Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Mystic Wings ❯ Sister of Night ( Chapter 19 )

Chapter Nineteen

Sister of Night

 

Featuring `Sister of Night' by Depeche Mode

 

Hitomi felt comfortable going to sleep in Dryden's mansion. For obvious reasons, he didn't bother her at all anymore. Suddenly, she liked him a great deal and couldn't help but think of him as her only real ally. Now she understood him and she didn't feel like he was going to try to crawl into bed with her. Such a thing would have been impossible after what he said to her.

 

Besides, Hitomi suspected that the girl in the swimming pool was his real love interest. That woman was amazing. No wonder he never bit when the teenagers at their school hit on him. Why bother when he had a woman like that waiting for him at home?

 

There was something else about Dryden that Hitomi understood now. He pitied her. Maybe that was the reason for the intense expression on his face that first day in school when she turned around to look at him. From his perspective, living forever was an indescribable burden. He didn't want to live forever. He had even had the opportunity to choose his symbol and neither he nor his mother had wanted him to live forever. He seemed excited to grab life and live it with passion and vigor, but happy to accept death when it came. It would definitely come, he had said.

 

Dryden had given Hitomi some time to wander around in the gallery by herself that evening - presumably while he spent a few minutes with his `lady friend'. She looked at the pictures. Dryden wasn't deceiving her - this was the truth. Hitomi knew it in her bones. These were her people and this was her real home.

 

She tried to look at the pictures and decide what the different people's lives had been like when she saw something that caught her eye. There was one picture that was covered. Hitomi thought that it was bad to snoop, and she tried to ignore it as she walked around struggling to accept her new destiny, but she couldn't stop looking at it. There were lots of other pictures to look at, she told herself repeatedly, but her eyes kept being drawn back to that covered frame.

 

At last, she gave into temptation and had a look under the certain. The painting was dark and rough - like a Van Gogh. But the image burned into Hitomi's brain - it was of a pitchfork. The caption under it read `The Devil'.

 

She heard Dryden at the door and speedily dropped the sheet covering it. When he came in, she asked him what it was.

 

He shook his head. “I don't think you're ready to hear that story yet. Maybe a little later on,” he suggested.

 

Hitomi moved away and pretended that she hadn't peeked.

 

“Are you feeling okay, now?” he asked gently.

 

“I think so … I've just been thinking …”

 

“Understandable.”

 

“I've just been thinking that I should tell you about Folken,” Hitomi said, mentally drawing Dryden into her space. Now she was ready to confide in him.

 

“Okay. Tell me.”

 

“Yesterday, I went out for breakfast with Folken, and he asked me if I would consider …” she was choking on the words. Saying this out loud was nearly impossible. “He wants me to become his … his …”

 

“Contract bound woman,” Dryden finished. “Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. You seemed to be keeping it a secret that you and Van were married, so it doesn't surprise me that he asked you. He hasn't got many options. He's over thirty, so he's probably thinking about getting serious with a woman now, whereas it wouldn't have mattered to him at all five years ago. What did you tell him?”

 

“I didn't tell him anything. He wants me to give him an answer by the end of this week.”

 

“That's not a lot of time. What do you plan to do?”

 

“I don't know. I'm worried that if I confess that I'm married to Van, then he'll kill Van to make me available for him,” Hitomi admitted painfully.

 

Dryden shook his head, “I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think that was definitely a possibility. The Dragon is strong, but it's possible for him to be killed.”

 

“I thought I should maybe go along with Folken a little bit until I found out what has happened to Van. What do you think of that idea?”

 

“Out of the question!” Dryden shouted, quite suddenly. “There is NO WAY you should do that. I won't support you in that at all - you are Van's wife - W-I-F-E!”

 

“Don't get so mad! I wouldn't sleep with him or anything,” Hitomi exclaimed, defending herself.

 

“Van explained contracts to you, right?” Dryden said, hardly becoming less heated. “I was certain he at least understood that much from his aunt if he knew to get a tattoo.”

 

“No,” Hitomi said, shaking her head.

 

“Okay, I'll try to calm down then. Let's get out of here. The air is stale.”

 

From there, Dryden took her into a personal sitting room with a fireplace crackling and a bearskin rug on the floor. His lady friend was curled up in an armchair by the flames and she had a book laid down on her lap even though she was obviously asleep.

 

Dryden kissed her forehead and carried her away to bed before he came back to talk to Hitomi.

 

“There are two different kinds of agreements that Tarot users enter into,” he said, sitting down on the couch beside her. “One is marriage, and that's just the same as it is in the real world with all the same privileges and set backs. So, I'm not going to explain that. But let's say you're married to so-and-so, and you have two kids, can't stand each other and get divorced. Now, because you were married to a Tarot user to begin with and you had children together, then you are FORBIDDEN to ever sleep with another Tarot user - EVER!”

 

“Why?”

 

“We don't want to be inbred, and if there are birth secrets among us then couples could get together later on and not know that they are really half brother and sister - disgusting! It's not a joke and it's punishable by death. Especially since there is no reason for any of us to go without if we don't want to since we're sterile if we sleep with an ordinary human. And there is another problem.”

 

“What's that?” Hitomi asked.

 

“Sometimes we have cousins who are Tarot users. So, sometimes it happens that people marry their first cousin, but that's allowed and it's usually intentional. It's because if Akira had had children with Folken, say, then you would still have the Tarot abilities and so would at least one of the children they had together. Then you'd have cousins who were also Tarot users. Make sense?”

 

This part did make sense to Hitomi, and she nodded.

 

“I have some cousins on my mother's side,” he said, almost shuttering. “Not first cousins, but both of them want to marry me and I …” Here he cut himself off. “Anyway, on with another one of my tireless explanations. Sometimes couples get together solely for the opportunity to reproduce - like my parents. They actually did get married, but some don't choose to do it that way. Sometimes, they just enter into a contract to be the reproductive partner and they both have human relationships outside of their Tarot deal. Personally, I think that's deliberately foolish and debilitating. I don't know how you could have a good relationship with anyone when you're intentionally unfaithful. You couldn't have a good relationship with a human partner because you're running off to try to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant with your child. So, you couldn't stay close to your human lover, and you are obviously only sleeping with your Tarot lover for the sake of reproduction, otherwise you'd be married to them. It's irritating for me to even think about it.”

 

“Is she a Tarot user?” Hitomi couldn't help asking.

 

“Selphie? No, but that doesn't matter to me. I'm The Lover, after all.”

 

“And that makes you special, somehow?”

 

“It might be nothing, but my mother thinks that I don't need a Tarot wife to be able to produce Tarot children. That's what she thinks, and I believe her. It's yet to be tried, though,” he said with a wink. “Anyway, Selphie hasn't agreed to marry me. She likes playing hard to get and I like chasing after her, so we please each other that way.”

 

“I wouldn't have thought that you would want to get married,” Hitomi said, thinking of how sorely she had misjudged him on their first meeting.

 

“Of course I do - probably more than anyone who's ever lived. I'm such a slave to passion. It's a horrible burden to be me, you know. Anyway, it doesn't matter which way I look at it. You can't even pretend to Folken that you're available. As a matter of fact, I think we should go straighten it out as soon as possible.”

 

“The only thing is that he knows where Van is. I want Van back! He can't be staying with Folken and Dilandau because he wants to. There has to be some other reason that I don't know, and if I come right out and say that Van is my husband then will Folken kill him?”

 

Dryden rubbed the back of his neck. “We're totally nailed, then. I don't know what to do.”

 

“Van wanted me to finish high school though, so I guess I'll have to go back at some point, and when I do, Folken will be waiting for me.”

 

“Finish high school? What for? I didn't even go to school!”

 

“But you seem smart, who taught you?”

 

“My mother and father directly. He had me perched on his sickbed while he explained accounting theories to me when I was old enough to hold a pencil in my hand. And believe me, the education my mother gave me on the road is far more advanced than what you'd receive at fetching Lord Grava Asturia High.”

 

“But what about me? My parents weren't Tarot users, and they don't even like me very much right now.”

 

“Doesn't matter. You were half a semester off graduating. I'm satisfied that you're smart enough, and besides, you'll have a million opportunities for learning in your life. Unless you particularly want the high school experience that's available right now.”

 

“But I'll be old later, and I won't be able to go back to high school in a hundred years!”

 

“Why not?”

 

“I'll be … old … wrinkly.”

 

Dryden raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. “Hitomi,” he asked. “How much do you weigh?”

 

“Fifty two kilograms,” she answered, not even thinking of the female ramifications of admitting one's weight.

 

“And how much did you weigh when you were fifteen? The year you received your symbol?”

 

“Fifty two kilograms.”

 

“Okay, so your weight hasn't changed since you received your symbol? Has your height? Have any of your measurements? I might be wrong, but I thought I made it clear. I think you're going to look like a fifteen year old until the world crumbles under your feet,” he said, still exuding that aura that he felt regretful about the way her life was going to go, and that he felt sick that he had to talk to her about it again.

 

Hitomi felt like she should have been happy that she was at least going to be young, but instead she just felt sort of empty.

 

“Be happy. At least you got to be old enough that you'll be able to pass for an adult. Maybe that was what Akira was waiting for.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Nothing,” Dryden said, getting up from the couch. “I've said enough things to disturb you for one day. Let me take you to your room. Maybe we'll be able to think of a way to get Van back in the morning.”

 

Dryden said he didn't want to traumatize her, but Hitomi understood what he meant. He meant that Akira had waited until Hitomi was grown up before she allowed herself to die. Akira had probably wanted to die for years, but not done it because she didn't want to risk giving the abilities of a Tarot user to a child. Hitomi wondered what drew her aunt into the world of ghosts so strongly. What?

 

Dryden walked Hitomi to her room and gave her a brotherly hug before he said good night to her. Before he turned away, he reminded Hitomi that if she needed anything in the night, she was welcome to wake him up. He pointed to the door of his room and closed her door for her.

 

She tried to go to sleep between the white sheets, but it was hard. She kept waking up trembling … she couldn't stop the nightmares. She thought she was dealing with all this new information so well, but she knew she wasn't when she got up to get a glass of water for a third time. She was staring at her reflection in the mirror wondering if she really hadn't changed since she was fifteen. The bed was so big and empty … was it so wrong that she wanted someone to hold her that night or all nights? How long was she going to have to live without Van? She felt like she couldn't handle this at three a.m. without him to calm her.

 

“Van,” she whispered, as she sat on the edge of the tub in the bathroom. “Where are you?”

 

***

 

In the morning, Hitomi pulled her school uniform on. Her thoughts weren't clear, but she decided to let Folken know that a relationship wasn't possible, and she might as well do so now rather than later. She would tell him … well, she'd tell him a lot of things. He was trying to get her because she was powerful and he wanted an heir - how disgusting!

 

Breakfast was served in her bedroom. She was told that Dryden had left ahead of her and would meet her at school. Apparently, he had some reason for going early. Hitomi was told that there was a chauffeur who would drive her when she was ready.

 

It was a little weird arriving at school in an SUV driven by Dryden's private chauffeur, especially when he parked alongside her father who was dropping Marlene off. Hitomi sat in the backseat, and the chauffeur came out and opened the door for her. Here he tipped his cap at her and informed her that Dryden would bring her back to the mansion himself.

 

Hitomi looked over at her father. He hadn't rolled down his window or anything to talk to Hitomi and was instead looking ahead of him very icily. Marlene didn't stop to talk either and hurried past Hitomi after she had looked for long enough at Hitomi and her escort to misinterpret the situation. From their point of view, it probably appeared all wrong. Hitomi couldn't and wouldn't explain the truth to them. So, she slammed both of them out of her mind. There was nothing she could do about it now, and what was worse, she didn't want to make up with them. She wanted the freedom to do whatever she needed to do to get Van back. He was where her heart really lay, not with her family who didn't need her or want her, and she was going to get him back.

 

So, she plunged into the snow and stamped her way up the main entrance. She had already decided that today was the last day she would be attending Lord Grava Asturia High and she'd better make good friggin' use out of it. There were a couple of things she needed to do. She needed to tell Folken off and then she needed to talk to the gym coach about Yukari. She had to convince her that she'd deceived Yukari and that Yukari was really a good girl and deserved to be the track team manager. Then she could walk away without regrets.

 

When she came through the doors, she saw the two men who'd been on her mind lately. There was Dryden, standing by the boot racks with three girls swarming him, and there was Folken. He was leaning against the wall with a grouchy expression on his face. It appeared that he was waiting for her to come through the entrance.

 

Dryden shook off the girls surrounding him with his careful charisma, and came over to Hitomi as soon as she came in.

 

“Good morning,” he said, looking for just one second at Folken. “I guess that's

him,” he said, whispering. “We should talk more before you confront him - don't you think?”

 

“No Dryden,” Hitomi said, thinking of her decision. She didn't want to go back on it. “But I wanted to ask you one question.”

 

“Ask anything,” he said, pushing his wavy hair out of his face.

 

“Your tattoo,” she started, getting a wicked little smile, because she knew Folken was watching and he wouldn't like her cuddling up to Dryden. “Where is it?”

 

Dryden arched an eyebrow in surprise and rose to the challenge. “Well,” he said, quite literally maneuvering Hitomi into a corner and standing really close to her. “Are you sure you want to know?”

 

Hitomi was laughing. She couldn't help it. Now that she knew what Dryden was and she knew this was just his way, he suddenly became an extremely fun person to be around. His flirting was, well, invigorating. He was touching her chin and drawing her eyes up to meet his in the most dramatic way, but only when she nodded in answer to his question did he lower his lips to her ear and whisper the answer to her.

 

Hitomi flushed. He would have it on his rear!

 

“Hey! You two!” Folken suddenly interrupted, just like Hitomi thought he would if she let Dryden into her space. “No P.D.A.s in the hallway!”

 

Dryden broke away from her like he was being parted from his long lost love and said with a dirty wink, “I'll see you in class, Kanzaki.” Then he looked at Folken, as if to dare him to take the matter any further with him, and headed towards his locker.

 

Folken let him go and said to Hitomi, “Miss Kanzaki, I'd like to see you in my office.”

 

“What about Dryden? He was being just as bad as me!” she exerted.

 

“I'll talk to him later,” he said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her down the hall like she was a delinquent. He was obviously going too far, but no one said anything about his treatment of her.

 

Hitomi gritted her teeth and prepared herself for what would come. This wasn't going to be easy. She just had to keep her head around her; remember that Van was her goal, and keep cool.

 

At last, he tossed her down in a chair in his office, and then he proceeded to shut and lock his office door.

 

“You are going to drive me insane! What do you want with that idiot Fassa kid? And I thought you were trying to stay out of trouble at school because of your parents? I wouldn't have been the only teacher to call you on that,” Folken exclaimed angrily before throwing himself into his chair.

 

“I'm not living with my parents anymore. They kicked me out. So, there's no reason for me to behave while I'm here anymore. At least I don't have to be a good girl for them. I've gone from straight-laced to unprincipled in twenty-four hours. So, don't lecture me, please,” Hitomi said, looking at the ceiling in his office, again like she was a rebellious teenager.

 

“Oh really?” Folked asked slowly, like he didn't expect an answer. Then he touched his shin with his fingertips. He was thinking. “Likewise, then there's no reason for us not to accelerate the progression of `our' relationship.”

 

`Our' relationship? Hitomi hadn't realized that living with her parents would be preventing Folken from moving in on her. She hadn't even clued in that her father watching her like a hawk might be keeping unwanted male attention away. Folken suggested before that they move slowly in their relationship. It was because he didn't want to meddle with her parents! Her breath caught in her throat. What had she gotten herself into?

 

“What do you mean?” she asked, abruptly feeling sick to her stomach.

 

“If you're unprincipled now, then you shouldn't have a hard time moving in with me. I'm very rich and I'll teach you everything there is to know about your gift. I'll take care of you,” he said, peering into her eyes carefully, like what he was saying was an extremely deep sort of promise. “In short, I'll make you extremely happy.”

 

“How could you make me happy?” she asked dryly. She was choking on her words.

 

Then he started to sing. Dryden had warned her about his song, and Hitomi had heeded that warning. She knew she shouldn't be near him when he sang, but she wasn't able to move as he started the opening words. It was like everything he said before hand tied her to the chair and made her incapable of getting up and out of the room.

 

Sister of nights
When the hunger descends

 

He got up from his chair and came around the desk to stand in front of her. Hitomi didn't like him so close to her. She didn't like the way his eyes evaluated her.

And your body's a fire
An inferno that never ends

 

His hands were a little cold as he bent to take one of her hands in his. Her breath was becoming shallow. It shouldn't be. She shouldn't be reacting like this to him … it wasn't right.

An eternal flame
That burns in desire's name

He put the palm of her hand to his lips, and kissed her skin slowly - lingeringly. His eyes were closed, and then he started to sing again.

Sister of night
When the longing returns
Giving voice to the flame
Calling you through flesh that burns

 

Here he kissed her wrist. His voice was so smooth and deep and … inviting. The muscles in her neck were relaxing and she was feeling warmer, something inside her body was heating her. Hitomi no longer wanted to bolt for the door. She was only mildly uncomfortable as he sang on.

Breaking down your will
To move in for the kill

His eyes snapped open and they looked red and intense as he continued. He let go of her wrist and suddenly unzipped the zipper on her winter coat. It was a quick motion and it made a sound like a ripcord, yet it fit perfectly in with his song. He slid his hands under her coat and around her waist. He pulled her into his arms like she was a rag doll; her limbs felt heavy and she was just as limp. She didn't know how it happened, but her coat was pushed from off her shoulders and it fell onto the floor. He let her fall across his thighs as he took her chair and held her close to him. She felt like she was supposed to be there.

Oh sister
Come for me
Embrace me
Assure me
Hey sister
I feel it too

His voice was so deep and mellow when he sang, and she was using what strength she had to raise her head to meet his eyes … almost desperately. As he sang, he sounded so miserable, so wronged. She wanted to comfort him. He was suffering. But she didn't know what to do.

 

Sweet sister
Just feel me
I'm trembling
You heal me
Hey sister
I feel it too

Hitomi wasn't trying to pull away. She had stopped even thinking about turning away from him, but she knew that she shouldn't be putting her fingers in his hair, yet she was. She shouldn't be looking into his face like he was hers to soothe. Something was wrong, but she could no longer remember what it was. And even worse, with one more word, she wouldn't care.

Sister of night
In your saddest dress
As you walk through the light
You're desperate to impress
So you slide to the floor
Feeling insecure

He undid the top button on her school uniform. Hitomi was glad. Her collar was choking her, and it was like he opened her throat up. Now she was able to breathe.

 

He ran his hand down the side of her arm, the arm that had her tattoo on it, and gently started to rub it with his fingertips. What was he doing? It was like he was trying to erase something.

Sister of night
With the loneliest eyes
Tell yourself it's alright
He'll make such a perfect prize
But the cold light of day
Will give the game away

Finally, he stopped touching her arm, and his hand worked its way up past her shoulder to her neck. His hand was caressing the side of her face with his soft long fingers. He was drawing her close to him. Their breath was mingling, and she liked the way he smelled - like cologne off a perfume sample. Why hadn't she noticed how good he smelled before?

Oh sister
Come for me
Embrace me
Assure me
Hey sister
I feel it too

 

Her eyes fell closed and she listened to his perfect voice, and felt the warmth of his breath, and felt the closeness of his body, and the tensing of his muscles, and completely lost herself in him.

Sweet sister
Just feel me
I'm trembling
You heal me
Hey sister
I feel it too

 

He bent down to bring their breath and their lips together.