... Princess and Seth are always protecting us from remote place. We can't meet them freely and could only communicate via our cells. Don't you think I don't want to find him myself and give him a piece of my mind? I'll kick his ass myself if I know his whereabouts!"

That made sense. I finally let go of my grip toward Kencana. She needed few seconds to regain her consciousness.

"Wh-what do you want?!" She glared when she saw me standing so close to her. Clearly, she didn't realize what I had done inside her head.

I cracked a sly smile. "Nothing. I got what I want..."

I didn't explain further and walk away toward the parking lot. I saw Megan stand next to my white CBR with a pastel-blue helmet in her arms. I smiled when I recognized the helmet as the one that I bought for her. My smile grew wider when she took her gaze off her shoes, pointed it to me now and flashing me the sweetest smile I'd ever seen.

I felt my chest was stormed with warmth and I paced up to reach for her faster. After I did, I couldn't help myself not to hug her. She seemed bashful at first, but returned the hug nevertheless. For a couple of minutes, we cared only to enjoy the warmth of each other's body. It was in that very moment, I decided to protect her with my might. I did love her, and I would do anything to keep her safe. I knew I could do that better than anyone else, not because some guy put their power to influence me to do so.

**

Megan's apartment was located at the Western part of J City, forty-five minutes driving distance from school. It was one of the high-end apartments in the city and it had better security system than Abel's apartment. Without the owner's pass card, it would be impossible to go up and visit one of the rooms. It was understandable since many of diplomats and important people's families resided here. I didn't think too much of it at first, but now that I understood Megan's situation, I started to think that this was one of the precautions made by the Markellis.

I dropped Megan in front of the lobby. I helped her to get off my bike and was about to say good-bye to her when she suddenly looked troubled. She diverted her gaze from mine again, feeling that her shoes were better looking than me. She bit her bottom lips adoringly, slightly shaking my self-control for not kissing her in this very spot. After a few silent beats, she finally raised her head and looked at me.

"D-do you wanted to go up?" She asked.

A shiver came down on my spine when I heard the invitation. I wasn't ready for this, especially that I knew she was living by herself up there. She told me this the first time I sent her home, but didn't elaborate the reason to me. I didn't pursue it more from her either. I always believed she would tell me herself if she was ready.

"Can I?" I asked back. To invite someone to your home was never be something that was easy to do for me. My home was my safe haven and I would never bring someone I did not trust home.

She nodded. "I have something I wanted to talk to you."

Now I became intrigued. What was she possibly wanted to talk to me about? Would she tell me everything about her family, her community, and her past? Would she entrust all of these stories to me in such short period of time we knew each other? But, I knew I should not pass this chance. At least, I wanted to confess my feelings to her and ask her to go out with me properly. Therefore, I nodded and parked my motorcycle.

I followed her inside. She passed a courtesy smile to the door attendant who looked at me suspiciously. Megan acknowledged that look of him and wrapped her arms on mine to make a statement. The door attendant cleared his throat and made a faint nod. She smiled once more and pulled me to the rows of elevators. She swiped her pass card on the scanner beneath the numbers pad and pressed five. So, she lived on the fifth floor. We were silent during our elevator ride and the silent continued when we were walking down the hallway, up to when Megan finally stopped at one of the doors. 505, I put the number in my memory. This was her home. She swiped her card once more to open the door and invited me in.

Her room was a studio-sized apartment room and styled with feminine tone. The dominant colours were baby-pink and pale-yellow. Her living room was connected directly with the bedroom and her kitchen was on the opposite direction of the bathroom. The place was quite spacious, almost as big as our apartment. And the view, well, it had great view of the city, as great as a fifth story could offer.

"It's a great place," I commended, as I walked around the place and tried my best to avert my eyes from the queen-sized bed, where its pink sheets looked very inviting. "Did you buy it or rent it?"

"A family friend rents it for me," was her reply. She sat nervously on the red bar stool. The bar, from the looked of it, also functioned as dining table, the way we also used it at home. I smiled and took my seat leisurely on the white couch adorned with yellow stripes and baby-pink cushion. I tapped the empty side next to me and looked at Megan. "Won't you sit next to me? I won't bite..."

Megan flushed by the invitation, but seated herself next to me nonetheless. She grabbed one of the cushions, faced forward and looking at her socks now (we had taken off our shoes at the entrance). I reached for her hands, made her jolt and turn her head at me.

"You said you wanted to talk about something with me?" I reminded her. Better to get down to business before I lost my self-control by watching her flustered self. She seemed had no idea how cute she could be when she do that.

She looked surprise, before nodding. "Y-yes..., I mean... I don't know..."

I chuckled. "Well I couldn't help you there, if you don't know about it yourself..." Well, I could actually, but that would be an invasion to her privacy and I did not want that.

"No-no... I, I know I have to ask you about this. I just don't know how..." Rosy cheeks started to bloom on her. "It's just Ken, she...keeps bugging me about it...B-but I also wanted to know..."

I finally understood where this conversation would go. "Do you want to talk about us?"

She nodded hesitantly, flustered even more. "Ken recently always asks whether we...we..."

"Whether we are together as in dating?"

She nodded again. I smiled gently to her, my hand reached for her chin and I looked deeply at her cognac eyes. "Do you want to? Be my girlfriend, I mean..."

She blinked rapidly and looked at me sheepishly. Her inviting full-lips opened as she tried to make some words, but closed again faster than when they were opened. After some heavy intake of breaths and hesitation, Megan eventually managed to muster her courage to reply for my proposal.

"I... I want to. But..."

I frowned. My heart thumping loudly inside my chest, wondering what made her hesitate? I knew she like me. She never denied my affection and never pushed me away. My heart beat faster as my anxiety building up. "But?"

"You don't know the real me...," she finally said. Now she looked at me as she blinked her tears back. "What if you disappointed with the real me?" She murmured.

I didn't wait for her to continue her words and silenced her with a gentle kiss. Megan jolted a bit, but like always, she did not push me away. She even returned the kiss hesitantly, made me smile between the kiss. Her lips were as soft as I thought they would be. And they were as sweet as honey. I hungrily tasted them and only pulled away after some minutes.

"Tell me, then...," I told her. "Tell me everything about you, so I'll know the real you. I wanted to know everything about you Megan, because I think...I think I've fallen for you."

**