89 - First Lesson

Annie already regretted the words she had cried out. She could feel her face heat up from embarrassment. What was she saying right? Annie could only stare at the ground.

"Have you ever killed someone?"

His voice brought a chill down her spine. Of the years she remembered, she always got away from the theft she did. Some would fight her but she was able to restrain them. Like Aster...

"You haven't killed anyone?" His cold voice demanded an answer from her. She shook her head. Out of the corner of her eye, his smile stretched wider. His lips was now a breath away from her ear. "You have never seen the light that fades from one's eyes? Or heard the rattle of someone's last breath? Such a shame."

His warm breath tickled her ear. She rubbed her ear. "What does killing have to do with the training?" she asked. She sat up to face him, composing her face to show no emotions. Annie noticed he was smiling. It seemed fake, like a simple motion of stretching one's muscles. He was very good at hiding his real self, she thought.

"This investigation we are doing can be dangerous. I want to know if you have what it takes to make a certain move, if necessary. You're very careless... And betray too much about yourself."

"I do not-!"

He grabbed her wrist. Shocked, she stopped what she was about to say to pull away. He was still stronger than her. She grabbed his wrist with her other hand and tried to pull it away.

"What will you do, Annie?" His voice came out in a cold whisper, his damn smile stretching further. "What do you do if you can't get out?"

Enraged, she moved to punch his face but his other hand caught her wrist. Now she was imprisoned. "Let me go," she gritted out. He only smiled. "Let me go!" she roared at him, seething with anger.

"Show me how you can get out of this."

A cold feeling crawled down her wrist to her elbows from where he held her. She put more force, trying to free herself. She stared at him, feeling fear. With this close distance, she could only focus on his face. He was really beautiful in a cold dark way. Pale white skin with dark shadows that hinted lack of sleep.

His long black bangs weren't able to fully cover his blue eyes. Eyes that seemed the only thing not cold. The color of a bright summer sky, she thought. A small black mole under his left eye attracted her attention. When her eyes went back to his, it was then that she saw it. His eyes were glowing with blue light. It seemed entrancing to her.

"What are you doing to me?!"

"So you only know this much?" he mumbled, his long lashes lowering halfway down over his eyes. The coldness in her arm soon spread through her body. She gasped in shock at the quick feeling of freezing.

"What are you doing?" she stuttered, feeling her body getting colder and colder.

"I'm trying to find... Aaaah, there you are."

Annie tried to fight the drowsy feeling her brain was sending to her body. "Find... whaat...?" The coldness now surrounded her heart and she choked. Her breath was labored and short. Before her vision darkened, she heard a scream. It wasn't hers but it was a female. She wondered for a moment before realizing who it was..

It was Vivi.

The last thing she saw was Kieran's eyes showing delight.

"Your magical beast."