Going Back Home

"What the-" Alby felt himself disappear and then reappear in front of Lily and Roy as something bright filled his vision. Once he opened his eyes, Alby could see the man from earlier standing in front of them, consuming the explosion.

The man staggered in his steps the minute the light died down and the same darkness filled them, save for the moon's light.

"Are you ok?" Lily asked, looking over Alby before her eyes fell on the puncture wounds on his neck.

"I'm fine." He said, getting to his feet, not realizing he was leaning on Roy. "What happened?"

"We are wondering that ourselves," Roy said, frowning as he looked at the man in front of them, crumpling to his knees. "He saved us from an explosion."

"Why?"

"I want to know that too," Lily said, the three staring at the man. "Hey! You!"

"You all should consider yourselves lucky that it's a full moon night," Jel said, coughing, his voice hoarse as he turned to them, blood dripping from his eyes, nose and mouth.

"Why did you do that? You could have died." Alby said, rushing to the man, tearing parts of his cloak to help wipe the blood flowing out continuously.

"Don't worry about me." The man said, bloodshot eyes darting everywhere. "I just ruptured some blood vessels. Absorbing the energy of an explosion like that is not going to kill me."

"Why did you save us?" Lily asked, turning her scythe back into a stick.

"Don't misunderstand." The man said, trying to push Alby away but the man held firm as he pressed the cloth to his nose, trying to stop the blood. "I was not trying to save you all."

"Then-"

"I only wanted to save him." He said, looking at Alby before winking at him.

Disgusted, Alby was very tempted to drop the man so that he would fall back and hit his head on the ground but he couldn't bring himself to do that.

"Why Alby?"

"I don't know," Jel said, finally gaining back some of his strength, enough for his body to stop bleeding as he pushed the man away from him. "Maybe I thought he was cute? I don't understand either."

Lily turned to Roy and whispered, "Let's kill him here and now."

"I agree. He is still struggling to heal so we can-"

"It doesn't matter your reasoning," Alby said, sitting in attention in front of the man. "You still saved us and I am eternally grateful."

"You do know that you were attacked because of me, right?" The man asked, pointing to himself.

"So that explosion was because some people wanted to take you out?" Roy asked, raising an eyebrow at the man before whispering to Lily again. "Get your weapon ready."

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I have a lot of enemies. When you've lived for more than three hundred years, you tend to leave some people bitter." Jel said, getting to his feet. "Well, I say you can't please everyone."

"Agreed," Alby said, nodding his head.

"So it was my fault anyway."

"Lil-"

"Even then, you saved us and I refuse to leave it as it is." The man stubbornly said, looking at Jel with unwavering conviction.

"Why do you want to prove me innocent so much?!?" Jel asked, genuinely confused. "You are such a strange man, you know that?"

"I have been told," Alby said, getting to his feet as well. "Is there anything I can do to thank you for saving us?"

Jel looked at the man in front of him and then at the two standing behind, ready to attack at any given moment, "Look, kid-"

"My name is Osbert Geis."

"Oh, in that case," he held out his hand to the man, "I am Jel Okonjo."

Wait, what am I doing?

"Alby!" The man shouted at him, shaking the man relentlessly. "You don't give your real name out to just anyone!"

"But he saved us," Osbert said nonchalantly. "I should at least be nice to him."

"That's not how it works." The man groaned, hitting his forehead. "Lily, tell him."

The woman walked up to the man and said, "Roy is right, Alby. When you introduce yourself to someone else, you have to say 'nice to meet you' to be more polite."

"Not that!"

"Oh right." She held her finger up at the man. "Remember, if you brought a company of people, you need to introduce them as well, otherwise it will become awkward."

"Oooh. Ok. I'll remember that." Osbert said as the two turned to a very confused Jel. "I am Osbert and this is my friend, Jade Rosellel."

The woman pulled down her cloak to reveal her silver hair and took off her mask, purple eyes glistening in the moonlight.

"You can just call me Lily."

"Jel." The man said, shaking her hand while still being very, very confused.

"And this is-"

"I'm Roy." The man said quickly before the two idiots gave away his identity as well. "I would like to thank you for saving my family."

"They are your family?" Jel asked, tilting his head at the two, a sly smile coming on his face. "I can see the resemblance."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." He stuck his tongue out at the man, grinning. "Well, tonight was … strange."

"How should I repay you?" The man asked again, relentless.

Jel thought for a second, "Maybe you can give me some of your blood?" he asked as a joke.

The man did not take it as a joke as he grabbed his head and pushed it to his exposed neck, "Take as much as you would like."

"You really are crazy." Jel chuckled, pulling away from his grip. "Never mind that. I want something else."

"What do you wan-?"

Jel pulled the man's lips to his, biting down on it just as Osbert pulled away reflexively.

"Maybe I will tell you one day," Jel said, licking the blood as smoke escaped his lips. "Until next time, Alby."

Without another word he walked to the darkness, disappearing into hundreds of little black butterflies that broke into ashes.

"Are you ok?" Roy asked, looking at the man's bleeding lip.

"I am fine." He said, letting the blood drip down his chin. "I will heal."

"Do you think he knows?" Lily asked, looking at the two marks on Osbert left by the man.

"No one can know," Roy said, clenching his teeth. "I can't help but feel like we invited some trouble."

"I agree," Lily said, the three staring where the man disappeared. "I will find what I can about him."

"Good. Let's retire for tonight then."

____________________

"That hurts." Jel hissed, looking at the burnt line along his bottom lip from where the blood slipped down through the mirror in front of him. "That man … he was not human."

"Who man?" A dark red-haired woman asked, walking into the bathroom, hair sticking on all sides. "Jel! You're hurt!"

"Don't worry about me." He said as she touched the burnt trail down his lips with her long fingers.

"How can I not worry?" She asked, brows furrowing at him. Her emerald green eyes sparkling with worry. "You have never come back injured once in the past two hundred years. What is this now?"

"I am still trying to figure it out." He said, placing a kiss on her scar filled hands. "What about you? Did you rest well?"

"I did." She said, looking at him sadly before putting on a smile. "Oh, I made something to eat."

"You didn't have to do that," He said following her to the living room. "Were the maids not taking proper care of you? I should give them a talking to when I see them again."

"No, these ones were nice." The woman said quickly, looking over at him from the stove while Jel took off his blood-stained clothes. "How was the hunt?"

"Well, I got injured so I exerted unnecessary energy." He said, flopping on the couch with a sigh. "But tonight was interesting."

"Interesting how?" The woman asked, shoving something into the microwave, turning it on.

"I don't know yet." He said, touching the burnt area over and over again as it slowly began to heal. "But it is something I want to keep observing."

"Another art piece?" The woman walked to him, placing a plate in his hands.

"Maybe." He said, sitting properly and staring at the mountain of meat in front of him. "You made this, Lumi?"

"All by myself." She said brightly. "Try it."

Jel shoved his fork into the mean as a liquid oozed out of it, the smell of blood making his mouth water immediately.

Biting into the mean, Jel froze for a second, "You didn't."

"I did," Lumi said happily. "I did it. It was a success! What do you think?"

"Incredible," Jel said, eating the rest of the meat without break. After he was done, he picked the woman in his arms and spun around with her. "Congratulations!"

"Thank you." The woman said, looking into his eyes. "I will now be able to go out! Can you imagine that?!?"

"I am so happy for you." He patted her head. "So, so happy."